Just because Burn Week is over, doesn't mean awareness of scald dangers, and burn safety should end. Remember that 10,000 Children are Hospitalized with Burns and you should Prevent Scald Burns to Keep Your Family Safe.
It may help you protect your children from scald injury if you think about it in three time frames:
- You can make some changes in your kitchen or bath area which will have a long-term impact.
- You can take certain steps right before children are in the area where you’re preparing hot food or beverages, and
- You can protect children while they’re in your immediate area when you are cooking and dining.
While nothing can take the place of close supervision, certain household modifications can have a long-acting impact on scald injury risk to young children.
- Draw the boundary of a “kid-free” zone on the floor or mark it with tape. At a very young age, children can understand “NO” when it refers to entering that zone.
- Put away your tablecloths while children are little. Use placemats with a non-slip surface instead.
- Use spill-resistant “travel mugs” as hot beverage containers. They have tight lids that can only be opened by pushing a lever.
Here are some same-day steps you can take before small children are in the immediate area.
- Keep friends, relatives, and sitters informed
- Turn pan handles away from stove front
- Observe safe microwave oven practices
- Protect electric cooking appliances and cords
Note especially the visitor rule: When friends, relatives and babysitters arrive, you can tell them just what activities a small child is getting into lately involving the kitchen and dining areas. Even the most frequent visitors and caretakers may be unaware of recent growth progress that can place toddlers even more at risk of scald injury.
For example, household members may know they need to keep hot coffee cups off a low table a child has just learned to reach, but a visitor may not. If a toddler discovers and spills a cup of hot coffee placed on the table by a visitor, the resulting burn could cover a large area of a small child’s body and require burn center care.
Be sure to turn pot handles away from the stove edge when you start cooking.
Avoid using microwave ovens to heat baby bottles. And don’t allow young children to use microwave ovens themselves.
Place electric cooking appliances where extension cords are not needed and keep appliance cords away from the counter edge.
The following safety-oriented behaviors will further reduce the risk of scald injury when small children are right underfoot.
Scald-safe child supervision
- Supervise young children at all times
- Encourage use of “kid-safe” zone
- Never hold a child in your arm:
–While preparing or serving hot food
–While drinking a hot beverage
- Keep hot food and liquids high and out of the reach of young children
The best way to make household modifications and everyday preparations effective is to keep track of what young children are doing at all times. Inattention can undermine safety measures you’ve put in place.
You’ve already taught children about the “kid-free” zone. While you’re cooking, encourage them to enjoy the “kid-safe” zone outside that area. For very young children, the best “kid-safe” place in the kitchen is a playpen or high chair.
The most dangerous place may be in the arm or lap of an adult who is preparing or serving hot food or drinking a hot beverage. If a child bumps the arm holding the hot food or drink, the resulting spill could cause a serious injury.
Keep hot food and liquids high and out of the reach of young children. Since microwave ovens do not always heat foods and beverages evenly, stir and test hot food portions before serving children.

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