Some child put suncream on dd at school and now her eczema has REALLY flared up

[foxinsocks]

and to be honest, I'm quite pissed off. The school has a policy of not allowing children to bring suncream in themselves. I know some mothers find this annoying and this child hid some suncream in her pocket so that she could put some on at lunch break. Unfortunately, she put some on my dd's face and she was up in the night scratching and complaining about the stinging in her face.

The thing is she's not per se allergic to suncream but because she does sometimes get eczema, she tends to react to some creams (but not all). I'll speak to the school but this really is a parent problem. Some parents think it's irresponsible not to let a child have suncream during the day at school gggrrrr.

Usualy, but not always, sadly. LSW may well go from class to class.

The local primary to me has two entry classes of 30, with two teachers and an LSW. You are still looking at it taking up a large chunk of the teachers 'free' time (ie time when they clear up after lesson 1 prep for lesson 2 and make a dash for the loo)

And to be honest 30 seconds is a fairly scrappy job. And there is the issue that the adult applying it would be responsible if they missed a bit and the child was burned! Crap isn't it?

So it is deemed 'safer' to do nothing. Again , crap

Far better for the uniform to be sensible, and forage caps to be the norm, with reasonable sun proection used in the uniform.

And it is still quite a chunk out of lunch time!

tatt - do teachers and class room assistants not work hard enough as it is without losing half their lunch break (which as HMB has already said is used for preparing for the next lessons as well as eating and toilet???

I'm not denying it's an important issue, but I don't feel it's fair to expect the staff to lose out on important time

my opinion is that if you want your child to have suncream reapplied (and let's face it, in this country it's likely to be only for the last half of the summer term and possibly the first few weeks of the next term), you should send in a named bottle. Most children when they start school should be able to put cream on themselves (excluding possibly the very youngest). The teacher keeps the bottles and at a specified time before playtime, those said children are allowed to put on their cream themselves whilst being supervised by the teacher/the assistant. The bottles are then taken back by the teacher.

Most parents can't be bothered with teaching their kids how to put the cream on so slap on cream before they go in and that's it.

I'm talking about parents I know at school not you lot!

lol fox - you're talking about me (well sort of)

DS1 'knows' how to put the cream on........but always misses huge sections so I still do it for him.

How about the teacher stands in front of the class and applies sunscreen to his/herself with verbal instructions whils the class copy them. It would take the 1 minute or so it takes to apply sunscreen and that's it. It would also teach the children how to apply it at the same time - we're only talking faces, arms and legs so no difficult areas like backs and no touching. It's only appropriate at infants level I think, by juniors, they would have learnt how to do it themselves.

And on to pie in the sky dreaming... wouldn't it be great if a sun screen company sponsored schools to have sunscreen in class in bulk tubs? Any child with sensitive skin would need to bring their own of course.

yes, that's what dd does (as well as putting it in her hair, eyes, all over her uniform). I do plaster her with it before she goes in though and her massive cap practically covers her whole upper body.

SD, a great plan, you'd still have to hope that no-one was litigious if their kid missed a bit. ( a sad state to get into )

The children could have a "buddy" system to check for missed bits or not-rubbed-in bits...

wooodn't iiiiiiiiit be lurvely

They'd have to sue their own child for missing though Although a blanket consent/disclaimer form might be necessary

slaps her wrist and reminds herself this is a serious thread*

Can highly recommend Ultrasun Look at their Factor 28. Quite pricey but lasts for ages due to the fact that you only use it once a day. It has UVA and UVB protection and their customer service is really good. Piz Buin has also just launched similar and is BOGOF at Boots at the moment.

I'd be happy to sacrifice the last 5 minutes of lesson time before breaks for the sunscreen demonstrations/applications. Once the children got used to how to do it/how much, it really shouldn't take long at all. I guess it's just the time investment at the start that's the problem.

DSs private nursery used to provide sunscreen and apply it prior to garden time. I hadn't really given any thought to the fact that this wouldn't happen at primary school. Obvious though really with a class of 30!

Ooooh! I'd forgotten the new Piz Buin one. It has UVA screens too.

hmb, are teachers really allowed not to touch children? Not to bandage a sore leg? Pat them on the back? Give them a hug if they are crying? Hold their hands if they are crossing the road? The staff at dd1's preschool are always hugging the children. Does this mean that when she goes to 'big' school she won't get a hug if she needs it, even though she'll only be six weeks' older than when she was getting them?

In our secondary we are told, don't touch! You would have to check on the rules as they are used in each school. I know that in my kids school they do hug a child to comfort them (and glad I am too) but I know of others that will not.

Even though I am a trained first aider I am not allowed to put a plaster on a child's cut finget. I have to send them to the medical room. We are not allowed to touch a child if they are running away from school!

There are schools where you are allowed to restrain a child but only if you have had the correct county approved training.

It is all due to the fear of legislation.

I'll never offer to take a group out on a school trip, for example, because I am too shit scared of what might happen, and I would be held responsible. It is sad.

hmb . It really is awful, isn't it? I know at dd1's pre-school I can't accompany her to the loo because I haven't been police-checked. When I was about 10 I went on a cruise with my school, and I was terribly homesick. My lovely teacher came into the girl's dorm and gave me a big cuddle (which actually made things worse as his suit smelled like my dad's ) - I guess these days he'd be out of a job for doing something like that.

my dd is five foxinsocks, and has amany allergies. suncreams make her skin break out. the one we bought last year (proderm moose) has made her react this year, so i dont know what to do. we have exhausted most sunscreens.

guess its off to the GP, hoppefully s/ge wont make the silly suggestion of keeping out of the sunn al lday, like one did years ago.

if another child applied cream to dd, then i'd be furious. her reactions range from mild skin reactions, to breathing problems.

the school send out letters stating that nuts are banned as they have children with severe nut allergies, so i hope they have looked at sunscreen problems as well.

In my Ds's school suntan lotion is labelled and kept by the teacher, only spray ones are allowed.

Before break times and ,lunchtime the children line up and the teacher and teaching assistant go down the line and spritz any child that has suncream (most do). She does one spritz on each arm, one on each leg and one on the childs hands which they have been taught to run over their faces and necks.

The children then rub in the cream themselves. The teacher and assistant manage to do this is about 2 mins and each child only takes about a minute to rub it in.

Doesn't seem too much of a hassle to me if you are avoiding sunburned children

hmb in infant classes there should be a classroom assistant at lunch time. In infant classes maybe not - but then the teacher just has to supervise. Thank you, soapbox, for demonstrating that in aschool that cares there is a way to overcome any concerns. As for not touching pupils - its about time schools stopped taking children at 4 if they are unable to touch them as young children need that reassurance. Of course at a nursery they do touch - and give medication when its needed, and apply sunscream - they just make sure you sign an appropriate agreement before they do it. Funny how teachers are terrified of litigation and nurseries aren't (once you've had your police check).

Was reading a consultant in the Times yesterday saying one in 20 kids now has some sort of allergy.

tatt, possibley the fear is in part driven by the teenagers who make false llegations agains staff. It is a sad case but true. Obviously some cases are not false, but lots are.

I have every sympathy for children with allergies. ds has asthma and eczema and dd eczema. Thankfully they are not life threatening. It isn't that I am unsympathetic to parents real and very valid concerns, just I am aware of the time contraints that staff have to cope with. And also the very real threat of litigation that hangs over staff.

As a bit of an aside I once worked for Boots the Chemist. I had a highly abusive phone call from a mother threatening to sue the company because the sunscrean she had applied to her child didn't protect hte child fronm sunstroke! Duh???

It would be wonderful if everyone, schools and parents were as rational as they are on MN. Sadly on both sides this isn't the case in RL.

I'm off on my hols now, so could eveyone keep the posts down

Tatt, the fear teachers have come from kids and parents threatening us! Not the other way round. I would not risk my career for the sake of giving a child a hug. I have given hugs before but only in the right circumstances where I'm sure there will be no reprecussions from the child or parents.

by the time kids get to secondary school most are capable of putting suncream on themselves. Still haven't had a good explanation of why nursery staff can do it for 4 year old children but suddenly when they get to school they are untouchable. Even if a 4 year made an unfounded allegation there would be plenty of other children who would honestly say what they saw.