We’ve all had that scare: the kids have been just a bit too quiet for a bit too long, and you’re now wondering what in the world they could be getting into. You follow the quiet into the bathroom, where the little ones are surrounded by unfurled rolls of toilet paper cotton balls. Unfortunately, your prescriptions are lain strewn about along with the medicinal marijuana you’ve, specifically, tried to keep tucked away. The kids are asking what the funny smell is while you frantically check to make sure they couldn’t open anything.
Whether you’re a parent using child-proof pill bottles or a parent who would just like a small toke before bed to ease your anxiety, child resistant packaging is a non-negotiable for our household products.
Our little ones are curious about everything, especially when it comes to the things they shouldn’t be touching. Since the 1970s, child-resistant packaging has increasingly become imperative to keep our kids safe. From toxic cleaners to alcohol we keep in the house, along with all our medicines and prescriptions, we need companies making packaging with our children’s safety in mind.
WHAT IS CHILD-RESISTANT PACKING?
Until child-resistant packaging was introduced, many household items posed quite a serious threat to children, but what does child-resistant packaging mean exactly? It means that the package is secure enough to prevent most children of a certain age (3.5 to 5 years old) from being able to access what’s inside while still being easy enough to use by an older adult. Parents need help to keep their kids from accidentally getting into the chemicals scattered throughout their homes.
It must be thoroughly tested to get a “child-resistant” stamp, with about 200 children participating. First, they gather the group of young children (3-4) and give them 5 minutes with the product. If after 5 minutes there has not been a successful attempt, the child will then be shown how to open them by the adult in the room. They are then given another 5 minutes to attempt to open! Depending on the standard, the goal is to have a success rating of max 10%. (Remember, it’s resistant, but not impossible).
The next part of the testing is to make sure at least 90% of ADULTS can open it. This is sometimes trickier as they do not want to make it so complicated that people with arthritis and dementia can’t use the product.
BENEFITS OF USING
As much as we try, parents can’t be everywhere all of the time. It’s impossible to keep everything out of reach. So when they do get their hands on it, we want it to be as difficult for them to open as possible. It does give us a bit more ease of mind knowing that the harmful compounds in our house have a layer of protection.
We keep so many things in our house that would be a danger to our kids. Our curious, adventurous kiddos, with their ever-wandering hands, need to be protected from themselves. The goal is to prevent child poisoning. The resealable packaging is usually based on a model of needing to do two things simultaneously. For example, pill bottles must be pushed down while twisting them open. Dexterous movements that would be too complicated for the wee ones.
A provided bonus for us cannabis users is it being smell-proof. While the laws have been changing around the nation, not everyone is as hip to the progress. Even having marijuana in Orange County was frowned upon even though they were among the first of legal medicinal AND recreational. The smell-proof feature allows for some discretion.
WHEN WOULD I USE CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING?
Child Resistant packaging has been around our everyday lives in ways we might not have realized! Since the Poison Prevention Packaging Act, passed in 1972, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has been in charge of mandating the regulations for resealable packaging and single-use packaging. It comes as no shock that
Here are just a few of the items around the house you need to think about:
- Medicine and Prescriptions
- Every prescription bottle and over the counter medicine has packaging
- Alcohol and Marijuana
- While most alcohol bottles don’t follow the same rules, cannabis packaging is sold in child-resistant packaging and is not allowed to use words like “candy” to seem unappealing!
- Food
- Used in most nuts packaging, child-resistant food packaging has saved many lives from accidental allergic reactions.
- Cleaning Products
- All those items under your bathroom sink: you better hope they’re all child-resistant
- Small Toy Packaging
- Legos, game pieces, puzzle pieces!
- Batteries
- Hmm, did you think about where your loose batteries might be?
THE BEST CHILD-RESISTANT PACKAGING OUT THERE?
It’s something parents don’t think about when we’re first starting. But as soon as those little crawlers start getting their hands on things, it’s all we can think about: what can they open? How can I keep it out of reach?
While Dymapak specializes in selling wholesale to cannabis shops and brands, their products have limitless applications. Their smell-proof pouches make it easy to store your smellier prescriptions. What is most clever about their design is the plain and simple packaging. Their neutral colors keep out of the interest of tiny toddler hands. With no pictures or bright colors, children won’t be drawn to anything within. (Unlike Tums, which I thought was literal candy that my parents were trying to hide from me.)
Make sure the companies you’re buying from use packaging from manufacturers that care. Companies staying ahead of problems before they happen will ensure the safety of our children.
