To think you don't store toys like this

[Hungryinseattle]

Why on earth would you use an old liquitabs box to store toys for a young child? Came across this recently and just thought it was bizzare. Why would you want to teach a child that those boxes which contain such toxic stuff might contain toys, surely it encourages them to pick up the real thing. So AIBU and precious, or do lots of people do this?!

Tobacco in quantity, chewed is very toxic. Small amounts over time (ie chewing tobacco) will give you mouth cancer so yes, tobacco is toxic but having said that, I used to keep my treasures in A1 or Golden Virginia tins as a nipper and it ever gave me the urge to actually use tobacco in any form. Seeing my parents try and cough up a lung was enough I guess :/

I don't mean from the residue point of view. My train of thought is, young child gets used to the idea fun stuff is stored in the liquitabs box. Parent has momentary lapse of concentration (as we all do some times) and leaves actual liquitabs box within reach. The young child may be more likely to pick it up and explore the contents if they've come to associate that box with toys. I kind of have to over think all this stuff though as a childminder - I'm used to risk assessing everything. I wouldn't be rude enough to point it out to another parent in their own home but I probably would ponder on whether it was potentially risky.

Our reading cards at school used to come home in tobacco tins. I loved them. I use coffee tins for little toys. My mum used to use Ajax (sp) that Blue powder stuff for puzzle pieces too. I wouldn’t use them for under threes personally. But that’s me.

AuntLydia that was my line of thinking too. The child given the box to play with was my DC (a toddler) who has never seen a liquitab before because (we don't use them) so wouldn't know they weren't a toy if they did come across them. It was at grandparents and just got me thinking.

Oh, and the box still had the label on. I take people's point that without the label on it does look quite different.

Hungry I must be one of those parents too as well as one of those professionals.

I would be concerned about teaching children a positive association with a potentially dangerous container.

You cannot control every instance your child might meet dangerous substances so I would be cautious about this sort of thing.

Depends how old the child is, doesn't it? it's really only very small children of perhaps 2 to 4 who would mistake a washing pod for food.

One of my roles has been working with children who are selective eaters. A technique we often use is presenting new foods in the wrapping or boxes of familiar food to take advantage of the positive association.

Given how dangerous/toxic a chewed or burst liquitab is, inwouldnt do it.

@Phosphorous I've heard about that YouTube challenge... Who on earth starts these things!

Oh dear, I'm one of those parents aren't I!

To be fair, I had to look up what the boxes look like (my washing up tablets for instance are in a cardboard box that has a non-negligable amount of residue after use), but my first reaction was "ew no!".

I think those labels come off of the plastic boxes, I'm sure I've seen them used by the local nursery without the label on. With the label my reaction is still "ew no!", but for confusion reasons.

And then I prefer clear plastic boxes anyway.

I wouldn't do it. Don't buy liquitabs in the first place, but I would never store something in a container for something else. It's a risk I don't want to take.

I think there are some important lessons to be learned by reusing the boxes: 1) resources are precious- think creatively about how to reuse things 2) don't judge something (or somebody) by the packaging always use your judgement.

I think both of these things are important messages, which children are perfectly capable of learning, and which they absorb as an ethos if that is how you live your life.

Obviously, you keep dangerous poisons away from tiny children who are young enough to explore the world by putting stuff in their mouths.

Glad that they’re not ending up on landfill just yet. If —paranoid— worried, just make sure the liquitabs are out of reach. Job done. Besides, if a kid chews a liquitab, they’re going to stop pretty sharpish.

Reduce reuse recycle. It's a box. Keep the box with the tabs in it well away from young children.

Sorry, I think you are being precious.

Kids have been blinded by just biting into them and the liquid going in their eyes so not really a case of them stopping as soon as they bite in with no damage done.

I use them for the kids craft stuff. I hate the amount of plastic that gets thrown away, so if something is reusable, I will reuse it.

My 4 year old uses them to store pirate treasure, tsum tsums...num nums etc...
She also helps put tablets in washing machine and switch it on... she doesn't then go and eat the tablets. She knows that would be very dangerous. So i guess would depend on the age and understanding level

Kids being blinded by biting into them is not as a result of a plastic box with a handle being used to hold toys or anything else. It's a result of people not taking the proper precautions to lock away toxic chemicals from young children.

I never said it was. I was replying to a comment made by catsize about kids stopping quickly if they bit into them. I felt like it needed to be pointed out just how toxic they are - even 'just' biting into them could be pretty disastrous.

Kids will pick up & investigate anything that they can get their hands on that looks interesting to them imo.

Doesn't matter what it's stored in!

I actually agree with you op. All it takes is a moment of forgetfulness...you leave the box of liquid tabs on the side...you get distracted. Child wanders in, thinks box has toys in it...and you can guess the rest. It's unlikely but not impossible. There's plenty of other storage solutions out there. Buy a box from the poundshop.

Just a box. My eldest is using a washed and label removed one for his Lego figures. They’re quite a handy size! My actual liquid tabs at kept on top of a kitchen cupboard that even I struggle to reach.

They are great for jigsaws. Dh uses liquid tabs for work stuff. He keeps them in the top cupboard

There was an interesting video by chubbyemu, an American doctor, on YouTube about the effects of liquitabs. Even biting into them causes some liquid to dribble down the throat which leads to respiratory issues.

I agree that the boxes should be reused though - they are plastic and shouldn't be going to landfill as a) oil was used to make them and we just don;t have enough to squander and b) they will take a long time to degrade. Just take the labels off and don't store active boxes in reach of children.