Baby Sitters' Guide
Banner Good Samaritan Poison and Drug Information Center
24-hour phone: 1-800-222-1222
As a babysitter you have a big responsibility to take care of the children while their parents are away.
One of the things that you should try to prevent is having children get into poisons.
Many children are poisoned each day by:
- Medicines in medicine bottles or packages from the drug store.
- Personal care products like eyedrops, mouthwash and perfume.
- Cleaning products like Drano, dishwasher detergent, oven cleaner and ammonia.
- Bug Killers like sprays, granules-sprinkled around the outside of the house-and little plastic disks that have bug poison inside them.
- Products for cars like gasoline, motor oil, antifreeze and windshield wiper fluid.
- Batteries and battery acid: including button batteries made for watches and toys.
- Plants like diffenbachia, yellow oleander, philodendron and pothos. Desert critters like scorpions, black widow spiders and rattlesnakes. Ask parents if there are scorpions in the house and what to watch for.
- Tobacco products: cigarettes and chew tobacco.
- Alcoholic beverages: including beer and wine.
Children are naturally curious and they will eat or drink anything, even if it doesn't look or taste good. It is a big job and keeping your eyes on the children at all time is a good start.
It is hard to go into a new house to babysit and not be sure if the poisons have been put up and out of sight of the children.
Before parents leave, know where the emergency numbers are, phone numbers where they can be reached and if there is anything they should be aware of in the house like scorpions.
You want to be the best babysitter and keep the children safe until the parents come home.
