Burns and Scalds
A baby’s skin is very sensitive and even hot water and hot drinks
can scald badly. Take great care with anything hot.
- Use fireguards
designed to protect children. Heaters are safer if fixed to a wall and
used with a heater guard.
- Don't drink hot liquids with a baby on your lap or in your arms, or
have a baby on your lap at the table within grasping or knocking distance
of anything hot.
- Radiators can burn a baby’s skin. You may need to turn the heating
down or use a radiator
guard.
- Hot water from the tap can scald. Turn the hot water system down to
54°C/130°F.
- The inside of a freezer can cause an ice burn. Use a freezer
lock so your baby or toddler cannot open the door.
- The dangling cord from an iron on an ironing board is very tempting
to a crawling baby. Do the ironing when he is safely in bed, or pop
him in his highchair with a few toys so he can watch you but cannot
reach the iron.
- Swap flexes on kettles and appliances for curly ones that won't dangle
over the edge of a worktop and tempt a crawling baby to pull on them.
- Use a cooker
guard. Get into the habit of using the rear burners or plates on
the cooker rather than the front ones. Turn pan handles towards the
back of the cooker.
- At a temperature which may feel only hot to an adult, an oven door
can burn a baby’s skin badly. Fit an oven door guard, which adds
an extra insulating layer to the door.
- Always put cold water in the bath first. Adding cold water after hot
is potentially unsafe; you could forget to add the cold or an older
child could climb in, thinking the bath is ready.
- The bath water should feel warm to your elbow - the traditional way
of checking (your hand is too accustomed to hot temperatures). A bath
thermometer removes all doubt.
- Wrap a towel around taps to prevent hot water from dripping and to
avoid heads being bumped on them.
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