in thinking that an 8month old shouldn't have a suntan

[NarabugHitWindscreen]

I was out with some friends today at the park (making the most of the wonderful weather), some mums there I didn't know. We were sitting in the shade of a tree with the little ones exploring (most of the crawlers including my 1yr old DD were in and out of the sun, but she was smothered in factor 50 and had a ridiculously wide brimmed sun hat on).

There was one mum (friend of a friend) who had her 8month old DD (not a crawler) sitting out in the sun, wearing a short sleeveless dress and small hat. I was sitting near to the mum and decided to strike up a conversation, I'd recently been thrilled to find some more baby sun cream on offer and used this as an icebreaker. The mum says "oh I don't buy that, I use this on DD" (shows bottle of factor 8). I offer her some of mine and she declines, saying "I want her to get some colour on her, I dont want her looking pasty all summer". She then calls over to DD and says "you want a tan dont you so you can look pretty like mummy?". She then went on to complain that she couldn't find any fake tan for babies, and it took ages to get a tan in the sun.

The mum was a bit bronzed, but the daughter was fair skinned (not olive skinned or anything). I was a bit worried as I've been told that babies should be well covered in the sun. I asked the mum if she'd heard this (in a 'oh, I heard that.....' kinda way, not a bossy interfering way!). The mum says that its ok, as "babies can't catch skin cancer". Subject was changed.

I know its none of my business but I can't help but worry that the baby was going to burn to a crisp, it was brutally hot this morning. Later the baby had gone to sleep and the mum had laid her down on a blanket with her head in the shade and her body in the sun, and was saying "look! She's sunbathing!" to her friends.

WIBU? Or was I being a nosy cow? I'm socially rubbish for the record, but spent the morning fighting the urge to cover the poor mite up!

nappyaddict - if I wear loose cotton clothing (and I agree, linen is quite rough) then I'm happier. When it comes to my DC they wear elbow length fine cotton shirts and long shorts. They never seem to be too hot. Better than a close fitting cotton jersey top and I'd rather cover them than find I'd missed a bit of sunscreen (we are very, very fair skinned)

I cannot help dd2 getting brown in the sun. I smother them both head to foot in factor 30 minimum at least once per hour. Dd2 looks like a Spaniard after the end of the first day of summer. Dd1 is covered in freckles and slightly pink.

However, by the end of summer dd2 still looks like a little Spanish lady and dd1 is ever so slightly off white (as opposed to bright white) and covered in freckles.

But op, YANBU. I try my best not expose too much of dd1's skin to the sun as she is so fair, and dd2 has the sort of skin that would tan in the Antarctic.

My first boyfriend lost his mother to skin cancer when he was just 15. The doctors believe this is due to skin damage she suffered as a young child. Perhaps your friend would like to speak to him? He still has not gotten over the preventable premature death of his mother,

@ GenevieveHawkings, I was the OP, but have changed my name as I was bored of it (don't know how that works....) lol at the concept of me being a yummy mummy! If you ever met me you would find yourself thoroughly mistaken!

I do see your point though, and agree that children do need a bit of sun exposure, however IMO babies don't need to be sat out in the blazing midday sun for the mother's vanity reasons.

Re. sun lotion/no sun lotion, we all have different ways of doing it, but I think at the end of the day we all have our children's best interests in mind.

dd1 cannot wear sunmcream. we have tried this year already, and its sparked a reaction again however, despite 10years of no suncream, she has never been burnt. she tries to stay in the shade as much as possible, wears light clothing (no microshorts or vestttops), and a hat.

other 3 dd's get smothered in suncream most days. but all follow the same stuff dd1 does, and again never been burnt.

dd1,2 and 3 tan easier as have an olive tone to their skin. dd4 is fair skinned, blonde haired nd i get very worried about her getting burnt. need to buy her new hats as hers have gotton too small.

Olive skin isn't a barrier to getting skin cancer - my father has had a few non malignants - he's very fair - I've had one and now have lots of moles removed for exam - and I'm olive skinned, never burn and get dark very quickly with or without protection - my mother isn't white and she's having a mole removed for biopsy in a few weeks and she is from equatorial africa.

The fact that you don't burn and go a cute nutty brown colour means nothing actually.

No one should have a sun tan, there is nothing good about a sun tan.

Premature aging, cancer, freckles, not to mention that horrible orange glow some people have.

Mankind was not made to tan, tan = burnt.

misdee - I have polymorphic light eruption. It's never gone away but now I'm older I have a few goes on a sunbed (about 15 mins in all - not really enough to give me a tan) at the start of the summer and I find it just desensitises my skin enough so that I don't get flare ups.

It's really transformed my life - I used to be miserable on holiday but now I can go to really hot countries

Tanning is to protect yourself against the sun.

Some of us do it better than others.

But roasting in the sun isn't good for anyone.

And from my point of view it's irresponsible not to protect los from the sun - it's early damage and I'm sure it's culmative.

My df had a few skin cancers dealt with - he was in africa at the time but they reckoned it was more to do with early years lounging about on south american beaches.

I've had one melanoma and they reckon that's to do with running around but naked in the summer both here and in equatorial countries. I'm mixed race. My mother who is not white is having a suspected melanoma dealt with shortly.

My ds who is mixed race and olive skinned has had a deep tan since march - based on a whopping 14 degree sunny day - he's now properly protected and has loose fitting cotton trousers and tops - that's the way to go for him.

I laugh when people who are from the med and lighter than me just say they are sooooo fine as they tan easily. Might be, might not be.
My lovely gp passed away recently - she was a white southern african with quite dark skin - she died of skin cancer.

All you people who don't do sunscreen - hope you enjoy leather handbag skin when you're older.

Ryoko - what arrant rubbish.

Melanocytes in the skin react to the UVB from the sun's rays and produce melanin - wtf do you think they are there for if we "weren't meant to tan"?

The same UVB rays are used to produce Vitamin D in the skin - which has important roles in health, including anti-cancer properties.

Fair-skinned people can produce vitamin D up to 6 times faster than people with a lot of melanin in their skin; high-melanin skins reduce the absorption of UVB rays.

Sunbathing, sunburn = bad.
Light exposure to sun and some colouration, especially if naturally darker skinned = normal and better for you than no exposure to sun.
No exposure to sun at all = bad.

Rickets is making a comeback due to the lack of vitamin D in some children's systems; vitamin D deficiency is being linked to various degenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's disease.

I am very fair skinned, as is DS. If we are going to be in the sun for any length of time, we use a natural zinc-based cream to avoid burning but spend a lot of time covered up and in the shade. If we are just going outside for a short while then no sunscreen is involved.

I am 42 now and don't have leather handbag skin - my skin is very supple and soft actually - but then I have rarely sunbathed, as it doesn't do me any good.

Forgot to say - OP, YANBU to be at this woman's wanting her DD to tan to look pretty - or thinking about fake tan for her. Nor are YBU to worry about her burning.

We use Ultrasun most of the time which only has to be applied once. If I use normal sun cream it has to be reapplied every 45 minutes because both me and DS turn brown at the drop of a hat despite using factor 30.

Can anyone recommend loose, cotton baby clothes for DS (9mths) please? We live in a beach town and will be down there a lot this summer with a parasol and a tent.

I'd never considered suncream being damaging for his skin, which is silly cos he's upstairs sleeping now with a horrible blotchy, itchy rash. Yesterday was the first time I used suncream on him.

Preferably baby clothes that won't break the bank!

Thanks.

Can you sew, gingerbaby? It wouldn't take much to produce a few cotton coveralls, sort of kaftan type things.

You know what thumbwitch, that's another thing I wouldn't have even thought of. Thanks!

Must rid myself of baby brain.

Frugi

Sugar Plum Tree

Organic Babywear

Green Nippers

List of some more retailers

and some more

These uv suits are good

she sounds mental!!!! a really stupid attitude to have.

i have to be honest, i wouldn't mind my DD catching a little sun to give her a nice glow, but there is no way i would have her sitting in the sun for long periods and without a minimum of factor 30 on. she had factor 30 on yesterday and has caught a little bit of a tan already. i'm starting to think she should be wearing factor 50 though as it is really hot at the minute.

She was surely winding you up re the tan/fake tan.

DS1 is dark haired/olive skinned and always looks tanned no matter how much cream/hats etc he's covered in.

sorry but a tan doesn't protect you against the sun!

Exactly no it doesn't - just been out with ds (4) in the sun at 3pm - covered - hat - cream - and relaxed in the shade and his cheeks are looking sore already.

And he's got olive skin and black eyes.

In fact we were out with some friends and the mum, who is black, ensured her kids were well covered and they were covered in cream too.

It doesn't matter what colour your skin is - the sun damages it.

thumbwitch - that isn't true I'm afraid. All tanning can cause genetic mutations in the skin leading to skin cancer. A light tan is probably fine. I am very fair skinned and never go in the sun and at the age of 45 I can really tell the difference between my skin and those of my friends who are keen on getting tans. And I suspect that vitamin D deficiency is much less common than skin damage and cancer caused by over exposure.

We really need to rid ourselves of this ideal that tanned = more attractive. Especially when it comes to children. A nice little glow? FFS pisces. You should be putting factor 40 at least on small children at all times. Yes a sunkissed nose is cute but melanoma isn't

no melanoma is'nt attractive. I had to have a wide lesion excision on my face and have a skin graft. I never used sunbeds and as an older teen always used sunscreen. But when asked if I'd ever been badly sunburned as a child well the answer is yes and the result? Melanoma as an adult.
You can go out and enjoy the weather just need to be sun aware and remember tanned skin is damaged skin.