Kids Are Getting Burned & It's the Parents We Should Blame

on December 11, 2011 at 10:22 AM

hot soup Some things are just common sense: Kids need to be in car seats. Check. Those car seats need to be used correctly. Kids shouldn't touch the stove. Children should not play in the road. Don't stick a fork in an electrical outlet. I mean, these things are SIMPLE. Right?

So, I'm really struggling to understand why ER doctors are seeing two to three cases per week of people -- mostly toddlers! -- who have been burned badly by instant soup mixes. One D.C. hospital said sometimes they'll see six of these burns a week! I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't another common sense item "Do not hand small children things that will burn them?"

These burn worse than a normal liquid burn, because the hot noodles stick to the skin. Kids are being burned on arms, chest, torso, sometimes even genitals and legs, from them spilling the soups or pulling them down on themselves.

Look, I have a tornado toddler. She hurts herself on a regular basis. She got stitches on her head from falling off her chair onto a clean, smooth floor. Just this last week, she learned how to unlock the dishwasher (yes, it was locked) and got out a butcher knife and cut her finger (I blame Milwaukee for giving her the idea). But, that doesn't mean that I don't take precautions. We strap furniture that could tip to the walls, cover doorknobs to rooms with things that could hurt her, I only cook on back burners and put anything hot WELL out of her reach and I'd never give my kids something that I couldn't hold my finger in for a couple seconds without pain.

Worse is it doesn't seem like all of these accidents are accidents. Kids are being given food that's just way too hot. In fact, a study tested many cups to see exactly at what angle they'd tip over:

soup spilling

Okay, so obviously, there's some flaw in top-heavy flimsy cups. And no, people won't just pour them into a bowl -- that totally removes the convenience factor people are going for. But even that "Nicecook" brand up there that has to be WAAAAY tipped before it flips won't make a lick of difference if the liquid in it is being handled to a toddler when it's still too hot. Besides, if the hot noodles plus liquid sticking to skin are the issue, even a careful child who just has the noodle on their chin, or fall on their lap, will then get burned.

But we can't blame the manufacturers or cup design if we aren't taking the proper precautions ourselves. Kids can be burned by anything over 120, their skin burns faster than ours, and burns are more serious on their thin skinned-bodies. Just be careful. Be smarter.

Do you think it's the manufacturers to blame, or parents?

Images via D.L./Flickr ; Journal of Burn Care & Research

About the author Christie Haskell

is fueled by caffeine, whether in coffee or tea form, to aid in chasing around a toddler and elementary schooler. When not online (hah!) she has her nose buried in a book or TV show.

Filed Under: safety, toddler meal

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Comments (68)

Lynette

on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:39 AM

we don't eat any instant soups or soups out of cans due to food allergies. But I could totally see how easy this could happen to a child. I imagine soup on the counter cooling or on the table(table if it was my husband, silly man). You turn to fill the sippy cup, dog peed, or one of your other children stubbed his toe. That's when your toddler sneaks up on the soup and tips it over onto themselves.

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Doomy234

on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:43 AM

Parents. But I think it is because we are hopeful (though it maybe highly unrealistic) that the children will just sit quietly and eat their soup without spilling it. Also, soup is a convenient item for when your kid is screaming about how they have to eat RIGHT THIS SECOND, and their sibling has just destroyed the house plant in the living room and is thoroughly terrorizing the cat with one of those cardboard wrapping paper tubes, and your husband is sick and needs you to hand him a tissue thats within arms reach of his blanket insulated self and you're on the phone with aunt Martha who just had knee surgery, which you cant hear a word of because every member of your family is shreiking around you.
Those are serve-soup-when-its-still-hot times.

0Jenna0

on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:45 AM

I just don't understand why parents would think it's ok to hand their toddlers hot things. My kids eat/drink things at lukewarm at best. They don't like hot foods/liquids, and I would never risk giving them hot foods/liquids. Common sense.

Facebook comment from Celine Angulo

on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:48 AM

Seriously? Put some ice cubes in it before you serve it to them. It's that simple.

Nonmember comment from HS

on Dec 11, 2011 at 10:56 AM

I find it hard to take your judgemental opinion seriously considering the injuries your toddler has sustained. For someone who takes so many "precautions", how the heck does a toddler end with a butcher knife in her hands? Seems to me your not one to throw stones. You tried to justify it by blaming it on an obscure story (I didn't click the link) but that doesn't change the fact that your overprotective tatics obviously don't work. So if your child can easily obtain a butcher knife, imagine how easy it would be for any number of toddlers to get their lil fingers on something hot...but I'm sure their parents have some "witty" excuse to blame it on as well...

Colette923

on Dec 11, 2011 at 11:01 AM

Most def the parents. My m-i-l allows her 6 year old to use the microwave to make ramen and pizza. My husband did when he was a child as well. How neither of them has been seriously injured I have no idea. But I assure you my child won't be handling hot foods till she's much older.

Facebook comment from Nancy K Neenan

on Dec 11, 2011 at 11:05 AM

Used to 'warm 'theirs serve them then heat mine to just below boil, on the back burner and stay well apart from them while serving out my own.

Mrscjones

on Dec 11, 2011 at 11:12 AM

Stop it stuff happens. My son is 7 n yes *gasp* can use the microwave have been 4 many years. He even made his own instant oatmeal *omg double gasp*. It's called teaching ur kids what hot feels like n y u don't want 2 touch it. I have a 2yr old we do put the noodles n a bowl mainly cause he's a sloppy eater. But da 7yr old right out of the cup he blows his food my goodness didn't know we could do that 2 cool it down

PonyChaser

on Dec 11, 2011 at 11:32 AM

Parents are to blame. Manufacturers/businesses have a responsibility to market items in containers that will cause them to sell, not to protect some random person's child.

Mrs. Jones has it right - kids can be TAUGHT. You shouldn't have to cook stuff exclusively on the back burner, lock every cabinet/door/appliance/toilet in the house, or keep them away from every hot substance on the planet. Teach them not to touch the stove. Teach them not to go digging through cabinets. My son, also, was microwaving his own food by the age of four. He even made his own eggs at that age! - under supervision, of course, but HE turned on the stove, HE cracked and mixed up the eggs, HE stirred them in the pan. And now, at 8, he's capable of making himself his own breakfast if I'm off doing something else.

As for toddlers... an ice cube works wonders. Take a minute (heaven forbid!!) to put the "convenient" meal into a safe bowl. The act of pouring it will help it cool faster anyway. And remember, toddlers are anything BUT convenient.

arliss123

on Dec 11, 2011 at 11:56 AM

Why are we assuming that parents are handing these soup cups to toddlers? It's just as likely (if not more so) that it's the parent's soup, and the children are grabbing the containers when the parents are distracted for a moment. I think we all know how quickly toddlers can move when they want something.