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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think chemist should have used safety cap?

111 replies

Flojo1979 · 09/08/2012 22:20

So my dd (3.8) overdosed on penicillin this morning. Prescribed to her for an ear infection.
Whilst I was upstairs getting dressed, assuming she was finishing the last of her weetabix and watching peppa pig.
She was carrying her chair to the kitchen and opened the fridge, stood on chair and got her medicine out.
She then got her medicine spoon off the draining board and gave herself 3 x her usual dose.
AIBU to go to the chemist tomorrow and express my concern (nicely) that they should have used a safety cap since it was prescribed for a 3 yr old?

OP posts:

DozyDuck · 10/08/2012 06:23

DS even. Child proof caps are useless

Babylon1 · 10/08/2012 06:30

Last week, while I was sat BFing ds, my dd2 (almost 3) fetched a chair from the dining room to the kitchen, climbed upon to the worktop and sat applying vast quantities of suncream to her feet

She then walked up and down the worktop leaving White footprints the length of it.

Should I now phone IKEA and bollock the salesperson who allowed me to buy a set of dining chairs that can be moved by small children when in fact they sell much heavier ones?

Or should I just accept that it was me who should have made sure she was amused before settling down to BF, or not left her unattended in the first place?

Sorry, I think YABU.

Springforward · 10/08/2012 07:25

YANBU. I'm sure DS has had that type of AB with a safety cap, I watched the pharmacist mix with the ordinary cap then switch for a safety cap.

ramblingmum · 10/08/2012 07:28

As a pharmacist and would expect to supply children's medicines in a bottle with a child proof lid. For some reason many antibiotic mixtures are supplied by the manufactures in bottles with plain lids. Unfortunately they do always not fit the standard size safety caps, so in the hospital pharmacy where I work we end up transferring the antibiotics into standard glass bottles so we can put safety caps on. But please remember they are not keep all kids out.

NCForNow · 10/08/2012 07:31

OP yanbu! We bought some children's multivits and the same again...no safety cap!

Can I suggest that people buy a locking container for fridge medcine? After reading this Im going to!

kilmuir · 10/08/2012 07:33

How do you know she had 3 times her usual amount if you were not there?

NCForNow · 10/08/2012 07:37

Oh get you Killmuir! A right detective! Er....it's obvious! OP knew how much was IN the bottle...knew how much her DD had already had...looked at what was left and bingo! A figure!

LurkingAndLearningLovesCats · 10/08/2012 07:45

YABU. I say that purely because your attitude in this thread shows you don't think you have any responsibility and it is all the pharmacist's fault.

It was your responsibility to keep the medicine away from your child, you didn't. Lesson learned.

Leverette · 10/08/2012 07:48

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

FollowingTheTao · 10/08/2012 08:03

God, I am and at some answers on here.

Seriously, a lock on the kitchen door? A special locked box to put medicines in the fridge? Never leaving your nearly 4 yo on her own, not even for 5 mins?

What sort of world are you living in?

One of my dcs is having ABs atm, there is no child proof cap. Never seen one.
Would it be better? I would say YES if there is a proof that taking the full bottle in one go rather than one tsp could be dangerous for the child.
I would actually like to know whether it IS an issue. I am sure I have heard of some children drinking a whole bottle of paracetamol and parents being told they were nowhere near the dangerous limit (ie the medicine becoming a health concern), even though it's obviously not suitable to do so!

But I am more concerned by the fact that some parents really think that we should all completely child proof our homes. What sort of life are we going to live like this? What sort of life are our children living like this, with no access to day to day stuff? What are we actually teaching our dcs like this?

Sirzy · 10/08/2012 08:11

I am pretty laid back about child proofing but would say it is pretty much common sense to make sure your child can't get their hands on medication.

ClaireRacing · 10/08/2012 08:19

You can ask the pharmacist for a childproof cap, if you need one.

Personally, you should be able to outwit the average three year old by tightening the cap as hard as you can.

NCForNow · 10/08/2012 08:39

Tao don't be ridiculous. There is nothing wrong with having a locked box for fridge medicines! My DH had morphine on prescription and it had to be fridged. Should I have kept it in there UNlocked when I have twocurous DC??

danteV · 10/08/2012 08:56

Safety caps made not difference to my dd when she was 3.
Tbh OP, I would be concerned if my 3 year old was wondering around my house on a morning on their own.
At the end of the day, the pharmacist Does not have to put these caps on, could be a polite suggestion. But the responsibility lies with you.

honeytea · 10/08/2012 09:05

I think the locked box idea is a good one, even just a flimsy lock will stop a small child getting in.

It's not really the fault of the chemist, if you knew there was no child safety cap you should have taken more care to prevent DC getting to the medicine.

Emmielu · 10/08/2012 09:08

NC i completely agree with having a locked fridge box of medicines or even one that doesnt need to go in the fridge. The last thing you want is having to take your DC to hospital because they overdosed on high dose meds. My epi pills dont need to be put in the fridge but the packs im not using are in a locked box in the kitchen cupboard & the ones i am using are in a mug on a higher shelf.

OP, i wouldnt go in all guns blazing, i WOULD ask if its possible for the cap to be changed to a child safety one. If they cant allow that without another prescription from the doctor then so be it. I think yabu with regards to some of your comments i.e. the one about penis having an appropriate name. Not neccessary.

wonkylegs · 10/08/2012 09:12

A locked box for medications is definitely not OTT - if you have paraceatamol in the house & you have children then you should have somewhere it can be locked away. Just because we are used to having everyday drugs around it doesn't make them any less dangerous. Small bodies don't need much of an overdose of adult medications to make them very poorly.

LurkingAndLearningLovesCats · 10/08/2012 09:14

I'm 20 and my mum still hides my medicines for me for my own safety. (When the pain gets bad and I take morphine/high codiene etc, I can get confused and accidentally take too much.)

floranora · 10/08/2012 11:31

Flojo1979 So your child took too much medicine because you was not being a responsable parent and supervising her, and you have to cheek to blame the chemist for not having a child proof bottle and for it being banana flavour?!

i think perhaps instead of blaming everyone but your negligent self and start taking responsabilitie for your poor child.

floranora · 10/08/2012 11:33

'Considering buying one of those alarm ones now but surely she's nearly 4, seems a bit mad buying stair gates for her now. '

yea you are right! does seem a bit mad to try and protect your 4yr DD now!!

BelieveInPink · 10/08/2012 11:42

You are being unreasonable for not teaching your child not to take medicine themselves. Nearly 4 and she just went and medicated herself? Not the chemist's fault.

On the packaging it says "keep out of the reach of children". So you keep it out of the reach of children. Or hide it if that's not possible. Not the chemist's fault.

Getting defensive immediately when you're told YABU. Not the chemist's fault.

So in conclusion, the chemist will look at you like this:

wfhmumoftwo · 10/08/2012 11:44

i think you are being given a really hard time OP. Of course all parents commenting on here are perfect and never not even for one second take their eyes of their children, ever.
The main thing is i) no harm has come to your DD. ii) you will be a little more careful in the future as you know it can now happen

I dont think you are at fault (you put the bottle where you thought it was out of reach - kis are ingeniuos!)and i dont think the chemist is. thankfully no harm done here.
At 3.8 i would absolutely expect you can leave her for short periods of time while you have a shower! What a load of nonsense people to suggest otherwise.
Maybe now is the time to sit and have a chat (or reiterate) about how things can be dangerous and why she shouldn't do them.....we find that works much better for my 2 than having to ban them from every room in the house and put locks on everything.

FollowingTheTao · 10/08/2012 11:58

I don't think the chemist would look like actually. Certainly not if it is common practice in other chemists to use a child proof cap (see posters above) ...

I just think that putting a lock on your kitchen door is completely OTT. I don't even want to think how life would be with such an arrangement, an older child (let's say 7~9yo) that would want to go in the kitchen to have a drink, go out in the garden etc etc...

And I had never ever heard about a locked box for the fridge or anybody even thinking about getting/having one of those. And yes I think it is OTT unless you do need to have some very 'dangerous' medicines in your fridge on a very regular basis. And even then, I would put much much more emphasis in teaching my child than in trying to keep things out of reach etc... Not the least because there is always the risk that, one day, the medicine is left on the table or whatever and the child WILL be trying/playing with that thing that mummy is so keen on but I can never put my hands on.
That's exactly the same debate when you talk about childproofing your house. Do you want to take anything out of reach/sigh? Or are you teaching your child not to do some things, not to touch the ornaments, play with the knifes etc..? Personally, I would rather teach and take the things that are very important to me or very dangerous out of the room altogether.

And so is the comment about not supervising your 4yo. A 4yo should be able to be left for a few minutes on her own wo it being such a huge risk. Unless you have a child with SN but otherwise, there is no way anyone would not leave a child that age for 10mins on their own. I am sure everyone on here is having a shower, going to the loo, answering the phone, doing all these everyday things that means you don't keep your eyes on them all the time. Fair enough with a baby, in some ways a toddler but not a child that age.

FollowingTheTao · 10/08/2012 12:01

Exactly wfhmumoftwo. There seems to be a lot of parents on here that are absolutely perfect and have never been in the situation where things didn't happen as expected indeed.

BelieveInPink · 10/08/2012 12:05

Putting locks and measures in place is OTT. A child should be taught that they never ever touch medicine. OP says she's had this conversation, obviously not enough times.

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