Children And Poisons

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30108, 17 April 1963, Page 7

Children And Poisons

Sir,—We can all understand the peripatetic instincts of the very young, and allow for the Darwinian origins of their desire to climb everything within sight: but surely it is not beyond the competence of parents to confine their offsprings’ explorations to ground level, and to put noxious substances well out of their reach. A definite embargo on scrambling in to chairs or sofas should not be impossible to enforce on under-fives, and might well be instrumental in saving doctors, mothers, and infantile stomachs a good deal of trouble and disturbance. Berries, of course, present a serious problem for infants whose wanderlust takes them out of doors, but here potential victims could be saved from temptation by some vigilant maternal discipline. A few common-sense precautions and rather less parental complacency concerning the doings of their young might save the latter from taking a swig at furniture polish or scoffing a dozen aspirins.— Yours, etc., BOADICEA. April 16, 1963.