The mother of a badly burnt 2-year-old girl due to move to Invercargill next week says she will be forced to leave her daughter behind to receive treatment.

Victoria Mosen's daughter Nikita suffered superficial burns to 20 per cent of her body.

Mosen said Nikita was "pushed" into a hot bath by her 4-year-old brother.

The Westpac rescue helicopter was called to the Okains Bay property on Banks Peninsula and took her to Christchurch Hospital, where she remains in the burns unit.

A Garden City Helicopters spokesman said at the time that Nikita's skin was so badly burnt it was "blistering".

Mosen and her four children are due to move to Invercargill next Wednesday.

"Invercargill isn't equipped to deal with her at this point until she gets a bit better, which maybe a few weeks down the track."

She said she would like to stay in Christchurch with Nikita but she would be left "homeless" as she'd already given notice to move out.

Staying with family was not an option.

"They might be able to have one or two of us," she said. "To have all of us, it's just too much rigmarole."

She approached Housing New Zealand but was told it could not guarantee her a house, only a communal living arrangement, which Mosen said was not suitable for Nikita with her burns.

Mosen said she would feel bad letting down her new landlords in Invercargill as they had been holding the property for her.

She said she had no other option but to leave Nikita under the care of her sister Naomi and to go ahead with the move.

She said it was "gut- wrenching" to leave Nikita and with no indication of how long it may take for her to be well enough to join her.

Mosen said she filled the bath with hot water as the cold water did not flow because of it being pumped from a nearby spring.

She then went to the laundry, where the water flow was better, and began filling buckets with cold water to add to the bath.

"I've been complaining to the landlord about the bathroom to sort it out," she said.

Mosen said she heard Nikita scream and ran to the bathroom.

"She had blood drooling out her mouth, but all I could think about was her burns."

Mosen said Nikita suffered burns to the right side of her body, particularly her arm and leg, as well as her feet.

Mosen ran with Nikita to the laundry and placed her feet in the filled bucket. Struggling to get water on her arms, she ran back to the bathroom, emptied the bath and filled it with cold water as she waited for emergency services to arrive.

- © Fairfax NZ News