Burns are a common cause
of preventable injury and some 20 000 children under
the age of 4 years are hospitalized each year in the
US. Scalding burns are the most common burn injury and
these burns so often occur when toddlers knock over
cups of hot liquid or grab the handles of pots cooking
on the stove. Household appliances are another common
source of burns in toddlers. Babies and toddlers are
curious, small and have sensitive skin that needs extra
protection. Sadly, most burns could be prevented.
We need to understand the common causes of burns
in children so that we can take steps to make sure
it does not happen:
Scalds (e.g. steam, hot bath water, tipped-over coffee
cups, pots of cooking fluids)
Contact with flames or hot objects (e.g. from the
stove, fireplace, curling iron)
Chemical burns (e.g. from swallowing drain cleaner,
watch batteries or spilling chemicals such as bleach
on to the skin)
Electrical burns (e.g. from biting on electrical cords,
sticking fingers or objects into electrical outlets)
Overexposure to the sun (sun burn)
If your toddler has a minor burn, remove him from
the source of the burn, and soak the area in cool
water for about 15 minutes by placing under running
tap water or by covering with a cold, wet towel. Do
not put ice, butter or any ointments on the burn and
never break any blisters that may form. It is important
to cool the area down because otherwise this same
area keeps on burning.
All other burns need immediate emergency medical
attention.
These are the different degrees of burns:
A first degree burn is limited to the outer layer
of the skin so that it is dry, red and painful but
without blistering. Mild to moderate sunburn is an
example of a first degree burn.
A second degree burn involves blistering of the skin
and is also painful. The affected skin will often
appear to be moist.
A third degree burn is where all the skin layers have
been penetrated and the nerve endings destroyed so
that pain may not be felt.
A fourth degree burn extends down to muscle and/or
bone.
Apart from emergency medical care, serious burns
often require hospitalization and even surgery and
skin grafting. If you are not happy with the progress
of the healing process, you may want to see a burn
specialist for further advice.
