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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:

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 01/06/2009 11:14

I think YABU a bit anyway.

Obvioulsy there are some parents who just don't bother and that is neglectfull.

However dd1 burns stupidly easily. My sister took her to a local paddling pool and had her smoothered in factor 30 and reapplied every hour. She had on a hat and a t shirt. She burnt her arms and cheeks though not terribly.

Her ds2 was in the shade, with a sun canopy over him and a hat on he suffers really bad excema and cannot wear suncream. He still burnt his face even though he was kept in the shade.

Original poster

Weegiemum · 01/06/2009 11:20

I totally get all the accidents, the occasional one offs etc ....

Its just that at least half of the kids I saw when out and about yesterday afternoon were burnt. Dh spent last night working in A&E prescribing calamine lotion (and Tamiflu - they have a swine flu outbreak!) to burnt scottish kids!

If it was just the odd one here and there I would expect it to be a mistake. But when its every second kid you see ....!!

Its maybe a scottish thing - we get the sun so rarely we make the most of it! Or, as Billy Connolly says, we're blue to start with, so it takes a week to even get white!

OP posts:

Jux · 01/06/2009 11:29

We're nowhere near a Lidl.

bumpyboo · 01/06/2009 11:30

Just a question... some of the posts seem to imply that its not okay to be naked even if covered fully in sunscreen cream. Is that the case? Sorry to sound thick but i do let my daughter run around naked in the sun but covered from head to foot in factor 50 plus? Is this wrong?

slushy06 · 01/06/2009 11:31

The argument about sunscreen costing alot is rubbish. Me and my partener are on a very low joint income. We bought a factor 50 suncream from boots bogof for 10 pound when ds was a couple of months old I still have half a bottle he is 3. A small child dosn't need much cream to cover them and I stick to shaded seats. He has never got burnt. As for making them cover up taking enjoyment out of being care free I am very pale and if I dont cover up and get burnt I feel ill all day like a hangover so much more carefree and fun.

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 01/06/2009 11:32

I like to cover dd1's shoulders and chest as I said she burns very easily. dd2 on the other hand is fine in summer dresses as she is darker skinned and doesn't burn, so I am fine so long as she has on sun cream and a hat.

slushy06 · 01/06/2009 11:35

bumpyboo As long as their eyes are protected by a hat or glasses and they don't burn. Are offered plenty of drinks and are not left out in direct sun too long then they don't have to be completley covered. In my opinion but if they are out all day then I would put clothes on them.

Toffeepopple · 01/06/2009 11:45

Bumpyboo - if they are not burning, it's fine. Better to have a hat, probably, because of glare.

I just find I feel more relaxed and carefree if I only have to worry about the exposed portion of their body....

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 01/06/2009 11:46

slushy06 You shouldn't use suncream for more than 6-12 months after opening, just a heads up.

I don't see the problem with uv suits myself, I would rather they wore them and absorbed less chemicals through their skin. Just my opinion.

slushy06 · 01/06/2009 11:53

I only opened the other bottle end of last august and it is still in date so its still good I will be getting rid of it soon. But thanks for the heads up. Bumpy Also different people require different levels of protection so if you think your dd is fine to do that you know her best and are probably right.

mamadiva · 01/06/2009 11:58

I use Asda Sunscreen it cost me £5 for 2 200ml bottles SPF 30, not expensive in the slightest!

Myself and DS have bad eczema and we react to most creams. Unfortunately I have began reacting to it and DS just hates getting lotion on so I am going to splash out a bit and buy Ultrasun SPF 30 Sensitive.

Not the cheapest at £13 for 100ml but you only need to apply once a day so will use less. Hopefully this will solve the problem of having to chase DS round trying to get him to sit still to put more cream on!

Anyway YANU I hate seeing children especially sunburnt I saw a little girl at the park yesterday maybe about 5, she actually looked like a mixed race child but I know her from my sisters nursery and she is normally quite pale!

OrmIrian · 01/06/2009 12:02

I let mine run around in just pants sometimes although now they are older it's not such an issue. But they will usually be suncreamed. However like me, none of them enjoy being in the sun for long, we don't handle heat very well.

OrmIrian · 01/06/2009 12:04

And my 3 have very different skin. DD rarely gets freckles and goes brown very quickly altough she looks just as pale as the others at first glance. The boys are peppered with freckles all year round, and are much more prone to burning than DD.

BitOfFun · 01/06/2009 12:04

The chemicals in suncream break down after a year or so, so be aware that it won't give as much protection if it's a bottle left over from last summer.

namechangerforareason · 01/06/2009 12:06

Weegiemum

You know what its like in Glasgow, first hint of sun and the men have tops off and its a free for all invite to let the sun burn you!

YANBU to be upset, unfortunately some folk just dont think that they will burn or cant be arsed to take 2 mins out of sun to put on suncream/block!

Scary as Glasgow has such a high occurrence of skin cancer due to sunbed usuage and not applying cream.

Feel sorry for the folk you saw, they will be suffering now and so will the kids through no fault of their own!

Sassybeast · 01/06/2009 12:07

Jux - Asda, Aldi and Semi Chem type shops etc all do cheap and effective sunscreen. I think it's obscene that the top brands are so expensive but think it's a bit like kids shoes - they want you to feel guilty enough to buy the expensive stuff when there is no need as the active ingredients are the same.

PlumBumMum · 01/06/2009 12:14

Normally I would say YANBU

But bad mummy award goes to me, as yesterday we had suncream on in morn, I went out to work in the garden with intentions of bringing everyone in and getting lunch and reapplying suncream,

I asked dh what time it was and it was well after 3, so now I have little red faced children, although I do feel throughly ashamed, but accidents do happen

Themasterandmargaritas · 01/06/2009 12:15

YANBU

We are in the Tropics and have sun everyday for 10 months. The dcs use sun cream everyday, it's tedious for them, it's tedious for me. We stay out of the sun at midday to 3 as much as possible and are in the shade as much as possible too. When you have the sun all the time, you are less likely to rush out and sit in and it becomes quite a nuisance, however I guess when it is not so usual you forget how fierce and damaging it can be and it is easy to forget to protect yourself. Often people forget to reapply cream regularly and that's when the damage is done.

Hopefully it's a question of educating our children as to the importance of sun protection so that it becomes an integral part of daily living.

Now I am worried about all the chemicals used in the cream, namely the aluminium based ones, that my dc are exposed to on a daily basis. How will that affect their skin long-term? Noone seems to know, but the risk from skin cancer is very real so slip, slop, slap it is.

GetOrfMoiLand · 01/06/2009 12:27

Was repeatedly burnt as a kid, spent a lot of time in the tropics and my gran's idea of sunscreen was to use liquid parrafin. Or Ambre Solaire oil. My gran was very dark skinned and never burnt, I am blonde and pale. She never took this into consideration.

I remember getting particularly badly burnt in Kenya, blisters all over my back the size of 50p pieces, the whole of one side of my face swollen up so I couldn't open my eye. On return to the UK she took me to hospital and was told I had 3rd degree burns.

Last year aged 30 I went to dr as I had a mole on my face which was bleeding. Was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma and had a very invasive removal. Thank christ it didn't spread. Thank CHRIST.

It scared the hell out of me. Wear factor 50 all year round. NEVER sit in the sun. I have been told that there is a good chance that another mole may 'turn', so I need to keep my eye on it and got to a dermatologist once a year for a check up from now on.

DD has just spent half term with my mum and came back slightly pink at the weekend. I shrieked at dd (she's 13) and shrieked at my mum. Then I shrieked at an article in the Times saying wqe should all go out in the midday sun with no sunblock at midday foor a significant amount of time (in order to combat vit D deficiency).

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 01/06/2009 14:25

Tesco's own brand baby suncream in Factor 50 is only £1.99.

onagar · 01/06/2009 14:29

The way Mumsnetters are cross all the time at everything that strangers do is bad for the heart/blood pressure and not a sensible health choice

OrmIrian · 01/06/2009 14:40

Too true onagar.

I think it's the heat.

abraid · 01/06/2009 15:54

I think they should wear badges warning people that they may be judged and found lacking and their sins described on MN. It would be more sporting to warn offenders in advance.

dizietsma · 01/06/2009 17:20

DD got a bit of sun on her cheeks. I just didn't realise how strong the sun would be on Saturday.

The minute I realised my error I ran into the nearest shop and spent a fortune on some factor 50, but unfortunately the damage was already done.

I have a darker skin tone and colouring than blue eyed blonde DD, I have some Meditteranean blood, so I'm not really accustomed to the speed with which fairer people get burned. I assume that going to the shops will be OK, cos we wont be outside too much, but it only takes a few minutes exposure for DD to start colouring up.

Because of my Meditteranean blood, I think I need a bit more sun than the cloudy UK generally provides. The winter is always difficult for me, I have to make sure I get a lot of sun before it sets at 4pm! So come the summer, I generally allow myself to tan a little, because it's about the only time of the year I feel human!

Am I a bad mummy then?

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