It often comes as a surprise to parents just how easily a young child can badly burn themselves. Because their skin is more delicate than an adult’s, a baby or toddler is more at risk from serious burns.

“Everyone in the burns unit was there because of an accident. None of them were born that way and they hadn’t developed a disease to make them disfigured. In a split second their whole life changed.” 

According to recent data from the The Children’s Burns Trust, the NHS services treat more than 30 babies and toddlers with a hot drink burn every day.  That’s over 10,000 babies and toddlers a year!

A cup of tea could be the most dangerous thing in your lounge. Any hot drink can scald a baby even 15 minutes after it’s been made.

In fact, 95% of all childhood burns and scalds happen at home. Most are caused in the day-to-day situations that many parents don’t anticipate, like children reaching a hot drink or grabbing hair straighteners. We have highlighted some of the other dangers in and around the home and some tips on how to prevent injury.

Preventing burns and scalds

In the kitchen

There’s more to watch out for than just the oven – kettles, hot drinks and saucepans can all burn. Young children can climb on chairs and counters and may often reach higher than you think.

Saucepans can seem like fun things to try to grab. Turning the saucepan handles away from the edge of the counter or cooker and using the back rings keeps them out of reach of little hands.

Kettle cords are also a temptation, but if you push the cord to the back of the worktop, or use a kettle with a short or curly flex, you will be able to keep them out of reach.

Hot drinks can easily be knocked over or grabbed by little fingers, and a cup of tea can burn even 15 minutes after it’s been made. So put your baby or child down before picking up your hot drink, avoid passing them over children’s heads and keep them out of reach of children.

Hobs and hotplates can all stay hot even after they’ve been turned off, and oven doors can be very hot when the oven is on. You can teach children how to behave safely around them, but they might not understand or remember the danger so it’s best to keep them away.

Microwaves don’t heat things in the same way as a cooker. Avoid warming babies’ bottles in the microwave, the milk may heat up unevenly leaving spots of very hot milk which can scald your baby’s mouth. Use a warmer or jug of hot water instead. Shake the bottle well after warming and test to make sure it’s lukewarm not hot.

Chip pans can easily cause fires! If you don’t want to switch to oven chips, or use an electric deep-fat fryer, make sure you only fill your pan 1/3 full and keep an eye on it.

Matches, cigarette lighters and candles are grown-up objects. Toddlers and young children can find them fascinating. It’s safest to keep matches, lighters and candles out of their reach and sight. If you can lock them away, even better. Remember that even though lighters are child-resistant, many 3 and 4 year olds will be able to operate them in a few seconds – and the child-resistant mechanism is no barrier for older children.