Expert Tips for a Safe Spring Break: Poison Prevention

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 08:00:00 -0500

As Spring Break approaches, Cook Children’s Health Care System is launching a safety series to provide caregivers with essential advice on road trips, poison prevention, and water safety. As pediatric health care experts, the Cook Children's team knows that protecting a child's health is about more than treating illness it’s about preventing emergency room visits due to avoidable injuries.

March marks spring break for families and it is Poison Prevention Month. According to the 2024 Community Health Needs Assessment, one in two children live in homes where medications are not always locked up and four in seven children live in homes where cleaning products are not always stored in a locked area.

“Unintentional poisoning can happen to anyone, at any age,” said Klaressa Broughton, poison prevention program coordinator at the Center for Community Health.

In 2025, Cook Children’s saw an increase of poisoning encounters, with 1,031 compared to 818 in 2024. Broughton explains that the top poisoning for 2025 involved children of all ages from birth to 18 and were related to medication and unspecified non-drug poisonings.

“By practicing Safe Dosing, Safe Storage, and Safe Disposal, you can create layers of protection for your household,” said Broughton.

She adds having conversations with friends, caregivers and family can ensure kids stay safe while they explore someone else’s home. She suggests opening the conversation with: “Since the kids are at the “into everything stage”, do you mind if we double-check that medications and cleaners are out of reach?”

Tips for Poison Prevention:

Safe Medication Dosing

Follow the dosing directions listed on the medication by using the appropriate measuring items, such as a medicine cup or oral syringe.
Double dosing is NOT twice as effective, and in many instances can cause internal damage.
Adult medications may be too strong for children and should not be given in half doses. Only give medicine to your child that is intended for children.
Print the medication schedule to keep the right dosage for your family.

Safe Storage

Many people leave medications on bathroom and kitchen counters as well as bedroom nightstands as a visual reminder to take them. Avoid unintentional injury and store medication up high, locked, and out of reach.
Hang purses and personal bags up high so children cannot reach prescriptions, vitamins, or other regularly used medications.
Remember, when visiting friends and family, it is ok to have an open discussion about safe storage.

Safe Disposal

DEA Drug Take Back Day is on April 25th from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Visit a medication drop box at a local pharmacy. For more information on poison prevention, visit www.meddropbox.org.
The best disposal option is to find a drug take-back location, which may be found in retail, hospital, pharmacies, and/or law enforcement facilities.
Removing any unused or expired medication in the home can reduce the risk of access.

Building your child's core

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 14:46:39 -0500

You probably have never thought about this, but you begin training your core as an infant. Babies are great examples of how being active can build a solid core. From the time when they begin lifting their heads up they are training their core. They continue with rolling, pushing up onto hands, sitting and reaching, crawling, pulling to stand, squatting and walking through their first year of life. Then as toddlers they begin to traverse uneven surfaces, climb, run and jump. Your child has gone through some serious core training. Then modern day life kicks in and we teach our kids to sit still and focus on electronics. They, in turn, lose the control and strength they have built through earlier development.

I am shocked at the number of patients we see where bad posture plays a role in their pain and physical limitations. Whether it be sports injuries, overuse injuries or postural dysfunction, the trend is younger patients are starting to report more injuries. I see technology driving our kids to be more active in an online space than it does in a physical space.

So I would like to take a minute to address how to get our kids active again, but not just any activity. I want to talk about core activity.

What is the core?

The core is a muscular system that works synergistically to provide support and power generation to the body in all positions and with every activity. Think of a soda can to explain the core. The can has a front (deep abdominals), back (multifidi muscles), top (diaphragm muscle) and bottom (pelvic floor muscles). And just like the can, as long as no one pokes a hole in it, it is very strong. As soon as someone creates a weak spot in the can/core, it can easily be crushed.

When do you use your core?

The core should be used during all of life’s daily tasks, but we lose this ability as children when no one teaches us how to use the core during modern-day tasks such as playing on your Ipad or texting your friends.

How do I train the core of a child?

Return to the basics. Too often we see young athletes who have been given formal instruction in how to pitch a ball or perform a round-off back handspring, but little or no training on what it means to use their core functionally. Schools have our kids doing pushups before teaching how to plank. Physical therapy can definitely help patients of all ages with core training, but there are also some things you can do at home. For really young children (3-6yrs) this can mean returning to games that require you to hold positions, such as Twister or Untying the Knot. For slightly older children (7-12yrs), yoga or even just plank holds (3 positions) help build core strength and endurance. For our teens and young adults more formalized training for power generation and power transfer using the core can be very beneficial.

What does a strong core mean?

For your child a strong core means improved performance in their activities whether that is football, dance or band. It can mean no pain when sitting in class or when trying to be active with peers.

For parents, a strong core means fewer complaints from your child, better posture, and less risk of injury while your child is performing their activities.

If you or your child would like help with core training, please contact your physician and seek a referral to Cook Children’s Physical Therapy Department.

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Expert Tips for a Safe Spring Break: Poison Prevention

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Building your child's core