How does a child sustain a burn?

Children sustain burns via a range of mechanisms, which are typically influenced by the prominent cognitive, physical and emotional features of the child’s development stage.

Babies/toddlers are motivated to reach/touch/bang/shake objects and use their developing mobility and curiosity (either by crawling or walking) to explore the environment around them.

Older children and teenagers are typically more experimental and risk taking in their leisure activities and motivated by developing independence and mastery in their immediate environment. This curiosity that helps build the child’s development is what can quickly lead them into danger. Too often, all it takes is for a parent to ‘turn around for just a second’ for a burn to occur. Even with adequate adult supervision, burns can still occur.