Sun cream and reception..

[Whoamireally]

Had a chat with DD1's preschool teacher today. DD1 is extremely sun sensitive and without sun cream on her face will burn in the space of 10 minutes. Preschool are really good and make sure she has sunscreen on before going to play outside and limit her sun exposure to 30 minutes at any one time. As a result she hasn't burnt once this year, as opposed to constantly last year!

However bit concerned to hear that when she starts reception in September that the staff are not 'allowed' to put sunscreen on her face. We put it on in the morning before leaving the house, and I've been encouraging her to learn to do it herself, but she will only really have just turned 4 when she starts Reception and slaps it on in a sort of 3 year old way without really applying it properly - so obv bit worried.

Please could someone explain why schools are not allowed to help children apply sunscreen? Seems a bit silly. And what can I do to get around this? If I get a medical note or get the suncream on prescription or something equally over the top would they help her put it on then? I don't want to get stroppy with school as she hasn't even started But not going to put up with her getting burnt esp with a skin cancer history in the family.

Any advice or suggestions please?

As a reception teacher I helped children to apply sun cream as did the other staff working in Foundation Stage. We asked parents to give written permission (and let us know about any allergies) and even supplied cream for the class.

does teh "all day" type stop her burning. The boots one is meant to last something like 8 hours, which would see her through the day.

Think about it whoamireally, if the school staff had to apply suncream to ewvery child before they went outside they would not have any time to actually play outside.

But the 12 hour sunblock, it does work you know. And make sure she has a hat with her.

It is largely about time, I think. The staff ratios in a reception class are not what they are in a pre-school. 30 children each queueing to have suncream applied = most of playtime gone. You need a combination of hat, suitable clothing and 12-hour cream.

Thanks for the feedback - most of you seem to have realised that I have no experience of what it's like in school these days so thanks for being gentle with me! I do of course realise that the ratios aren't the same as in preschool, but by the same token it seems a bit harsh from a protective mum perspective when sunburn is so easily prevented if no-one helps the little ones when needed because there are too many other children.

Should have put in original post that she is allergic to most suncreams including the all day ones and so the only one we've found that doesn't bring her up in a rash is the Simple one, but because it has less ingredients in it its star rating is lower and it needs applying more often. So hopefully you can see the dilemma!

I'm sure by the time she's 5 or 6 she'll be quite adept at putting it on herself but it's just the first year or so I'm worried about. mrz can we come to your school please, sounds fab

At DS's school they actively encourage the children to stay in the shade when very sunny. Whether or not your school does the same, that is something you can suggest she does?

Yes, absolutely redsky - and bless her, she is really good - always wears her hat etc. It was really horrid last year when she just kept burning as we had to say in the end that she couldn't go out to play at lunchtime - didn't go down too well

i have 2 fair skinned red head children and i taught them at a very young age how to apply suncream (in a stick not the runny stuff) to themselves, it seems to be a success as they quite like smothering themselves in the stuff!

Hat, long sleeve lightweight tops. seems to work on our blond fine haired DS . At preschool for an all day session ,he takes own sunscreen with him for a lunchtime app. But I seldom know if its been done or not. He does like wearing hats tho, which helps.

I think he will be out doors for shorter periods once hes at school, rather than the freeflow all day system his preschool have.

I send my DD to school with a sun cream stick, I don't know if you can find one that's suitable, but they are quite easy to apply (well, not so messy!) Also, I found the teacher good at making sure they all had hats on.

Remember, she isn't starting 'till September. That's a whole summer to practice and the sun won't be quite so blazing then.