Help! I'm scared to take baby out in the sun!

My ds is 3 mo. and I've struggled with the same concerns as you. To make matters worse, i've had to convince dh that our little one shouldn't be out in the sun. He just always says, "Oh, he'll be fine." He doesn't seem to understand that babes have sensitive skin that's easily burned . . . anyway, I've pretty much done what you mentioned, which is using the solarveil sling, a hat that's way too big, long sleeves, solarveil sling over the stroller/car seat. We even bought a little puptent of sorts that's made for babies who'll be outdoors. (pm me if you're interested in knowing exactly what we got). We live pretty near the beach, and it's pretty hot here generally, so I've just resigned myself to using a bit of sunscreen. I use one that's PABA and fragrance free and just lightly coat it on exposed parts (except the hand that he always sticks in his mouth). then I wash it off as soon as we get home. that's the best I've come up with. I'll be anxious to hear what others have done . . .

My baby was born with a natural tan (he kind of looks like Kelly Ripa's husband), but I was concerned about the sun too when he was very little. We live in South Florida, so there was no way of getting around it: ds was going to get sun. And he did.

15 minutes of sun a day is actually beneficial to everybody, including babies. Any more than that and higher levels of protection are needed: wide brimmed hat, protective breathable clothing (preferably long-sleeved) and staying in the shade.

That's the best I can give you. Maybe it brings things into perspective when I tell you that I came from Aruba, an island near the Equator where they have 350 days of pure, unadulterated sunshine a year (where we also have fair-skinned babies) and people there are very relaxed about it. They do the things I recommended above, but don't go overboard.

Cheers,