If you are not meant to put sunblock on a baby under 6 months, wtf do you do if it is sunny?

[Fillyjonk]

...assuming you have other kids and a life and so forth and they can't spend all the outside time in a pram with a net over them?

I have been pondering this of late, I am flummoxed.

Have never actually had a baby under 6 months in the summer before (ds and dd1 = late summer babies so didn't really go out much when it was still sunny)

she's ...

nearly 3

I am sorry if this thread has stirred upset and controversy re kids in parks in the winter, it honestly wasn't meant to. It us withot a doubt true that you can take kids to the park in winter, in fact some of my best friends do so all the time. or at least all the time in winter.

but really, I have never really had a baby under 6 months in sunblock season, its very odd. You think you know it all 3rd time round but no, no.

franny...parasol....really? . the thing is, I'd look like a cross between mary poppins and mavis cruet, not a great look

I think I've hired a calin bleu, iirc they are lovely but a bit stretchy. but you only should have around 8 weeks of a summer baby, am I right?

oooh mrsb, missed that!

but do babies really get that hot in slings? Am I being naive?

I have to admit dd2 is in a baby bjorn atm and she seems quite ok, even on hot days?

(is very kind of you though )

I had a Wilkinet I used constantly for dd1's first four months. When we moved it got used for occasional late afternoon/evening cliff walks and on the plane on trips to and from the UK. I think dd2 went in it once or twice in the house ...

Sorry, meant to say that it was because it was too hot for us...

I know it goes against this idea of "earth mother" that some people has, but I think pushchairs are really good for keeping babies out of the shade! They can lie there, kick their legs freely, in the shade, surely it is better than being stuck in a sling hoisted up on mums 37 degrees body temperature framework in the sun? It is one extra layer of clothing, plus body temperature?

Bear in mind that babies cant regulate their own temperature very well when it gets hot, and they overheat really easily.

I would go for light linen trousers, and a light t shirt, in a pushchair, with a sunshade.

I had an april born boy, and one born in June. They got the heat of summer, and learnt to walk for automn/winter.

I love my sling, but I agree- on cooler summer days, the sling is fab, but DS loved the coolness of the carrycot when it was really hot. I remember our August holiday to cornwall, and after trial and error, we used the bugaboo carrycot for days out, covered over with a harrington and he was cool and comfy. Not sure about the newer bugaboo carrycots- ours was the old frog, the fleecy ones look a bit stuffy. He didn't walk til he was 15 months old. Those waterproof dungarees were a godsend, you could wrap him up warm underneath and he didn't get wet.

solarveil sling

OMG I clicked the link....must repeat mantra

Bigmamaslings is a fab shop and very dangerous for me.

at least they don't hire slings out snymore

that was always my downfall

there are a lot of reasons to use a sling, it often has more to do with practicalities but honestly, I feel that anything I say is going to be picked at here by QS, I don't really understand why, tbh.

We spent a lot of time in the Sun (spent 6 months in Georgia) when ds was born) We didn't use sun block. He was 3months - 7 months old during their spring and summer ansd believe me their spring is pretty hot by our standards. I didn't stay in all day either. What we did was

1 Use a big sun shade for whan ds was in the buggy.

2 We used a sling a lot but we used a normal umbrella as well as a sun shade. Maybe you feel a bit silly but tbh I din't give a s**t about that.

3 We did avoid going to places that didn't have easy shade between 12-3pm when it was really hot (most days there but in the Uk would be less) but to be perfectly honest that is sensible behaviour for any age (so speaks the Mediterranean in me).

4 Ds wore a sun hat at all times. I had to fight to keep it on him after the age of 5 months as he kept throwing it off but he eventually learned he had to keep it on. Nowadays at 3.5 years old he is the only child that age I know who will keep a sun hat on for any length of time.

As for walking in the park in the winter - Ha ha - Ds 'walked' on his knees from 11 months old to 16 months old (Nov - April).
We went to the park almost every day. He had two big padded winter suits on which the knees got very worn . He ended up with hard skin on his knees and did do a lot of falling so the learning to walk thing wasn't really a problem.

It will be fine honestly.