do your kids still wear sunhats?

[Natalie12]

And if not, what age did they stop? I'm trying to decide if I should bother with them. Mine are 3.5 and 2.

[karen ann]

Keep in mind that DS and I both have very fair skin, and we have a strong family history of skin cancer. My DS is 7 and still wears a hat for sun protection if he is playing outdoors. We usually use a legionnaire-style hat (baseball cap brim with the flap covering his neck and ears) in the warm weather, and a balaclava in the winter.

[ThreeBeans]

At that age? ABSOLUTELY.

[mamazee]

At that age I probably would. Certainly at 2. At 6, I consider the specifics each day. How much sun, how many opportunities for shade, how long we'll be out, etc. I keep a hat (with a brim) in the car in case we need it. We have skin cancer in our family so I err on the side of wearing a hat. But she doesn't wear it every time she plays outside at this point. I suppose 3.5 is probably around when that stopped? It's hard to remember. I'd also consider where you live. The sun isn't generally as hot here in Illinois as it would be in Arizona, for instance.

[bu's mama]

I'd say yes!

Dd still wears one at almost 6 yo...either a wide brim sun hat or a baseball cap. She's pretty fair & I worked in a dermatology clinic for a few years, so she'll probably wear one as long as I can 'make' her.

[Ornery]

Yes. My son still wears sunblock and a baseball hat at age 12 even though we live in the Pacific NW. We are fair skinned though and burn extremely easily.

[Sandrine]

My oldest is 5 and she still wears her sun hat. Until she starts to whine about it, then we will talk about alternatives.

[nicole lisa]

DS is 7.5 and it depends on the day and if either of us remember. Most days he doesn't; we're olive skinned and don't burn and I think that's part of why we forget we should both have one on.

[mamabeca]

yup - mine are 9 and 3 and both still wear them pretty regularly, though I will not make a huge fuss is dd (9) chooses not to these days.

[angelpie545]

I guess I'm the minority here-I could never get my kids to keep them on their heads, and finally gave up, slathered them with sunscreen and hoped for the best. They are now five and seven, but their aren't very fair-skinned; they both have olive undertones and tend to tan whether they have sunscreen on or not.

[MotheringHeart]

We do...all of mine have AWESOME hats from an australian company called coolibar. I even have one. They have ties and cool styles and the kids are motivated to keep them on. They are also comfy and easy to clean. I have a wide variety of skin toned kids, but I think sun hats are a MUST if you are going to be out a lot.

[mamazee]

OK so I realized how this works in our family. My dd is much darker than I am, thanks to her olive-skinned daddy. I get sunburned very very easily, including on my scalp - in fact especially on my scalp. I also get sick if I'm out in the sun. So I wear hats frequently, and I seem to naturally get her hat too if I get my own. So if I don't feel like I need a hat, I don't get her one, but the sun has to be low for that to be the case. I've burned when it's cloudy so I'm thinking she's pretty often even wearing a hat when it's cloudy.

Also, if I reach for the sunblock, I naturally also reach for the hats.

I've never put a lot of thought into it because I'm the one with the sun issues so this kind of thing comes very naturally to me and was happening long before she was born.

[alegna]

Rarely. Once in a blue moon she will tolerate it.

BUT I am not sun-phobic. If there is a concern about burning we use sunscreen. Every day? No.

-Angela

[sunnmama]

I wear a hat if I will be in the sun, and I am 34

We are all in the habit of wearing hats in the sun. I greatly prefer hats to sunscreen, especially since hats also protect eyes (my grandmother lost her sight to macular degeneration, and UV exposure is a risk factor). Of course, sunglasses could help with that, but we prefer hats.

[SAHDS]

DS (7.5) is fair and wears a baseball hat with sunblock slathered on ear tips and neck.

DD (8.5) is more olive complected but still wears hats too.

I think they're functional and adorable.

[reillys_mom]

Both of my kids do and DS1 is almost 3.5. Also, I run a summer camp and a lot of those kids (8-17) still wear hats. It's a lot easier to keep a hat on than to make sure they have properly applied enough sunscreen recently. I figure it is like the UV bathing suits, that's all my son knows and associates wearing one with fun just like he does wearing his sun hat.

[bits and bobs]

Yes yes yes. School here has a 'no hat no sun' policy and mine aged 4 and 6 have to wear hats if they are with me. They also have sunscream on if they have bare arms/face/legs. This is one of my no choice rules.

[hottmama]

I don't generally use them after 2, but we still do at the pool (at 5). I usually put sunscreen on my white kid's face and arms when we're outside all day, which is often. He's always on his bike so I don't think he'd keep a hat on for long.

[MichaelsSahm]

yes esp here since it gets in the 110 degrees during summers.

[redpajama]

My daughter is 17 months, and I still put one on her most of the time when we go outside, but I am not super-obsessive about keeping it on her. She usually has it on for about half the time we're outside.
My son is three and really sort of hates to wear a hat, but I'll still put one on him when we're swimming or at the beach or something like that. If I found a hat he was willing to wear, I would probably suggest he wear it a bit more often. Perhaps it'll be different this year--I haven't tried putting one on him yet. Maybe he won't hate it this year. =)