protecting babes in the sun

[MP4]

As well as contemplating Oz (see jet lag) we're off to Spain in a couple of weeks with 5 month old baby with more than a tinge of ginger hair! My dh is also fair and has suffered in the past from prickly heat. I've bought a UV suit and sun cream, but dd won't wear a hat for love nor money and I'm also woirried that the synthetic-y UV suit might cause more problems (sweat/comfort-wise) in the sun than it solves. Obviously we'll try as much as poss to keep her out of the sun, but does anyone have any other advice on keeping her comfortable/safe in the heat?

A pop up sun tent? Fill with fun toys and your immobile baby will be fine. I think mine came from Mothercare.

We loved the UV sun suits and never had a problem with over heating in Spain, Portugal or Florida. I've suffered from prickly heat in the past but neither of my boys seem to have had this problem with the UV suits.

A blow up boat filled with water and put in the shade makes a nice cool paddling pool.

Persevere with the hat, if only so you feel you've tried! I had this problem with both my boys but I liked to feel I'd made the effort. If you keep trying, they get used to it eventually.

we're just back from holiday (only in GB, but still quite hot some days) and used the UV suits on ds and dd, both quite fair-skinned, and they were fantastic, only had to put cream on faces, hands and feet really, no burned shoulders at all and didn't seem to get too hot. I echo soupdragon's idea about the UV tent too - we had one but of course not that useful with my mobile pair (handy for sun-shy mum tho), but non-crawling baby would be fine in it. Lots of drinks is another essential - i kept forgetting a baby (like my dd) cannot ask for water or milk and she gulped it down eagerly when offered (you may be breast-feeding in which case no worries, milk supply will adjust).

Clary's right about the lots of drinks - we took ds to the Alps when he was 9 months and it was very hot. He virtually gave up eating solid food (apart from his first experience of spaghetti ), but drank gallons and gallons of milk, and seemed to thrive on it.

I agree with both messages about the tent if you have a 'Poundstretcher' near you they are currently selling tents with guaranteed sp factor 50? for only £9.99 if you have one of those parasols that attach to prams you could take thst along too. Depending on how much water your baby drinks I tend to take cold boiled water every where with me either in a sports drink bottle or a light plastic flask, if it's really hot I also put 1 or 2 icecubes in them (from my icecube tray made with boiled water. I've been told the Spanish are really baby/child friendly - hope you have a lovely holiday.

How about packing an old fashioned folding fan, too? A few minutes of wafting during nappy-free play time cool my 9 month old right down - and he loves it!

Hope you have a lovely holiday.

I always bring a small spray bottle when Im out in the heat with my three especialy the 20 mo old. I use it to mist them and keep them cool. The head tends to draw a lot of heat.

My dd wouldn't wear a hat at that age either - but we were given a hat with a strap underneath which attached with velco. Was brilliant and she couldn't remove it. Worth a try if you can track one down. Ours came from Gap last year and I got one in Gymbaree this year.

Many thanks for all advice - really helpful particularly on the hat front which is a major worry. Will try and try it all out! At least we've no worries about overheating here in the Uk at the moment....

Does anyone know how easy it is to buy jars of baby food (preferably organic) in the Algrave? My baby is on a restricted diet (no milk, eggs, wheat, fish etc) and I am also wondering if the labelling is in English.

Sorry about my poor typing - my message about how easy it is to buy jars of baby food abroad should of course have read ALGARVE!

Sorry everyone - have just realised that my first go at trying to post a question was a bit of a disaster and it ended up here by mistake - thus breaking the flow.

caroline 55