3 year old tanning

[MiddleClassProblem]

Posting for traffic and advice. All I can find on the internet is information telling you how bad tanning is for kids etc but nowhere has advice for kids that have anything other than white ethnicity that just bloody tan!

DD, last year, same sun cream, same application routine, no tan. This year her skin seems to have changed and is tanning despite extra applications.

I have a similar issue myself but until now her skin seemed more like my husband’s white skin but this year seems to be reacting more like mine.

Example, I was recently told off by a white friend for my tan lines I had got telling me it’s skin damage. I got them by walking to the shop, out the house for 30 mins so probably 20 mins possible sun exposure, but occasionally in the shade because I’m walking in roads with a few turns, factor 30 on thick (I let it soak it same for with DD).

I can’t find anywhere that adivices on this kind of skin and for me I’ve been more relaxed in the past but now DD is getting it I really want to protect her more.

Is there a special type of sun cream? What do others do? She wears tshirts or rash vests in the pool too, sun creamed everywhere including underneath where maybe covered, at least 15 mins before going outside. She has factor 50 and I reapply around every 1.5hrs atm or once dry post pool. I could try to up it but it’s a bit of a battle anyway.

I just feel like everywhere is saying tending kids is wrong and you’re an ignorant, lazy parent if you let it happen but nowhere seems to address the ones that it’s hard to stop tanning.

Honestly, any tips, please help!

My ds always tanned so easily despite factor 30 sunscreen mainly because he was so active and was always running around.

People would ask where we holidayed because of his tan and look when we said we didn't go away, just days out to Clacton etc

I think it's worth asking your GP when you next go in for something else.
All my family are white - but some seem to have Celtic skin, never tan nor should they. Others include my DS, me and DP who tan readily.

As long as you cover your DC, keep them out of extreme sun 10am-1600 and use factor 30 regularly there should be no worries.

Short of never letting her kjt, if you’re applying sunblock religiously and she’s still tanning then realistically what can you do?

I have two pale as milk kids and one that takes a look out the window and turns brown. He gets exactly the same treatment as his brothers - factor 50 - but it’s just how his skin is. It makes no sense to just cover them up or not let them out when you know you’re doing everything that you should.

The OP has a very fair point to those saying ‘what’s the problem nobody says a tan is a problem’ when in fact they do! There are loads of adverts, articles, advice at the moment that say (this is a quote from an article) ‘Any change in skin color, whether it's a tan or burn, is a sign of skin damage. There is no such thing as a safe tan no matter how slight.’ However op when you actually read in to it, it is about over exposure. You are doing fine.

I know the feeling. On my baby's first holiday, I used factor 50, a rash vest, and stayed in the shade as much as possible (non mobile baby), but baby still managed to come home tanned and I felt awful thinking their skin was damaged.

Didn’t advice change about two years ago saying that you shouldn’t use anything higher than factor 30 but to make sure it had the five star rating???

@parisnext please tell me where to get factor 70, I wear 50 on me and still end up pink, this is also with a wide brimmed hat, sat in shade etc

My 1YO has a tan. We do factor 50 sunscreen with UVA/UVB protection, reapplied after swimming or every two hours, out of the sun over lunchtime when it’s strongest and she wears a hat. She still tans though and I’m not going to stop her from going to the park or the beach all summer long or to put her in long sleeves and trousers when it’s over 100 degrees... She must get it from DH who hails from the Med. It never occurred to me until I found this thread that some people might have a problem with that, it’s very bizarre.

Nursery Nivea make a factor 100, you could try that.

I didnt know tanning was a problem? My son is 3yo and im very uptight about applying suncream.. he has factor 50 on all over when he is going outside... and I reapply regularly. He has never been burnt but he is tanned on his arms and legs. I didnt think this was a problem? No suncream can completely protect against tanning can it? Unless you applied it like a paste like cricketers do on their noses!

I hear you, OP. I am white (although not super pale burny white) and my children are mixed (half African). My 6yo keeps his 'tan' year round (permanently has pale swimming trunks on his skin) and darkens really noticeably each summer. He's never burned, I always protect his skin pretty much as I do mine, and whilst I worry about sun damage because of that persistent "all colour changing is bad" line, I also worry about vit D in this (usually) grey and sunless country for brown skin! I think your stress/confusion is such a logical response to the party line on sun damage, but I also think you have nothing to worry about in your daughter's skin. And your friends are rude!

My kids are mixed white and asian, and could honestly get a tan off the fridge light!

Mine too.

I think it’s possible to take the advice too literally. To fry yourself in the sun all day in pursuit of a tan is damaging for the skin, yes. But a child who goes brown despite sunscreen isn’t damaging their skin. It’s just what their melanin likes to do! What’s the alternative? Keeping them indoors all day, or covering them in a shroud?

I burn very quickly in the sun and dislike the heat, but I usually have a cyclists tan by April even if it's faded overwinter when I completely cover up. Sun cream just stops me burning, it doesn't stop the tan.

Short of completely avoiding sun or covering up completely at all times, there's not much way around it and vitimin D is important too.

Yes, tanning is skin damage, but child 1 tanning more doesn't mean they have received more damage than child 2 who's barely changed colour, it just means their body is better at producing pigment. I am white and tan very slowly. The damage is still happening to me. If a person has been well protected and hadn't burnt, then that's fine.

SPF advice is every 2 hours I think, not every 20minutes! I covered mine it at 11.30 this morning, I'm for lunch and nap but didn't put any on at 5.30 even though it was still sunny as I know vitamin D so important.. it's a balancing act! I do get your anxiety though.

Op, I totally get you. I’ve been stressing about my Dd getting tanned as well, because of all that “no such thing as a healthy tan” bollocks. But I’ve realised recently that it’s mostly bs.
Dd has the same skin as her father, who tans very very easily even though he’s white.
I always have factor 50 and a sun hat on her, and keep her out of the sun between 11 and 4, but she’s still tanned.
So, bof...it’s just the way her skin reacts. She’s never even come close to burning, so I think she’s ok.

tell your friends to stop being so bloody racist.

That will shut them up.

Thank you @Amanduh

And thank you to you all with your responses. I felt quite alienated with the advise. Before DD I probably would never had paid any attention to it but you know what it’s like when you have a child, you care far more vigilantly than you do for yourself.

It’s good to get a clear perspective.

You can get it on amazon OP, even up to spf 100 which is basically liquid sunblock (I don't use!). Search Neutrogena sun SPF 70 baby should do it.

My 3 yo has tanned a lot this summer. Factor 50 suncream applied throughout the day and a hat tshirt etc and shade

His older brother is still white as anything despite the same treatment!

My son is the same. He’s Indian/white, and has sensory issues so doesn’t like sun cream (he will bite his skin until it draws blood if I force it on him).

Even when I manage to get cream on him, he tans. He never burns and he’s never out in the midday sun. Short of never letting him outside, there’s nothing I can do about it.

Also vitamin D is important. I used to completely avoid the sun, and while I don’t know if that caused it, I ended up with a really low level of vitamin D. I was told it may have contributed to the miscarriages I had, so not something anyone wants. I’m far more relaxed about the sun now.

If you are mixed race with light brownish /olive skin, theres a reasonable chance your child will have similar skin. Your friend is being an idiot. I'd point this out next time they mention it, & give them a hard stare, then ignore.

My DS is pale like me and DP and we apply factor 50 on him. He plays outside at nursery etc though and still has a slight tan on arms and legs, as do I at the moment, just from walking around not sunbathing. Can't say its ever occurred to me to worry about it tbh.

I think I would interpret that as 'intentional' tanning is bad; I.e lying in the sun. But incidental tanning where you are wearing sun cream and are outside and your skins natural reaction to create melanin is happening then that's ok. I wear factor 50 and have a tan as do my kids.
Unless you avoid the sun completely, your skin is going to protect itself and tan slightly.