Keeping baby safe in the sun

[beec]

Any advice for keeping baby safe in the sun? My little one is 9 months old and has a tendency to get ezcema which is exacerbated by the hot weather. Since he was born last summer, I kept him mostly indoors for the initial few months of his life. After the warm days we have been getting lately, I have wondered whats the best way to keep little ones safe. Obviously a wide brimmed hat will help (if the monkey agrees to keep it on!) but is it safe to use children's sunscreen on babies too? Any advice gratefully received!

[melbourne groover]

There is a really nice organic sunscreen from Healthmatters that I used last year. My son reacted to the supersonic Aussie one that is high spf (my preferred choice) but was fine with that one (sorry cannot remember name). He did have ezcema and that was the one that irritated him least. It had a blue lid I think. Used to use it for me also so was dual purpose ;-).

[littleEDfamily]

We spend quite a bit of time in the rampant UV of Australia, and my advice is 30+ sunscreen on their little faces (quite like the roll on ones, esp if they don't like to co-operate, but we did get a really nice organic one at HealthMatters) plus a hat as back up (that they may or may not keep on), and then light long sleeve cotton tops/ shirts (and dresses for girlies) so that you don't have to worry about sunblock on their shoulders and arms, and 3/4 length trousers so it's only the bottom of their legs you need to apply suncream to. Cotton clothing won't block all the sun's rays, though, but if exposure is light to moderate, will suffice. Little lycra sunsuits are a godsend if they're playing around in water.

Controversially, given the type of summers we have been getting in London and the high levels of pollution in the atmosphere, unless the little one is out in the worst part of the day for more than 30 minutes, and it is a really warm sunny day, I often don't bother with suncream for me or our daughter. Obviously it does depend on the kind of skin they have and how easily they burn, but I think a little bit of sun exposure can be healthy, and there's something about slathering kids all over in sunscreen every time they set foot in the sun that strikes me as a bit OTT.

To answer your question, I think children's suncream would be fine on a 9 month old. I think the advice is for no sun exposure at all for very young babies, but as they approach a year, I think it's unlikely their needs would be very different from children. The staff at HealthMatters can enlighten you on the chemicals that the 'organic' sunscreens do not contain and why they are thought to be harmful.

[melbourne groover]

The dermatologist we were seeing for my son gave virtually the same advise as above. Use the highest spf you can as generally you don't apply as thickly as the spf testing standards but (in the english sun) don't go overboard reapplying constantly as it is important that they do get some (moderate) exposure to sunlight, although be careful in the height of the day. Bizarrely she said there have been cases appearing of rickets in NZ and Oz due to the over zealous protection. So littleEDfamily you are spot on I think!

[Gubodge]

Unfortunately organic doesn't necessarily mean non-irritant. The only sun-cream that doesn't cause our eczema sufferer to flare up is the E45 one. It makes her look like a little grey ghost, but its worth it.

My husband finds that it's not the sun but the sweat that exacerbates his eczema so when the small one was immobile we favoured having her stripped down to just a nappy but under a shade-a-babe pushchair cover when we went out. We would always ensure she had some exposure to the sun when it wasn't at it's highest though, as direct sunlight can help skin problems.

(It's a contant bloody balancing act though. Heat - Bad for eczema. Sun - good for eczema, but my mother had a malignant melanoma so sometimes I'd just like to shut both girls in a darkened room for the summer.)

[The Nappy Lady]

My eldest would react to the mainstream suncreams but is fine with Lavera which Health Matters sell, or the Australian one sold more widely - is it called sunsense or something? It has a pink or orange map of Australia on a White bottle. I find the latter easier to apply as not so thick, and they even did a roll on which my 5 year old liked.

In the uk I find one good application first thing is enough unless in water a lot, in Spain we do 3 applications over the course of the day.

I look back to my childhood, all day outside, no suncreams ever and shudder. Amazed my skin isn't more damaged, but can't help wondering how much better it would look if only .....

[The Nappy Lady]

Forgot to say, we also use UV suits in Spain as it is so intense in August but tend to cover fully in cream any way to be safe as they often start or end the day out of the suits. Jo Jo do some nice ones that are more cotton rather than nylon'ey' (not a word, but you know what I mean) which I prefer.

I think 9months to 2 is hardest as mobile but tricky to get them to keep hats on, submit to cream going on etc but it does get easier as they get older (gosh, if I had a pound for every time I have said that!).

Molly

x

[beec]

Thanks for all the advice. Am off to do some shopping now!!

[Moos]

2nded, or is it 3rded on the Australian roll-on sunscreen - so much easier to get on than the squirty kind.

And H&M do hats that tie on - if you have a clever hat-hating toddler it doesn't help but surely even a 9-month-old Houdini can't get out of a tied-on hat?? Or am I just naive...

[beec]

Tie on hats - excellent idea! We'll see how resourceful the little monkey is.... Thanks.

[Gubodge]

They might not be able to escape a tied-on hat, but mine used to give pretty good impressions of strangling themselves in the frantic attempts to tear them off. Sometimes I'm very glad I'm past that stage, they're usually slightly more sensible now.