to think it's outrageous to not put suncream on your child in this weather

[BornSicky]

a little girl aged 3/4 was playing out front this afternoon wearing barely any clothes, no parent in sight and was bright red everywhere. SHe was out there for a good while. her poor little face was glowing with the heat.

i'm sooo angry. had it been remotely appropriate, i'd have slathered my suncream all over her.

AIBU to think it's really not that fucking hard to cover your child in suncream before they go outside, especially when it's this hot?

My son was definitely pink last night despite lashing of factor 50 applied at regular intervals.

I let Ds out first thing in the morning for half an hour with no suncream on to attempt to cover the vitamin d issue. Then it's regular cream throughout the day and encouraging shade especially at hottest times.

It's hard to try to get the right balance but really there are no excuses for young children to get sunburnt.

I tend to err on the side of not creaming them in the uv is 5 or under, above that, ie if we are abroad then they will have uv suits on. On holiday recently we were the only ones using them even in the middle of the day. Other dc were burnt.

I think people are really over the top about sun cream in this country, I can't stand all the chemicals either.

So today if they are in and out of the house then dd will have long lightweight leggings and a tshirt and a hat, there is a big tent up in the garden with all their toys in anyway and so we go for shade/cover rather than cream.

Melanoma is a very nasty cancer to get though, it has one of the lowest 5 year survival figures.

I would always buy new sunscreen every year for a child.

What Bobbledunk says is the sort of sun-safety advice we were taught in school (1970s, southern California). Cream on when you personally need it/10am-3pm/the face to avoid wrinkles/very sunny/very fair skin anyway, but not compulsively which I think is what I hear a lot on MN; British children already spend too much time indoors (on average). I still have a kind of reflexive sneer at people who think that sunburn = a nice tan, but I guess it makes me realise how lucky we were to get proper balanced advice about sensible sun exposure & how rare it is elsewhere in the world.

In 2003 I was also told by a skin cancer expert working for the US Navy that a light-medium tan is the best defence against skin cancer.

DC have hats+cream on today, it's fiercely sunny & we're going to the beach. I try to only buy the barrier creams (not chemical, I don't worry about using last year's because SPF is wildly high anyway, and it obviously still works). Mad dog English DH will probably neglect to put cream on at all, get burned for it, & then say that it's his fair skin to blame (he's swarthier than me!) rather than his lack of sun sense.

Someone mentioned parabens earlier (sorry, can't remember who it was)

Solero sun spray from Lloyds Pharmacy is colour, fragrance & paraben free. UVA 5* and UVB protection. It states on the bottle "Avoid intensive midday sun" and "Do not stay too long in the sun even while using a sunscreen product."

It's 2 x 200ml bottles for £9 so I got SPF50 for DD and SPF30 for me (although I prefer to keep covered as I hate the feeling of sun creams).

I am concerned about the Vit D as well, so like to get us out early in the day for a bit of sun. I am surprised to hear of advice recommending midday sun, I've never heard that before. NHS website says "The summer sun is most damaging to your skin in the middle of the day. Spend time in the shade between 11am and 3pm, under umbrellas, trees, canopies or indoors."

fluffycloud Sorry, but how ridiculous to be cross at seeing brown children. My niece will be in the sun half an hour and look beautifully tanned - then it just gets darker through healthy outdoor play, school lunch breaks etc.

That is one of the most absurd things I've read on here. Cross as burnt children yes, but not children with a tan!!

A tan is damaged skin though, I have olive skin and dont tan at all. It's just not worth it.

Why would anyone want to damage their skin?.

It's very hard to get the balance right with all the conflicting advice. The thing is, although melanoma is pretty nasty, as Flufflycloud says, it's also quite rare.

It's interesting that some scientists are now saying that the reason people in Scotland have lower life expectancy may be down to the fact that they get less sun. (Does this also apply to other northern countries, I wonder?) I also wonder if the reverse applies and that the reason all the Italians and Spaniards are so healthy is not down to their Mediterranean diet but their greater exposure to sunshine.

We have temps of 40-50c here in Qatar. Children don't tend to be slathered in suncream but also don't play out in the sun. We actually wear more clothes most of the time I it would be a rare thing to see a child without sleeves or a hat. I however do fry myself in the sun and as an adult that is my choice.

YANBU buuuuut

The sun these past few days is not really that bad. Not compared to the Antipodes where I hail from. There the burn times can be as little as 8 mins or so, thanks to no bloody ozone layer.

Of course kids should have sunscreen on. And adults too I suppose (not that I ever really wear it in Europe, as the sun's not that bad here). I do find it funny though thar ppl (esp parents) freak out about covering up when the sun is barely out here and it's nowhere remotely near as bad as Oz & NZ. It's good/responsible of course, but it still makes DH and I

Seriously? So putting loads of suncream and a hat on a child who still happens to tan is bad? That's crazy. Some people just have different skin types. Me, I burn quickly but my other half will just darken through work in garden, going for walks etc.