Scalds And Burns In Children

Hot drinks cause most scalds to children under 5. A child's skin is more delicate and sensitive than an adults and will burn or scald more easily. Hot bath water can also cause severe scalding injuries.

Children can also suffer burns from the sun, open fires, cookers, irons, hair straighteners, matches, lighters etc.

To help prevent scalds and burns:

- Put hot drinks out of reach of children

- Use the rear hot plates on your cooker and always turn the pan handles towards the rear of the cooker

- Use a cordless kettle or one with a coiled flex

- Never leave your toddler on their own in the kitchen or bathroom

- When running a bath turn the cold water tap on first and always check the temperature first before placing your child in the bath

- Put a fire guard in front of an open fire

- Keep matches, cigarettes and lighters out of reach from children

- Try and do the ironing when your child is asleep.

- Keep hot hair straighteners and curling tongs out of reach of children

If your child gets a burn or scald:

- Cool the burnt skin as quickly as possible by placing it under cold running water

- Remove any tight clothing from the burn before it starts to swell but do not remove clothing or material that is sticking to the burn

- Cover the burn with a sheet of cling film or a clean plastic bag as they will not stick to the burn

- Phone your surgery for advice or take your toddler to an Accident and Emergency Department (A&E).


24 comments

  1. Great tips.....
    Touch wood my girls have never been burnt....

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  2. I have been burnt and hope that my children never experience it. A colleague's baby was scaled by a cup of tea nda I saw what that can do. Scarey

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  3. thanks for the tips, will be doing my best to do as recommended when time comes

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  4. What a great post - really important and sensible advice :)

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  5. Great tips. Touch wood neither or mine have ever been burnt however we have had a couple of close calls and it really does make you more careful.

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  6. Great tips. We had a nasty scalding incident :( but thankfully no permanent damage.

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  7. Great tips! Unfortunately my youngest had an accident with my hair straighteners. I never leave them lying around but for some reason this time I did. Luckily he only swiped it with the back of his hand. FEEL SO GUILTY! If he had actually touched them with the palm then it would be a different story. :(

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  8. Great tips, thanks for sharing.

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  9. Thank you for all the tips. I hope I never get burnt. Mummy is very careful with me though :) x

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  10. Thanks for sharing. These are really useful tips x

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  11. When my little one burnt his hand I couldn't get him to keep his hand under the cold tap so I filled a large bowl with cold water and poured in a bag of frozen peas and then got him to play with the peas, to keep his hands in the cold water. Fortunately the burn was not serious and we didn't need to go to A&E.

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  12. My son burnt himself last year by climbing on a chair, turned the cooker on and tried to make toast while the husband and I were asleep! Thankfully it was only a superficial burn (we took him to A&E and he had to go to skin clinic a week later) but ever since then we turn the cooker off at the mains and unplug the kettle and toaster after each use.

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  13. This is a great post with lots of good advise.

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  14. Excellent tips. You have to be so vigilant with little ones around.

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  15. Good advise. My cousin was burnt with a hot cup of tea when she was a baby. I was there and saw it about to happen but didn't get to her in time. I felt so guilty for the longest time. She's 18 now and thankfully wasn't left with any scars.

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  16. Some great advice here, thanks. I never knew the tip about putting cling film over a burn. I hope I never have to use it though!

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  17. These are great tips! I do always worry about hot drinks especially now the twins are getting taller and can reach more x

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  18. My SIL was scalded by a hot cup of tea when she was little, I am so careful with mine now!

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  19. A very informative post. My sister poured a mug of coffee over herself when she was a baby, my parents immediately shoved her under the shower and fortunately didn't have scars.

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  20. Hot drinks scare me so much....and we have a mixer tap so I'm always careful to turn it to cold after we've used it just in case it gets turned on accidentally. Some great tips though, thank you.

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  21. What an incredibly useful post. One to bookmark if (heaven forbid) the need ever arises. But seriously, we should be ready for this - these things happen so easily :(

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  22. Thanks for this post, it's so easy to become complacent and we're a really accident prone family :(

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  23. Definitely the putting cold in the bath first. I caught my toddler leaning over the bath with her hands in the water - luckily the cold had been running first so the water was just warm but it gave me a fright.

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  24. Good tips just remember to cool it under the water for a very short time... longer you leave it under the water the more painful it would be later on... I know I've been there

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Thank you for commenting! Have a lovely day!