Tylenol and toddlers | Please read and share | Family Hope Love

Tomorrow I will return to blogging about our adoption. For today, I want to share a critically important message with you. We spent most of this week at the hospital with Ella. It was scary and painful. We want to make sure other families know how to keep their children safe!

Do you keep a small container of Tylenol or other medication?in your purse or laptop bag? What about in your gym bag or desk at work? Or a suitcase when you travel?

I don?t know how many times I?ve read how-to articles about packing light or simplifying that suggest putting medication in a small plastic container. Mark and I have traveled a lot ? between us we?ve been to nearly 40 countries ? and we are serious about packing light. We?ve spent months living out of small backpacks. Even when we travel with our children, we do everything we can to minimize and simplify. Often this means putting things we need, such as toiletries and medication, in small containers.

We never thought this could put one of our children?s lives at risk.

My beautiful two-year old daughter is in this ambulance. When we left the house with the paramedics, she was alert and confused why Mom and Dad were so upset. Ten minutes later, by the time we reached the hospital, she was limp and disoriented.

On?Wednesday, I was playing?with?Lana and Ella in?the bedroom while my husband?Mark was on an important?call?for work in the living room. We were playing with the girls? hair clips and headbands. When Mark finished with his call, I went into the living room to ask how it went. I thought the girls were continuing to play dress up.

Literally moments later, Ella walked into the room holding an empty plastic container. She had a few pills in her mouth. We quickly realized the container had been full of Tylenol (also called paracetamol or acetaminophen). Mark kept the small plastic container ? about half the size of a film canister ? in his messenger bag when he traveled in case he got a headache.

In just a couple of minutes,?Ella had opened Mark?s bag, gone through the zippered pockets, dumped out a bag with things like chapstick and lotion, found the container of medicine, and?consumed the contents.

Before you think wow, this family must be really irresponsible, let me tell you we?re not.?At home, we keep medication, cleaning supplies, knives, lighters ? basically anything that could be dangerous to our children ? way out of reach. We childproof our home. We eat mostly organic. We lock the doors. We talk with our kids about safety rules and what to do in case of an emergency. We are careful, responsible, dedicated parents. I think this could happen to anyone and that?s why I?m writing this blog ? and hoping that you will share it with all the parents in your life.

What happened next was terrifying. We are in?a foreign country?adopting our fifth child. We called our doctor at home to ask what to do and they said go to the emergency room now. We called?our lawyer here in Latvia who called?her?pediatrician who said the same thing. Then she called for emergency transport to the hospital.

What is so dangerous about Tylenol??For a 2-year-old, eating just a half-dozen?tablets of Tylenol?could be toxic ? and could cause liver failure or even death. If your child eats even a small amount of Tylenol, get help right away. If you wait to see if they seem?sick, it could be too late.

I am not a doctor and I don?t fully understand what happens when a child consumes a toxic amount of Tylenol. Remember that for a toddler this could be just half a dozen tablets. What I do know is that a child who gets into and eats Tylenol might seem fine at first. They may have no symptoms. You might not even know they found and ate the medicine. Most children who consume a toxic amount of Tylenol will be fine for the first day. But somewhere between 24 and 72 hours later, the child may develop liver failure. The damage to the liver can be severe, necessitating a liver transplant or even leading to death.

This is Ella, our 2 year old daughter whom we adopted from Uganda, sleeping peacefully in the Latvian sun. We?re so thankful Ella is okay after this week!

We do not know exactly how much Tylenol Ella ate, but we now know it was enough that it could have put her life at risk.

Thankfully, we called our doctor right away. We did not wait to see if Ella was okay. The doctor told us to go to the emergency room immediately. We were able to get to the hospital quickly. At the hospital, the doctors rushed to empty the contents of Ella?s stomach. They put in an IV and gave her fluids and medication to stop the Tylenol from damaging her liver. This treatment worked.?Ella spent more than 48 hours in the hospital under close observation.?These?days were painful for Ella ? and scary for us.?Thankfully,?the treatment worked and Ella is back home with our family.

Two important takeaways:

1. Never keep any medication in a container that is not childproof. If you have young children, you need to do this right now.?Go through your purse, backpack, suitcase, messenger bag, gym bag,?desk, kitchen?and bathroom cabinets ? basically anywhere you might keep?medication -?and make sure everything is kept in child-proof containers and out of reach. Dads and grandparents -?this includes you too!
2. If you ever suspect that your child has gotten into medication?such as?Tylenol, call your doctor right away. Do not wait to see if they are okay. Tylenol poisoning is dangerous because by the time you see serious symptoms, it is too late and significant damage has already been done to the child?s liver.

Here is a link to an article with more information about Tylenol, also called acetaminophen or paracetamol, toxicity.

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