Babies, toddlers make up 27 percent of serious burn victims

The Dutch Burns Foundation is concerned about the large number of babies and toddlers that end up in hospital every year because of burns. A massive 26.8 percent of burn victims are kids between the ages of 0 and 4 years, that is more than 200 kids per year.

Because these numbers are about the same every year, the Foundations decided to launch a campaign to make parents more aware of the dangers around their home.

The motto for the campaign is: be aware of the development of your child and follow a steps plan. According to the foundations, most burns accidents in young kids start around the age of 7 months, when babies start grasping objects, leading to accidents with hot tea and coffee. Development in young children happen very fast and they can often do more than their parents expect.

"The large number of hot liquid burns among young children must drop", said Annebeth de Vries, trauma surgeon at the Red Cross Hospital in Beverwijk. "The consequences of burns from hot liquids in this group of young children are severe. Children have much thinner skin and the burned body surface is much bigger than for adults. Children sometimes need to undergo surgery for many years. In addition, the psychological impact on these kids and their parents is very big."

The Foundation therefore advises parents to put coffee and tea cups out of reach of their children, shorten the cord of the kettle and turn handles of pots over the stove. And most of all, keep track with your child's development and make sure safety measures keep up. More tips can be found here.