Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to buy my almost 1 year old a sun protection swim suit thing?

53 replies

Ramekin · 27/04/2012 09:23

We have a lake near us that is great for outdoor swimming in the summer.
DD (4) loves splashing about in freezing water outside. Last year she didn't have a proper "sun protection" outfit, so I made her keep her T-shirt on. This year I have got a the proper SPF 50 lycra suit thing (or whatever it is they are made of).

I haven't got anything for DD2 (nearly 1 yo); my thinking is that she isn't going to be swimming as such, we'll probably take her in to splash her toes for a few minutes, but it's going to be too cold for full body immersion, so it makes more sense to dress her in swim nappy and cheap T-shirt, which is easier to strip off if it gets wet than a full sun protection suit.

Everyone I have mentioned this to has been aghast, and said I need to get her proper sun protection Confused. But surely a cotton t-shirt will be just as good if she is not actually going in the water much?

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 27/04/2012 11:29

"sun protection? in the UK!!!! "

You do know that you need sun protection in the UK too don't you?

MeeWhoo · 27/04/2012 11:34

Does anyone know from what age "baby friendly" sunscreen creams are OK?

I was told at antenatal classes not to use sunscreen until they are 1, but we are going on holiday to a sunny place in a week when DS will be 7 months. I'd rather keep him in the shade and with his sun protection suit on and use no sunscreen, what do you think?

youarekidding · 27/04/2012 11:35

My DS and I lived abroad until he was 2 - somewhere hotter than the UK. I used to cover him from head to foot in sun cream and then put him in swim nappy trunk thingys and a T-shirt. I also used one of those over the head towels with a hood which protected him whilst he dried.

He now has a SPF50 surf shirt - he wears this mid day only when we're down the beach, suncream the rest of the time. But he is 7yo now so we tend to spend the whole day at the beach - we are in the UK now.

I would say you need to do one of the other - cream/t-shirt or sunsuit but I'm sure you'll work out for yourself whats easiest.

youarekidding · 27/04/2012 11:37

Oh and just to add to the location mystery - I lived and worked in Greece for a season and a nearby lake there was freezing!

ChameleonCircuit · 27/04/2012 11:49

When I was 14, I got serious (hospital treatment) sunburn in Torquay, I'd been swimming wearing a t shirt.

Get a couple of sun suits. If you get separates, if only her shorts get wet, you can just change those.

Emsmaman · 27/04/2012 12:42

Mewhoo my daughter has eczema and I have been using the Organic Children SPF25 suncream from John Lewis since she was 4 months old with no problem.

Original poster
Ramekin · 27/04/2012 12:51

Are you supposed to put sun cream on under clothes then?? I've never done that.

I didn't mean to be (too) mysterious about location - we are just near the Alps, so lots of glacial lakes for swimming - and imo they are absolutely freezing (although DH and DD1 are made of sterner stuff and stay in longer then me). Weather is a bit hotter than the UK and we get more sunshine, I think, but not massively so.

The local young kids tend to just swim naked (presumably they have sun-cream on), so I would have to order sun-suits online, haven't seen them in the shops here.

OP posts:
MeeWhoo · 27/04/2012 13:50

Thanks Emsmaman, I think the issue was about the chemicals and babies having a higher skin to body ratio than adults so they may absorb quite a lot of them. An organic cream would be ideal, but unfortunately this is not the case.

I think I'll have to see how easy is it to stay out of the sun and decide accordingly.

Heleninahandcart · 27/04/2012 14:50

Suit up. You are at altitude, next to water in southern europe. All these factors make it easier for your DC to get sun damage. The suits dry quickly, your DC and you will be freed up from spending at least 10 minutes plastering suncream on then waiting for it to sink in before going in the sun etc. You can then enjoy the lakes late afternoon free of worry and hassle.

Please do not underestimate the power of the sun even in the UK. I had my DS in the southern med from 5 weeks old. Water play, and sailing from toddler years. Always suited up and he took this for granted in later years. The only time he has got burnt was in the school playground in the UK as they refuse to apply sun cream.

Heswall · 27/04/2012 14:55

They are what a tenner ? YABU, anything that protects from skin cancer is a great idea and if you go on holiday then you already have it, good to go.
I don't like the chemicals in sunscreen and they are hard to pin down and ensure proper coverage.

Heswall · 27/04/2012 14:58

we are just near the Alps, so lots of glacial lakes for swimming

I take it you've all been vaccinated for Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE) ?

Rhubarbgarden · 27/04/2012 16:32

Before I had dd I thought these sunsuits were ridiculously OTT, having spent most of my childhood holidays running around naked on beaches in Brittany. But now I've actually got a toddler, I put her in sunsuits out of sheer laziness because it's so much easier than trying to get suncream on her. And sainsburys do such cheap ones.

GrimmaTheNome · 27/04/2012 16:43

And sainsburys do such cheap ones
esp when you look at the price of good-quality high factor sunscreen!

foreverondiet · 27/04/2012 18:32

It depends on the length of time outside and the latitude. Plus how much suncream you plan to apply.

T-shirts only SPF 10-15.

sashh · 28/04/2012 05:04

We all survived din't we? I remember bringing a couple of these UV things back from Australia about 15 years ago - they didn't exist in the UK.

BTW I am very fair skinned and have burned through a T shirt (with sunblock underneath), long sleeved shirt, so do use sunscreen as well but I see nothing wrong with a T shirt, that's what I had to do as a child

SoupDragon · 28/04/2012 07:59

"We all survived din't we?"

LOL. Except that skin cancer is on the rise. Sun damage is not immediately apparent.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 28/04/2012 08:04

I thought that generally skin cancer was on the rise because of the increase in foreign holidays where people go away and fry themselves for a week every year...

purpledragonfruit · 28/04/2012 08:17

We live right on the equator and I have never put sun cream under my dcs' t-shirts - do people really do that?!

Bingdweller · 28/04/2012 08:18

I'm in my 30s and only ever had uk holidays as a child. I got burnt on occasion as most kids did then.... We know loads more about uv rays, sunscreen and have lots of sunsuits for kids we didn't have then.

I'm being treated for melanoma. My kids will be wearing uv sunsuits, hats and sunscreen. I don't want anyone to feel sorry for them. I want the to stay healthy and not have a ticking timebomb on their skin in years to come.

HopeForTheBest · 28/04/2012 08:43

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ on request of its author.

chantico · 28/04/2012 08:50

Vitamin D deficiency can be serious, but will not arise if you give your children ordinary vitamin tablets.

Sun damage to skin in infancy is the major factor in skin cancer later in life. I've had a mole investigated (I was OK) but was terrified at the time, and hugs to Bingdweller, as I read far too much about what the condition can do.

A friend who visited Australia brought back accredited sun-protection suits from there for the DCs. Perhaps worth googling for companies based there who will dispatch overseas?

PeppermintCreams · 28/04/2012 08:52

What about buying her an aged 2 swimsuit? Or would that be ridiculously too big? She'd get two years worth of wear out of it then. And if you get separates then she could just wear the shorts, or the top with a better fitting bit of clothing?

I always get my little boy what Matalan call a Surf Suit. LINK We live next door to an outdoor splash park so it makes sense for us to buy something with a bit more protection when he's there at least 3 times a week during good weather.

OatcakeCravings · 28/04/2012 10:16

I put my DS in one on the beach in the UK as it is easier than covering him in sunscreen from head to toe. He is nearly 4 and I got o e from next this year and it's nice. I only have to put suntan lotion on a wee bit of his arms and from the knees down. He has always hated any sort of lotion so it's worth it for me.

Original poster
Ramekin · 28/04/2012 18:59

Buying an aged 2 seperates one is a fab idea! Thank you! Now why didn't I think of that when I was in the UK recently and could have easily just picked up one from the nearest supermarket I think I'll ask my mum to pick one up next time she is in Sainsbury's and post it to me, as I said, they don't seem to exist here.

OP posts:
flyingspaghettimonster · 28/04/2012 19:19

I buy the uv protector suits and hats, but then we spend a lot of the summer at a water theme park and it is regularly over 30 here. I think it is more about how often you want to smear cream on them... I hate suncream and found the suits are more cost effective too. If the baby is mostly going to be sat under a sun umbrella on the sand then yanbu