Child-safe bottle caps - do you prefer them or not?
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
September 25, 2007 2:23am CST
Child safe bottle caps drive me nuts! Don't get me wrong, I understand the need for them in households with small children but let's face it, most children can probably open some of them much more easily than some adults can! The ones where you have to line up the arrows is impossible for someone with poor vision to see and the ones where you have to push down and twist are difficult for elderly people, or even younger people with arthritis for example. My pharmacy gives you a choice if you prefer not to have safety caps but the over-the-counter medicines usually don't offer a choice. The strange thing, and what gave me the idea to start this discussion is I bought a bottle of Tylenol PM with 50 tablets a few weeks ago and it didn't have a safety cap and I was so pleased but I bought a smaller bottle of the same type but only 24 tablets today and that on has a safety cap. So a child can open and eat a bottle of 50 but not the one with 24? I double checked the packages and there was nothng indicating whether there was a safety cap or not. What do you guys think? As I said, if you have little children I certainly understand but there are no children to open them FOR us in my house!
Annie
2 people like this
8 responses
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
26 Sep 07
I hate those child-proof bottles. They are so hard to open if your hands are weak. My med have those two sided lids that can go ether way. but the pharmacy has to put the child proof side on. Onother thing that make life difficult is those containers that you have to squeese the lids to get them open. I'm sure you've come across them. It's toilet bowl cleaner. Then as someone else mentioned the plastic wraps on so many things. They just make life frustrating.
1 person likes this
@webeishere (36313)
• United States
25 Sep 07
Those caps are sometimes nearly impossible to get off the bottles. My dad can't even open a regular cap on his meds so I have to do it for him. And even I have problems sometimes pushing down etc to open them. I get my dads meds filled through www.Medco.com online and their caps are not the childproof ones so it's easier for me to get them opened. I have no children in my house anymore. Now most caps are reversible as well. They go on upside down and aren't childproof anymore as well.
HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB !!~
1 person likes this
@Rozie37 (15499)
• Turkmenistan
25 Sep 07
That last line was pretty funny. I would think that one of the reasons that the points that need to be lined up are raised is so that people with low vision can do it without assistance.
I believe that they are hoping that the parents would take some actice role in keeping the pills away from their children. I also think that with a 24 tablet bottle, you are more likely to carry it around with you in your purse or something. Which would make it more accessible to the child.
Whereas, a bigger bottle would be more for the entire family and be kept in a safer place. I am just guessing, not for sure.
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
25 Sep 07
I also hate these nuisances, anniepa, since I have arthritis in my hands and also get breakouts on some of my fingers from eczema sometimes. It can be very painful trying to open these bottles. I don't know if I hate them more or the packages those gelcaps come in. I usually end up having to get my scissors out to get into those! I think that people should have a choice in they type of packaging they prefer. As you stated, childproof packaging is unnecessary in a household where there are no children.
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@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
25 Sep 07
I am not really fond of the idea of child-proof bottle caps, basically because a lot of children, even toddlers, can open them. So people could get careless, thinking that the cap will prevent kids from getting sick, and then children could still get sick.
Other than that, it's not really a big deal to me.
1 person likes this
@gapeach65 (805)
• United States
25 Sep 07
I know exactly what you mean. Last week, I had sprained my hand pretty bad, there wasn't a whole lot I could do, including opening the bottle of Ibuprofen, or my other daily medicine. I had to ask my 9 year old son to open them for me. He loved being able to help mom out, and said that he's known how to open these for a long time, because he helps his Grandmom with her pills. That was surprising to me, I had no idea he had been helping her, she lives with us, so he's been helping her since he was very young. That is strange that the larger bottle would be easier to open than the smaller one, what are these companies thinking, or are they? These companies need to start offering the bottles with easier caps, and write it on the package so that older people or just people with injuries or pains can have the choice.
1 person likes this
