At Team Protect, we’re dedicated to safeguarding the lives of children through practical, actionable solutions and impactful awareness campaigns.
A 2024 study from the U.S. Poison Centers showed that most poisonings occur unintentionally at home in children younger than 6 years. Household cleaners, medicines, make-up and personal care products, and plants are among the most common poisoning risks for young children.
No family should have to experience what Eitan’s family did. With greater awareness, education, and community support, these accidents can be dramatically reduced.
I’m writing as a mother who nearly lost her 18-month-old baby to paraffin poisoning.
After accidentally ingesting Ner Mitzvah Shabbos lamp oil through the easily accessible straw-like “Funnel Cap” apparatus, my beautiful baby Eitan started coughing uncontrollably. My husband, knowing something was seriously wrong but not yet aware of the cause, called me in a panic. I told him to call an ambulance immediately.
Eitan required urgent treatment and was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), where he remained on a ventilator for five days. Although he temporarily lost his strength and his ability to walk and talk, against all odds, he miraculously made great progress with therapy and was discharged from the hospital after 10 days. Baruch Hashem, he is now thriving. But this miracle could easily have been a tragedy.
As parents, we don’t always realize how quickly common household products—cleaners, medications, and even items intended for mitzvos, can become life-threatening in the hands of a curious toddler. Exposure to oils, detergents, cleaning products, and other home chemicals remains one of the most common causes of pediatric poisonings, yet much of it is entirely preventable with awareness and safer product placement within our homes.
In Eitan’s honor, I am committed to helping other families avoid this nightmare. My goal is to raise awareness about safer storage, child-resistant packaging, and simple habits that keep children protected.
No family should have to experience what we did. With greater awareness, education, and community support, these accidents can be dramatically reduced.
Let’s work together to prevent these incidents and ensure our homes remain places of joy instead of unimaginable sorrow. Please reach out: join@teamprotect.org | 650-770-9111 — to get safety updates, volunteer, or donate to Team Protect’s vital mission. You can make a huge difference!
With gratitude and hope,
