Small babies and direct sunlight

[Sawa75]

I'm seeing so many people out and about on Instagram with their small babies in this very sunny weather. I have a 6 week old and anxious about him being exposed to direct sunlight. It seems impossible to avoid in the bassinet/baby carrier etc, there will be some exposure with transferring from car, angle of sun etc and its making me not want to leave the house. Are others blissfully unaware of this or just ok with it?

A few seconds between house and car is fine! It's prolonged exposure that's the problem. Honestly don't worry.

Other than really hot weather, a minute or so isn't going to hurt much.

I had a summer baby and took her out all the time. A wide brimmed UV hat and covered with light clothes, a sunshade for the pram and we were good to go!

I had a ginger summer baby and we left the house! Obviously didn't sunbathe. Get a parasol and keep shade over them 🙂

Dd was born in January in Australia. Yes, after she was a few weeks old, I made sure she got a few minutes of sun each day. Mostly to try to regulate her sleeping. Later, I would lie her in The sun with her bum exposed. Just for a little while. I suppose I won’t find out for another 30 years if I made the right decisions.

You must leave the house. You must accept the world as it is. Your dear child needs life. Head up, shoulders back life.

You don't have to stay inside just because it's sunny!

Your baby will be fine in the sun for a few seconds.

Yeah you're being overly cautious OP.
It's fine to go out.

I mean this kindly but I don’t know how it’s impossible. DS was born in a heat wave and he was dressed in light sleepsuits (without vests) pretty much all the time to keep his skin protected. If we were indoors I’d take it off / put him in a vest. We also had a bucket hat for him to protect him as much as possible but tbh with the sunshade up on the bassinet he didn’t need it. You may need it for a carrier depending on the brand but in the wrap type ones you tuck their head in anyway at that age and the Ergobaby has an inbuilt shade. We didn’t stay out in the sun for long periods or in the middle of the day for obvious reasons.

Gently, worrying about a chink of light at car transfer sounds like anxiety.

Take a hat, keep shady where you can, and (literally and metaphorically) chill out.

I have a 5 week old and we were at DD 1’s nursery picnic yesterday, with DD2 in a sling. Anything else would be madness.

It's not uncommon to be anxious when treading new ground with a young baby

It isn’t normal to be this anxious OP. My babies went out often during warm days, covered up with a hat on there is absolutely nothing irresponsible with that. Stop judging other people so harshly.

People who live in hot countries also have babies haha!
It does make my blood boil when I see ridiculous parents draping muslin cloths over prams rather than buying a sunshade. Paramount to leaving the kid in a hot car.

DS had a bit of jaundice when he was born the doctors told us to take him down to the garden after lunch to sunbathe. In central southern China in May/June.

You are going to have a long summer ahead of you if you are going to avoid sun totally. There is nothing wrong with a bit of exposure. Light cotton clothing covering arms and legs and a sun hat work perfectly I found.

DD had phototherapy at hospital, but we were also advised to pop her in the sun for the first couple of weeks. It was the only remedy prior to UV lights.