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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be very annoyed that dd is so sunburnt?

80 replies

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:05

Dd2 is 4.

It was lovely here today and she wanted to play in the garden so I put factor 50 sun lotion on her and she played from approx 10.30-1130 am then as it was getting a bit hot and she needed her lunch she was indoors from 11.30-2pm.
Reapplied sun cream (water resistant apparently) and she played in the paddling pool for 1 hour. Got out, reapplied sun cream and she played till about 430 pm.

Her face and arms and back are very sunburnt! Why!?? I thought I had reapplied enough and often enough? Other dcs had same sun cream on at the same times and they are not burnt at all and ds1 and 2 are much paler in general than dd2.
I do not have a clue why dd has got so burnt? Half of me wondered about the sun cream but as the other dcs have used it and are fine it can't be that.

OP posts:

Yoruba · 18/05/2014 22:06

Sounds enough to me, is this last years sun cream (it can go out of date sometimes)?

Joules68 · 18/05/2014 22:07

She still needed to be covered up though.... With one of those hats that cover neck area. What was she wearing? And who are you annoyed with?

Kveta · 18/05/2014 22:08

No idea why, but same here. All have factor 50, only me gets burnt, and badly too. I am a humanoid tomato. Children both still paler than milk. Weird.

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:08

I do wonder about the use by date as had got it from a very small pharmacy, it was the last one and the bottle looked a little dusty but the other dcs seem absolutely fine and I put it on them as well.
I just feel so sorry for her, had to give her some sugar free piriton type medicine and put aloe Vera gel on but it looks horrendous

OP posts:

Purplepoodle · 18/05/2014 22:09

You need waterproof is she was in the water as resistant would have washed straight off. Go for one of those cover up swim suits with a hat

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:10

I'm annoyed in general, and at myself as I'm wondering if I didn't reapply often enough.

Dd had a sundress on and a sun hat but in paddling pool just her swimming costume so I'm wondering if it was that hour that did it?
She looks dreadfully sore.

OP posts:

sarahquilt · 18/05/2014 22:10

50 means about 50 mins protection assuming it doesn't get wiped off. I'm very fair and I tend to apply 50 every half hour to be sure. Sometimes I still burn a small bit even then! If she’s pale you need to re-apply about every half hour.

BikeRunSki · 18/05/2014 22:12

Different people have different skin.
Sounds as though your sunscreen may be out of date though.

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:12

Dd is quite pale but nowhere near as pale as ds1 and 2 so its puzzling.

It must have been when she was in the water. I feel so bad I should have got a better sun cream for her.

OP posts:

RandomMess · 18/05/2014 22:15

No, factor 50 means it will take you 50 times longer to get burnt than it would have done without...

So it completely depends on your individual skin reaction time.

hellymelly · 18/05/2014 22:15

A factor 50 only protects against burning for about the length of time it would normally take you to burn. So if you would burn in half an hour without cream, then with cream you can stay out for half an hour and not burn. Nothing will protect for hours and hours in the sun, and on one day the sun exposure even through factor 50 will add up to enough to burn badly if you are out for hours. I would think that any longet than an hour over a day would cause most fair children to burn. The general advice now is to apply sunblock, but behave as if you haven't.

Purplepoodle · 18/05/2014 22:16

Probably was the pool as doesn't water reflect the sun too. I'm rubbish with applying sunscreen to my wiggly sun cream hating children so I stick with long sleeve all in one swim suits even in our paddling pool as ds1 got a bit burnt when younger. It's happens so easily, don't blame yourself xx

mousmous · 18/05/2014 22:16

is it really sunburn or a reaction to the hot wether and suncream?
dc was very rec yesterday, bu it turned out they reacted to the suncream and were pale as buttermilk after the bath.

wheresthelight · 18/05/2014 22:16

As someone else said water resistant is not water proof! You should have dried her off and reapplied as soon as she got out the pool, but we all make mistakes! Lots of cool baths, aftersun and antihistamines and I am sure she'll be fine! But definitely look into the uv filter swimming costumes!!

The best stuff is that riesmann p20 stuff, it's factor 50 and fully waterproof. You apply first thing in the morning - a minimum of an hour before they go out and you don't need to reapply. My friend can burn in winter and uses it every day of her life (ginger and ridiculously fair) and swears by it

lunar1 · 18/05/2014 22:17

Some people are just more sensitive. Even with 50 I would begin to burn after about 15 mins. I would keep her in a shaded part more in the hotter parts of the day.

hellymelly · 18/05/2014 22:18

Also in general use most people apply far far less cream than the factor 50 rating is given for. When suncreams are rated they are applied really thickly, in a way that we just don't apply them in use (stupid testing regs) so a factor 50 won't give you that much protection unless it is in a very thick layer. in normal use, a 50 is more like a 20.

WilsonFrickett · 18/05/2014 22:19

All bets are off in the water I'm afraid. It's only water resistant, not water proof so it's probably washed straight off her. Slip a Tshirt on her next time, or invest in one of those SPF swimming costumes that cover everything up.

But also, don't beat yourself up about it - it was an accident! DS came home with actual finger marks of sunburn last holidays because I didn't rub his sun cream in properly before he went to holiday club

Wickeddevil · 18/05/2014 22:19

Hedgehog as other posters have said different people have different skin types and so may need different approaches to avoiding sunburn. I would agree with a hat and a t shirt in the middle of the day. From experience uv suits are great for smaller children as it reduces the time they have to have cream reapplied.
I hope DD is ok

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:21

I did reapply as soon as she was out but I think by then she had already been burnt? It is definitely sunburn as there are white marks where dress/costume straps were and she has got redder and redder over the evening. She is uncomfortable and has only just gone to sleep.

I wondered about a reaction as she usually gets sore and itchy with sun cream but it doesn't look like the rash she usually gets.

OP posts:

Wolfiefan · 18/05/2014 22:23

Put pool in shade? Parasol over it?
(My DH can burn when it is raining! Sudacrem is great for burns.)
T shirt, hat, thick sun cream.

LAlady · 18/05/2014 22:26

Both my children are very fair - DD has red hair and freckles. Factor 50 and UVF suits are the only things that work - my DS is 13 now and still wears a UVF top on holiday.

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:27

Paddling pool under a gazebo was the plan but......

Dh couldn't find it in the shed then remembered dsis had borrowed it last year. We went to pick it up, got home but the instructions were gone and all the little number stickers on the piles had been taken off so in the end we gave up trying to put it up as didnt have a clue.

OP posts:

Fluffycloudland77 · 18/05/2014 22:27

You can get kids clothes with built in SPF, it's high SPF too.

specialsubject · 18/05/2014 22:27

the pool, definitely.

next time UV suit (not a t-shirt, not UV proof when wet). Plus hat.

Original poster

Edenviolet · 18/05/2014 22:27

Poles !

OP posts:

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