Wound care for your child at home

Your child may come home with unhealed areas that still need dressing changes. You will be trained on how to change dressings before you leave the hospital. You don't need to keep a sterile environment for home dressing changes. But care for the wound in as clean an area as possible. Whoever is doing the dressing change should:

• Scrub hands, including under the fingernails, for at least 20 seconds before and after changing the dressings. Use soap and clean, running water. Also wash hands after removing the old bandage and before the new dressing is applied.

• Set out and open the new dressings before removing the old ones.

• Use lukewarm water when bathing the child. (Be sure your hot water tank temperature is set below 120°F (49°C) so that very hot water can't be turned on accidentally.)

• Be very gentle when bathing burned skin.

Your child may say that the burn is itchy. That's very common. It may be because the oil glands in the skin were damaged by the burn, and the skin is dry. Ask your child's health care provider about medicine and ointments that can help with the itching. 

If it seems that the dressing changes are extremely painful for your child, ask your child's provider about giving your child medicine before starting the dressing change. Time the medicine so it's at its strongest when you change the dressing.

The new skin over the burn area is more sensitive than the skin over the rest of the body. To protect your child's skin, make sure your child follows this advice:

• Wear soft, comfortable clothes.

• Try not to do activities that may rub, irritate, or re-injure the area.

• Try not to go out in the sun. If you must go out, put clothes, a hat, and sunscreen on yourself and your child. Use sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher. Even when it's cloudy or your child is in the sun for only a short time, your child's healing skin can become sunburned easily.

• Don't stay out too long in cold weather. Healing (and healed) burn areas are also sensitive to cold.