22 Aug Safely Storing Medications with Kids of All Ages in the Home

Remember when you took your first child home? I do. My daughter was over two months premature and was the tiniest human I had ever held. I had no experience with raising a human, really, I was doing good to just take care of myself! I thought I was prepared, but nothing prepares us for raising kids. I have three kids and I am happy to say they survived my learning as I go, doing my best with what I had at the moment, and they are now young adults. Yeah, parenting isn’t easy, and I am guessing you are finding that out.  

Keeping our kids safe is such a high priority as parents, and while we can’t know the future, we try to protect our kids as best we can. Let’s face it, it is exhausting constantly worrying about what your child is doing, where they are, and any harms that lay before them. We go to great lengths to ensure they are safe. While I didn’t want to wish their life away, I was ready for them to be more independent.

As my kids were entering their teen years, I thought there were some things I didn’t have to worry about anymore, and safely storing my medication was one of them. Something happened a few years ago that made me realize that safely storing medication is not just a good idea for parents of little ones. Parents are taught to keep medications up and out of little ones hands, but we aren’t taught about keeping our older kids safe too.

My youngest was 17 years old when I found out he was hanging out with one of his friends, and making some bad choices involving substances. The situation was not as bad as it could have been, and later, I realized that by keeping my medication securely locked up, I could keep everyone safe from taking medication. My kids, their friends, my friends, workers coming to my home had free access to all the pain medication I had due to a shoulder surgery. I had oxycodone and hydrocodone both, all prescribed to me, with a street value of thousands of dollars. My teens always had their friends over, it would have been so easy for any of them to find the medication and take it, and I wouldn’t have known until it was too late. I trusted my teens not to take medication from me, but didn’t think one bit about other people entering the house, and how I was unaware of the issues and struggles my medications might pose to them.

So, as you do with your little ones, continue to keep your medications locked up, know your dosage, and how many pills you should have.

I am so thankful this did not become the worst case scenario, but it was too close a call.  When it comes to storage of our medication we really can’t be too careful. Check online from time to time to find locations near you that will take unwanted/old medications. Check out the sites below on getting rid of medications safely at home. 

View our Medication Safety in the Home which offers families and professionals who work with families tips to safely store medicine. Check out these tips for getting rid of old medications. If you know someone struggling with substance use, find resources and support here.