Friends ds badly burned in bath!!

[Fangache]

My friend phoned last night to say her ds (3) was in Yorkhill after jumping into a scalding hot bath!

Her boiler is on the blink and they never know if there is enough hot water for a bath so she was running the hot water first before adding the cold (I KNOW I KNOW, but I think most people have done that a few times... I certainly have).

She went to get a towel for him in the bedroom cupboard.... her DH thought she was still in the bathroom and sent ds upstairs....... and he jumped straight into the bath!!!

8% burns to his feet and legs. He has to have morphine to get his dressings changed and his toes have to be kept separate prevent them knitting together.

Its a big eye-opener! There are certain things that I find myself getting too relaxed about when it comes to parenting.... shame it takes something like this to happen to make to re-assess.

Friend says he's fine though, in high spirits and giving the nurses cheek! He'll have to stay in for 2 weeks though.

Wish him all the best!

Just an update (from Toothache, using my old name at the moment):

Friend phoned today. Her ds developed a high temperature 3 days ago indicating an infection and was put on IV antib's. He was on those for 48 hrs which seemed to do the trick.

He wounds are healing nicely, except for one part at the side of his foot..... but the Consultant doesn't think that will require any skin grafts thankfully. He is now off of IV fluids and has his hands free to play.

I was almost crying when she was telling me what she is going through. She says watching him getting his wounds changed is a living nightmare. He is in excrutiating pain, doped up with Morphine and not understanding why Mummy can't make his pain go away. She has to watch that twice a day. Now it is reduced to once every 2 days thankfully. How awful.

She is being so strong about it all, but I know she is just putting on a front (as you do). She is missing her baby so badly, she is only 3 wks old. But my friend is having to spend every 2nd night in Yorkhill with her ds.

He will definitely be in for another 10days if there are no other setbacks.

Keep your fingers crossed for them.

your poor friend and wee boy.

Hope he is well again soon.

Kind of related question - what is the recommended temp your hot water tank should be set at. I think mine is toohot but not sure what it should be

Seb1 - No idea. I didn't even know you could set the temperature!! You certainly can't with my 8000 year old central heating system.

god that's awful Mt2, poor little lamb and poor mum too - what a burden of guilt even though was really bad luck
this happened to my ds once too - it was bizarre, I'd run the hot first as our boiler was crap and always ran out quickly, then took the kids out so they wouldn't be near it while it was hot, then as we came back in, ds1 ran on ahead and just jumped in with all his clothes on - he's never ever done anything like that before - I didn't even have time to shout a warning. He was fine because his clothes took the brunt I think, I still made him sit in a cold bath for ages to be sure.
but it just shows how unpredictable even the best behaved toddler can be

Toothache - Changing the dressings sounds awful but hopefully he will be on the mend soon.
My DS is drawn to the bathroom and is forever turning on taps. We have had to remove the lock as he would lock himself in to do it - he's as quick as lightning too. We are going to put a lock outside just to stop potential accidents.

Another update for those interested!

Friends ds is now well enough to get into trouble. She texted last night to say he was well and trully on the mend. He's still got to stay in Yorkhill as the hospital local to us doesn't have anyone qualified to change his specialised dressings!!!! WTF???

Oh the poor wee soul, and your poor poor friend. Hormones all over the place, no sleep and a huge does of the guilts probably as well. Even though it could have happenned to anyone.

How much longer does have to stay in hospital??

RTL - At least another week. He's sooooooo bored and we can't even take ds to visit him coz they don't allow children on the ward.

Haven't you got some dilating to do???

Och, bl dilating, wish I didn't know!!!!

Is the wee man in an adults ward

No he's in the kids burns unit, but due to the risk of infection they do not allow children to visit.

hub2dee - it would be especially good for places like nursing homes too as there have been several cases of the elderly getting scalded.

Great idea !

Thanks Whizzz...

HE'S HOME!!!!

Got home on Friday night on condition that he doesn't go out or have any kids to visit him that might be carrying Chicken Pox (any child then)!

They have to take him back to Yorkhill every 3 days for his dressings to be changed. I just can't believe there are no Nurses at Stirling or Falkirk Royal Infirmary's that could change his burns dressings!!

But he home and doing well. Thankfully the family are all back together and her ds can start getting to know his brand new wee sister.

aww just saw the thread fangy poor wee thing and his poor Mum and Dad too.

When I worked at the vets a kitten was brought in after falling in a scalding bath and it was heart breaking.

Glad he's home and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Message withdrawn

More good news!!!!

He's just going from strength to strength and with yesterdays vist ot Yorkhill he had his burns dressing removed and replaced with just a tubigrip type thing. This means he should be up on his feet in a couple of days!

He's had a very lucky escape!

hub2dee - there is a similar device out there on the market for regulating tap water temp. Just letting you know so worth you checking it out.
Our playgroup was recently assessed by an overly beurocratic and very thorough insurance bloke and he was talking about tap water temp regulators.
Basically, children can?t all wash hands for snacktime in same sinkful of warm water but the temp from hot tap too unreliable. At the moment we use an old fashioned shower mixer rubber hose thingy on taps - but still a little unreliable and needs constant adult supervision (let alone the splashing). He told us that a company supplied a device similar to what you describe for all types of communal/public environments "anti-scald device" I think the termed it. Anyway, we decided to continue with mixer thing as village hall refused to install it (quite expensive I think).
Maybe you have checked out the market thoroughly and the one(s) out there are really expnsive/not suitable for homes - I have no idea. Just letting you know

sorry - forgot to say how pleased I am that he is so much better. I have been followng this thread and glad it has turned out so well

Hub - we've had a shower-come-mixer-tap fitted to our bath that does just that - you turn one knob to the temp required and the other to start the tap/shower.

Sorry, don't mean to rain on your parade...thought you'd want to know tho.

Don't worry, the parade has several other features...

A thermostatic mixer though, you are right, is a key part of the solution.