Spilt tea and coffee can burn children

The message to be aware comes during Child Safety Week.

A hot cup of tea or coffee can burn a child's skin even 15 minutes after it's made.  Now a doctor at Frenchay Hospital is urging parents to make sure they are aware of the danger.

Dr Amber Young is based at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol and works with children with burns.  She told Heart it's an all too common injury: "At the children's burns centre at Frenchay hospital we see more than one child every day who is admitted with a scald injury - and the vast majority are due to hot cups of tea and coffee.  Almost all of those children will require an operation and and a small percentage will even require skin grafting resulting in scarring for the life of that child."

Dr Young says it leaves the parents feeling very guilty: "They are absolutely devestated...distraught...even though in the vast majority of cases it's not their fault.  It's a moment of inattention to a toddler who's just learnt to walk who goes and pulls the cup of tea or coffee over them.  Be aware of the dangers of hot cups of tea and coffee."

Dr Young was speaking to us as part of Child Safety Week.  The Children's charity CAPT (Child Accident Prevention Trust) are behind this drive and have come up with practical and useful tips to make a house safe without wrapping up children in cotton wool. 

Click on the link for the website.