ST. LOUIS – A new lawsuit alleges a daycare’s mishandling of an everyday baby product caused second-degree burns on an 18-month-old child.

Missouri child care inspectors confirmed the child was able to pull down an infant bottle warmer, which spilled scalding hot contents, back in 2019. The inspection report, from four years ago, says the child suffered second-degree burns to his arm and head.

“This is a ‘never-event.’ This should never, ever happen,” attorney Chris Finney said.

Finney filed a lawsuit this past August. He says the child will always struggle with the burn injuries that are pictured in his petition.

“They bubbled up right away,” he said. “(The child will) likely going to have permanent scarring for the rest of his life.”

Missouri child care inspectors substantiated the 2019 complaint, noting an “unplugged bottle warmer that was sitting on the half wall between the infant and toddler rooms… the cord hanging down accessible to the children.”

Finney added, “This is probably the most dangerous hazard in that room, and if you don’t properly secure it, it’s an accident waiting to happen.”

FOX 2 solicited the owner of Kidz Biz for a comment on the lawsuit.

“This was an isolated event,” they said. “The student returned to school the next day and remained at our facility before relocating a year later. We’re surprised this has resurfaced four years later. Sadly, I believe this is financially motivated.”

The owner added that they’ve been in business for over 20 years, with safety as a top priority, and that all bottle warmers have been removed from the facility.

Finney believes there are more bottle cases than we know because of regular industry warnings. Though the device is intended to warm an infant’s milk, he says it can contain a scalding hot liquid needed to do the warming.