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Hot Water Burns Like Fire!
Did you know? Your child can suffer serious scald burns from hot tap water. Your child's skin burns 4 times faster than an adult's skin.
In most Canadian provinces, thermostats on household hot water tanks are set to 60°C (140°F) at the factory. At this temperature your child's skin could be seriously burned in just 1 second. If the temperature is lowered to 49 C (120 F)
it would take 10 minutes to cause the same burn.
See Safe Start's tips to prevent scalds.
Safety Tips
Make sure bath water is not too hot. A safe bath temperature for babies is 37°C (99°F). When filling the bath tub, test the temperature of the water with the skin of your arm or elbow, and then run cold water to cool off the faucet. It is a good idea to move water around with your arm to get rid of hot spots. Always check the water temperature again before putting your child into the tub.
To prevent a catastrophic injury from happening to your baby, Safe Start offers these tips:
- NEVER leave a baby or young child alone in the bathroom. If you must answer the door or telephone, take your baby with you.
- Keep one hand on your baby at all times
- Be within arms reach of your child at all times, when they are in or around water.
- NEVER leave an older sibling and younger child alone in the bath together.
- Fill your tub with only enough water for baby to bathe, splash and play, between 2.5 cm and 5 cm or one to two inches of water.
Drowning
Drowning is second only to motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of toddler deaths in Canada. Bathtubs are the most common places for drownings among babies one year of age or younger. The majority of toddler drownings occur in backyard pools, plastic kiddie pools, wash pails (used often to wash vehicles), lakes and rivers.
Baby bath seats and rings are plastic devices intended to assist parents in bathing their infants. These are NOT safety devices and are not recommended. Never leave a child unattended in the bath, even for a moment.
Common design problems with baby bath seats:
- Leg openings large enough to allow babies’ torsos to ‘submarine’ and become trapped underwater
- Suction cups that are ineffective on treated tub surfaces, resulting in instability and tip-overs
- Age guidelines that do not account for some babies’ abilities to pull themselves up sooner than expected. The average age for drowning and near-drowning in a baby bath seat or ring is eight months.
As well, always empty containers and plastic pools after using them, and always make sure your child wears a lifejacket while playing near water. Learn CPR in case of an emergency.
Did You Know?
Each year on average, 30,000 poisonings are reported to the B.C. Poison Control Centre. Half of these involve children under age five. Medications are responsible for most poisonings.
Poison 'look alikes" are often found in medicine cabinets. If you were a toddler, could you tell the difference between a poison and something that was safe to eat or drink?