I fully understand that kids should wear sunhats, I do......

[tweetyfish]

But why?
I hate wearing a hat in the sun as my head gets very hot and i end up with a headache. Hair presumably stops the UVs burning the scalp, and hats really don;t make much shade unless you get the wide rimmed ones which would be impossible to keep on a child.

So why is it so crucial? if anyone knows the answer, mumsnet does!

Babies especially have little or no hair. DD is 2 and I still feel that her hair gives her head insufficient coverage. Also hats do tend to shade the face. DD will actually keep a wide-brimmed straw hat on - but I limit it's usage because it is starting to get grey (was white).

The sun burns my dts scalp, but they wont wear hats, so they spend the whole summer looking like they have greasy hair, because I have to spreay sun cream on their scalps

spray.................

I have a full healthy head of hair, and every year with out fail I still burn the top of my head.

my dh goes mad at me when i fuss of lotions,potions and sun hats. He said I dont remember all this fuss when I went to nursery or school, in fact my mums idea of sun lotion was cooking oil on her not me!!

my mum had some of that stuff tenalady, made you tan quicker!

My ds is nearly 4 and has masses of hair, so much so that hats are hard to keep on, and after 15mins in the sun his whole head is soaked with sweat. school insists that he must have a hat on when they are outside, but whilst we usually have a hat if we're out i don't make him wear it all the time, i know that if i was him i'd hate it! He's never burned

a cotton hat will help keep him cool. And any amount of shade it casts on his face is always a good thing for keeping him cool.
Plus I feel it helps keep the sun out of their eyes.

TL - my Mum's a red head and used to plaster herself in coconut oil when sunbathing!

My dd has really fine blonde hair so I think a hat protects her scalp. Have to admit I did wonder if I was doing the right thing when I was in Spain a couple of weeks ago and had to take off my sunhat cos it made my head too hot but her head just looks vulnerable with no hat on.

hat shades the face and neck as well

also you may feel hot with the hat on, but you would feel even hotter without it!

I didn't but it was quite windy as well as hot.

I think a hat is essential, their little heads get so hot in the sun. I've even bought myself a straw hat, I wore it the other day when it was baking hot when I went to pick ds up from nursery and felt a bit foolish, but I get terrible headaches in the sun and just can't manage without some protection.

Ds has been successfully trained/bribed into wearing his hat pretty much all the time, a good cotton wide-brimmed one with a chin toggle. He is quite proud of his hat.
I put a hat on the other day to cover up my unwashed hair and was amazed how much better I felt with it on, in the hot sun. It really does make a difference. I have dark hair and can feel it burning hot in hot weather.

I always always wear a hat, get a headache otherwise

I'm with Tweety, can't bear hats in hot weather, they always make me hot, itchy and irritable. I dutifully used to put one on ds when he was tiny, but now he is 6 I honestly don't bother, esp as he sweats profusely, and takes off a hat looking like he's just had a bucket of water chucked over him.

I always wear a hat or my dark hair makes my head boil.

I always wear a hat or my dark hair makes my head boil.

heat stroke and the skin on your head is very sensitive and burns very easily.

thanks everyone! Stopped me wondering why I do it! Just felt so bad for him getting so sweaty underneath the otherday that i started wondering why it was necessary!

can't go out in the sun without a hat cause my head boils and then I feel drowsy and not good, so I assume that it may be the same with my kids

A light cotton hat does make me feel cooler most times though if it is really hot I get very sweaty too. TBH I prefer staying in the shade then the dilemma of hat/no hat seems irelleavnt. I try and stay in the shade as much as possible- always have.

On a tangent somewhat - what is it with people on holiday who insist on sitting in the sun to have lunch?- I find that unbearable. Give me a shady seat with a cool breeze any day over the beating sun.

So what sort of hats are you all wearing? I am feeling the need for one but have not yet found one that satisfies me.

tbh I don't think any cream or spray would give as much protection as a hat. I know a dermatologist who says that if you really want to protect yourself from skin cancer, premature wrinkles etc, the answer is covering up and only exposing yourself to the early or late sun, rather than wearing even the strongest sunblock and then being out/lying out in the hottest part of the day.

have you tried straw? Less sweaty..

coming from Aus - we spent a lot of time with suncream etc on - and my bro still ended up having to have skin cancers cut from his face. I live in the area that has one of if not the highest skin cancer rates in the world - esp. my gneration BUT we all wised up and the rates are falling - in fact I think the UK rates were on a swift rise.

Our children are not allowed out to play at school, kindy, nursery etc without wide brim or legionaires hats..... skin on the face/neck is then protected as well as the head

Every morning I do the hat and sunscreen thing even though it is now winter.... can't take risks with peoples skins.

Our kdis learn so quickly - no hat no play and my dd1 who was a notorious hat hater will wear a wide brim hat that has a toggle on it to hold it on her head without fail. We just persisted and she get used to it.

My dd2 has the finest whitest hair and you can see her scalp - less than 10 minutes in the sun would fry her skin and the damage is done.

even without burning the damage is done to skin. I know we think - okay no sunburn - no damage...

\link{http://www.nohsc.gov.au/OHSInformation/NOHSCPublications/factsheets/skin21.htm\here}

\link{http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=101\more info} here they recommend a hat with a brim of about 8 - 10 cms - 4 - 5 in

\link{http://www.cancer.org.au/content.cfm?randid=960742\and some more} including info about solariums/tanning

\link{http://www.sunsmart.com.au/browse.asp?ContainerID=1536\info about hats}

In fact I probably wear a hat a lot more as I became an adult than I ever did as a child.

sun damage also causes wrinkles, sagging skin - making you look much older than you are.

I never put hats on mine. They do have to wear them in nursery,but I think they just get over heated and sweaty. Babies need hats, but not toddler sand older children IMO. Once mine are out of nursery they will never have to loko at a sun hat again!

DD (2.5) has very fair hair and skin, and her scalp shows clearly through the hair which is fine - wouldn't consider not putting a hat on her. Some of her friends have thick hair, which probably makes a big difference - if that was the case, I'd probably insist on a hat in strong sun but not otherwise.

DDs hats do protect her face a fair bit, by the way - not hugely wide brimmed, either.