To not smother my DCs in suncream?

[CantankerousCamel]

I know there is a lot of information suggesting ‘there’s is no such thing as a healthy tan’ but AIBU to think it’s gone too far the other way?

I am very lax about suncream personally (choice partly and research mostly) but everywhere I look, people seem to be smothering children in factor 50 every second of the day!

This cannot be healthy surely? Some sort of happy medium is necessary? Obviously some skin needs heavy sun cream and some needs none (I have Spanish skin and my husband is South African, neither of us or the kids have burned when being careful with staying in the shade in midday sun and popping a thin layer on/hat if needed

Why the factor 50 in May?

AIBU to think NICE should be adjusting guidelines to ward off such thick use of creams on young children? It is important for skin to experience sunlight, especially in the Northern Hemisphere and especially this time of year when moderate exposure is easier, safer and will prevent burning later on in the summer.

I check the UV on my weather app but I burn within 5 minutes. Factor 50 on my face, pretty much every day from April - September and factor 30 on my body
Low vitamin D isn't an issue as I'm a redhead

Olliv you are spot on you should be protecting your face with a high factor regardless (except in winter obviously) to minimise ageing.

Heed - if the UV is low or I'm in the office all day then I use SPF 25 moisturiser applied generously!
But for days like yesterday when I rode my horse from 11.45 - 2pm I had my factor 50 on
I've been outside without suncream for years, due to having horses so probably 23 years of sun exposure. Tolerance built up? None

30 minutes sun exposure without cream in the morning or evening doesn't work when your skin is fair and easily burnt.

I've badly burnt my skin when the sky was cloudy and overcast before now.

Nobody is going to let their child sit outside without sun cream on if they are susceptible to burning.

LADIE

That article says the opposite of what you’re saying.

I wear factor 50 when it is hot. When it isn't hot I don't wear any. I get my vitamin d on the days when it isn't sunny/hot.

Do people worry about what’s in the suncream that they are putting into them/their DC every day?
There seems to be a lack of information regarding safety/link to cancer of lots of the ingredients.

The problem isn’t those with very fair skin applying SPF, they are obviously taking a calculated risk. It’s lots of people just putting it on automatically (when it may not be needed) as ‘that’s what you’re supposed to do’.

A big problem is our culture in the U.K. In Spain, etc, people take their DC to the beach in late afternoon/early evening. Often if you go to the beach that time in the U.K., most people are leaving.

I used to use suncream on my DC every day without even thinking/researching anything about it. I’ve done lots of reading (not claiming to be any expect just what’s right for my kids) and now don’t use it. We go out early morning then back out late afternoon. If needed, we find shade/cover up with long sleeves/hats,etc. I find myself being more aware than I was with suncream as I sort of used it as a ‘safety’ (oh we’re fine to stay on the beach through lunch, they’ve got factor 50 on).

LITTLE

You’re exactly right. I’ve never understood the cooking on the beach at midday thing, I always want to leave within a couple of hours if I get there early!

The combination of sweaty skin and suncream covering all your pours is not a pleasant one. sandcastles in the summer evenings and a quick paddle to wash the day away is perfect for me.

I burned sitting outside for lunch in 20mins last week. I have a lot of freckles and moles, and pale Irish skin. Not putting on cream is not an option for me! DD has inherited my pale skin, so she wears factor 50 and gets a vit d supplement (as do I). I recall my mother being very lax with suncream (she still considers red skin “a lovely colour”) and getting badly burned as a child.

Any connection between suntan lotion and cancer can be put down to people becoming complacent while they are wearing it. Similar to ability to swim and drowning. Nothing to do with 'mutating DNA'. 😂

My children are both fair (blonde and a red hair) . If we were on the beach or having a day out in the sun. I would apply factor 30. For short plays I don't bother. We usually find shade for midday sun.

Many sun creams are carcinogenic. Far too many chemicals that are dangerous to humans are licensed for use in cosmetics and cleaning products.

I should mention I do put hats on, and always seek shade or the indoors when very hot.

When I lived in the heat with my DC I used to always out a rashie on them. Not sure what they are called here. You wouldn't see any children without one on. They are SPF 50+ and keep the sun off children without having to slather them in cream, except for the exposed bits.

My dc have red hair but they have my skin which doesn't really need suncream. I've been severely low in vitamin d and felt like death so I'm quite lax with the children not being slathered in suncream due to not wanting them to feel as poorly as I did. I get sun exposure everyday these days.

@OnTopOfSpaghetti I have the same with my children. One day wearing sun cream = a week of an itchy raised rash. My dermatologist said hats/tops/shade when roasting and if we are at the beach/pool to give antihistamines before applying to reduce the reaction. I've found using a lower protection ie 25 instead of 30/50 reduces the reaction

Unless you’re a ginger/pasty person, you cannot comment. No amount of ‘building up’ will work. We burn very easily! I burn with factor 50 on I accept a bit of sun burn but I wouldn’t inflict that on my kids. Although, my eldest spends 30 seconds in the sun and looks like a Greek god with his tan my youngest 2 seem paler but don’t appear to burn like me, I won’t risk it though. It hurts like hell.

I have the red Gene and burn ridiculously easily. Over the years I have had some horrible sunburn incidents, the one that I distinctly remember was on an overcast day in Scotland when I was about 7 or 8. If it's a day when I think that I would need sun screen I apply an 8 hour factor 30 to my daughter before school. Otherwise, I leave her without. She has a 'solar buddy' applicator in her school bag that she can apply herself if she feels that she needs it.

Am I being stupid but is it not classed as sun exposure if you've got cream on? Do you not get the vitamin D? Not sure how I thought you got vitamin d into the body...

PREGGO

Some vit D is absorbed if light sun cream is used but it’s usually associated with some tanning, so people who cost themselves/children in factor 50 at all moments of the day are getting little to no vit D

i burned at 9am on a 30min run, with factor 15 on yesterday!

Obviously some skin needs heavy sun cream and some needs none (I have Spanish skin and my husband is South African

Even the very darkest skin needs sun cream. The highest mortality from skin cancers in the US is amongst african-americans.
It's a total myth that black and dark skins don't need sun cream. Just because you don't see the damage as easily, its still there.

MIGGEDLY

Do you have any evidence for this? Or that sun cream reduces rates of cancers at all?

OP I’ve saved Miggledy a job and got you a source www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5454668/
POC more likely to die of skin cancer largely because they believe they can’t get sun damage so they a) don’t follow preventative measures I.e. use sunscreen of at least factor 30 and b) don’t detect cancerous skin changes because they don’t think to check for them.

There is quite a lot of information available online.
Research cited here says that there is a higher prevalence of skin cancer overall in caucasian skin but higher rates of fatal melanomas in black skin - I presume either the symptoms are less obvious, or people with black skin assume they won't get cancer so don't check for it.

Studies into sunscreen use have been mainly done in Australia eg www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21135266. They show that sunscreen is effective in reducing melanomas rather than preventing them altogether. Melanomas are the most aggressive type of skin cancer and are more typically caused by shorter, prolonged periods of intense sun exposure (eg burning, which is why fair-skinned people need to take extra care). Flat skin cell cancers (squamous cell carcinoma) are caused by ongoing long-term sun exposure and sunscreen is highly effective at preventing this.

There are difficulties in researching the long-term effectiveness of sunscreen though. Firstly, it has only been regularly used for about 30-40 years, probably less for the high-factor sunscreens. Also, sunscreen is often not used effectively, eg applied correctly, reapplied frequently etc so not all participants in studies may have used it properly.

The general concensus seems to be that the Australian "slip slap slop" campaign has been very effective in reducing melanoma rates by a combination of covering up and staying out of the sun in the most dangerous part of the day as well as by using sunscreen.