5 month old scalded by boiling water-please help

[A1983]

My DD was scolded by boiling hot water in a flask placed on her pram yesterday by a close family member-it wasn't secure and leaked through. I'm distraught and don't want to talk to this person. She is 5 months old and ive just got home from Bristol burns unit, seems her usual self but im just so devastated for her, poor baby. She was placed under a cold running tap for 20 minutes then taken to hospital. This morning she had a bio-brane dressing put on her leg under GA and the Consultants say she has complete partial thickness burn (4% mid-deep burn). It's a waiting game to see if it heals by itself in the next 10-14 days-the outer area they believe will do but they say it's 50:50 for the middle area which is quite deep and may need a skin graft. I'm hoping and praying the burn will heal completely....and obviously ideally for her no scarring or discoloration of skin. It's such a large burn on a little leg. She is to eat a protein rich diet to aid healing so her breast milk and ill blend some fish, cheese, beans etc for her.

I'm in shock atm and just want answers now..but unfortunately we all have to wait. She has an appointment on Saturday to see if the bio-brane is still sticking, and will have her dressings changed every 2 days.

Thank you

14 years ago. She was 2 and is now 16.

Hello there

I am so very sorry that this has happened. It must be heartbreaking for you at the moment. I wanted to tell you that my friend's son was scaled with a very hot drink at a similar age. His hand was affected. It was put under running cold water for a long time, just as you did. He was in the burns unit in Manchester for several nights. It was a deep burn...I don't recall the details but certainly not superficial. He is absolutely 100% recovered, there is no scarring or any other problems.

I hope this encourages you a little. Best wishes for your daughter's recovery.
Xx

Horrible story....this sounds like a criminal act, but not sure if it would be worth prosecuting. It would be understandable to give this family member a fright, by sending the police to her door, though. The accident is bad enough but the behaviour afterwards is utterly shocking, too :(

Because it can't be proved she deliberately wanted to burn DD (im sure it wasn't deliberate) I cannot pursue anything according to my solicitor....but yes every other family member who has nothing to do with her anyway (long story-but she has been so vile throughout their lives no one wants anything more to do with her) was angry the police could do nothing..she's now being vile to me, it's amazing how she can ALWAYS turn things around and be the victim. So off she skips leaving me as always to clean up her destruction, usually I have in time forgiven, but not now she has done this to my baby and scarred her for life. Hurt me, but NEVER hurt my baby!

Obviously a huge back story here, OP.

:(

How is your little girl doing?

Hi, thank you for asking :-) She is wearing her pressure garment now-digs into her big tummy (!) when she's sitting up and leaning forward bless her but it has to be tight. Her scar is very purple at the moment, part of the scar maturation process, massaging and silicone 3x a day to continue but she is tolerating this much better now.

My DD2 sustained a severe burn to the top of her leg (boiling water) last April. She was 3.6 at the time and had bio-brane applied under GA. It really is fantastic stuff, she won't be in any pain while it is on as it stops any air getting to the burn at all, nothing moves across the exposed nerve endings.

She hated having the dressings changed, the tape they used adhered really well to the skin and it hurt when they peeled it off so prepare yourself for some upset then (she was older so could anticipate the pain as well) - but if you're feeding her yourself, you know you have a cast-iron way of calming her down!

We were told that post bio-brane the best thing you can do is massage, don't waste money on anything exotic, E45 was recommended by our consultant. We had a star chart and she got a sticker every time we massaged it, which was twice daily. With a younger one you'll be able to do it more often - every nappy change perhaps. It is the massage now which will make the difference to the appearance in the long run.

Wishing you both all the best, it is my worst moment as a parent so far, I'll never forget her screams.

Just seen your post OP, sounds like your DD is doing really well.

My DS suffered burns to his tummy and thighs last February at 14 months old after pulling over a teapot full of scalding tea. We were treated at Frenchay and they were amazing. Biobrane didn't work on his burns and he needed a further 2 operations with skin grafts (which also didn't work). Honestly, his burn areas looked horendous and I couldn't see how they would ever heal....
1 year on, wearing pressure garments and silicone treatment the difference is remarkable. They are becoming paler and smoother, hopefully another year will show even more improvement.
So have faith, sounds like her scars are healing well. Hugs to you, I know exactly what you mean by hurt me but not my baby.

www.dropbox.com/sc/538inu5a16a2apu/8uwEVMpHZC

Thank you little and gin-sorry you had to go through it too-it has been awful, this is her leg atm, picture taken yesterday and it looks very good here, it fluctuates a lot atm between good and looking a lot worse.

little stressy-did you DS have to have a second skin graft? The wait to see if it takes it horrendous. Does he still need to wear his pressure garment now? Is the scar mature now? If you don't mind, could you PM me a picture? Do not worry if you don't want to I totally understand! I hope he is ok and if he is still wearing his pressure garment it'll be off for summer. DD is not going to like it with that on in the heat. (I know to keep her completely covered etc).

I was massaging her 3 times a day but she's actually got a few hard white dots like milia which I think maybe from overload of product despite me washing between each application so now im only using the silicone gel 2-3 times a day and epaderm at night. She reacted to e45 with loads of red dots-even her donor site.

Ps little, do you use silicone gel or sheets?