AIBU to think parents at beach were unreasonable??

[gracieben6]

Currently on holiday in France - went to the beach today with dh and my kids. DD1 (14), DS1 (10), DD2 & DD3 (twins both 7), DS2 (4) and DD4 (1).
DD1 wore a bikini, DS1 wore Bermuda shorts, DD2 & DD3 wore tankinis, DS2 and DD4 wore uv suits. We were topping the kids up with sun cream all day. A Family with 2 kids aged about 13 and 10 and both wearing full uv suits and hats came and sat near us. Mother comes up to me and asks why my 4 of my kids are not in uv suits. I said that they prefer to wear normal swimsuits and I am fine with what they wear. She proceeded to tell me I'm a bad mum for only having 2 of my kids in uv suits and that I didn't care about the ones not wearing uv suits!!! She lectured me about uv Rays even though I was topping the kids up with sun cream !! Aibu to think she was totally out of line?!?

So you are British on holiday in France and another random British woman comes up to you and starting questioning you about UV suits?
How bizarre.

Mine wear these, they say it makes them faster in the watersides too!

Aibu to think she was totally out of line?!?
No but even though you thought she was out of line you have now decided to try and buy UV suits for your kids, why would you do that?

Persian why bizarre? The other British woman would probably have heard OP and family speaking and knew she was British too.

OP said other woman engaged her in conversation first and then went on about UV etc. Two families on the beach, it could happen quite easily that you get chatting esp when from the same country.

I think other woman was alarmed/dismayed that OP appeared not to think that the children aged 7 and above needed UV suits as much as the little ones. She might have thought it odd that OP knows about UV suits as the two youngest had them on, but not the 7yo and above children, so was curious to know why that was so.

None of that is unbelievable in my book, I can easily see it happening?

Persian maybe OP has changed her opinion on UV suits for all the children during the course of the post, what's wrong with that?

I think other woman was alarmed/dismayed

About something that was none of her business.

If she actually exists, she would presumably spend the evening going over to other people's tables in restaurants and lecturing them about joyless healthy eating.

As you're in France, head to Decathlon. They have loads of stuff.

Cuboidal etc - why would OP have made the story up? It's hardly a story worth making up! What's with the conspiracy theory it's made up, have I missed something?!

And you joined Mumsnet at 10.30 on a Friday night just to share this not at all made up story?

Alright then!

I have a red headed ds who is 13. He burns very very easily.
I cannot get him into a UV T shirt for love nor money.

We go on holiday where it is hot, but we do not sit by the pool/beach in the middle of the day.
Come in at 12, long lunch, siesta/dvd for kids or read book in shade under the trees, and then back out at 3.

In UK I would sit on beach at midday, but then dh and ds would get overheated after a while if there was no shade, and so we wouldn't do a whole long day IYSWIM.

Mine have rebelled against uv suits. We were on a beach of essentially all Italian families all kids in bikini bottoms only except for mine who were in full uv suits and waterproof hats. Dd aged 10 flatly refuses now.

UV suits are generally the equivalent of factor 50 suncream. So if you cover in sufficient factor 50 suncream then that is as good as a suit (but very few people use anywhere near enough cream for each application). Keeping out of the midday sun is even better.

Wasn't there a big hoohaa in the press about everyone needed vitamin D tablets because of us being OTT in the sun nowadays ?

Last time I went to France half the beach was in the nip, how times have changed !

I get these people all the time, mainly when it came to bottle feeding the kids totally believable. Unfortunately for me I have "an approachable and friendly face" however unfortunately for those approaching I have a viciously nasty tongue and they tend to fuck off pretty quickly when I tell them to fuck off.

I believe this happened as on a recent holiday in Portugal a lady went and fetched an older girl her daughter had befriended one to wear whilst at the pool.

I then overheard her extolling the virtues of them to the 'responsible adult' whilst explaining you could purchase them from Boden, Joules or John Lewis.

I had decided she was a Mumsnetter but after the disbelief on here maybe she wasn't.

Just for the record my 11, 9 and 6 year old were all wearing a UV top andnor bottoms. One from Sainsburys, one from H&M and one from Disney shop.

What?

I thought in France everyone went nude at the beach!

Color me disappointed...

She was a moron and I'd tell her to stick up her advice up her arse.
My DD has never worn one and she rarely has sun cream on as she gets an awful rash and I tried all hypoallergenic ones under the sun.
She is tanned, has never had a sunburn and at least she gets lots of vitamin D. One of the more reasonable,alternatives to slathering your children in chemicals or making them wear ridiculous clothing is to stay out of the sun when it's at its hottest, dry and change their clothes when they're out of water but children need some sun as do we.
With mothers like that there's little wonder rickets are on the rise. www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Rickets/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

Why are people saying they don't believe it? You get nosey judgemental people everywhere.

I am on holiday in the South of France. I went to the beach yesterday. It was 35 degrees.

It was quite busy. Out of everyone on the beach only 2 children wore uv suits. Mine didn't (ds13 and dd17).

In fact none of the girls wore a full swimsuit they all wore bikinis. There seems to be a different attitude here and lots of children have deep tans.

If you go to a British beach the majority of kids would be in uv suits.

I used p20 on my dc and reapplied a few times.

I suspect that as mum was wearing a uv top and trousers too they may have had some form of bad experience so she is ultra cautious. However, I don't think you abu, I wouldn't have expected her to approach and lecture me. If she was concerned she could have spoken to you in a way that didn't imply you were a bad mum

My ds (12 next month) wears a rash best from next. I don't insist he wears it all the time but we go away for week in summer and he is outside all day so has to cover up during hottest part.
I still out suncream on him underneath though!

Does anyone else remember the t shirts with tassly bottoms you could buy from tourist resorts? We always had those as kids adorned with the name of country or resort we were visiting at the time!

clamd try looking at suncare central. My DS reacts to suncream too and these ones aren't water based and son don't trap in heat and chemicals to the skin.

Children from the south of France tend to have a darker skin tone than most British and will also have built up a tan gradually. Pale-skinned Brits stripping off for the first time are in a different category.

You also don't need to spend very long in the sun of the south of France before you receive your max Vitamin D (something like 10 minutes).