DD, 4 is allergic to sun cream

[Monroe]

We discovered this last year on holiday in Menorca after her whole body broke out in an itchy rash and we spent a miserable sleepless week trying to protect her from the sun and get her the correct treatment.

Over the summer we tried numerous creams, all of them caused an itchy rash.

Now the weather is warming up we are having the same problems. Nothing we have tried works. We went to the gp who prescribed uvistat but that hasn't worked either. We are keeping her covered in loose light clothing and with a hat on but she has drawers full of summer dresses and tops that she has been given and she is asking to wear them. Can anyone recommend anything that might work? We are running out of ideas and money, suncream isn't cheap and we can't afford to buy a bottle of everything on the shelf!

Have you tried ultrasun? My ds gets prickly heat caused by sun cream and this one seems to be the best. I buy the 50+ extreme, for super sensitive skin. It's £20 a bottle though.

Also, have the GP prescribed any antihistamines? They might help her tolerate some cream?

Poor lamb, hope you find something!

Perhaps ask for a reference to a dermatologist?

for eczema sufferers uvistat and sunsense are recommended. Sometimes though, sweating under the cream causes prickly heat.

Does she have any other allergies?

Have you tried Green people? They offer free samples. My Ds has a reaction to sun cream but he is ok with green people. It is quite white and thick but it works.
Otherwise I would suggest an independant health food/vitamin shop, they often have sun creams that are for very sensitive skin.

Ultrasun very kindly gave me a free sample to try (I'm allergic to many creams) and I can use it without problems. Worth emailing them to ask.

I think the gp can also prescribe some type of sun cream.

It could also be an allergy to the sun?

Thank you everyone. No we haven't tried ultrasun but at £20 it's a bit expensive to take a risk on We have taken to doing small patch tests on her belly. Maybe I should work my way down the sun cream aisle in boots

The gp was quite dismissive to be honest, said it could be an allergy to the heat, the cream or the cream reacting to the heat and there was no way to tell which. She also said we might never find anything that helps and she may never grow out of it. She did however prescribe me the antihistamines after I asked her and said it was okay to give her low dose daily with no side effects which is what we are doing.

She does have sensitive skin generally, I have to be careful with body washes etc. but no other allergies.

I haven't tried the Green people so will certainly have a look at them. And I didn't think about independent shops either.

Thank you very much, I appreciate all the ideas and help

Both mine are allergic as well- ultrasun was the only thing that worked. I think they're selling it in M &S now....

I wonder if you can get just plain zinc oxide like we had as kids.

X posts bernice. She is allergic to the one the gp prescribed however that is a really good idea about emailing direct and asking for samples. I will definitely give that a go, thanks

my son n gets this

you need a cream that contains titanium dioxide

we have found that the super high factor cream for suns ensitive skin is the only kind that works
he's 14 and six foot 2 now and still has to have the kids soltan in the white bottle

I'm trying to find something for myself at the moment as I have developed an allergy to suncream too.

Uvistat and sunsense will also send you samples to try.
Uvistat was awful - sooooo itchy, I've just tried sunsense today.

I'm going to email ultrasun for a sample too.

She is allergic to the soltan too. Not heard of titanium dioxide?

She currently has a circular rash on her belly thanks to the uvistat I put on her belly.

luckily she loves hats and has lots of them so we have no trouble getting her to wear them. Every morning she gets up though and asks if she can wear short sleeves today. She's also blonde haired and fair skinned. Ebay is currently my friend, looking for long sleeved blouses. I've also been looking for something she can wear under her summer dress when she's at school as they spend a lot of time outside

One too many belly's there I think

My children are both allergic to sun cream. I find high factors and more water resistant ones to be the worst. They can both tolerate Aldi kids factor 25. I just keep re applying it.

A cheap one to give a try as well.

I do love a good Aldi bargain, always worth a try, thank you

I'd second the recommendation of Green People. It's quite expensive, but I have eczema, and it's the only one I've found that doesn't bring me out in a rash.

My DD1 was allergic to sun cream - but she was able to use Clinique. It is expensive too but the girls on the makeup counter might give you a sample to try. She did grow out of it though, if that's any consolation!

DS is allergic to sun cream too. The GP gave me a prescription for about 10 different sensitive skin creams last year and we are still working our way through them. That way you can try them for free.

For the body, Piz Buin allergy seems to work.

However, we are still looking for something he can tolerate on his neck and face.

PS Apparently, its the preservative to which they are most likely allergic, not the actual sun screen.

My dd was the same and could only use Ambre solair. Tried that? I think it's the preservatives they keep piss arsing about with. MDGB or something, it wasn't in Ambre Solaire (might be now, she's 15 and grown out of it)

My DS is allergic to suncream and the only one he can tolerate is Delph.
GP prescribed it once but refused to do it on repeat. Some pharmacy's sell it but otherwise you can get it from amazon for £5.

We have the same problem with dd. She has the boots face stick and nivea factor 50. A pp mentioned titanium dioxide, if sun cream had a high level of this, it forms a.barrier to the sun on skin, so I think there are less chemicals in the cream.
When dd was a baby she was ok with lavera but it is expensive.
For school she has a sunsense roll on. Our boots stocks sunsense at the pharmacy section and it's available from amazon.

Thanks again everyone, that is interesting about the perservatives, I will bear that in mind.

My GP was really rather dismissive and when I asked for something on prescription she said there was only one and we have now tried that and it's no good. Although I may try and make an appointment with a different GP at the surgery and see if we get on any better.

I'm going to e-mail a few companies today and request some samples and keep everything crossed something works for her

Liz earles suncream is nice for children

I have problems with lots of creams, not just sun creams. I've found p20 works well - possibly because it's in alcohol rather than in a cream/lotion as such. It stings like a bugger when put on broken skin/scratches etc, but only for a few seconds - my son has similar problems, and can tolerate the few seconds of stinging with some bribery!

I have emailed quite a few companies today. I have already had a response from one, I think it was sunsense, saying they were sending some samples out.

I bought some P20 last week as it was half price in lloyds. She came out in a giant rash all over her belly