Sun protection for school day-what do you do?

[Lookandlearn]

What do you do for a school day's worth of sun protection? Never an issue with childcare, where they applied cream or Pre school where sessions were short. Dd was reddening nicely by end of school and it's only April.

[treas]

I have two red heads so am v v v particular about sun protection.

Before dc get dressed they are covered head to toe in factor 50 then get dressed 10 minutes later. For break times they take long sleeved, loose shirts to wear over their polo shirts and sun caps with a flap at the back. They also have a stick of sun block to reapply to their faces.

I have also given the dc instructions to tell any teachers that have issues with this that the teacher can talk to me directly about any problems they have concerning the childrens sun protection.

[Lookandlearn]

It's the short sleeve thing that makes it trickier- I always used to dress dd in long sleeves but there are no cool (not as in trendy!) long sleeved options for uniform. Do you use an all day formula for suncream? The one I had last year wasn't great for dd's skin. Might try a block stick- but would rather not trust dd to do much more than put a hat on. Thanks for comments.

[Bellie]

boots do a 'once' range which is supposed to last for up to 8 hours. Works for dd - very fair skin.

[mrz]

We apply sunscreen provided by parents (with written parental permission) if the child is unable to do it themselves

[reup]

Ultrasun kids is great. It's thick and White and a pain to put on but my kids have never been burned. It's expensive but well worth it for peace of mind and only having to apply it once a day.

[PoppetUK]

Kids did not reapply sunscreen at our children's school in Western Australia. They did wear "sun safe" polo shirts and most wore the next size up for extra protection. There was a very strict no hat no play policy and I would never have dreamt about them stepping foot out without it (UV 10+). My children applied their own cream every day as part of getting dressed. Unless the school implements a hat policy my kids would look like complete twits in theres back here!

[SE13Mummy]

DD1 has sunscreen put on before school and has some in her bookbag for reapplying if need be. In Reception the staff would apply it for the children, she's in Y1 now so I'm not sure what will happen but expect that someone will help her... I teach at the same school so if need be I can top her up at lunchtime.

The children I teach (Y4) are instructed to bring in hats and sunscreen to the extent that they beg parents to let them have sunscreen, "because it'll keep Mrs SE13 quiet". I remind them about hats and give them time to put on sunscreen before they go out at lunch/PE - if they need help they'll receive it but at their age they tend to help one another and I merely supervise to ensure that they are properly covered. At my last school I used to keep factor 50 hypoallergenic kids sunscreen in my desk drawer so any child who didn't have sunscreen could help themselves if their parents hadn't expressed any objection to this. My own DD is massively allergic to almost every sunscreen so I'm careful to check that the children don't have any known allergies but it's tricky when it comes to children who've never used sunscreen before Y6 .

[Tommy]

I put sunscreen on them just before we leave the house and it should last 8 hours. They also wear wide-brimmed hats - not a problem with their school or their friends!!

[blackeyedsusan]

eek, i am going to dress dd in a long sleeved shirt after the next week or so. i doubt i will be popular as this is the ks2 uniform. ks1 uniform is short sleeved polo shirts... dd is foundation staage and school has not published a uniform policy for foundation stage...

i am the first parent to send in a sun hat, and dd goes to school glow white... I have suncream for them/dd to reapply at lunchtime.. yet to send that in.

foundation stage are outside a lot and she has sensitive skin. so far we have only had one small triangular burn where we missed a bit...

Mum has had skin cancer (life threatening as one was over a vein) so I am takiing no chances.

[jellycat]

I use Ultrasun (one of the once a day sun screens). Apply just before they get dressed. Both mine are fair-skinned and so far have not had a problem. We've had a few problems with minor allergic reactions to the once a day creams though. The ultrasun hypoallergenic one is horrible to use IMO (as another poster mentioned, it is very thick and white and tends to mark anything else it gets on) so we now use the SPF 20 sports gel one (similar to P20). This dries really quickly (useful in that morning rush!), and doesn't seem to give either of my 2 a rash. And so far, SPF 20 seems to have been enough protection for the amount of exposure they get during break/lunchtime/PE.

We've also used the Boots Soltan Once which is OK, but a bit thick and sticky IMO. A lot cheaper than Ultrasun though.

[Northumberlandlass]

Another Ultrasun vote here ! We used it in Greece during August last year - he didn't burn once. I think the trick is putting it on a good 20 mins before school uniform so it absorbs properly.

I did try P20, but it is only factor 20 and I find it stings the skin. Also personally, Ultrasun protected my skin from dreaded prickly heat !

[alds]

I have a similar problem - my very fair-skinned youngest has eczema and has just come out in a bad rash after I put Soltan Once on her. She was ok with it last year... the school won't apply suncream for them and she's 4 so can't really manage it herself. I normally send my two to school in UV legionnaire's caps - better uncool than burnt - and Soltan Once 50 suncream. Have just noticed that last year's packaging doesn't say 'hypoallergenic' on it, and this year's does, but suspect this is just a labelling change cos the ingredients are almost identical. Have bought a mini tube anyway to try out on her - if that doesn't work I'm going to try the Ultrasun, which I see you can get on the Suntogs/Raintogs website.

[littleducks]

I would really like a rethink of school uniform, dd is in reception and is wearing a gingham dress atm. very cute etc. but doesnt give much protection, she used to wear linen/cotton shirts/kaftany thinks for playing in the sun

Could they not make dresses with longer sleeves?

[ultra]

I would agree with everyone re ultrasun - it is the best - use the factor 30 (used to be 28) once a day - it is also good for children if they have eczema as it does not agrevate it.

[mungogerry]

Apply before leaving home in the morning. Then both dc have a bottle (spray factor 50) which lives in their tray at school for them to reapply if they wash their face/arms etc for any reason at school.

Hats always.

[Chandon]

being in the UK, I have not put cream on them unles it is a sports day, as really, they are not outside that much during an average school day.

They have never been sunburned, they sometimes get a very slight tan.

I think they need a bit of sun for Vit D anyway.

When we lived in a tropical country it was suncream every day though.

[blackeyedsusan]

Chandon, reception children are out side for quite a lot of the day. some people have fair skin. i have burnt in march when out for a long time in the sun.

[wheresthepimms]

My DCs prep school has sun screen listed on the kit list for summer term and for the first half of the autumn term. I gave DD some factor 50, she tans well but prefers to look pale and my DS factor 8, we have just lived in the Southern USA for 2 years and he is still as brown as can be from that and has always tanned easily so was upset that he had to put any on at all in what he called the cold UK climate. To be fair to DS he suffers badly when he gets over hot and sun screen blocks his pores and he will then over heat and get violently sick, have mentioned this to school and told them that he has a low factor as it blocks his pores less making this less likely to happen. Their school also will not allow them outside at break without the school baseball cap on, or out to do sport without baseball cap or cricket hat on. DCs both said that you get sent to the head if you are caught without your hat on as school has a responsibility to protect you from harm, they had a big assembly about it and how they needed to help and be responsible for their own sun protection in order for the school to meet their pastoral needs.

On the other hand DS2 goes to the local state school who won't allow them to have sunscreen in school as children will squirt it at each other, they sent us a letter saying we can nip in in the daytime to reapply if we thought our child would need it cause we all have time to do that don't we

All a far cry from when we were in the US and kids were lined up before going out to be sprayed by the large communal bottle of factor 50 before being allowed out and then they were under cover most of the time

[sparkle12mar08]

We're not allowed to send cream in with KS1 children, but are asked to apply it before school starts. They must have legionnaires style hats, though I don't know how strictly they are enforced. I'm happy overall with the system, but I am considering send ds1 (5) in with a stick to top himself up at lunch time.

[galois]

I put hats on DS1. Another advocate of vit D. DS1 has eczema and sunblock makes him itchy and his skin go bright red. A little bit of sun on the other hand, seems to make it better. We make sure they don't spend too long outside in direct sun.

[Elibean]

Put all day cream on dds in the morning, put roll-on stuff in their bookbags, make sure they have hats and plenty of water.