Challenges in Designing Child-Resistant Packaging

Child-resistant packaging refers to packaging that is difficult for children younger than 52 months to open, but that can be opened easily by adults up to 70 years old. Child-safe packaging mainly depends on the fact that young children are unable to perform two movements—push and turn—at the same time. Child-resistant packaging designs are used to reduce the risk of children ingesting dangerous ingredients, which is why they’re commonly used in the healthcare industry.

It’s important to not only have safety closures for containers that contain medicine or other potentially harmful substances but to also make children aware of the dangers of ingesting unknown substances. While there’s no such thing as child-proof packaging, there are child-resistant packaging regulations that companies should abide by in order to keep their products safely out of the hands of children. Think your product could benefit from a child-safe packaging design? Keep reading for some tips on creating the perfect packaging solution.

Designing a Child-Resistant Package

Make It Smart

When creating a child-safe packaging design for your product, it’s important to keep in mind that the goal is to make it complicated to open, not hard to open. That is, seniors with lower physical strength should be able to open child-resistant packaging with ease—it shouldn’t take strength to access your package.

Think Big

When creating a child-safe packaging design, think about making it a little larger than normal. Children are able to grasp small diameter caps and closures easily with their hands and mouths. Making a closure bigger will not only make it harder for children to access, but it’ll make it easier for adults to open since many of them have a difficult time navigating small ones.

Let It “Click”

It can be difficult to tell when some child-safe packaging is truly closed. Creating a package that has an audible sound when closed can help solve this problem—it’ll give adults peace of mind, since they’ll be confident that they’ve properly closed the package each time.

Make Hazardous Products Easy to Reseal

Creating a child-safe package is only half the battle; unless your product is a one-time use, you’ll have you think about making your package resealable too. Most children have a difficult time opening packages for the first time, but once they’re opened, most can gain access using their hands or mouth. Blister packs or special safety caps are an easy solution to this problem since blister packs are reinforced with cardboard or plastic, and safety caps can be hard to maneuver.

Are you looking to create the perfect child-resistant packaging solution for your product? Look no further than The Unique Group. We’ve partnered with multiple leading brands to bring their packaging ideas to life, and we offer a variety of options when it comes to labels, packages, and tags. With decades of experience and state-of-the-art technology, we’ve become a leader in the industry.