Time to Babyproof the Laundry Room! Detergent Capsules Are a Huge Risk
Photo: Veer / The BumpThose little laundry detergent capsules may make throwing in a load of laundry a lot less messy (no powder or liquid spills!) but it’s important for parents to be aware that, to a child, they look like candy — when really, they’re poison.
The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that there’s been a recent rise in the amount of phone calls they’ve gotten of children ingesting highly concentrated “single dose packs” of laundry detergent. If swallowed kids can become extremely sick and may need to be hospitalized. Other kids get eye irritation from getting the detergent in their eyes. Vomiting, wheezing, gasping for air and drowsiness are all symptoms reported in kids who’ve suffered effects from contact or ingestion of the capsules.
“The rapid onset of significant symptoms is pretty scary,” said Dr. Michael Beuhler, medical director of the Carolinas Poison Center, in a statement. “Other laundry detergents cause only mild stomach upset or even no symptoms at all. Although we aren’t certain what in the product is making the children sick, we urge all parents and caregivers to make sure laundry detergent packs are not accessible to young kids.”
The American Association of Poison Control Centers recommends always keeping detergents locked up and out of the reach of children and following the specific disposal instructions on the label. If you think a child has been exposed to a laundry detergent packet, call your local poison center at 1-800-222-1222 immediately.
Do you use detergent capsules? How do you make sure your child doesn’t get into them?
Plus, more from The Bump:
What Baby’s Playing With That Isn’t Safe
Preventing Medical Emergencies
The Knot Blog
The Nest Blog
um, several questions here… why are they within reach of children in the first place? why are parents not watching their children, but instead letting them in places like the laundry room? yes, the bottles need to be harder to open and not made to look appealing to kids, but they need to be on high shelves or locked up, and parents need to be parents and actually watch their kids to avoid this stuff.
Totally agree with you! When I first heard this story, I was definitely confused as to why those items were within reach of children…just like any cleaning supplies/toxic materials in the home, they ALL need to be put away as part of the baby-proofing of the house. I felt the same way when the story about those baby seats hit a couple weeks ago (the name of the product fails me, but the ones that are obviously meant to stay on the floor and the baby sits in it with there legs sticking out). Anyway, the point is, keep your eyes on your kids as you are supposed to…common sense seems to be failing some parents these days.
could not agree with you more on everything you said. the seats were the bumbos. i know some people don’t like them in general, but to be recalled because people were putting them up on tables is just idiotic. i don’t know what planet some parents are living on these days.