Hot-Water Burns

October 11, 2008

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Hot-Water Burns

by Laura Jana, M.D., F.A.A.P.
reviewed by Kathryn Clark, M.D., F.A.A.P.

If holding your hand under the hot water that pours from your household faucets is painful, take heed: Your children may be at risk for scald burns. Burns caused by hot water, liquids, or steam are the most common types of burn-related injury in children under age four. As you reexamine your household with your child's safety in mind, take a moment to consider where your little one might have access to hot water (and other liquids) and take measures to protect your child in these areas.

How hot is too hot?
When it comes to how hot the water is in your home, you're likely to have heard or read the recommendation to turn your water heater down to 120 degrees Fahrenheit or below, since many hot-water heaters are installed at temperatures between 140 and 150 degrees.

If you haven't followed the advice to turn down the setting on your water heater, you're not alone. But understanding why this is such an important safety precaution may motivate you to actually do it (or talk to your landlord about getting it done if you live in a rental). While hot water always presents the risk of serious burns, the amount of time it takes to actually cause a third-degree burn varies greatly depending on just how hot the water is. While a temperature of 140 degrees can cause a severe enough burn to require hospitalization and skin grafting in a matter of just 3 seconds, a child would have to be exposed to 120-degree water for well over 15 seconds to suffer the same degree of injury.

Scald burns are preventable
According to the National SafeKids Campaign, more than 75 percent of all scald burn-related injuries that occur in children under the age of two could have been prevented using a few basic safety measures.

The most important things you can do to prevent scald burns are to:

carefully supervise your child when he is around any source of hot water

limit his access to hot water and liquids until he is old enough to use appropriate caution

teach him about the potential risks of hot water and other liquids and how to avoid them

Prevention in the bathroom

Turn your water heater down to 120 degrees or below.

Never leave your child unattended in the bathtub. (It's not even a good idea to entrust him to the supervision of an older sibling unless that sibling is preteen or older and very responsible.) In addition to risk of drowning, children might turn on the hot water and consequently get burned.

Starting at a very early age, teach your child to not touch the hot-water controls at the sink or in the tub. You obviously can't rely on an infant to follow these instructions for several years, but it's still a lesson worth teaching even before a child turns one.
Consider installing an antiscald device on your child's bathtub faucet or shower head. This piece of safety equipment is designed to sense when water is too hot and to consequently limit its flow out of the faucet. You typically can find these devices at hardware, plumbing, and baby stores.

Stop running bath water and check the temperature before putting your child in the tub. You can use a thermometer or one of the specially designed toys or bathmats designed to change color if the water is too hot. The water should be no hotter than 104 degrees.

If you choose to run bath water while your child is sitting in the tub, always turn the cold water on before the hot water, and turn off the hot water first.

Remember: Flushing toilets, starting a washing machine, or running water elsewhere in the house can cause abrupt changes in water temperature.

Prevention in the rest of the house

Keep hot liquids out of the reach of young children, away from counter and table edges, and off tablecloths that can easily be pulled and cause hot liquids to spill.

When cooking, keep pot handles pointed toward the back of the stove so that they can't be reached from below, and use the back burners whenever possible.

Don't forget that microwaves heat both liquids and foods unevenly, so always mix or stir liquids and check the temperature carefully before offering them to your child.


RELATED INFORMATION

			Bathtub Safety
			Safety: Water
			Safety: Household

Created March 14, 2001
Reviewed June 08, 2001

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