Experts are urging parents and carers to be extra vigilant with hot food and drink these school holidays, following a spike in burns injuries from instant noodles.

The common and convenient snack is responsible for a rise in referrals to The Burns Unit at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (CHW), with 10 children treated for scald burns this month. Concerningly, five of these children were referred in the last week alone.

Eleven-year-old Danielle* was one of the children to recently sustain a burns injury, after she accidentally spilled the hot contents onto her lap while on the way to swimming lessons.

“The scream was one I’ll never forget,” Danielle’s mum, Mandy*, said.

“All it took was a split second for the cup to pour all over.”

Danielle sustained 1.5 degree burns to her thing and torso, however it could have been much worse had her mum not immediately sprung into action.

“I knew from first aid to use cool running water on a burn in the first instance so we poured water from a bottle over Danielle, and I drove her straight home where she had a cold shower for 25 minutes,” Mandy said.

“This made a huge difference to decreasing the severity of the burns and managing her pain.”

The most common injuries from hot noodles are burns to the thighs and/or genital area, caused by children accidentally spilling the hot liquid on themselves while carrying the container or eating from their lap.

Burns have also been seen in toddlers, caused by pulling the container down from the kitchen bench or table when left to cool.

Dr Torey Lawrence, Head of the Burns Unit at CHW, says children's skin can burn faster and quicker than adults and is reminding parents to be extra vigilant these school holidays.

“Boiling water in hot noodle containers can take an hour to cool down to a safe temperature after cooking. This means accidents like spilling the hot water of instant noodles can cause long-lasting injuries and life-long scarring for children,” Dr Lawrence said.

It is important to remember hot food and drink that may be a good temperature for an adult can cause a significant burn to a child. Children’s skin is comparatively thinner than adults and even a small amount of hot liquid can cause deeper, more extensive, and more severe burns.”

Following her accident, Danielle was referred to CHW’s Kidsburns, a 24-hour digital referral service providing remote consultation, clinical care and management advice for paediatric burn injuries across NSW, enabling Danielle to receive care close to her home.

Danielle will continue to have dressing changes for the coming weeks but is thankfully, hoped to make a full recovery.

“It is hoped there won’t be too much scarring, if any at all. There has been progress with each dressing with the community nurse, monitored by Kidsburns. She is a trooper,” Mandy said.

The best way to prevent burns from hot food and drink in children is close adult supervision.

Simple measures such as always having an adult remove the container from the microwave, draining the hot water from the noodles before serving, ensuring children eat noodles at the table instead of on their lap, and using non-stick placemats can make a huge difference,” Dr Lawrence said.

If your child has suffered a burn, immediate first aid is vital to reduce the severity of the injury. This includes:

• Place the burn under cool running water for 20 minutes. This will cool the burn and reduce swelling and is the only proven effective treatment.
• Remove any clothing or jewellery where possible.
• Never use ice, iced water, cream, gel, toothpaste, butter or anything other than cool running water.
• Seek medical help if you have any concerns and dial 000 in the event of emergency.

For more information on burns prevention and first aid, visit the SCHN Kids Health Promotion website.

*names have been changed for privacy reasons.