Mum Warns About Dangers of Laundry Pods And Kids

A mother has warned about the dangers of laundry pods after her toddler son got hold of one that left his eyes red raw and bruised after it popped.

Mum Jemima Strain, from England, was doing a load of washing when her son got hold of a squishy laundry detergent pod.

Suddenly, the pod popped, covering the boy’s face and eyes with the liquid, then he screamed in pain.

Ms Strain quickly washed her son’s eyes out with water and took him to the hospital.

Doctors spent almost two hours with a team of nurses who held him down, as they forced his eyes open, and tried to neutralise the liquid with saline fluid.

Ms Strain then took to Facebook to warn other parents to make sure their laundry pods are out of reach of their children at all times. She posted a photo of her son’s face where his eyes can be seen red raw and bruised from the terrifying ordeal.

“Please make sure that your children NEVER TOUCH these!” she wrote.

“The warnings on the boxes are minuscule and the boxes themselves aren’t childproof.

“I had no idea how awful the contents are.”

Ms Strain claimed that when they took her son to the eye specialist clinic, she was surprised that consultants said they had written to manufacturers “begging them to stop making them as they caused 40 per cent of all eye injuries last year”.

“If we had not washed his eyes out my son would have suffered from further burns to his eyes and children have had corneas burned off,” she said.

She added that the squishy detergent pods were an “awful advertising gimmick” that were very appealing to young children. She also pleaded for manufacturers to make the boxes more childproof.

Ms Strain then urged other parents to think twice if they want their kids to help them with the washing.

“Please don’t let your children help with the washing,” she said.

“These tablets are as bad as bleach and can be life threatening if swallowed.

“We were fortunate “¦ we acted fast and he was only blind for 3 days and with drops started to open his eyes and now has full site [sic] back.

“PLEASE KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN.”

Her post has been shared more than 2,400 times, earning mixed reactions from people on social media. Most of the comments expressed support but there are others who blamed her for not putting the detergent in a safe place, away from her son.

One wrote: “Can’t see how this is the company’s fault? If a child gets hold of a knife and cuts them selfs [sic], shall we ban knives? So much blame culture! Not enough taking responsibility!”

Ms Strain then defended herself and said: “My argument is, if it is this dangerous, which it is, then the packaging needs changing. The pouches are a gimmick and are highly dangerous. And the boxes are easy to open. They should be kept in a bleach-like container if it’s this dangerous.”

Source: Essentialbaby.com.au