It is officially hot water bottle season and especially this year, with the energy crisis, we’re all resorting to cheaper ways of staying warm this winter.

However one mother shared an urgent warning to hot water bottle users, after discovering a secret code that reveals an important expiry date.

Concerned mother Kaylee Whormsley took to Facebook to share the warning with other parents and has since gone viral: “Check your hot water bottles for when they were made!,” she wrote.

“I didn’t know this until I saw a clip off This Morning - I know we’re all using these more atm because of the heat prices so thought I’d share.

“All hot water bottles should have this flower symbol on them. The number in the middle is the year it was made, the flower segments represent the 12 months of the year and the dots inside those represent the number of weeks.

“So this one was made the 1st week in June 2019. You’re only meant to keep them MAX 3 years and then replace as they aren’t safe anymore (looks like I need to get a new one - I thought this was fine too) if your hot water bottle doesn’t have this symbol - get rid asap as it means it’s that old!

“A lady had shared with This Morning her daughters 3rd degree burns because hers was out of date and split whilst she had it on her belly”.

Consumer expert Alice Beer told This Morning viewers that she was contacted on Instagram by a parent whose child suffered third-degree burns after her hot water bottle had burst.

Alice explained how this had become a common issue, with a London hospital seeing people suffering hot water bottle burns at least once a week.

She said: "Half of hot water bottle injuries need skin grafts and surgeries.

"These are not surface burns, these go really deep."

She added that a regular hot water bottle should last up to three years before people should consider finding a replacement.

Alice also advised anyone with a hot water bottle to check its date of manufacture to see how long they've had it.

Alice demonstrated how to find the date of manufacture through a hidden code on the product.

She said: "You don't know about it because this is a brand new hot water bottle in a fluffy cover. Why would you ever take it off unless it got dirty. I'm sorry, but I think this is the worst system for printing a date because it's so confusing."

Get the latest RSVP headlines straight to your inbox for free by signing up to our newsletter

READ MORE