I need some safety advice please
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| Sun, 05-04-2008 - 11:07pm |
I'm mostly a lurker, but have an Asperger's child who is almost 8 years old. She's diagnosed also with Anxiety Disorder, and has all the sensory issues and impulse control issues that go hand in hand with it all...which brings me to my point.
I'm in need of some type of box where I can lock up all our medicines. She got into nasal spray last week and this week opened up seven Prozac capsules, dumped the powder out, and ate the capsule pieces. I'm just lost and numb at this point.
I know there are regular drawer locks and whatnot out there, but I just want to hear from someone who's been there on what to do. I prefer not to get a new medicine cabinet if I don't have to. I'm not averse to taking the meds out and storing them (locked up) elsewhere. But then I'm afraid she's just going to get into other stuff that really can't hurt her (nasal spray, toothpaste) but is still not safe. KWIM?
Our cabinet has two doors that open up outwards sort of like this one: http://houses4alaska.com/images/medicine_cabin_up.jpg or this one http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=9434-444-14130&lpage=none Will those magnetic locks work on one like this?
Please help.



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what about buying a firesafe box, and keeping the meds in there.. most of those come with small locks and u can keep the key in a safe place,or with u at all times!
my daughter also has anxiety, and spd, we are currently teetering waiting for a asd diagnoses.
Oh boy, do I relate.
At one point I had Poison control on speed-dial. Actually, I had three different ones on speed-dial. I used to rotate them because I was afraid of being tagged in the system if I just used one.
You can get lockable drug safes, but the problem with "our" kids is that they will get into things you just don't consider having to lock up. My son once ate a tube of adult toothpaste because he was "hungry" (hello?). He ate raw pearl onions as a snack (and cried when I took them away). He ate raw lemons -skin and all. He drank a bottle of pure lime juice. He ate dog food. You simply cannot lock *everything* potentially hazardous away. It is impossible. I have tried!
To use an old computer saying: You cannot make ever make a system foolproof. This is because fools are so ingenious.
And Aspies, -being no fools- are more ingenious than most.
I learned to push rules, rules, rules: Aspies are usually good with rules. For my son's part, he needed to understand *why* we had these rules. WE explained because these things need to be used a certain way and can be dangerous if used improperly. I taught him to read labels. This was good, because most of the labels said things like "keep out of the reach of children" "do not allow a child to use unsupervised" etc. This has kind of backfired now that he is almost 10, He recently refused to use a new conditioner I bought for him (he has thick unruly hair that he likes long but hates to brush) because it said "keep out of reach of children" LOL! Well it is better for him to be over-cautious than have the nightmare we went through a few years ago. Here are a few examples of the rules we implemented.
We use shampoo to wash our hair and NEVER for anything else.
We use soap to wash ourselves (and never...).
Shampoo/Soap/conditioner etc. ALWAYS stays in the bathroom.
We never EVER conduct "experiments" anywhere without an adult present.
Mom sprays the shaving foam when we play with it in the bath.
We may NEVER put ANYTHING on the pets. If a pet has something on them, is dirty, smelly, sick, (or whatever) we tell an adult.
We don't put things in the fish tank.
We don't take things out of the fish tank.
We ask before we take anything from the refrigerator.
Only an adult is allowed to open the freezer.
Some of practical things we did for safety:
We removed all very hazardous materials from the house. We have a detached garage and paints, drain cleaner -anything caustic or very dangerous was kept out there.
We took the other hazardous stuff but more often used stuff: bug spray, bleach, toilet cleaner, etc. and put it in the basement in an out-of-bounds area (we found it easier to make entire areas out-of-bounds and put everything in there, than to make specific *things* out-of bounds, because it became too many rules).
We took all medication out of the medicine cabinet (apparently those are not ideal conditions to store medicines, anyway) We put them in a high kitchen cabinet, out of bounds and out of reach.
I guess basically we just left out the stuff we couldn't live without day-to-day: soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving stuff, toothpaste, dishwashing soap, deodorant, etc. and we moved everything else out-of-sight into forbidden areas. For the stuff we left out, we put lots of rules around it.
We also unplug all small appliances before we go to bed. "Mom, the toaster didn't pop" are not words I want to wake to ever again.
Eventually, over time, my kids became a bit more sensible and we could start migrating cleaning products things back upstairs.
There is probably more but it is late and I am tired. I hope it helped some. Others should have some ideas for you, also.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Edited 5/5/2008 12:15 am ET by cl-specialmomx2
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
Kris--the magnetic locks need you to be able to drill a hole through wood/fake wood so's to get the "other" side of the magnet close to the surface. It's going to depend on exactly how much wood you have on the edge there--how far down from the top, I mean. I LOVE those locks, though. If you can keep them away from strong magnets, they can't get in.
Um, I haven't seen any other kind of cabinet lock that I think would defeat your imp--they're aimed at defeating a 2-4 yr old's dexterity, really--and my kids could always defeat 'em at other people's houses.
We did get a stand-alone medicine cabinet, the kind where you have to stick your finger in to open it, so it really depends on finger length. I rather suspect my long-fingered 10 yr old can open it at this point, but since that's not one of his idiotic tricks, we don't worry about it ;}. But, honestly, he inherited my long fingers--he's not average 10 yr old material at all.
Good luck...
Hi!
I am not sure about the magnetic locks, but we use these http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2792264
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Christine
That's my fear - that she'll figure out a way to defeat it just for figuring it out's sake. :sigh:
Ah yes, the rules... We know it well. Unfortunately she knows the rules, but has a hard time with the impulses. She knows she's not supposed to do it, but can't stop herself. We're trying, but there are so many battles to deal with, I try to pick one at a time and POOF - something else crops up.
And if I'm going to lock up the Rx meds, I will have to lock up the stuff like robitussin, Tylenol, etc...OTC meds. I've already had to throw away all my nail polish (she painted a cabinet when we weren't looking. It's always when we're not looking. I simply can't watch her 24/7! No mother can!)
Thanks for the help. I really appreciate all the input I'm getting here. She's just so bright, you'd think it would trigger not to do these things before she does them. She can spot danger with other people: "Mom, that's not safe. They're illegal with that baby in the front seat. That kid needs a helmet when he's on his scooter." But not in herself. :sigh:
I don't know that they're deep enough, but my next concern is my husband who is ADHD. He has no patience and if he knows where the key is, Bug will figure it out too, thus negating the whole process. (He's not careful about hiding it and she's a whiz at figuring locks out.)
I'm thinking this is what we're going to have to do though.
Yep. that's the problem, Once you start locking stuff away it has to be EVERYTHING: RX, OTC, vitamins (iron overdose can be fatal to a child), ointments, nose sprays, eye drops etc. My DD once painted her lips with fast-dry red nail polish. My son once sprayed that spray-on bandage stuff into his eyes. It is astonishing how much harm they can inflict on themselves with seemingly harmless "stuff"...
I found this on one of my health sites about medical safes. The topic was different (how to keep drug seeking familymembers out of your prescription meds), but the advice looked good to me.
>>get a better safe. I'm serious--get one with a locking touchpad that can't be picked--if you have a Harbor Freight Store they have pretty inexpensive ones you can bolt into the closet.<<
I think the touchpad is a good idea. You and your DH can have the combination and you then have no fear that DD will find the key if it is in your head.
-Paula
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
visit my blog at www.onesickmother.com
I've been internet searching all morning and this is what I've come up with so far:
http://www.amazon.com/IdeaStream-VZ01165-Vaultzt-Locking-Security/dp/B000CD2I2I/ref=wl_itt_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2RB119RKXVAZ5&colid=1MV59IBSOI60C
And this one
http://www.amazon.com/Lock-Med-Lock-Box/dp/B0014ISTRS/ref=wl_itt_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I36RD4CAFSTCEE&colid=1MV59IBSOI60C which seems pretty small. I'd probably need two or three of them.
I'll probably get the file folder one, even though it's not set up for meds. It's easier to take with us when we need to go somewhere, and I could keep some important medical papers in it with the meds. (There's a smaller version, but it's not *that* much smaller.)
And these have the combination type locks, which you can create your own combination with.
Edited 5/5/2008 1:21 pm ET by chowderheadmom
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