Tanned baby

[redredbrine]

My son is under the age of 1 and is currently sporting a tan. He is mixed race (1/4 black, 3/4 white) and was covered in factor 30 on a day when it was 21 degrees Celsius. I chose factor 30 as the UV index was low and wanted to avoid factor 50 due to the chemicals - would only use if it was going to be very hot.

One of my friends went off on a rant at me. Apparently I'm increasing my son's risk of skin cancer, should've used factor 50 and it's awful for a child to have a tan.

AIBU to think that it's fine that he tanned because he has sun cream on and he just went a tiny bit darker? It wasn't intentional or like I was shoving him out in the sun on purpose for this reason...

Read the first page aghast - skipped to the end and glad to see common sense has arrived.

What do you do about air pollution, water contamination.... Unless your kids are walking around in a hazmat suit (in which case they'd succumb to all sorts of deficiencies) then really 🙄

Two of my children never really tan. One was born with tan lines - he permanently looks like he's wearing white socks it is what it is. I take sensible non-neurotic precautions but it's all a balance like everything in life.

My 3 are mixed race and I only put sun cream on them if we are on holiday in the sun or if it's really hot here and they are out all day.

Op - your friend is an idiot - carry on as you are!

My kids also have olive skin and tan very easily even when covered in factor 50. My son goes outside for a hour at the first sign of sunshine in April and comes back in with a tan! I can’t believe people on here see it as a sign of wrecklessness!

We were on holidays in Spain at the end of October last year, daily temp was around 22 degreees. A family next to us at the pool had their kids dressed in full UV suits with hats and also slathered in sunscreen so thick it looked like sudocream. It was completely ott and I actually felt sorry for the children. Some people need to catch a grip.

Vitamin D deficiency is a huge problem.
I’m south Asian, live in the South of France and was diagnosed as severely vitamin D deficient.
DS 8 is mixed white and Asian. He wears a UV Top and factor 50. But it’s quite normal for him to have a bit of a tan after all day in the water.
He was born completely white, and his first “ tan” were his hands which had got “exposed” when sitting under a verandah in a long sleeved T-shirt in April. I was mortified, but he just very quick at catching the sun.

My DS now age 3 is always tanned as soon as there's a hint of sunlight, and he was the same as a baby (6+ months in the summer). I was/am the same, we're Caucasian but have Mediterranean genes in there somewhere and tan very quickly. I always put factor 50 on his but he tans even when it's cold spring sunlight. He's never burned.

Does everyone really keep their children out of all manner of sunlight? Rickets are making a return you know...

My son isn’t mixed race but tans with factor 50 on. In the U.K. Not outside during the hottest part of the day. The other two don’t tan at all, they’re very fair like me.

I think what you’re doing is fine, it’s best to keep babies out of the sun of course but some children will tan in the 30 seconds it takes to put them in the car.

Not sure what chemicals you think would be in the 50 but not 30 though!

Imagine what people's responses were to my very pale redhaired daughter getting freckles.

FFS, I'm covered in the sodding things. I was never allowed outside between 11 and 5 because my mother knew I didn't like the sun. I always hated it hot (about 18 degrees and above - I've spent all today indoors in front of a fan). I knew exactly how to prevent sunburn and she was liberally coated in SPF 50 from March onwards, hat, long sleeves, no shorts. The one time I had a disagreement with her school was when I phoned up and gave them a bollocking for not only forbidding her wearing a cap, they said she wasn't allowed to reapply sunblock and made her sit out on the field in the middle of a heatwave for an entire afternoon of Sports Day. She was 13 at the time. There's only so many times you can point out that skin cancer in redheads is a real thing and you don't want her turning out like her great uncle, who lost half his nose and face to melanoma by the age of 60.

She still fucking freckled.

Going by my stomach and my legs, the only way to prevent freckling would have been to wear a sodding niqab and burkha, as I still managed to freckle through black tights on the rare occasions I wore a skirt rather than trousers to work.

Read the facts which are - there is about a 0.25% difference in protection between factor 30 and factor 50.

in fact we are creating another problem by over protecting our children from the sun which is vitamin D deficiency. So keep on going with factor 30, don't always cover him up if he doesn't burn but do make him wear a sun hat.
People should read the facts not the hype which factor 50 is.

My kids are bi racial. Mix of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Afro-Caribbean and v. pale Scottish/English

Today, I slathered them in factor 50, hats and long sleeved tops as we were at an outdoor event all day.

They still look like like I've covered them in coconut oil and let them bake in the midday sun. Their olive skin has tanned in seconds.

I know I'm taking precautions with them. That's all you can do.

I'm also a pale freckly type and I can develop freckles in minutes. Literally impossible for me to avoid them unless I stay indoors at all times. We cannot prevent our genes from doing what they're programmed to do.

We dont know what your babies eventual skin colour will settle to be firstly. My child is 100%white but looks like hes been kidnapped from somewhere south of the equator. On both my children i do not use factor 50, i use 30. I prefer some vit d to get through and then get out of the sun. My kids have never burnt. My darker child will look like he has been on a weeks holiday after an hour outside wearing suncream because of his skin pigment make up. Dark skin will tan very fast and even with spf 50 will still change a lot compared to a fair child. I spend a lot of my year in the Mediterranean. Life does not stop because it's a sunny day and most kids aren't covered in factor 50. If your baby isn't burning that's good. Tanning is a natural response to being in the sun. Dark skin tans more. I don't see the problem

Some people just ran really easily even with suncream on. I wouldn't worry about it. You need to balance sun protection with the need for sunlight for vitamin d. You don't need to avoid it at all costs as others are suggesting. Your friend is being way too overcautious and judgy.

Its the human body's way, over millions of years of evolution, of naturally protecting itself from the sun. And it has been very effective. Why do you think that people from very hot countries generally tend to have dark skin? It's not coincidence you know!
Yeah, I think you need to do a bit of research there.

One in three cancers globally is a skin cancer. It is the 5th most common cancer in men in the U.K. It is also one of the most preventable cancers. That “healthy tan” is not effective in protecting your skin against skin cancer.

Black skin isn’t just “heavily tanned” skin. It’s far more complex than that.

Due to my genetics I feel I tan no matter what. I go brown when the weather warms up. Sunscreen hats and sun safe clothing I still am more tanned.

Hmm we took the youngest child to Dubai when he was 10 weeks old. We kept him in the shade pretty much all of the time, there would be minutes when we walked to different places...he tanned really quickly and easily...and had suncream on.

Hilarious that someone suggested you go to the GP because your child has a tan 😂 this thread has really brought out Mumsnets most ignorant (and slightly racist) side!

Dermatologists say that the factor is a marketing gimmick and actually means nothing. You need to look at the ingredients. Sun protection needs zinc or titanium oxide to be effective. And always use a proper squeeze bottle as those ingredients do not atomize. So spray bottles will leave the active ingredient in the bottle and you'll just be covering yourself in greasy useless cream. Either way tell your friend to go jump.

My daughter great grandfather on her father side is Indian so very easily gets a tan. Always has regardless of the sun cream she has on.

I think a natural tan is lovely and this is coming from a pale woman!

Sun protection threads always bring out the absolute bonkers on MN!

my dd developed a large freckle/or mole, not sure, on her leg sitting in the buggy on the collection to nursery and back. i have guilt.

however i think calling it tan lessens the sun's affect to something to be achieved
a tan is not healthy

There is so much mis-information about sunscreen on this thread.

Azrail Most of your post is complete rubbish!
Sunsreen does not have to contain zinc or titanium dioxide to be effective! These ingredients are barrier protection ingredients which bounce UV light off the skin. There are various other chemical sunscreens which work by absorbing UV light and many commonly available brands (eg. Nivea) use these alone to protect the skin. Some people might prefer a non chemical sunscreen, but they tend to be very thick and leave a white cast which people don't like. Some contain a mixture of chemical and barrier protection which is my preferred option. Chemical sunscreens are popular because they are less greasy and not visible on the skin. Both are effective and there is legislation around the marketing and production of sunscreen to protect the customer so whichever you choose to will be effective if applied correctly.

As for spray bottles acting as a filter and filtering out the titanium dioxide? I seriously doubt it! The hole in a trigger spray is much bigger than the size of a titanium dioxide particle- especially as most sunscreens use nano particles. These particles are too big to even be absorbed in the skin so I guess they are going to fit through the whole in a trigger spray. And creams containing zinc/titanium dioxide are generally not sold in aerosols anyway because they are too thick for this. Fake science if you ask me!

There is some debate in some circles about the long term safety of sunscreens as a whole in terms of disrupting hormones and being absorbed into the bloodstream, and it is thought that zinc and titanium dioxide are probably more safe in this way, but chemical sunscreens are also considered safe in general at the moment.

I didn't know horror at a baby having tanned hands was a "thing". I put factor 50 on both my dc's if it's sunny, sun hats and try to keep them out of the sun if it's possible, but of course it's not always possible. Neither of them have ever burnt but they both tan.

I agree with what a pp said about there not being enough cotton wool for some parents. It's good to be sensible about sun safety (and all kinds of safety) but obsessing over it and letting it rule your life is not healthy for the kids or parents.

If THIS is the reaction to a baby's (slight) change to skin colour, I wonder what some of these Mumsnetters really think us, people who are born brown or black.

Shocked at the level of ignorance evident here. The idea that lighter skin is better is very outdated. Please take the hint from pp that explained how different skin colours react to the sun as a clue that you know nothing about different skin colours. Perhaps you should educate yourselves a bit more.

Meanwhile, please do us a favour and stop passing comments on people's skin tones, as doing so it is not just rude, it is highly offensive.

I’m assuming those using the term ‘Caucasian’ are British? If so, do they realise it’s a nonsensical Americanism?

The Caucuses span from Russia 🇷🇺 into Asia and true Caucasians can vary from pale white to deep brown. It doesn’t mean white and sounds like a term from one of those stupid reality US cop shows from the 90s.

Caucasian is a recognised reference