Children are naturally curious. When it comes to young children, everything is new to them and everything is exciting to them.

When my 4 sons were younger, it worried me all the time. They were so fast and quick getting around! They’d be next to me in the kitchen talking and then in the blink of an eye, they’d be up in their bedroom! I was always so nervous about them getting into the wrong things, for example, anything that could be harmful or dangerous within our home. Now that we’ve added a 5^th child to our brood, believe me… not much has changed. Victoria is JUST as curious and into exploring as her brothers were when they were toddlers. She’s here. She’s there. She’s everywhere. As much as I love having a curious little explorer on my hands, I also need to make sure I’m protecting her within our house, too.

Fortunately, our house has (literally) been baby-proofed since the second our 1st son became mobile.

Cabinets locked. Staircases gated. Doors bolted. Furniture anchored. Storage cabinets locked. Windows top-locked. Household cleaning products locked away.

Safe-proofing my home was always important to me because I didn’t want my curious little ones to get into anything that could potentially harm them. It truly only takes a second for something to become a danger, so making sure your bases are covered in your home is essential.

I’m honored to share that I have partnered with P&G to be a member of their Fabric Care Advisory Board to spread awareness about the importance of laundry safety.

I had the incredible opportunity to travel to P&G’s Headquarters in Cincinnati last month to meet with the Fabric Care Team to discuss laundry safety and all that they’re doing to raise awareness. Believe it or not, not many people think about their laundry rooms when they’re safe-proofing their homes.

Why is this important?

Currently being used in 20% of households are liquid laundry pacs. We are among that 20% in the McClelland household! Liquid laundry pacs have quickly become part of many Americans’ daily routines because of their concentrated cleaning power. They’re easy to use. They’re pre-measured. They’re convenient. BUT! Households with children, infants to age three, are at greater risk of incident as they love to explore and may come in contact with various household items, good and bad. Especially kids who are one and two years old, who explore much of the world through their mouths, these laundry packets can potentially be harmful if punctured or ingested. P&G is committed to safety in the home, especially as it relates to laundry room safety and properly storing laundry pacs away from young children in the household.

Since Victoria falls right into that age range, I need to be extra careful that we’re storing our Tide Pods high up and away from her. The scary thing is that since the pacs are highly concentrated, children under 5 can experience severe side effects if they consume the detergent. They could have excessive vomiting, difficulty breathing, serious eye burns or more. So you need to think ahead and make sure there’s nothing out for kids to touch, taste or play with on their own.

P&G’s Fabric Care Team wants to help educate parents and caregivers on how to prevent incidents at home by being aware and properly closing and storing laundry pac containers. Therefore, this week P&G is launching a new educational campaign dedicated to help educate on safely using and storing liquid laundry pacs.

As you can see, it’s going to be an incredible way to make sure the message is out there and that people listen!

How amazing is Tide’s NEW magnet?  They want all households to remember to keep their laundry pacs UP, CLOSED and SAFE. What I love the most is that this graphic is easy to understand and follow. By removing any temptation for a child, no harm can be done. It’s that simple! I also think it’s great that they have included the Poison Control Center 800-number in case there are any emergencies or questions for parents/caregivers.

Tide has also updated their Tide Pods packaging so that it complies with a new ASTM standard which provides manufacturers with guidelines on laundry packet design and packaging.  The new Tide Pods bag features a Child-Guard™ zipper that P&G co-developed with packaging company Presto Products. It makes it much more difficult for a child to reach their hand in and grab anything out.

The big takeaway is to always remember the importance of laundry safety with liquid laundry pacs in your household.

5 Tips for Parents and Caregivers to Always Remember:

1. Keep laundry products out of the reach of children at all times – even between loads. Never place a laundry packet on the top of a pile of dirty laundry. They should never be outside of their container and accessible to children. 
2. Use a cabinet safety latch as an added security measure to ensure products are not accessible. Keep all laundry out of reach. 
3. After each use, close the container completely and immediately put products away in their appropriate storage location.
4. Adults should follow the instructions on the product label.
5. If your child does put one of these packets in his mouth or gets any in his eye, call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222 immediately.

I’m beyond impressed with all that P&G Fabric Care is doing to spread awareness about laundry safety. I encourage you to watch and share the Tide Television Commercial “It Only Takes A Second” with other parents and caregivers.

Thank you P&G Fabric Care bringing attention to laundry safety, it makes me so proud to be part of your Advisory Council.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored posting. All opinions are 100% my own.