Serious problems don’t always require complex answers. Quite often, the simplest solutions make the biggest impact.

The safety of young children is a major area of concern for any parent. We baby proof our homes with special products, teach little ones to stay away from danger, and watch them as closely as we can.

But are you overlooking a simple safety step that’s easy to implement and could end up saving a little one’s life?

Out of Reach and Out of Sight

After slips and falls, accidental poisonings are the second leading cause of death from injuries in the home.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), around 300 children in the United States visit emergency rooms every day because of an accidental exposure to something potentially harmful. The majority of those cases are children under the age of six, and the most recent national statistics from U.S. Poison Control show one and two year olds have a higher poisoning frequency than any other age group.

The best way to prevent your child from becoming one of those statistics is to make sure products posing a health risk if ingested are stored somewhere that’s difficult for children to access and preferably somewhere that’s also out of their line of sight.

This is some of the most common advice from experts in poison control, like Sherri Pace from the Utah Poison Control Center.

“Just in general, we need to be worried about where our medications are stored, and where our personal care products are stored. They really need to be up and out of reach and not down where kids can get them,” Pace said in a podcast for The Scope Radio at the University of Utah.

Safe Storage in the Bathroom

Your bathroom is likely where you keep many personal care items and cosmetics. It’s also typically the place where over-the-counter medicines and prescription pharmaceuticals are found.

Personal care products and makeup may not be the first items that come to mind concerning accidental poisonings, but they are considered one of the most common causes among children. U.S. Poison Control data indicates this category saw the highest number of reports of accidental exposures among children six and younger.

Substances Implicated in Pediatric Exposures

Make sure to store cosmetics and personal care products like hairspray and skincare in a place where young children can’t reach them. Read the warning labels, and never leave items with potentially toxic ingredients out on a countertop or next to the sink where an unattended child could grab them.

Medications are an obvious risk to young children, but it can be easy to forget to properly store medicine in a safe place. The same goes for vitamins and supplements.

That’s why the CDC’s PROTECT Initiative launched the awareness campaign Up and Away to educate caretakers on proper storage methods. The website for this campaign urges parents to keep medications out of reach, citing statistics that show 60,000 young children are treated for accidental exposure to medicines every year.

Other advice from the CDC includes reminding guests, like grandparents, to store their medications safely. Caretakers should also make sure they “hear the click” of the child-resistant child safety cap on medicine bottles so they are securely closed and locked.

Never tell children medicine is candy in order to convince them to take it. That could encourage them to consume it when you aren’t looking.

Safe Storage Around the House

Safe storage is important outside of the bathroom, too. In order to make your home as safe as possible for toddlers and young children, household cleaners should be included on the list of items to be kept out of reach.

Many families will store cleaning products under the kitchen sink. It seems like a convenient and logical location for dishwasher detergent, drain cleaners, and general purpose cleaners. However, cupboards that are close to the floor are right at the level of curious little kids, including toddlers who are still crawling.

The garage is another place where certain products should be placed on higher shelves. As kids get older, the garage will be an area where their outdoor toys are stored, but it’s also where the lawn and garden and pool chemicals are kept.

It’s not just government agencies working to educate parents on child safety issues, responsible brands are taking action, too.

The video below shows how Child-Guard^® works and how it helps keep kids safe, giving parents of little ones some much needed peace of mind. You’ll notice Child-Guard^® in the laundry aisle at your favorite store, and will see it soon on other products, too.

What Would You Guard?

Even the most responsible parent can be forgetful once in a while. Even the most well-behaved child could grab a chair and climb up to a shelf where they aren’t supposed to go. That’s why there’s Child-Guard^®.

This child-resistant slider for flexible packages is designed to keep young children out by locking in place when properly closed. It operates like typical reclosable flexible packaging, except this slider requires an extra step to open, which adds an additional layer of safety.

Just like placing certain products out of reach … Child-Guard^® is a simple safety solution. Look for Child-Guard^® (also branded as Slider-Guard™) on flexible packages in the laundry aisle and coming soon to other types of household products.

What would you guard with the Child-Guard^® slider?

Tell us on social media using the hashtag #guardit. Like us on Facebook for more stories on household safety and parenting.