Summer travel checklist: childproof the vitamins

Vacationing with the kids? Be careful where you keep the vitamins. Multivitamins containing iron--even chewable supplements for children--can be toxic to youngsters, advises Daniel Keyes, associate professor of surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and director of the North Texas Poison Center. "Vitamins are very frequently the cause of severe poisoning in small children," he warns.

Iron ingestion is a leading cause of poisoning deaths in infants and children under the age of six. Prenatal vitamins, which contain high levels of the mineral, are particularly dangerous--as few as four pills can be lethal. Early signs of an over-dose include vomiting and abdominal pain.

Adults should use caution in the storage and use of all pills, Keyes indicates, since even children's vitamins can be dangerous if eaten like candy. Travel packs designed for easy transport are convenient, but not tamper-resistant. All pills should be kept in childproof containers and stored out of reach, and sight, of youngsters. Also, adults should avoid taking medicine in front of a child or giving a child medicine while another youngster is watching.

In a poison exposure, call the Poison Center hotline at 1-800-222-1222 and locate what remains of the substance ingested or its container. Hotline workers will need the victim's age, weight, and symptoms, as well as the substance swallowed and the amount and time of ingestion.

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