ER Doctor Shares What Items She Keeps Locked Away In Her House

When I was pregnant, I baby-proofed our house. I stuck those plastic things in the outlets. I added knob protectors to the stove. I didn’t really think about the fact that for the first six months of this kid’s life, she’d be... a potato. Nevertheless, baby- and child-proofing my house has always been a huge priority for me, especially once they’re mobile and thereafter. Yes, teens need child-proofing too!

ER doctor and content creator, Dr. Meghan Martin (@beachgem10), shared what she and her husband quite literally locked away from their kids and there are definitely some good reasons for why she did!

After admitting that she had already had an issue with alcohol and her kids, they locked all their alcohol up in a cabinet with a Master Lock that needed a key.

“My husband and I both have a key,” she explained.

Next up, what should be at the top of every parent's list: medicine.

“And then our medicine cabinet up here, same thing, we have a Master Lock that helps keep this lock so that the kids can't get into it. We do have one dose of ibuprofen and Tylenol that we keep down here in this cabinet that can be taken as needed, but we do ask that they talk to us before they take any medication so that we know what they're doing, what time they're taking it. So if we needed to give another dose later, etc.,” she explained.

If the Master Lock is not your speed, Martin offered up a few alternatives.

“If you want to go a different route, there's a variety of sized boxes that have either a combination lock or a padlock on them that will help limit access. And if you hypothetically had a product that had an aroma that you wanted to keep away from your kids, which was a great idea, again, no judgment here, but let's protect the kids. There are smell-proof bags that have combination locks on them that can help protect kids,” she said.

Of course, she’s talking about marijuana products.

“We've talked about the number of THC gummy ingestion, so we've had a bag like this would be a great place for those,” she said.

She continued, “I want to repeat, this is not good kids versus bad kids, trusting them versus not trusting them. This is about putting layers of protection in place for developing brains that make impulsive decisions.”

Some TikTok users couldn’t get on board with Martin’s proactive measures, citing it as an overcorrection to “kids being kids,” while others applauded her parenting.

“I love how you teach safety. You’re not judge mental and you’re very informative. Thank you again for all you do!,” one user wrote.

Another said, “Believing you can't make a mistake as a parent makes it more likely that you will—because it leads to complacency. Staying vigilant, like locking up medications, helps prevent avoidable dangers.”