What Do I Do If My Child Has Drunk Bleach?

Preventing accidents from ingesting products such as bleach or the like depends on prevention. If it happens, act quickly and accurately, it will be the best for your child.

If your child has drunk bleach, you will be running to the emergency department closest to your home, instead of reading this article. And that, indeed, is what needs to be done.

If it is not your case, as we hope, the objective of this installment is to analyze the preventive measures that must be taken so that this does not happen and prepare yourself mentally on how to act in case your child suffers an intoxication of this type. Forewarned mother or father are worth two.

Why do these poisonings occur?

The ingestion of products such as bleach or other cleaning supplies has serious consequences. Poisoning not only occurs through the digestive tract, but can also occur by breathing the gases that these products emanate or by dermal contact.

Caustic intoxication warrants going to the emergency services, as stated in this information from the  SEGHNP Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Pediatric Nutrition Diagnostic and Therapeutic Protocols  to avoid esophageal or stomach injuries caused by ingestion. Bleach, chlorine, cleaners in general, cosmetic or personal hygiene products, are caustic products.

They are so called because they are chemical compounds capable of producing severe injuries to tissues, similar to those produced by direct heat on tissue.

Generally, if your child has drunk bleach or a similar product, it is an accident. If you are a teenager or an adult, the intake of these products is associated with a suicide attempt, which means that the measures to be followed will be of a different nature and more urgent.

What to do if your child has drunk bleach: how to prevent?

When a child ingests these chemicals, it is most often because the contents of the container have been changed. Adults sometimes change the product to a juice or soft drink container and that container, by mistake, remains within the reach of the child.

A young child identifies the container, associates it with the drink it usually contains, and tests its contents. Home safety depends on the preventive measures that can be taken to avoid this type of accident:

• Avoid leaving caustic products such as bleach, chlorine, detergents or shampoo within the reach of children.
• It prevents the child from being able to recognize the container as a container for something edible. If you keep these products in the original container, you can read the manufacturer’s recommendations if they are ingested.
• Limit the use of caustic products in the spaces that babies and children frequent, since poisoning can also occur through the respiratory tract or through the skin.

• To ensure hygiene and cleanliness of the home, it is recommended to use white vinegar. It is a good bactericide that does not generate any type of toxic gas or damage the skin, even if there is direct contact.

What to do if your child has drunk bleach?

The first thing is to stay calm. Desperation instead of helping can aggravate injuries. Your child needs you to act with precision. The fundamental first aid are:

• Never induce vomiting, because you would cause a double injury  when entering the product and then returning through the esophagus.
• Nor should you give him anything to drink, neither water nor milk. Nothing. There are no homemade solutions to address these cases.
• Contact the emergency service in your community as quickly as possible.
• Transfer your child to the nearest emergency center as soon as possible.

• If you can carry the product he ate, so much the better

If your child is a boy, he most likely had a very small amount. The taste is very unpleasant, since manufacturers usually incorporate substances to make the taste bitter and, precisely, to prevent them from being ingested by mistake.

Symptoms of ingesting caustic products

If you have a small child and you cannot tell if he has drunk bleach or similar products, you should be aware of the appearance of some of the following symptoms:

• Immediate discomfort in the mouth and throat.
• Difficulty swallowing and hoarseness.
• Nausea and vomiting  (blood may or may not be present).
• Difficulty breathing and high-pitched sounds when inhaling.
• Chest pain.

• If your child comes into state of shock (mental confusion, loss of consciousness, it transpires, is pale, has cold hands and feet), you have to act very quickly.

About the intake of caustic products

Remember: if your child has drunk bleach, the fundamental recommendation is to go immediately to the nearest emergency department. In cases where the intake of the substance is intentional, of course, after the medical emergency is over, it is necessary to seek psychological help.