Toddler sunburn?

[Star39]

Hello all
My toddler was with family this week and after a trip to the park yesterday for a couple of hours his arms are pink. It was overcast yesterday though the sun was breaking through at some points.
Hes not saying his arms hurt and it’s not red raw sunburn but I am still worried. I usually apply loads of suncream on him and never take him out between 12-3 but no sun cream was applied. I’m very upset x

Next time send him with suncream and/or apply beforehand. At this time of year you can burn on overcast days as the UV is still high

If he's just pink don't worry. It's not ideal but it's happened now.
If it helps I got left in the sun as a child and tanned so my mum left my baby sister out and she burned.
She's 60 now and no ill effects. She still burns in sun though.

The thing is there was suncream in his bag

Quite careless of them, especially as you’d provided suncream.
I wouldn’t worry too much this time as he sounds fine. But next time they have him, make a point of saying he needs suncream.

I just feel abit sick with worry now. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it but what about long term affects?

you cant do anything about it now so I would stop worrying and just try to avoid it happening again.

Arm yourself with info about the effect of sunburn. Take that info with you when you visit family, tell them to use the suncream whether its overcast or not, if it happens again dont let them have him unless its winter.
UV is the problem, not the sun itself.
My ds1 got badly sunburnt on holiday once. He was 14 at the time, so I couldn't physically hold him down a slather it on him.
He has freckles across his shoulders now and hes 23.

To me that’s abuse.
They allowed him to be burned.
That would be the last time they were allowed to have him without me present.
However, I would just use plenty of good quality after sun & keep his skin moisturised.

Aloe vera gel is good for sunburn

that’s abuse.

Abuse, really? That seems a bit much...

Aloe Vera helps burn, but if it's only pink I wouldn't worry too much. Next time make sure you ask them to put sun cream on him - lots of people just don't think about it if they don't have young children themselves

Yes it’s only pink, no blisters or anything. Originally I thought it was eczema but I don’t think it is. It also look worse / better in different lights. Have been putting cream on and it doesn’t seem to bother him (ie I. Now what it’s like to be sunburnt and it’s tender to touch) so it’s difficult to tell. I’m more upset that I’ve always covered him up and this one time it has happened - I feel guilty that maybe I should have said something about the cream beforehand but just didn’t think myself.
I’m hoping if it doesn’t peel then it’s not actually burnt?

I know it's easy to feel upset. The same has happened to me but there will no doubt also be a time when you miss a spot with sun cream or dont realise it's as hot as it is. A one off occasion (or a couple of times) in childhood won't give your child a lifetime of problems.
Prolonged exposure (years of not wearing sun cream or lots of times being burnt) and things like sunbeds are much much worse
Some moisturiser or after sun over the next few days will help.

Wasnt your fault, they must be aware of the effects of UV, it's in the papers and on tv enough, plus you supplied the sun cream. Nobody expects adults to be stupid.
Warn them about the sunscreen and see what happens.

As others have said, it's a bit neglectful of them not to apply and you're right to be annoyed, but I think we need to try and keep things in perspective. An odd occasion of sunburn is not going to cause any issues. The risk is when someone routinely over exposes their skin to high uv levels over years.

Yes annoyed it has happened when I always make sure his arms are covered or has cream on, hat etc I am just concerned after I read that one incident of sunburn during childhood increases the risk of skin cancer x

In theory, any sun exposure of any kind is slowly increasing your risk of skin cancer. But sitting down watching TV is slowly increasing your risk of heart disease. Walking is slowly increasing your chance of knee damage and eating chocolate is slowly increasing your chance of diabetes.

At the same time, there are people that spend their whole lives in the sun and never have a problem etc. So it's just something to be aware of, but don't worry too much about it.