Common Sense Doesn't Apply to Laundry Detergent Pods...apparently:

I was surprised the first time I saw this on the news: "Another child is hospitalized for ingesting pods and the parents are mad at Tide!"

"Tide left their product within reach of your child?" I thought as the camera crew followed the child's mother to the top of the washer and dryer where she had left the container. I couldn't believe these people were actually blaming Tide. Now I am not a Tide fanatic. I make my own detergent but I couldn't believe they were blaming the company for the fact that they left the dangerous product where a child could get it. I hoped this blame projecting was going to be an isolated event...

It hasn't been. 

Just last week I saw yet another set of parent's upset at Tide because their child got to the pods and ate them. Where did the child get them? Again from on top of the washer. They've been making dishwasher pod type things for years now (I do use those!) and I haven't heard of anyone blaming Cascade or Dawn for accidental ingestion. We know to keep those locked under the kitchen sink, but laundry detergent for some reason doesn't get the same consideration.

"But kids think they are candy," the media screams! Kids think pills are candy, which is why they stay tucked away in a locked cabinet! That's what keep out of reach of children MEANS!
(Besides, anyone with kids knows that just about everything will go in those mouths regardless of if it looks like candy or not! Except veggies...)

Now parents, we make mistakes. Maybe they were having a hectic day and just didn't put the pods up. We do little things like that. Except the scary part of being a parent is the fact that little mistakes like that can end up with a hospital trip or worse. I always get really sad when I hear stories like this. It's unfortunate and I completely feel for the family. They are mistakes and I know the guilt that comes from it. But I also get irritated when the parents blame anything other than themselves. 

Accepting responsibility for our mistakes is PARENTING 101!!

If I were to leave a knife on the counter and my child got a hold of it, no one would go and a tirade against Cutco! What would make the news is how much a of a negligent parent I was.

Again, the scary part of being a parent is when we make little mistakes like that! I put stuff down all the time I mean to put away later but when it comes to the dangerous stuff, when we leave anything within reach of children, that says on the box we shouldn't, we automatically accept the risks and consequences.

You shouldn't have to read a warning label to tell you to keep laundry detergent out of your child's reach. To add insult to injury it is there just in case you couldn't put two and two together.

While I didn't believe it was really their responsibility to make any changes, Tide has since changed the container so children can't see the pods inside and they are working on making a tougher latch.

But the ultimate responsibility lies in the hands of the parents who buy the products and bring them into their home. Plain and simple.

(Disclaimer: I am not trying to make anyone feel bad if they have experienced something like this. What I am addressing are those parents who want to blame someone else. I've had to call poison control before because my son ate some berries that I knew were there but failed to identify if they were poisonous or not. Thankfully he didn't eat enough of them to cause any side effects. One of those treat the symptom type scenarios. I felt so incredibly guilty and still do. Mistakes happen and when they do we as parents have to take responsibility for them.)