A mum has warned parents after her toddler suffered burns when her hot cup of coffee fell on her face.<br /><br />Alaya Janjua, one, managed to knock hot coffee off the side and onto her face on the morning leaving her bandaged up like a “teletubby”.<br /><br />Her mum, Simona Belcheva, 22, had made herself her morning coffee and put it on the side while she turned the TV off and set up her daughter Alaya’s highchair.<br /><br />After hearing Alaya’s scream, she saw what had happened and immediately put her tot under a cold shower.<br /><br />Simona and her partner, Danyal Janjua, 22, a full-time biomedical student, rushed Alaya to Luton and Dunstable University Hospital, Luton, Bedfordshire on August 16, - the day after her first birthday.<br /><br />They were then sent to the burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex, where doctors shaved Alaya’s hair to treat her seven per cent mixed depth scald burns. <br /><br />Alaya was wrapped up in bandages which made her look like a “Teletubby” and stayed in hospital for a week until she was able to head home on August 23, 2023.<br /><br />Alaya is now doing well, and Simona wants to prevent it from happening to other families.<br /><br />Simona, an operational manager, from Luton, Bedfordshire, said: “I left her food and my coffee on the kitchen counter and went to turn off the TV and set up the highchair.<br /><br />“I heard a loud bang and her screaming.<br /><br />“I was only 10 steps away.<br /><br />“She had managed to somehow knock over the coffee, and it went on her face.<br /><br />“At hospital she was put in a dressing, so all of her burns were covered.<br /><br />“We were just celebrating her birthday and then she was looking like a Teletubby.<br /><br />“It was shocking to see her like that."<br /><br />Simona hadn’t realised the seriousness of the burn until the hospital sent photos to the burns unit in Chelmsford, Essex, and the couple were told to go there.<br /><br />She said: “They shaved her hair so they could tackle all her burns.<br /><br />“It was quite scary.”<br /><br />Alaya was put in a bandage and had to stay in the hospital for treatment – she had suffered deeper burns on her shoulders and superficial burns on her face and head.<br /><br />Her bandages were redressed every three days and doctors had to wash her face and body each time.<br /><br />Simona said: “She’d be screaming when they did that.<br /><br />“It was the worst feeling – I couldn’t help her.<br /><br />“It got so swollen at one point she couldn’t open her eyes.<br /><br />“All of her face was red and scabby.<br /><br />“It looked like she was in a fire.”<br /><br />Alaya was given antibiotics when she spiked a fever on her second bandage change but was then able to go home on August 23, 2023 – without her bandages.<br /><br />Her parents have to wash her each morning and before bed to get rid of her scabs and keep her well moisturised throughout the day.<br /><br />Alaya should grow a new layer of skin within the next few months on the left side of her face, but the skin pigmentation could take a couple of years to come through.<br /><br />Simona said Alaya was “always smiling” despite it all but the mum has struggled with strangers calling her a “bad mum” and claiming she “
