My kids are tanned

[hipslikecinderella]

We haven't been abroad but they do masses of sport and outside activities. Dd is 8 and ds 9. They rarely burn but are fairly pale normally.
Aibu to have (inadvertently) allowed this to happen?
I do put suncream on them for a day trip/sports days. But not every day and clearly not enough to prevent a tan.

My Dd has olive skin like me she always had a bit of a tan in summer i think its fine we do need the vitamin d children don't need total block

Just think of it as "weathered"

I reckon I could dress my stepdaughters in lead jumpsuits and just show them a badly drawn picture of the sun and they'd tan in nanoseconds.

Their mother and I are watching our baby girl anxiously to see if she's got their family sun tolerance or has sadly inherited my pasty white
skin...

My eldest is tanned, looks at the sun and changes colour, despite factor 50 all day suncream for school and weekends including hats etc. Unless you use pure sunblock (not sun cream) and cover them completely/keep them inside, they will tan.

I live in the med. I have two white blonde haired pre-schoolers. They are both very tanned.

I am extremely responsible about them being in the sun. My DF died from malignant melanoma and yet I am constantly approached by people giving me advice on how to protect them from the sun. Last year there were volunteers on our beaches just for that purpose and ay one point I was going to get my children t shirts that say 'I was born here!'

It's very important to me that my children are outside as much as possible but I believe I do as much as possible to protect them.

I’m also wondering if I missed something
Is it now terrible to be tanned?!

@RosaWaiting any change of skin colour is damage

DD is horrendously tanned - made to look 10 times worse by the fact that she wears glasses so her nose looks ridiculously brown compared to where her glasses have been. The crazy thing is that DS is as white as milk. He spends more time outside than her, they both have the same amount of sun cream application. I'm guessing some kids tan, some don't. I never have, DH never has (we came back from 3 years in sub-Saharan Africa looking like we'd had a weekend in Bogner) my Dad is very dark skinned and tans very easily - I'm guessing it's skipped a generation!

DD always complains she never gets freckles whereas DS does - not sure what the correlation between freckles and lack of suntan is but there's obviously something there.

I am so glad you posted this. I’ve been quietly worrying about DS being tanned, but all the comments have made me feel better.

He has dark auburn hair and brown eyes and seems to tan very easily. He’s never been burnt as I have a form of albinism so am extremely careful about the sun, factor 50 every day, UV sun suit if out in the garden, hat and glasses.

He gets a little time with out suncream if he is out in the garden before 9 or after 5:30/6 just for the vitamin D

My 5 year old is tanned. I do put on suncream, but he loves spending time outside, so he's picked up a tan.
He's never burned as I use factor 50.
I however, don't tan. I burn and get PLE.

My DDs face has exploded in freckles despite factor 50 a big wide rimmed hat.

She’s 12 but I do worry about sun damage to her skin.

My kids are half Thai, and on the surface their skin tone looks like a white person’s. But stick them in the sun for 3 minutes and they will tan. They have never ever burnt. My 2yo was in the garden for about 2 hours on Friday, and now has a golden t-shirt tan on his arms.

You'd be able to tell if they were burned. It sounds as though your children have built up a healthy colour. Mine (& me) used to go a lovely honey colour just due to being in garden or out somewhere.

Sunshine is good for you, Vitamin D for a start. It's only when people expose themselves to the sun excessively that it is dangerous.

I was worrying about this too OP - my son is quite fair but has freckles all over his nose and very tanned arms and legs at the mo. Factor 50 applied on the hot days with hat but when they’re at school outside it can’t be monitored 24/7! He has never burned but did make me think like you I have inadvertently let it happen - it’s a tricky one.

I’ve never burnt my kids but they are nutmeg brown by early June as am I, we are outdoors a lot and it builds slowly. We also have an Eastern European skin tone. It’s very noticeable at swimming lessons nowadays

I’m a dermatologist. Over the summer, your children should have sun cream on everyday. Mine do, every day from May to mid-September.

You wouldn’t believe how many patients I see with skin cancer who claim to have ‘never burned, only tanned.’ Tanning is still serious damage to skin.

How do you know if the UV levels are high? 3 month DD has never had sun cream, we don’t use it much as a family and we are outside a lot.

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread I’m afraid.

A ‘lovely brown colour’ is not ‘healthy’ in the slightest. It shows serious damage to skin. This isn’t just about an increased cancer risk - it will also accelerate the ageing process and your children will develop wrinkles at a much younger age.

I am quite dark skinned so I tan i do put sun cream on and i never burn we can't stay inside when the sun is out and if it is hot we want to wear shorter sleeves what are we supposed to do?

3 month DD has never had sun cream, we don’t use it much as a family and we are outside a lot.

I’m a dermatologist. Between May and mid-September, your daughter should always have suncream on when she’s outside. That’s what I do with my children. And when they’re on the beach they wear proper UV suits rather than skimpy swimming costumes and bikinis.

Any change in colour of the skin is damage.

I am quite dark skinned so I tan i do put sun cream on and i never burn we can't stay inside when the sun is out and if it is hot we want to wear shorter sleeves what are we supposed to do?

• Wear a higher factor of suncream
• Stay inside or in the shade between 11am and 1pm.

@Lindellia if you don't mind me asking is there anything you recommend for someone who is allergic to suncream. One of my DC cannot tolerate it on his face, hands or torso. It makes his skin raised, itchy and sometimes weepy, it calms slightly with antihistamine. Have tried many different brands, my GP and his allergy specialist have been unhelpful.

@notso

Firstly, has your GP talked you through the process of checking that it is suncream, and not sunlight itself, that your ds is allergic too?

It’s quite common for people to believe they are allergic to suncream when they actually have ‘polymorphic light eruption’ (i.e. an itchy rash triggered by exposure to sunlight).

@Lindellia no, GP just said keep trying different brands as did allergy specialist. He has had the same reaction when he has had face paint applied so I thought it was something in the cream rather than anything else.

Tanning is normal, burning is not.