Hospitals report that the number of children burned by hair straighteners has doubled in the last ten years. Crawling babies, toddlers and young children are the most likely to be burned. The burns can be nasty and deep. Find out more about the problem and what you can do to stop these injuries.
As hot as an iron
Hair straighteners can reach temperatures of 235oC – that’s as hot as an iron. In fact, they get so hot you could cook breakfast on them. If they can fry bacon, imagine what they can do to a child’s skin!
Hair straighteners can get hot very quickly – some take just 15 seconds. And they can stay very hot for a long time after you have unplugged them – some are still hot enough to burn after 15 minutes.
Storing hair straighteners
Most hair straighteners don’t come with a heat-resistant pouch so you can store them safely while they cool down. Many parents don’t know just how easily they can burn young children. So they leave their straighteners to cool down on the floor, bedside cabinet or hanging over the door handle.
Thinner skin
The skin of a baby or toddler is much thinner than that of an adult, so their skin burns more quickly and at lower temperatures.
Accidents and child development
Toddlers don’t really understand hot and cold, or that heat burns. They don’t know to pull away from something that’s burning them, which is why they can be so badly burnt. And they won’t necessarily learn from experience not to do it again.
Small children can understand the instruction ‘hot, don’t touch’. But they don’t really understand danger or consequences. And they don’t have reliable memory, so they may not always remember what they’ve been told, especially if excited or distracted.
Common accidents
If hair straighteners are left lying around, crawling babies, toddlers and small children can:
- Grab at them and burn their hands or wrists
- Step or sit on them and burn their legs or feet
- Pull them down on top of themselves and burn their face
- Copy adults and try to use them.
Safety tips
Children can be kept safe from hair straightener burns with three easy steps:
- Put them out of reach straight away
- Put them in a heat-proof pouch if you have one
- Put them well out of reach and sight, say on a high shelf.
First aid advice
Immediate first aid can prevent long-term scarring and stop the burn from getting worse. Read our first aid advice for burns and scalds.
