Baby Safety Tips ER Doctors Want You to Know

There’s nothing that an exhausted new parent loves more than a hot cup of coffee after a terrible night. But be extra careful with that mug of liquid treasure: ER docs say that spilled coffee and other hot liquids have been known to lead to baby burns. 

“A common source of significant injuries for us is the stove. Not the burners or the pots, it’s the spilling liquid inside them,” says Graham Snyder, MD, emergency physician and medical director of the Medical Simulation Center at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C. He says that as babies start to be able to crawl, walk, and reach the burners or pot handles, parents can look to babyproof the stove and even simply turn the pot handles away from the edge so that kids can’t reach. “This includes the coffee pot,” he says. 

The safest place for your baby or toddler while you’re cooking, eating, or otherwise have your hands full in the kitchen is in a play yard or buckled into their high chair. Burns are more likely to happen if your baby is left to crawl or toddle around the stove or other hot appliances.

Pro tip: Your baby’s monthly milestones are a great reminder to retest alarms every month, and their birthday is also a helpful reminder to replace smoke detector batteries each year—unless you have a smoke detector with a sealed, long-lasting battery.