70's -80's children how many remember getting sunburn.

[Sunflowerkeep]

I barely remember them putting suncream on me always dark, sometimes burnt i certain areas and parents are like ahh you got a nice tan even when I was clearly burnt and must have had sun stroke as remember feeling bit chilly in 35c yeah really. Loads of my friends remember the same from that generation. Weird hey. I've got olive skin but my brother I remember burnt to a crisp one year. Poor thing

Child of the 60s and 70s
there was sun cream but it didn’t have factors
DM burnt easily so always made sure we were well covered
if we got accidentally burnt - slathered in Vaseline intensive care cream straight from the fridge used to love the smell

Yep! And I remember my mum getting sun stroke several times in pursuit of a ‘good tan’.

I’m a child of the 80s I don’t remember ever burning till I went to. Greece as an adult. No sunscreen or hats. Benefits of a Scottish childhood. Possibly it’s hotter now generally but I slather children and myself in sunscreen / hats/ coverup. Ex dh got frazzled the other week as he doesn’t generally do Sun cream.

Another one here whose parents hired a sunbed for a few weeks before the holiday and insisted we all use it building up the minutes each time. I think they thought it was the responsible thing to do and would make us less likely to burn when we were away!? Definitely remember getting sunburned a few times though. Who could peel off the biggest bit of skin was our nightly entertainment!

I’m gingery and in my 60s. My parents were mostly quite careful with me. You could buy this white cream which would block the sun, I had to wear a t-shirt a lot in the water. My nose always seemed to peel though. The one time I did get a real sunburn was when I was in my teens. Totally my fault as I wouldn’t listen to sense.

Avon’s factor 2 - loved the smell - use min factor 30 now.

60s child. My mother made is wear a hat and have our shoulders covered. Didn't stop my entire back peeling off in 1975, but that was very hot. 76 we were in Scotland so not as hot

Yep

Already had a basal cell carcinoma removed from my face in my 30s, and waiting for a biopsy for potential melanoma.

Since being a teen I’ve covered myself in factor 50 and now avoid the sun as much as I can - makes me cringe seeing people still using sun beds or burning to a crisp on holiday.

There was "absolutely no need for sun cream in the UK" when I was a child.

Until we went on holiday in Somerset or Devon, at which point the factor 50 would be cracked open and we would be pinned down and slathered in it like a greased pig.

When I've considered it after, I suspect DM didn't want the faff and expense (we were not well off) on a daily basis, but didn't want to be judged by other parents when we were away.

It was a challenge to try to remove the layer of peeling skin off in the biggest “sheet” without tearing it. Horrifying! (born late 60’s)

I don't recall high factorsuncream in the 80s, like factor 5 or 8. I remember being sat on beach with parents and them saying "ooh you'll be sore later"!? No, "sit in the shade, cover up, wear a hat, put cream on!" back then. Now I wouldn't dream of putting anything less than factor 50 on my kids.

I burnt every year, but to be fair to my parents they tried. I'm fair skinned, more so than my siblings - they were generally OK with the level of protection we had - I was the only one that burned regularly.

As PPs have said, generally the highest factor you could get was factor 25 and they weren't as water resistant as they are now (probably). They reapplied regularly but I was always in and out of the water. I wasn't always the most willing as it was horrible being creamed up after coming straight out of the water. I'd often leave it till I was dry and by then it was too late. I wore a t-shirt sometimes in the pool / sea but generally that was after I was burnt.

I now use factor 50 and sit in the shade. 😅

Oh yes, I remember those double bottles. The amount of the higher factor suncream was barely enough for a day! Maybe we all thought we had to use less then. I remember being told off by my mother for using too much factor 6!

Non-stop prickly heat and useless calamine lotion.

No adequate sunblock existed for my fair skin.

One of my sisters ended up with such a badly burned back that she needed treatment for 3rd degree burns and was very ill because it represented such a high percentage of her overall body mass.

Yes. Born mid-seventies, fair and freckly. Used to get blisters frequently on my shoulders and terrible sunburn often to be covered in pink calamine. Attitudes were different then, I remember getting utterly cooked one afternoon aged about 12 on the beach with my friend and her mum. The mum's reason for my sunburn was that I spent too much time indoors reading so my skin hadn't got used to the sun whereas her family was 'outdoorsy' and therefore unaffected. Utter rubbish. I would have been mortified if a child had been burnt on my watch these days.

Never. We were slathered in sunscreen and always wore sun hats and cool, long-sleeved tops in the hot weather. My mother was meticulous in ensuring we didn't get burned, with some hindsight, as it turned out.

I don't like baking myself in the sun for long periods, and I now wear facial sunscreen throughout the summer. British people and strong UV rays don't react well together.

I wasn't allowed out in the sun. No holidays, beach trips, days out, not even into the garden from July to September.

Mine didn't believe in sunblock, hats or sunglasses for children and couldn't 'be dealing with a whining child complaining that she's got a headache' - and, even worse, because I didn't inherit her olive skin and ability to go a deep, even brown from just going to school and back, I got masses of freckles. She really, really hates freckles.

I got sunstroke in Scotland in the 70s. I think we'd been on the beach all day.

I am a 70s child and my mum was quite forward thinking and remember being smothered in sun cream when it was hot and sunny. It was very unusual though and most friends came back after the summer red and peeling.
Mum however used to use sun oil to sunbathe and bake herself whenever we were on holiday or even in the garden. I don't remember burning at all as a child and we went on holiday to France, Spain, Greece.

Never been sunburnt. My mum suffered severe burns as a child and vowed never to put any of her children through the same. Any exposed flesh (arms, legs face, ears), were liberally coated in factor 50 and long t-shirts over swimsuits if we were on holiday (the only time we went to the beach). It's something I continued to do with my own (born in the 90's) DD.

We only used sunblock when we went abroad and it was factor 4!

My mum didn’t actually say sun-tan - she said sun-burn to mean the same thing! Not sure I’d that was a midlands thing or just my strange mother. I burnt a bit every year but i was born in 1972 and it wasn’t as hot then except for 1976 (have to put that in for the climate change deniers).

We had suncream. The same bottle for 8 years 🙄
Yes, I burnt badly from about 1982 to 1996 and am now paranoid about my freckles, checking them for changes.

Born late 70s. My Mum did put suncream on me as a child but I remember the highest factor they had was 8. I am the fair skinned one of the family so they put that on me and the rest of the family had 6. I still burned with the factor 8, especially my shoulders.

I remember when skin cancer started to be taken more seriously and you could get factor 25, then factor 50! I never wear less than factor 50 now, neither do my kids.

Yes, that was considered normal. 😝

Yup - 1983 - ended up in a and e after going to Barbados with huge blisters on my shoulders
Mum / brother - olive skinned
But I inherited my Scottish dad's blue / white skin
It has made me v anxious about my own DC in the sun