Tree Terrors | Light Nightmares | Ornament Obstacles | Toy Trouble | Candle Catastrophes | Food Frights | Wretched Wrappings | Plant Pitfalls | All Holiday Hazards
Families with twins, triplets or other multiples must be extra cautious to carefully childproof their homes. However, the holiday season brings hidden hazards. Make sure your happy holidays aren't ruined by accident or injury. Follow these simple guidelines and tips to ensure that your family's holiday plants are safe.
- Introducing holiday plants, like holly, mistletoe or poinsettia, into your home definitely adds a festive flair. Put it could also introduce some extra health risks for your young twins or other multiples.
- Above all, keep plants out of the reach of young children (and pets).
- Despite common perception, poinsettias are not really poisonous. Yes, if your child munches on a poinsettia plant, he may feel ill afterwards, but studies have shown that most people would have to ingest hundreds of leaves before they'd feel any effects. However, the milky sap can sometimes produce a skin reaction, so it's still a good idea to keep them off limits to your multiples.
- Mistletoe is the real danger of the season. Eating it can produce a fatal reaction if any part of the plant is ingested, including the leaves or berries. Make sure you have the telephone number for your local Poison Control Center near the phone at all times. Don't waste time having to look it up when you need it.
- There are many other common holiday plants that can produce toxic reactions. Be aware of what types of plants and greenery are in your house, and of course, keep them out of the reach of your children. Some of them are: azalea, Jerusalem cherry, holly berries, bittersweet, Crown-of-thorns, dieffenbachia, ficus, hyacinth bulbs, and philodendron, pyracantha, amaryllis bulbs, ferns, paperwhite narcissus bulbs, ivy, and juniper leaves.
- Be careful with heavy plant pots and containers that can topple over if toddler twins push or pull on them. Again, placing plants out of the reach of curious kids is your best bet. Look for dangling leaves or vines that little hands can grab.
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