To warn about the dangers of radiators and hot water bottles.

[GeekLove]

Children's skin is very sensitive to heat but it is warm rather than obviously hot objects that have their own hazard. Human skin will start to burn if in prolonged contact with objects more than 43c. This does not feel hot, more somewhat warm. Hence the danger in that should a child be in contact with such a surface when sleeping they might not move from the hear source.

My ds2 has a rather nasty 2nd degree burn on his leg as a result of the furry cover on his waterbottle slipping off in bed. Radius present a similar hazard unless covered with something to dissipate the heat and not go above the critical temperature. This is relevant conspiring radiator heat up gradually enough that a child might not know they are in danger.

[somethingDifferent38]

NamasteNiki is completely right, you should never put water in that would be too hotbon your skin direct! Surely that's not hard to understand, I'm amazed so many people are saying they just 'need' it hotter. If you are too close to something very very hot, you may get burnt - hot water bottles aren't exhibiting a terrible flaw, people are misusing them.

[NamasteNiki]

Hot water bottles wouldn't be an accident waiting to happen if people used them correctly.

You're not supposed to use boiling water. Every single instruction leaflet says dont overfill, dont use boiling water, expel air before putting the stopper on.

I always put some cold water into the bottle first and dont bring the kettle to the boil.

If your HWB is burning skin the water's far too hot.

[Ski4130]

I have a scar on my stomach from a hwb, so I wouldn't use them anyway, but will be mindful of the kids proximity to the radiator from now on.

[Liliannna1]

My arm after I rolled over in the night last year and my arm rested against the radiator. Still scarred now

[5foot5]

Yikes! I burnt my arse on the heated towel rail this morning when I brushed against it before getting in the shower. Fortunately I was (more or less) wide awake and leapt away before it could do much harm. I looked at it in the mirror and there was no sign of a blister. I shall be a damn sight more careful in future.

[shhhfastasleep]

Maybe it’s my 70s childhood but we use them regularly with dd (10). Don’t boil the water, maybe add a glug of cold, bend the top of the bottle over to get the air out as you screw the screw top in. Have a cover that covers everything and doesn’t have an “easy access “ hole at the top.
Didn’t have covers in my young day . Mum used to swaddle the bottle in a big towel so we couldn’t get burned.

[GeekLove]

Another twist! Apparently injuries which occur at nighttime take up to 4times as long to heal as this in the day time. Guess I'll be doing a load more wound dressing to come

[BlackeyedSusan]

//www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/hsis6.pdf

[BlackeyedSusan]

auto correct is obviously in league with the evil radiators and hot water bottles...

any way . thanks.

[GeekLove]

I'm also thinking of people who have poor nerve response or bad circulation such as diabetics - could be very easy to burn yourself considering it was painless until the blister burst.

[ProfessorCat]

Absolutely with you on the small children.

[deepestdarkestperu]

I was more referring to small children @ProfessorCat.

Little kids do silly things - like take the cover off, try and open them and are likely to sit on them, tread on them etc.

I was never allowed them very hot as child and even as an adult I would never fill them up from the kettle without adding cold water and expelling the steam. Burns hurt and the scars last forever.

[ProfessorCat]

Bold fail!

[ProfessorCat]

I don’t understand filling it with scalding water - it’s an accident waiting to happen! And no way does it need to be that hot!*

I've used a hot water bottle every day of my life for the last 15 years. I fill it from the just boiled kettle every single time and it has a very thin, felt cover. It needs to be that hot for me or it does nothing for my pain. I've never had an issue.

[blueshoes]

Thanks for the warning

[Kpo58]

I don't like the microwavable pads with grain in either. I had many many beetles hatch from one of them and it took ages to get rid of them all.

[Trumpton]

wanderings
We have that book ! It was dd's (36 years old )favourite book from the library when she was small and I found a copy online a few years ago and bought it for her !
Such a fab book as it is so dated !

[VeganCow]

Sorry to hear that op, hope he is ok.
I do use a hot water bottle occasonally and always take one camping BUT I always wonder how often they can burst. Does anyone have any experience of one bursting ?

[Knusper]

Our house is cold and we use hot water bottles every night from October to March. Have done since the kids were tiny. I fill a third with cold water, add a third of boiling and put them in the beds about an hour before bedtime.

We replace them every year or two but you've reminded me to check whether the rubber is perishing as these are on their second year.

Hope that your son is feeling better soon OP.

[PenelopeFlintstone]

Wheat bags are a fire risk.
www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=9047

[wanderings]

I'll second the advice about expelling the air from the bottle: fill it two thirds full, and then fold it over so that water appears out of the top, before screwing the lid on. Store empty with the lid removed.

Sorry for derailing the thread a little, but does anyone remember the lovely book "Phoebe and the hot water bottles", now out of print and very rare and valuable? It contains lots of 1970s nostalgia, including things frowned upon nowadays: putting out fires yourself, giving children puppies as presents, to say nothing of Phoebe sleeping with not one, but one hundred and fifty-seven hot water bottles. The book was unusually about a single parent family as well. "No matter how much you love hot water bottles, they can never, never love you back."

[Kursk]

Not something I have considered, we use hot water bottles. We don’t have central heating. We do have wood burning stoves in each bedroom.

[ThanksForAllTheFish]

I’ve never even considered people get burned from hot water bottles. I use mine all year round for my horrendous period pain (tummy, lower back and tops of legs). Also because I feel cold all the time. I fill it from the kettle and just move it around a bit when I feel it’s getting too warm. I also sit with my back against the radiator quite a lot. My skin will go red but I never burn or blister. I do think I have a strange tolorance to burns though. I had two cups of boiling hot tea spilled on my back as a child (accident) and walked away without a mark. If I get sunburn it vanishes completey after about 8 hours and I have never peeled etc. Strange. (I use SPF50 BTW but sunburn easily as I am a redhead)

I have a few hot water bottles in the go as and I do keep an eye on them as they start to perish as they age. I did have one leak on me last year where it had wore away but thankfully it was near the top and I didn’t get burned. The cover soaked up the water.

I do give DD a hot water bottle sometimes but tend to put it in her bed 30 minutes before bedtime to warm up the bed and let it cool down a bit.

We never have the heating on overnight and the bedroom radiators are all turned lower awayway as no one in this house likes to sleep I really hot bedrooms. It’s too stuffy.

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

yes I have scar even now from my hot water bottle burn, and it didn't even hurt which was weird

I use hot tap water only, good reminder OP

[specialsubject]

Turn the radiator down, or spend a bomb fitting a mesh guard.

Kids and hot water bottles, bad combo. Warm pyjamas, more covers.