to think that there are times and places to insist a toddler wear a sun hat?

[MiladyDeScorchio]

It's another one from my sister I'm afraid but it has upset me very much and I don't really know what to do as it is one in a long line of things.

DN is almost three and had been playing in the garden all afternoon with my DS. He is quite savvy when it comes to the sun and seeks out the shade so I wasn't worried about a hat for him.

However, when it was time for my sister to take DN home she strapped her into her boiling hot car, plonked her sun hat on her sweating curls, windows closed, doors shut then came back into my house to look for her bottle of Ribena. She was ages doing it.

I ran out to open doors and things and was firmly told that DN had to learn to keep the hat on when she was told to. WTF? Under a car roof?

Earlier today I watched a mother try very, very hard to install a sun hat on a child who was in the process of using a zip wire, in a playground, under dense shade, on account of it was in a woodland.

She seemed very surprised when it fell off half way down, as the child zoomed merrily along!

3yo do own sweet thing,and cant compell wear hat,and under car roof dont fight lost battle

no you're not in the wrong

at zipwire woodland child's needing a hat because of the trees!

It was in a stationary car which had been parked for hours with doors and windows closed.

Perfectly fine in my book to wear a hat in a moving car with air-con or windows open.

It seems a very small thing to be bothered about. I agree seems pointless.

I don't really get sun hats. What is their point? Unless the child has no hair.

YES! Sun hats add to the heat surely. Only worth using unless the child has fair or no hair.

I still don't think that my DN should have had one plonked on her sweaty dark hair in a boiling hot car but there you go.

My ds is autistic and is supposed to join the others in the nursery garden next week but can not see the point of a hat because he doesn't ever go in the sunlight.

But he will be forced to stay inside until he wears one even though he has awareness of his bodily needs which are more advanced in this way than his peers.

Nice.

Oh this is very silly isn't it?

Yes, my friend was complaining about this. Her DD is not allowed out at school playtime from next week unless she has a sun hat. DD is black, with lots of thick black hair and has never worn a sun hat so is thoroughly confused by the whole thing. Nurseries/schools should advise but not insist imho.

Maybe your sister is mad?

LordVolAuVent DH says there is no maybe about it however it is always worth asking here.

I must say that I do think your friend's nursery staff may be suffering from something similar. It is hardly tropical in the British Isles whatever the temp!

"I don't really get sun hats. What is their point? Unless the child has no hair. "

Doh! durrr - dunno?

Well, if they have a peak like a baseball cap then they tend to shade the face

If they are legionnaires style - as is standard uniform requirement at our school - then they also protect the back of the neck. But I think it is nonsense really - I'm all for toughening them up by setting them up with skin cancer (fgs!)

"hardly tropical in the British Isles whatever the temp! "

? - are you for real? Surely nobody can be that dense?

if I didnt put a sunhat on the small, he would have nothing to throw off gleefully when hes on the swings...

and he gets really upset if you dont try and reinstall it on his bobbing little head immediately...

Yes, nurseries should advise small children to keep their hats on

In nurseries/schools rules have to apply to everyone or else they're not enforceable. You have to wear your hat or you can't play out, you have to wash your hands or you can't have lunch etc. How else would it work?

Well missus - clearly lordvolauvent thinks we should have differential policies based on skin tone and hair texture / colour....(where the feck would that lead us!)

hmc quoted me thus:

"hardly tropical in the British Isles whatever the temp! "

and said:

"? - are you for real? Surely nobody can be that dense?" (sic)

Yes I'm "for real" as you say. The British Isles are not the same as the tropics. The sun comes in at a different angle. The British Isles lie on a different part of the earth in relation to the equator.

Explain how I am "dense" please and why your post was not offensive and worthy of reporting.

Jeez!

Oh and I see you have also said, "Doh! durrr"

I may be wrong but that sort of thing isn't usually accepted on Mumsnet. I find it both immature and offensive.

I'm very prone to heatstroke and in my experience a sunhat does make you feel cooler than if you have the sun beating down on your head. I'm lucky that both my girls think that hats are the best thing since sliced bread and want to wear them all the time.

Of course if you're somewhere shady it's not a big deal if it's on or not.

MIlady - you are right about the British Isles not being like the tropics, but that is even more reason to be sun safe - as we are simply not accustomed to long periods of hot sunny weather! I got caught out and got badly sunburned in April about 2-3 years ago (remember when we had that really hot Easter weekend).

I do think your SIL should not have stuck your dn into a hot car. I think it wasn't so much about her wearing a sunhat, as being left in a boiling hot car (I take it SIL didn't turn the engine on to put the A/C on?). Poor little thing must have been so uncomfortable.

If it had be me and my son, he would have been the last thing to go in and if I needed to go back for something, I would have left the door open!

My ten year old boys decided for themselves that they did not need to wear their sunhats any more, this was during the easter holidays BTW, they both came in with their ears BLISTERED, so put that up your pipe, those who think the sun is not strong here in England. I am of course INSISTING that they wear a hat, but now they have learned their lesson, it's not so hard to get them to. WRT the hat in the car, most cars these days have UV protection in the glass, and so you don't need to be wearing a hat whilst in them.

Agree with you BT it is very easy to get burned (literally) by underestimating the sun here. Some might say it's even more dangerous than it used to be.

I was (I think ) commenting on the fact that it's a bit daft to insist that a black child with thick black hair might come to harm in a relatively short space of time.

hmc you have a point about peaked caps and legionnaire-style hats. Protecting the neck is especially important.

Are we concerned about the sun hat of the fact she left her child in a closed up hot car?

Someone please let me know so I can disprove correctly

Not always about sun burn,if I don't wear a hat in the sun I get sun stroke and spend the evening being sick. not very pleasant, and I am told could be quite dangerous, I definatly have hair.