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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to feel a bit cross with all the people I can see with horrible sunburn - including their kids ...

99 replies

Weegiemum · 31/05/2009 20:23

At 4pm I walked to the shops with my 3 dcs - all slathered in suncream, hats on, sunglasses, ds (fairest of them) even in a SPF 50 swimming tshirt.

Almost every other adult I saw, and half of the children, were scarily lobster red. Some of it might have even been from yesterday!

This is Glasgow - we don't get a lot of sun. But AIBU to think people are ridiculous to have their small kids (some were smaller than mine - my dd2 is 5) out in it all day with little or possibly no protection.

BTW if you think IABU making my kids walk to the shop in the heat we bought ice lollies while we were there!!

OP posts:

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 20:58

Morloth and golgi I don't cover my DS completely when he's playing in the dun, no hat if he doesn't want one, shorts, if he's swimming them just swimming trunks, have never even owned a UV suit for him, but he has sun cream on. He's never burnt. Our skin doesn't easily burn, not all children need the same type of protection from the sun, especially in England.

Original poster

Weegiemum · 31/05/2009 20:58

abraid - thats a totally different situation ....

there was a child in the supermarket I was in earlier, in a vest top and short shorts, with peeling skin and blistering on his shoulders ....
I got that once, 15 years ago when on holiday in the south of Italy.

I'm a child of the 70's when it wasn't sunblock but "sun tan lotion" and I never got that burnt.

I have been burnt since I had kids, too busy with their cream to think about mine ... but I covered up when it got bad.

OP posts:

Morloth · 31/05/2009 21:00

I am willing to admit I am ever so slightly obsessed Overmydeadbody we are Australian and as a PP mentioned upthread it is drilled into us over and over and over again.

Slip, Slop SLAP!

FluffyBunnyGoneBad · 31/05/2009 21:01

We still need sun protection in the UK Overmydeadbody. Skin cancer rates are really increasing here.

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 21:01

abraid your situation was a mistake, completely different to what the OP and others here are talking about.

Morloth · 31/05/2009 21:02

Sorry, just realised that the majority of the planet are not going to understand that:

Slip on a shirt, Slop on some sunscreen and Slap on a hat. Now I have the tune running through my head

I will start singing the banananana song next.

ladylush · 31/05/2009 21:02

Hmm, well I hate seeing sunburned children as well but otoh I know how easily ds catches the sun. Even if I put suncream on him (high sun factor), he will catch colour within minutes (as opposed to hours) - and thats with a hat on too. He is mixed race so luckily does not go red but it is still worrying how quickly he goes darker. Also, when he is at school they don't put suncream on. If I put it on before he goes to school it will have worn off by the time he goes out to play.

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 21:03

I'm not doubting that we need sun protection Floppy, just that not all children need the same level of sun protection to keep from burning. It really does depend on your skin type.

My DS is fine with suncream on, he doesn't need the long neck hat and UV outfit as well.

golgi · 31/05/2009 21:03

Tops of my feet are pink too. I'm going to have to wear the same pair of sandals for the rest of the summer now so the patterns fit.
I could never get mine to keep hats on when they were small - and always felt I was getting "why is that child not wearing a hat?" looks. Now they're bigger they respond to hat-bribery.

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 21:09

ladylush your DS's skin darkening is its own natural defence against the sun, or at least that's what I was told. Burning is harmful and different from darkening.

Me and DS also have skin which changes to a much darker colour after a bit of sun exposure, but this happens regardless of what factor suncream we wear.

poopscoop · 31/05/2009 21:10

OMDB - i understand where you are coming from, as I too have never used UV suits for my children, actually not terribly often in hats either, but regular slappings of sun cream. As I sid earlier in the post, sunshine is also beneficial o the skin and to cover up completely with suits hats and glasses etc takes some of the fun and freedom away. I love seeing mine dashing about half naked splashing away in the water. Everything in moderation, that's me.

Morloth · 31/05/2009 21:13

I don't think a tan is actually protection from further sun damage, it is the body's first response and people with more melanin can get away with more sun, but it is still a sign of sun damage.

I am not having a go here at all, just stating what I was taught. The sun here is nowhere near as intense as in Sydney so I can see why people have different views to what I am used to.

Ivykaty44 · 31/05/2009 21:17

darkening is also a problem and this is why sunbeads are bad for you,(sunbeds are far more potent than the actual sun) tanning your skin and changing the colour to red or brown or even black increases the risk of cancer. Burning increases the risk further but tanning is still a problem and you could face cancer of the skin, better to slap lots of suncream on and stay the colour you are or fake it!

ladylush · 31/05/2009 21:19

I did think darkening was a problem as well.

Ivykaty44 · 31/05/2009 21:22

yes unfortunately darkening your skin using the sun or a sun bed is going to damage your skin and increase your risk considerably of skin cancer.

willowthewispa · 31/05/2009 21:24

I have been burnt, but I have never let a child get burnt. No excuse at all for it.

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 21:25

Ivykaty we slap lots of suncream on, I always have a little pouch of factor 25 with me, but we still go darker.

poshsinglemum · 31/05/2009 21:25

YANBU

I hate it too. DD has olive skin but I slap on the suncream and cover her up. However, she always takes her hat off and she is too young to reason with.

Overmydeadbody · 31/05/2009 21:26

Ivykaty how do you know it increases your risk of skin cancer considerably? Do you work in the field or have first hand experience?

Ivykaty44 · 31/05/2009 21:31

try reading about cancer of the skin and how it is caused and you will find that tanning will increase the risk of getting skin cancer either in a taaning salon or by sun bathing.

You dont have to work in this type of field to be able to find the information to make the choice.

I don't have skin cancer though and hope that I never do it really is a very distressing desease. People forget that the skin is an organ and a large one we cant replace

SolidGoldBrass · 31/05/2009 21:32

Well I am almost certainly going to die of skin cancer (if the fags and booze don't get me first) - repeated sunburn as a child, very fair skin and loads of moles. I do use sunscreen for both DS (who has luckily inherited his dad's skin tone rather than mine) and me and he hasn't been sunburned yet - but I do think those UV sunsuits are a bit wanky PFB-ish in the UK. There are beginning to be a few health problems associated with not getting enough sunshine (same as all those twatty health-food nuts who won't feed their DC enough fat and protein).
Finally, sunscreen is very expensive, which may be another reason why people on lower incomes might not use it as much.

expatinscotland · 31/05/2009 21:34

I use a Shade A Babe on DS. He hates it, but it's got the UV protection built in.

I do find it hard to get sunscreens here that are easy to apply on children - excepting the Garnier Rapide one - so I usually use Coppertone Kids ones from the US on the kids.

BUT, they don't go without it.

My ex h's brother once went to a dermatologist about a stubborn wart on his hand that kept coming back.

First thing the consultant said was, 'How long have you had that thing on your neck?'

He said, 'What, that mole? For ages, it's just gone really black.'

It was a melanoma.

He was 27.

Luckily it hadn't spread.

But he and his brother are very blonde and fair-skinned and got several bad burns as youngsters.

Ewe · 31/05/2009 21:34

YANBU

A 'friend' of mine had her FB status as "Friend is gutted her boys (aged 5 months and 2) are getting a better tan than her". Pathetic.

littlelamb · 31/05/2009 21:35

expat, I'm glas my ds isn't the only one to hate the shade a babe. Beats those crappy parasols though

CarGirl · 31/05/2009 21:39

I was sunburt so badly as a child I couldn't walk for 3 days due to the blisters on the tops of my thighs. I am much more careful with my dc! Mine have wetsuits for water days and sun cream on their faces. One is very fair the other 3 are much darker colouring.

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