This post is sponsored by the American Cleaning Institute®. All opinions are my own. #PacketsUp

Laundry Room Safety

Like all children, both my daughters are very inquisitive and curious. They are good kids with many after school activities and are involved in team sports. They listen to instructions and can articulate exactly what you have requested of them. However, if there is a boundary, they’ve already pushed it.

More times than not, the most inappropriate behaviors happen only after we have suggested otherwise. Simply asking your child to be careful is not enough when it comes to laundry safety and the proper usage, handling, and storage of liquid laundry packets. The American Cleaning Institute is helping to educate parents and caregivers to avoid exposing children to liquid laundry packets. Because it’s not enough to simply know the potential risks, American Cleaning Institute has worked with public safety officials and consumer groups to put in place a series of packaging and labeling measures as part of a new standard. This new standard can help reduce accidental exposures to liquid laundry packets.

My girls are three and nine years old so there are many times when they are helping with chores together. Our youngest daughter follows her big sister around and wants to do all the “big girl” things like her. At just nine years old, we are constantly reminding her of the necessary precautions with household hazards like laundry packets, so she can only demonstrate the best and most safe behavior for her little sister. The reminder label is now in our laundry room too so it’s the first thing we all see when we are doing laundry.

As parents, we know accidents can happen in an instant. The only safe handling of laundry packets can be done by adults. They should always be stored out of children’s reach. For us, that means they must be placed in a high and closed cabinet. If it’s visible, our youngest daughter will certainly find it regardless of the many warnings we’ve shared. She’s three and at this age everything is new and exciting.

There are plenty of opportunities for our youngest to help with laundry but we have strict limitations. She is never left unattended in the laundry room and feels like a big helper when she loads her laundry in to the washing machine. This is where her chore list stops because we don’t want to empower her to feel confident adding laundry packets herself – we do this step after she has left the laundry room.

What to do if your child experiences an unintended exposure to the contents of a laundry packet

Call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) if your child chews, swallows, or gets liquid laundry packet contents in the eyes.

To learn more about laundry packet safety, visit PacketsUp.com and watch the Through Their Eyes video to understand how to keep toddlers safe by seeing the world from their perspective. Follow the conversation and get laundry room safety tips with “#PacketsUp” on Facebook and Twitter.

Keeping our children involved in household chores safely is a priority in our home. But I have to stop and remember my little helpers are exactly that, little. There are some things small children shouldn’t help with quite yet.

What do you do to keep your laundry room safe for your children?