To hate the start of summer purely because of daily sun cream dramas?

[santsandpocks]

They hate having it put on, I hate putting it on them. It's all such a faff

It's all funny until you are told you have possible skin cancer. As I was today.

I have darkish skin and tan easily. But not on my ears.

Please put sun cream on, all over. Because possibly the worst sentence in the world is, " I'm afraid it looks cancerous, and I am going to refer you urgently,"

"Shannith"

We definitely need balance here. I worry about all the kids slathered from dawn to dusk in sunscreen. We might not be plants but we need UV light!

I honesty don't believe that a layer of clothing is SPF 6. I simply don't tan through one layer - and I have olive skin.

I cover my kids at the hottest part of the day but they will be naked in the garden by 4pm soaking up the rays for a good 20 minutes.

Have a look at the effects of vit D deficiency. Supplements help but aren't the whole story.

Oh Shannith, I'm so sorry. I hope the referral comes quickly and it's not cancerous

We might not be plants but we need UV light!

I really don't think we do (happy to be corrected)

I honesty don't believe that a layer of clothing is SPF 6.

Depends on the clothing. That sounds about right for a white cotton t shirt

Have a look at the effects of vit D deficiency. Supplements help but aren't the whole story.

If you take a vit D3 supplement, it's the same as what your body makes. Everybody in the UK should supplement as most of the population is deficient.

YANBU. Ours grew out of hating it but I vaguely remember getting through it with a mixture of games, doing smiley faces with it, them putting it on themselves and pure stubbornness. Good luck!

I use it on myself all year and the children start in April time.

It doesn't matter how hot it is.

I have seen too many skin cancers at work to be at all lax about it. I have seen people who didn't go abroad and weren't sun worshippers with cancers that have disfigured them, if not killed them, and a lot of little skin cancers that weren't so problematic but a pain in the arse for the person having regular appointments to have bits of pre-cancer froze off.

Melanoma is now being seen in really young people more than ever.

Powder sunscreen (great for the part in DD's hair) or spray. If your kids like sparkles, some of the powder sunscreen has it. Less arguments.

My kids get greased up when it gets sunny and I don't give a damn what they think.

They can co -operate and its done easily or it gets do e the hard way.
I use the once a day stuff but applied very liberally. And then the kids are left for about 20 mins so the stuff dries. Any sooner and it rubs off onto their clothing.

Most skincare products that say they have a spf are as good as useless though Imo. How many people trowel on the moisturizer in the morning? A light smear applied once a day isn't going to do anything.

My son has a vitamin D deficiency but he is fine now he is on supplements, his levels were very low but my other children are fine.

Low levels of Vit D can contribute towards certain cancers, or so I was told by a consultant oncologist so we monitor his levels often but I prefer him to get Vit D from his medication and not the sun. He is nearly 17 and responsible for his own sun screen but if he is going to be in it longer than 15 minutes he wears it.

squeaky my MIL uses a moisturiser with SPF 15 and a foundation with SPF 15 and thought it was adequate protection against the sun as it adds to SPF 30.

It doesn't work that way!

Oh, I would have thought as your mil did U2?

I live in the Caribbean and use P20 (but the factor 30 or 50 bottle) on the kids. I don't put it on them every day as the littlest one is in day care and goes into the play yard for about an hour at the end of the day when the sun is behind another building, and DS1 has a totally shaded huge sandy yard at his pre-school.

The only time I put it on them is if we're going to be out longer than about 20 minutes at the park or at the beach. 9am not so much, but any later than that and I put it on them. DS1 (4 years) has a consistent t-shirt tan but the tan is not particularly dark and neither child has ever burnt, even when we've been out on boat trips and in and out of the water all day at the beach.

So I trust P20 completely and always get family members to bring bottles over with them from LHR. It is also highly convenient, being able to spray them down before we leave the house, let them dry out and then put swimmers on. I don't have to worry about reapplying when they've been in and out of the water as well.

But I do miss the smell of Ambre Soleil and the Nivea sun cream - always reminds me of holiday! P20 just smells like alcohol...

itsallgoingtobefne
I just had a melonoma removed too!
Hope you are OK.
So yeah kids, slap that stuff on!

I'm moving to a hot country, I'm all over the Internet trying to find the best spf, especially for applying before school.

Interesting to read that Australia isn't keen on all day spf products. It was exactly what I had been looking at.

strokethefurrywall I thought P20 advised on reapplying when swimming?

I didn't often put sun cream on mine for school; only sportsday and the like. Sent them with hats though. Arms and legs were always out and never burned.

We always used cream on holiday but suffered the odd lightly pink shoulder. Arms and legs were always fine. I think a tan must give some protection.

I cover up, but uniform is shorts and tee-shirt. They aren't allowed outside without a hat tho.
It was over 40 today. Cream every morning in front of the TV. Not too picky on brand, its more "what factor 50, ideally kids friendly is available?"

It's personal choice I think. Website states:

*Should I re-apply P20 after swimming?

There is no need to reapply P20 after swimming unless you have toweled vigorously. P20 has been categorised as "Very Water Resistant" - the highest classification available - and offers superior protection even after prolonged immersion in water.*

I usually slap some regular stuff on if I'm towel drying the kids off and putting them in regular shorts and t-shirts (if they'll still be in the sunshine) but if they're in and out of the pool and drip drying or racing around then I don't worry so much.

Decaff

Foundation and moisturiser will never be applied enough to get the full SPF 15 in the first place, unless you use loads and loads of foundation. You aren't going to get any protection really from those products. Especially as we touch our faces a lot etc and don't reapply foundation much, if at all.

This explains the layering SPF

www.futurederm.com/true-benefit-layering-spf/

There are aerosol cans - quick spray no rubbing in -

Solid stick for faces

Handy small tube or stick in their bags for noses at lunch time

its all going I don't agree. Humans are hugely affected by light - circadian rhythms etc - and it's not fully understood.

Vitamin D supplements are simply not the same. Check out, for example, the interaction with Vitamin K.

Our bodies are perfectly designed. And they really are designed to be outdoors, in natural light.

Trying to get suncream onto the eldest has always been a great big faff and I hate it.
(He's 12 now and still no better!)
I always get one of those spray on ones in a factor 30 as they're dead easy to use and faff less.

I burn easily. I always have. Even in April in Scotland. I am fanatical about sunscreen because I really need it.

But here's the thing. Regardless of the "do they really need it" question, isn't a more important question "where's the harm?" It doesn't take much to get them into the habit of using it. And aren't the consequences of not having it and needing it far worse than the consequences of using it and not needing it?

Sure it's a faff sometimes, putting it on but how much of a faff is skin cancer?

Our bodies are perfectly designed. And they really are designed to be outdoors, in natural light. If we all lived where our genes came from. So if you're red-headed, better be in Scotland or Ireland.

Oh, and evolution doesn't really give a crap if you get skin cancer and die after 40 because you've done your reproducing then so pretty much anything that kills you after your eggs are done, is perfectly fine by evolution.