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| My burn from a cup of hot tea. |
Shocking, right? That red mark on my body is from a cup of tea. My parents knew the risks and refused to drink hot drinks near me. This happened in our caravan when my dad made a drink and my mom pushed it away from the edge of the kitchen top. She still remembers the scream I made. She simply didn't think I could reach that far across the counter top. They both remember rushing me to hospital and how the doctors asked them so many questions to rule out anything such as child abuse. I can't imagine how awful they must have felt as they were asked question after question, guilt is still on my mothers mind even now.
I still have a light scar on the top of my chest, it's mostly visible on a hot day and when I turned 20 I noticed the white outline had nearly completely gone. I didn't like wearing anything that showed my skin. For one I was (and still am!) rather small in the boob area, but also the white outline left from the burn didn't look nice. Daft really as it wasn't that noticeable unless you were really staring at that area, but I'm writing how it affected me because I want others to know how it can affect their child afterwards.
When I see parents drinking cups of coffee or tea with their little one on their lap and watching them try and grab the cup and parents too busy chatting away I don't know what to do. I want to rush in and scream at them like a crazy person and take their cups away. Of course I have no say in what other people do with their children so doing this really isn't a great idea, but it's like a massive fire alarm going off in my head and all I can do is bite my lip and pray there is no accident.
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| Baby Al now has that Fisher Price toy that I'm standing on. |
So what can you do to make sure your child doesn't suffer a severe burn? Here's a few tips for you to take on.
- Don't drink hot drinks with your baby on your lap. Put them somewhere safe such as a highchair, bouncer or pushchair. Make sure they are in properly and give them something to keep their mind at ease such as toy, drink or a biscuit.
- Put a gate at the kitchen door. If you are like us and have an open plan kitchen you can get playpens to put them in whilst you are cooking so you can still see them but they are safe and unable to walk into the kitchen where there's loads of hazards (kettle, oven, hobs, knives, I could go on).
- If out and about and have stopped at a coffee shop or a friend's for a hot drink, ask for a highchair. If that's not possible then keep them in their pushchair.
- If you can't put your child in a pushchair or highchair do a "baby swap". Let your friend hold your baby whilst you have some of your drink and then swap over so your friend can have some of hers. This still isn't totally safe specially if you have an older child who likes to wriggle about and not be constantly held.
- You may find the best solution for a toddler or small child is to give them one or two of their favourite toys to keep them amused. Put the TV on so they aren't constantly wondering what is inside mummy's cup. Give your little one a biscuit or two as well and praise them for being good.
- Simply don't have hot drinks at all whilst you have your baby with you. Make yourself one during nap times, when they are having breakfast in the highchair and after they have gone to bed. Or just give up tea and/or coffee all together!
Many parents don't seem to realise how bad a burn from something like a cup of tea or coffee really can be. For a baby it can be very dangerous. I hope you have learnt from my experience and my tips are of use. If you've had a nasty experience yourself or your child has with a cup of tea then please do leave a comment and help others learn the awful facts of burns on babies.
Keep an eye on Petit Mom's future competitions as we shall be hosting a competition with Lindam to win a safety gate!
