(Not so)child-proof bottles

[faronskid]

I just wanted to pass along a warning to all of you parents and grandparents.  I have spent the day at the hospital with my 1 year old and 2 year old sons.  This morning my 3 year old daughter came and told her dad the boys were eating vitamins.  My 2 year old evidentally climbed on the bar and got the bottle of vitamins down and opened the "child-proof" lid.  I immediately took them to the hospital.  They had high iron levels so they kept them all day to make sure the iron levels came down.  They were finally released this evening and all is okay.  It could have ended alot worse,  the back of the vitamin bottle say that vitamin overdose is the leading cause of poisoning death in children under six.  I thank God that these boys are okay.  Don't ever under estimate what a child can get into,  make sure every medicine is put way out of reach of your little ones.  And everybody go hug your kids real tight.  I sure am!

[Tom]

It doesn't end there.  It's a childs job to explore and it is hard on a parent.  From 2 on they get into tools and climb under houses and to the tops of trees, run away (sometimes as far as a mile) and play with knives.

From 5 on they are envolved with the opposite sex and might do harm to kittens, puppies and easter chickens. You will find them on the roof of the house or in the car where they have moved it considerable distance with the starter.

From 15 on they are away from your gaze and might be at a football game or movie or Mall.  Hormones race and you will wish for an early joining of the Army.  They will not see the fear they impose upon you when they are late or unaccounted for in the middle of the week.   They will become much smarter than you and in three to five years will "go off on their own".   You will feel relief for about two days  and then realize that it's a dangerous and unforgiving world. 

You are being trained as a parent.  How you do now will make you what you will be then. Perhaps they will be proud of you and your ability to learn.  If they do, it won't show up for another 30 or 40 years, so, pride yourself in having survived each test along the way.  :D

I'm glad they are OK. 

[faronskid]

Oh, Tom, I'm really not looking forward to that.  I guess I can't keep 'em safe from everything,  I've got a long road ahead of me with these four boys, and their sister.  I better stay on my toes.  Speaking of which, I better go take a head count.

[Tom]

Just do the best you can.  You've signed up for the only job that I know of where all knowledge comes from On the job training and when you finally learn it all, you aren't needed anymore.  :D

[Ed_K]

 And my youngest learned to climb the patio roof pole and was on the roof at 22 mo. With 5 grandchildren we're still learning,OJT. Glad your little ones are alright.

[rebocardo]

> the back of the vitamin bottle say that vitamin overdose is the leading cause of
> poisoning death in children under six

Yep, the iron overdose is many times fatal if the parent does not catch it before symptoms show up.

I scold my wife alot for leaving things like vitamins and alcohol out where the kids can get it, when the vitamins and medicine are suppose to be locked in a toolbox that she and I have the only keys.

Eating all the adult toothpaste isn't good for the little ones either.

imho, Nothing is child proof if they see you do it once.

[metalspinner]

faronskid,

What a long and trying day you had.  I'm glad everyone is OK.

tom,
I see myself in several of your illustrations.  When I was two, I took Mom's car for a ride down the driveway.  I was hanging out the door on my belly and pulled the emergency brake.  I made it all the way across the street.  At three I was resuscitated at the swimming pool.  I'm sure there are other things that I have not been told. :-\

I think I'll go call Mom.

[rbhunter]

I remember when my son was about 3 he climbed up on the counter and stood on a microwave and got a bottle of medicine down and removed the child proof lid and drank half the bottle. This happened at my parents house and they live two blocks from a pharmacy. We called the doctor and was told to give him kapectat or something like that to make him vomit right a way and keep an eye on him. After that we kept some of that or what ever it was around just in case. Sure scared us though.

PS even if you have the stuff to make them vomit call the doctor first because some things it is best to make them vomit right away and other times it is better not to.

[Cedarman]

My wife and I looked at parenting of little kids as a 3 pronged job.
1, keep as much dangerous stuff away from the kids as possible knowing that we or someone else would probably miss something.
2, knowing # 1 isn't foolproof, we would keep an eye on the kids at all times.
3, knowing that 1 microsecond of inattention on our part and knowing that #2 isn't foolproof either because kids are mobile and parents are subject to distraction, we did our best to teach that certain things were dangerous. We taught them that certain things were dangerous by making it painful if they messed with dangerous items.
There will always be close calls.

Kids will always do stupid stuff if given an opportunity.  It is a wonder any of us made it to adulthood.

Faronskid, real glad things turned out positive.

As grandparents, it is time again for us to go back to 1,2,3.

[ohsoloco]

It's hard enough to keep kids safe, and now parents have to worry about the toys that they buy for their children  :(

The syrup to induce vomiting is called ipecac (ip-eh-kack), and can be purchased at a drug store  :P

[flip]

Hope you didn't have a 4 hour wait at Memorial like I did. 
Glad to hear all is well.

[asy]

We call those bottles "Adult proof". Always seems to me kids can open them easier than I can  :-\

I'm so pleased to hear they're OK.

asy  :D

[thecfarm]

Some of the things kids can think of.I knew a boy that wanted something on top of the dresser,so he opened up each draw and used it like stepping stones.Worked good until he got to the top and it tipped over,with him under it.Mother heard a wicked noise and ran into his room.He was fine and onto the next adventure.He was hard to contain.You could see it in his eyes.Needed a chain around his ankle with a 10 foot lead.   :D

[faronskid]

Flip,
     We did go to Memorial, but we got in immediately and were seen right away.  We spent about an hour in the ER and then we spent the rest of the day up in pediatrics.  The new pediatrics unit there is really nice except they didn't have any toys for the kids to play with.  : That made for a pretty long day.

Thecfarm,
           We've already been there, done that with the older two boys.  All of our furniture is now attached to the walls.  I see grey hair in my very near future, and I'm only 28. :D

[Faron]

Thecfarm, now we wouldn't happen to know that boy, would we? :D

The boys didn't even seem much slowed down by their adventure last night. :

[rebocardo]

> Worked good until he got to the top and it tipped over

I know of a little girl that got crushed to death from that.  :'(

[katie-did]

Glad you said it first Faron. I was going to said I think them boys are related to their grandfather. ;D
Glad everything came out well with the boys.

We never had anything that bad happen. Pledge in the face was our worse thing I think. But Zack was quit a hand full though. Took the mini van for a little drive once. Thank goodness he was not able to reach the gas and just coasted a little. But it was toward a busy highway. The list goes on.

The worst that Taylor did was put a bead up her nose. Was enough to scare me (cause I could not get it out) I had to call Part-Timer home from work. Made me really mad though because he comes home had her blow her nose and it come right out. I did try that but all she did was whistle.

All the child proofing in the world dose not make up for knowing where your kids are and what they are doing. My kids were the only ones that could get the child proof safey plugs out of the outlets what good does that do?