Are car window shades for a baby a necessity?

[Fagin99]

I'm due my first child soon and am currently panicking about things I may or may not have bought yet. One thing I've only just thought about are those window shades you sometimes see stuck onto car back windows to block out the sun.

What I thought would be a simple online purchase has led me down another rabbit hole and now I'm wondering if I need to bother at all.

I suppose I'd like to ask: are they a necessity for UV safety or just "nice to have?"

Thank you in advance from my tired brain!

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MNHQ

@TalbotAMan - oh WELL done. I haven't seen the "I survived, we were fine" trope for months and months!

I'm sure you didn't have a car seat, or stair gates, and played with knives too....

I have 2 children who are dark skinned with brown eyes, they never really cared about the sun shining on them. However, I also have one who is very fair skinned with pale blue eyes and it actually casued him pain (and still does) when the sun shone in his eyes. We had a couple of fraught trips down to Cornwall when he was a baby before we realised this. Even as a teen, he is the only one that bothers about wearing sunglasses and actually tells us now how much it hurts him. When we go skiing he has to wear the lenses tinted for high sunlight whereas the others cpuldnt care less and can ski without goggles. So I would err on the side of caution and get the sock type ones or your back windows tinted in case your baby has light eyes or is sensitive to the sun. Dont bother with the suction stick on ones, they're crap.

Also get baby used to wearing a sunhat if possible from early on as that can help if they will keep them on in the car. We always gave that son a muslin cloth in the car as well and he would often drape it ober his face himself when a bit older to lock out the sun.

They offer some protection so worth having, you need ones that cover as much of it as possible.

We have tinted windows in the back of our car.

@Dockofthebay well now you have. I get sunburn through glass. If I don't wear spf on my hands when driving my hands and arms of uncovered end up burnt to a crisp, its uncomfortable and horrible. Hand cream with SPF is surprisingly difficult to come across.

[quote lborgia]@TalbotAMan - oh WELL done. I haven't seen the "I survived, we were fine" trope for months and months!

I'm sure you didn't have a car seat, or stair gates, and played with knives too.... [/quote]
Glad to be of service.

BTW 'Tropes' can be factual.

And boys had penknives, with which we played.