Keeping Children Safe Keeping Children Safe
Research study outcome
University of Nottingham
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    • Scalds

    What our research told us about scalds and burns in under 5 year olds...

    Preventing scalds and burns

     

    Do keep hot drinks out of reach of babies or young children

    Don't pass hot drinks over babies or young children

     

    Teach your young child not to climb in the kitchen, touch the cooker or hot objects

    Don't let your child climb or play with hot things in the kitchen

     

    Do supervise your baby or young child at all times in the bath

    Don't leave your baby or child alone in the bath, even for a moment, for example to collect clothes, nappies or answer to phone

     

    Do limit how often your child climbs or plays on furniture, or carefully supervise them

    Don't let your child climb and play on furniture unsupervised

     

    Do fit a thermostatic mixing valve (TMV) to prevent bath water scalds 

    Don't run the bath using hot water first unless you have a thermostatic mixing valve

     

    Why?

    • Because leaving a hot drink within reach of a child or passing a hot drink over a child was found to greatly increase the likelihood of a scald - hot drinks can scald children up to 15 minutes after they were made
    • Children in our study who were taught kitchen safety rules were less likely to go to hospital due to a scald
    • Children whose parents reported they never left their child unattended in the bath were at lower risk of scalding
    • Our study found that children who climbed or played on furniture more often were more likely to go to hospital because of scald
    • Your hot tap water may be enough to scald a child in a few seconds. TMV's reduce hot tap water temperatures so scalds are much less likely to occur

    Kettle

    Please note:

    The advice reported on this site is based on what we learnt from our research.

    For more advice about scalds please visit these websites:

     

    Preventing other accidents

     

    This research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research Programme (RP-PG-407-10231)

    Disclaimer

    The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

    Keeping Children Safe

    The University of Nottingham

    telephone: +44 (0) 115 846 6901
    email: denise.kendrick@nottingham.ac.uk