sunscreen on kiddos--how do you handle it?

[lkmiscnet]

We live in CO at 6,000 ft elevation. For each 1,000 ft of elevation gain, the sun is apparently 10% more intense than at sea level. So in our city, it would be about 60% more intense.

I take precautions around the sun myself and usually wear sunscreen, but it's such a hassle. I hate having to shower after each use and I don't like to go to bed with it on.

Our LO is only 10 mo old now, but I dread having to lather him up with sunscreen for all of his childhood, but I know it's a necesary evil. I want to avoid the chemical laden sunscreens and use the physical blockers like titanium dioxide.

I so want to protect him and his skin and am paranoid about the sun getting on any exposed body part, even the backs of his hands, ears, etc.

How am I going to be able to possibly protect his skin from the ravages of the sun? With the rates of skin cancer escalating and the well known risks of having sunburns during childhood and the increase in the odds of getting cancer as a result, I worry about this.

I want him to have a fun childhood, but I can just see myself pestering him about making sure he has his sunscreen on. But, I can't not do it.

Uugh...the daily baths in the future to wash it all off too...

[YayJennie]

I don't use sunscreen on my son (or myself). Maybe once he's older and running around and able to shed clothing I will, but for right now, we stay in the shade, keep ourselves covered (hats/light jackets), and limit sun exposure during peak times. That said, I live in upstate NY, where the sun is only dangerous for a few hours a day a few months of the year. If I was in your situation, I might use more sunscreen, and just make sure to shower/wash it off after we were done outside.

Also, I wouldn't be TOO paranoid about him being exposed to a little sun. Sunlight is great natural vitamin D. I make an effort to expose my son (and myself) to a little sunlight everyday, in an attempt to get some natural vitamin D. You just have to moderate risks vs. benefits and be careful not to get burned. But a little sun is good!

[Kelly1101]

Why do you have to wash it off?

[Norasmomma]

I use Jason Natural's sunbrellas, it's zinc/titanium based and works. I put it on my 5.5 month old. I used it on my DD when she was young and we went to Mexico, I never wash it off.

[firewoman]

I know how you feel about slathering on the blocks and the hassles that come along with them. My family is very fair and while I completely agree with the PP about the benefits of some unfiltered sun, if you go on a hike or are out in the sun for long periods of time you will have to use block at some point. At this young age I would use light long sleeved clothing and hats mostly just because most of the block type lotions are messy and get all over everything. We use California Baby and it can make a mess of carseats, furniture, even floors. I would stick to just putting it on the babies hands and face if you are going to be out for long periods and cover the rest of his/her skin and wear a hat.

For the record, I personally believe that a considerable amount of the skin cancer increase has more to do with chemical sunscreens than the sun itself. I'm not saying to burn is a good thing, but if you look up information about oxybenzone, avobenzone and some of the parasols you will see that many of them have carcinogenic side effects.

[lkmiscnet]

That's why I'm so worried about using sunscreens, but also worried about not protecting our LO from the strong sun. I agree with you completely about the chemicals and the harm they likely cause. Physical sunblocks are so much better, but as you also mentioned, like any sunscreen, they are sticky and oily and I can't imagine going to bed at night with sunscreen still on. Yuck!


Thanks for the brand advice.

[luv-my-boys]

I know what you mean, I hate the way sunscreen feels on my skin and I definately wash it off when coming indoors and no longer going out. I have chosen more natural products (california baby) and do a lot of othr physical blockers such as oversized bucket hats, long cool cotton clothing and such. I also monitor who much exposed time we actually get for instance we tend to stay in shaded areas as much as possilbe and try to stay indoor during the peak time ("from 10 to 3 stay out of me" sun campaign)

[desertgirl01]

We live in Tucson, AZ and the sun is intense. I'm super fair...and I spend alot of time in the outdoors. My skin is RAVAGED. I'm covered in freckles, some of them merging into blobs. No skin cancer, but my skin is a ticking time bomb. It's not a great situation. Hats, cover ups, I wear them all, and still get burnt since the sun reflects up and off of surfaces as well. Sunscreen, daily application, is a necessary part of my routine. My baby is super fair as well and has already gotten 3 freckles from brief exposures to the sun. Because we go camping and hiking often, we've been using sunscreen on her as well. Hats, longsleeves, etc., as well. Pretty much every kid around here wears sunscreen at some point, and every kid hates getting it on, but it's just part of sunblazing Tucson life.

[Xavismom]

I'm worried about this too, mostly about DS's head. He HATES hats. If I put a hat on him he starts yelling. So far we have only tried winter hats, but it gets pretty hot here in the summer, so I dont know if he will tolerate a sun hat.

So is Jasons the most 'natural' one everyone likes?? Should I just rub it into DS's hair? I dont want his head to burn

[Peony]

We are in CO as well but my house sits at 7,500. We do use sunscreen because otherwise my kids get fried. If we are outside for short periods, say 30 minutes then I just do big sunhats for all of us, everyone has to wear one no exceptions even for me. My kids know better then to argue by now, not wearing sunhat=not being allowed to play outside. For the baby, I get the ones that tie and tie them on securely, they always figure out how to take it off and I put it back on, eventually they do learn to keep it on. Light long shirts are common, otherwise we do short sleeved, never a tank top if we are going to be outside. Anymore then 30 minutes means that the sunscreen goes on and gets reapplied every two hours, sooner if we are playing in the river. The hats and sunscreen stay in the car so we are never without them, if we use them around the house then they get placed back in the car, nothing worse then promising the kids that we will swing by the park for an hour while we are in town only to discover that I have no hats.

I also know when all the different parks, rivers, etc... get partly shaded by different sun positions and I try to go when there is some shade. There are a couple of the big playgrounds that we never go to because they are out in the blaring sun and way too intense.


ETA: These are my favorite hats, we all own at least one. I've tried many kinds over the years and these work the best for our active lifestyle. http://www.sundayafternoons.com/stor...-play-hat.html

[tzs]

i'm the first one to tell people to just get some sun and some vitamin d. i also hate hate hate the smell/feel/ick of sunscreen.

but this is also my first babe and although i'm fair myself and should know better, we are now both sitting here with sunburnt faces, her's worse than mine and i feel horrible, from an hour long walk in 55 degree wisconsin.
of all places!!!

learned my lesson today. sunscreen it is (and nightly baths! yuck.)

[mamadelbosque]

I rarely use sunscreen on myself or my kids. I researched about it a couple years ago, and from the research I did, I came to the conclusion that sunscreen only blocks the 'good' rays which cause' us to make vit d... and lets all the 'bad' rays (which cause cancer, supposedly) through. So its doing you far more harm than good. And we wonder why skin cancer rates continue to skyrocket despite more and more pushing to always use sunscreen. But thats me.

[Masel]

My mom just finish a round of topical chemo to deal with numerous cancerous cells on her arms and neck. Her skin looked like hamburger for a while. My MIL has had several moles removed in various stages of cancer. We wear sunscreen and hats.

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

I don't use sunscreen and won't on my child (except for things like days at the beach). Luckily my entire family (husband included) tans easily and rarely burns. The key to avoid burns is to get a moderate amount of sunlight early in the season. My DD has been outside at least one hour a day every day this week (we love being outside). This will keep up indefinitely, and as she so far seems to take after me, it's highly unlikely she'll burn with this level of exposure.

Personally, I have a really hard time believing that a totally normal and necessary activity/item is inherently severely dangerous. The only person I've ever met who's had even suspected skin cancer worked outside 8+ hours a day with no breaks and no sunscreen after a youth spent in Hawaii surfing all day with no sunscreen.

I'm far more worried about my daughter growing up fearful and restrained than a slightly elevated risk of skin cancer when she's older (judging by family history and skin tone). Many would, and have, called me a bad mother for it, but that's where I stand.

[Kelly1101]

We're fair-skinned. I've known several people who had to have cancers removed, none of which used sunscreen when they were younger. I'll be putting sunscreen on her when we go out.

[redvlagrl]

I grew up in Australia and there's no way I wouldn't use sunblock on my kid.

I went to the EWG Skin Deep site and searched for safe sunblocks. JASON was rated highly, but I couldn't get it easily. The Neutrogena Sensitive Skin one was rated the same so I got it.

IMO the risks of not using sun protection are far, far worse than the risks of a few chemicals on the skin (and I say this from the POV of a v natural, non chemical mama).

[Masel]

Originally Posted by sunflwrmoonbeam

Personally, I have a really hard time believing that a totally normal and necessary activity/item is inherently severely dangerous. The only person I've ever met who's had even suspected skin cancer worked outside 8+ hours a day with no breaks and no sunscreen after a youth spent in Hawaii surfing all day with no sunscreen.

We didn't evolve to live in a world with a thinning ozone layer. A family friend died of skin cancer. She was a nurse, not someone who worked outside all the time. I don't live in fear. I just started wearing sunblock as a teen and skipped the sun worshipping. (As a side benefit I have much better skin now at 39 than some of my contemporaries.)

[CookAMH]

A friend of mine has had good results using coconut oil. Try it one day and see.

And I used it on 10mo DS at the beach in SoCal last week and on my face and it worked fairly well on me and great on him.

[redvlagrl]

Originally Posted by sunflwrmoonbeam

Luckily my entire family (husband included) tans easily and rarely burns.......[snip]

Personally, I have a really hard time believing that a totally normal and necessary activity/item is inherently severely dangerous. The only person I've ever met who's had even suspected skin cancer worked outside 8+ hours a day with no breaks and no sunscreen after a youth spent in Hawaii surfing all day with no sunscreen.

I was under the impression that not burning was not a protective factor for skin cancer.

I would also urge people to look at the statistics for skin cancer in australia: http://www.cancer.org.au/cancersmart...andfigures.htm

If you don't have time to read, one of the facts is that 2 out of every 3 Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer before age 70!

Even though I don't live there now, it's a pretty preventable thing and sunscreen/block is just something that I use every day in the sunny season here in Canada and every single day in Australia.

[CrunchyKnitter]

Originally Posted by redvlagrl

I was under the impression that not burning was not a protective factor for skin cancer.

This. The first sign of sun damage is a tan. Tanning and not burning does NOT protect you! Granted, a burn is probably much worse, but any color at all is sun damage.

That said, I believe a small amount of sun is good for us (Vitamin D), but that's just it...a small, controlled amount. Which, if you are in the sun for a good amount of time, even with sunscreen you probably get.

We plan to use California Baby sunscreen on DS when he's out in direct sunlight for a long time (like a long walk, a pool, etc) Otherwise we'll use light cotton clothing and hats to cover him.