• Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment

    Questions about child safety and injury prevention, as well as treatment for minor injuries.

    16. Hot water safety - Top

    Turn down your water heater

    Each year the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin Emergency Room treats children who have been scalded by hot water from taps. It takes just three seconds for a child to sustain a third degree burn, which would require hospitalization and skin grafts, from water at 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Water at 110 degrees will scald the skin if contact is prolonged.

    To prevent painful scalding injuries:

    Find out how hot the water coming from your faucet is. It should be no hotter than 120 degrees Fahrenheit. If the water is too hot, turn down your water heater setting so it is set below 120 degrees Fahrenheit or to the lowest setting. (If necessary, call your landlord or ask your plumber to turn down your water heater setting.)
    Follow the proper procedure for filling a bath tub. First turn on the cold water. Then add hot water. When the tub is almost filled, turn off the hot water. Then turn off the cold water.
    Never put your child in the bath tub while the water is running.
    Check the water with your hand before you put your child in the tub. Children have sensitive skin. It can burn easier than adult’s skin. When testing the water, put your hand all the way in, spread your fingers and move your hand back and forth throughout the length of the tub to check for hot spots. The water should feel comfortable to you.
    Always stay with your child when he or she is in the tub. Don’t leave the room for even a moment to answer the phone or the door. Some children can turn the hot water on by themselves. It only takes seconds for small children to drown or burn themselves.
    Never bath a baby in the kitchen sink if the dish washer is running. Changes in the dish washer cycle can cause scalding water to bubble up into the sink.
    - Updated: June 11, 2001

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    • James L Horwitz, MD

    David C. Thomas, MD

    Barbara Lindberg, PNP