SIL wants her baby to 'catch a tan'

[LocksHear]

AIBU to be fuming?!

She refuses to cover him up and isn't applying any sun lotion. Baby is 10 months.

Apparently no one puts sun lotion on their kid's in her country, and they're just kept out of the sun when it's at its strongest (between 1.30/3)

She's adamant he doesn't burn, and she doesn't. Which is true. But burning isn't the only sign of skin damage by the sun. So is a sun tan. Any change to pigmentation is, isn't it?

I was at the park with her and all the kids yesterday, I made a point of putting sun lotion on all of mine, and made sure I had loads in my hands when I said "Oh I've loads left. Let me do yours. Might as well, loads left "

She was very and said I'd rather you didn't. I didn't know what to say to that. 5 minutes later she claimed to have a migraine coming on and left.

I've been advised to report her to her health visitor but I know she doesn't have one.

If she is Gibraltarian it explains a lot !

It is interesting that outdoor workers (Lancet study 1982) suffer lower rates of melanoma Indoor office workers the highest.

I'm not advocating burning, sunbathing for hours. Just that the research on this is interesting and is something I am exploring at the moment.

I can't believe all these posts about people using factor 50 in the uk!

I wear SPF 50 every single day. In London. As recommended by my consultant dermatologist

Melanoma isn’t the only form of skin cancer. It’s likely the outdoor workers just suffered a different type!

I am struggling to comprehend how anything could be more important go a parent than protecting their children from a common cancer. The NHS recommend supplements of vitamin D so I am not getting the objections at all.

I wear SPF 50 too. But the messages are conflicting. We are also recommended to get 20 minutes of exposure (with no cream) to the sun 3-4 times a week from April to October. Good luck in this country. That would give you a tan though..

So which is it? Supplements or 20 minutes of sun? No real consensus and that is where the discussion is.

Personally i choose supplements and sun cream. I was out in the sun today. Not sunbathing but sitting in the shade. I was wearing factor 50 but despite that one arm is red this evening. It must have been exposed and I perhaps should have reapplied cream.

The point is I don't think its worth the risk. It's very easy to expose your skin more than you intended.

For me it's SPF on my face all the time
April or October I would be outside riding my horse in a t shirt, probably without SPF on arms. I don't need the same amount of exposure having red hair, but I don't tan either. Usually riding before or after 11-2 as well

@MarshaBradyo

Fuck off! It's a perfectly normal and very common way of highlighting which part of a post someone is replying to. What an odd comment.

Aren’t you a dick fluffysocks. So irritating when people bold like that

^^ to anyone wondering

The dicks are the people who think they know better and don't adequately protect themselves and their children in the sun.

I can't believe all these posts about people using factor 50 in the uk

Tbf I am paranoid. I had medication which has left me very prone to burning. I read something years ago which said factor 30 offers the same protection so I bought that and burnt to a crisp on my honeymoon and was ina bit of a state. I also have moles. So since then and with my kids I’ve just stuck to factor 50 and none of us have burned.

I put sun cream on my fair skinned DS today before he was out playing football in full sun, but not on myself... guess what, I have burnt and he hasn't. I heard on the weather the other day that the sun is as strong now as it is in August so you definitely need cream if it is sunny and you are out for a while. Mind you i burn at the slightest bit of sun... my record is burning in York in March once.

OP totally agree with you.

For those saying the sun isn’t strong enough to burn - every time I have burned as an adult has been in the UK in Spring as I didn’t bother to put sun protection on.

As a child I burned a lot - because in the 1970s when I was growing up people didn’t use sunscreen to protect - it was about getting a tan. Thankfully I knew better with my own DS and he was always sun protected and with a shade on his buggy as a baby/ toddler.

And what about Dilly’s post Fluffysocks?

(Tbf your whole post was irritating it’s true)

I’m fine with taking precautions rather than using sun screen for tiny babies - many sites say it’s better

@MarshaBradyo

You can express that something irritated you without calling someone a dick.

I am.so.intetested in what fluffysockks posted that is so offensive is it this?

Not keen on sun lotion for babies but they should be in the shade when the sun is strong

Why on earth are you 'not keen'? confused

Bastards inventing a lotion that is proven to help prevent skin damage therefore helps prevent skin cancer?

Seriously it may not be nice to hear that you have got it wrong but if you don't apply sun cream to your children in summer you have been doing soemthing wrong. All the research suggests as much and scientist and doctor agree.

Not for under 6 months

There are safe ways to keep out of the harmful sun

And it’s not wrong. There are many sites talking about it

But marsha the OP is talking about a ten month old who is kept in the bright sun for prolonged periods without sunscreen

OP, you warned her. She chose not too listen. What do you want to happen now? Taking the baby from it's mother would be beyond cruel and unnecessary and that is the only option to protect the baby (which no one will do of course). So basically there is nothing left for you to do about it now. Just let it go. I know how hard it is (I have a problem with my brothers parenting) but there is nothing that you can do to make the situation better. The child will not be helped by you having a row with it's mum. It's best to just be the aunt and not interfere.

Yes and I was talking about my approach atm which is with a 4 month baby. It is ok to diverge slightly given our own situations - without such a reaction.

I’m sure some think you must slather cream at all ages which isn’t the case and you can still be safe and possibly better for it.

You’re over reacting ridiculously.

Interesting. I have some friends from a certain country in Asia, they also leave their babies in the morning sun for vitamin D, and yes without sunblock. And maybe it is due to their naturally tanned skin, the skin cancer rate is extremely low in their country, 20% ours. I'd say leave her be, we don't know everything.

That's awful! If she wants to avoid sun cream but wants to take her baby out at midday when the UV levels are high then she definitely does need to cover him up well with a shaded pram, hat and sunglasses!

Allowing children to burn or tan does greatly increase their lifetime risk of skin cancers.

Personally I don’t wear suncream here in Ireland, ever, as I don’t burn but if my DC were out for any length of time on a sunny day I will use SPF 50

Although one time one of my DC were getting pains in their legs & we had an appointment with a paediatrician. Turns out it was a lack of vitamin D - peaditrician definitely did not advocate smothering the child in SPF every time they were out in the sun - only to avoid burning.

I am all over the place with this one. I wouldn’t put sunscreen on my kids at this time of year because of low uv since the sun is further away than in summer. But I also wouldn’t have them out for hours in it directly. If we were at a park we would naturally move to a shaded area after some time. I have read parenting magazines that suggest gradually tanning slowly building up resistance to the sun rays. I feel like I do this naturally because it hurts being in the sun after the winter. But over time it takes longer to feel uncomfortable. Lathering up with sunscreen and then spending the whole day in the sun is something we rarely do. It feels unnatural and risks heat stroke or missing a spot and getting burned. I am not anti sunscreen. In the summer when the uv rays are strong I can feel it after a couple of minutes so we definitely wear our fair share of it. But I only use it when (IMO) it is needed.