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.

RedDwarves

To be fair, I didn't ignore it. I didn't know

But the point is that we do need some sunlight. Constant blocking of the sun is as bad as overexposure in my view. I do use sun screen in strong sun but not all the time.

RED

skin cancer is also linked to heritage

DNA

Nobody is burning at 10am

Oh please, cite your sources, OP.

Because that is a load of shit like the rest of this thread

Just recovering from my third skin cancer on my face. My specialist has said it was probably caused in childhood as creams were not used so much then. For some people 10 minutes without protection can be enough to cause a Bacel Cell Carcinoma. Any change in skin colour is skin damage. Use factor 50 on face and take vitamin d supplement.

DNAwrangler your comment should be in bold at the top of every thread like this! Winds me up people blathering on about only putting sun cream on when it’s ‘hot’ when actually it’s UV levels you have to be aware of.

RED

for a start www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/11040119/A-suntan-is-not-only-healthy-it-can-be-life-saving.html

It's about getting the balance right, isn't it? My generation (now mid-60s) rarely used sun-screening cream as we weren't aware of the dangers of skin cancer - the worst that happened was going lobster red after overdoing it. We were expected to go red, then brown. We know now that that's wrong.

Some children are so slathered in sun-screen that they're not getting the benefit of the sunshine vitamin D to prevent rickets. A sensible line needs to be drawn between the two extremes.

Of course some people burn at 10am! Just because it's never happened to you, doesn't mean it's not a "thing".

I know people who will burn amazingly quickly in the sun - if they wander to the shops and back they'll be pink. It's their genetics and skin colour.

I have very pale skin but only burn or tan if I'm sat for hours in the sun. I still wear factor 30 if I'm outside longer than half an hour, because having seen a colleague go through skin cancer, I'd rather protect myself as much as possible!

I find this really hard to manage - no i don’t want my 3 year old DD to have rickets (?!) but at the same time she is very pale as am I, i have been burnt so many times especially as a child that i don’t want her to go through the same! we are off to a park all day today and the weathers predicted to be lovely. i will be putting factor 50 as a couple of weeks ago i used factor 30 on her face and she ended up with pink cheeks. it’s so hard to know whether you’re doing the right thing

I feel like my post made me seem a bit obsessive over suncream where as in reflection I don’t think I am. Yesterday it went on around 10 and I didn’t reapply. We were doing a carbokt so had been outside since 7:30. So he does eat some exposure but I am very wary of burning

Of course cancer is hereditary. This is hardly news

www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/inherited-cancer-genes-and-increased-cancer-risk/family-history-and-inherited-cancer-genes

MORNING

You definitely don’t need to go red to go brown. I think that’s a really good thing to have been lost by previous generations who used to cook themselves on beaches

Definitely need to readdress the balance though.

Even from this thread people honestly believe they/their children will be horribly burned by the sun at 10am for half an hour, in May, in the UK.

Unless you have a serious skin issue, that is simply not going to happen

I'm with you, OP. Avoid burns, and tan can be a good thing.

About 15 yrs ago, I met a US Navy skin cancer expert who said same things. He said a lot of the smother-on message was driven by commercial interests.

I grew up in sunny place in 1970s so we had many sun-safety messages that are consistent with OP & not treating tan as terrible. TBF, British can be completely stupid about sun. No sun at all then straight to lobster and comment on the sunburn positively "You caught some colour!" The amount I've had to yell at DH or our English children to respect the sun & build up exposure gradually, drives me mad. There's a big learning curve for many people.

I have large red head family still living in sunny places, even they gasp manage to avoid sunburn and still have outdoor lifestyles.

There is simultaneous hysteria on here about both VitD deficiency & against the sun. Few connect the dots.

Sun does give you wrinkles, I fully grant that.

Brave of you to take this topic on. Good luck.

I'm so pale I've burnt inside the car in winter on the arm I was resting on the window. This has happened more than once! Dc is paler than me if that is physically possible so he gets covered constantly, either with sleeves or sunblock if it's too hot for sleeves. If he was like the rest of my family I might relax a little, they all have more olive skin and never burn.

I put sunscreen on me and my child as we both have very very pale skin, think blue-ish tinge. However, I also try to just use long clothes and give a bit of time outside before applying but not always practical for a day out. I also find if I apply with clothes on I miss bits.

I do burn at 10am. I can burn in 20 mins.

I do burn March-October-ish

My husband has darker skin but a family history of skin cancer.

I buy factor 50 as my child is small so one bottle will probably last us the summer and we travel abroad.

RAGGED

This endless fear of ‘ageing’ is another part of it I think.

Frankly I have no issue with looking like I’ve aged when... well when I’ve aged.

I’ve surcived so far looking remarkably youthful by avoiding all creams and potions sans an organic hand cream that I use on my face (because it’s cheaper than the face cream) once a day If I remember.

Dc1 now 11 wears no cream day to day and spends hours out on bike. Only concession is that he has to wear a hat. Always been fine without being in factor 50 as he is actually allergic to it. Orlando last year in April he had factor 20 one application per day unless swimming and still fine.
Dc2 (8months) spends time outside in shade with no cream on during late afternoon. When she has been in direct sun it is with factor 30 and a hat and for no more than 8 mins.
We are all blond and blue eyed and I burn easily,however i suffer exceptionally low vit d levels (6 when supposed to be about 76). We just manage the sun exposure and use hats and shade.
But yes constant slathering in factor 50 is getting ridiculous.

Of course people can burn at 10am. At this time of year, the sun has risen quite high.

Just because other parents do things differently to you, doesn't mean your way is right. We all judge the risk factors for our circumstances. My DC are extremely fair skinned, like me. My grandfather had skin cancer. On a sunny day, they will be allowed 10-15 minutes maximum out in the morning then sun cream all day. They wear 8-hour suncream to school if the UV index is high. They take a vitamin D supplement.

It is possible to correct vitamin D deficiency. It is not possible to correct sun damage.

GUMMY
IDONT

Maybe try 10 mins then and build up a tiny bit?

I think completely covering up every minute is only going to exacerebate the problem of pale skin with no natural protection.

To be honest, we try to use as little as possible. Of course, when it’s mega hot, then we’ll put some on the kids.

My main concern is how very toxic most sunscreens are! They contain dangerous chemicals that actually can severely disrupt hormones in children, which lead to other problems.

I try and keep usage to the bare minimum.

CHILDREN

pretty hard to ‘fix’ osteoporosis

Of course people can choose what they do, nobody is saying otherwise.

But perhaps to avoid all the issues presented for and against, a few minutes in the sun without heavy creams a day will be beneficial?

Just a consideration

I never used it on my kids unless we were out all day in the sun, never when we were just going to the shops or to school or whatever. The schools never said anything about sunscreen for the older 2. They never burned or tanned that much either, just slowly and gradually.
My youngest is the most fairskinned and her school had the sunscreen rule so I sent some in which they used to put on her and it made her have a rash. Now she doesn't really expose her skin to the sun at all (her choice, for different reasons).
I hardly ever wear sunscreen myself, unless I'm sunbathing (very rare) or doing something like gardening for hours, I've never been sunburnt.

The rickets scaremongering is just silly. The only rises being seen in Australia are a small group of infants who ‘inherit’ a (treatable) vitamin deficiency from their mothers. Not school kids who have had loads of sunscreen. And of those infants, the majority are from dark-skinned families, and families who practice full body coverage due to cultural reasons.

I’d add that whatever you think you know about your kids’ skin sensitivity to sun exposure, you’d better not get complaisant as you travel and as the climate changes.

Sunscreen is a good habit to get into, from a young age. If we parents don’t normalise it, what chance the kid is going to think to apply it (and reapply it) when they are teens having fun at the beach or playing sport. It makes sense to instill it. You barely need to think about vit d from the sun, it’ll get through in the course of a normal day (unless you live in a cave).

Nobody is burning at 10am well...actually I do. I’m very fair, as are my kids although somewhat tougher wich has come from DHs dark side. I got burnt yesterday because I was so busy making sure the kids were not going to get burnt/too hot I totally forgot about me. As a result I now have pink arms and it would’ve happened after 4pm.

of course cancer is hereditary I’m an HCP in oncology. Genetics is a factor in cancer as are 100s of different things. Some people only need one factor, others need a combination, others need none. Sun damage is definitely a factor and cancer isn’t just as simple as ‘it’s hereditary’ so I can ignore the other factors.

Having said that, I mostly agree with not being over zealous with the sun cream however, a 20 degree day in May in strong sunlight definitely calls for it for us. As evidenced by my stinging arms.....

I agree there's a balance to be struck.

However May has higher UV levels than August - UV levels don't correlate directly with temperature.