Do You Put Sunscreen on Your Kids Every Day?

I'm very much like you. We had a picnic lunch at the park yesterday, so I put on sunscreen. Today, at home? Nope.

No, I don't either.
Pool, beach, amusement parks....yes.
Daily life? No.

From what I've read & seen, most people use sunscreen incorrectly.
I like the spray on stuff (still need to rub it in).
Neutrogena or another spray variety.

Pool or all day events, sure. But just because you'll be in the sun occasionally, no. Why would I want chemicals absorbed into my kids' skin all day? They need vit D! And the excess chemicals can't be better than natural sunshine.

I read a study about 10 years ago that discovered that aging farmers who had spent years driving tractors in full sun had dark, leathery skin, but a much lower incidence of sun-induced skin cancers. Another study (or perhaps it was another section of the same study) showed that people who got occasional sunburns, like during weekend sports events, had higher levels of skin cancer (but probably not the leathery skin).

And then there's the fact that our skin converts sunlight into the very essential vitamin D, a lack of which can contribute to a host of health problems. Vitamin D deficiency is common in the population, and probably more so now that we spend so much of our lives indoors or slathered with sunscreen.

So, though I'm a very fair-skinned redhead and protect myself carefully from sunburns (I did get some really bad ones as a kid), my brown-haired, tan grandson gets sunscreen only when he is expected to get intense exposures, like at the beach. His skin may age a little faster, but it sure is healthy now. So no, unless a child is burn-prone, I think I'd skip it.

Any trend that carries some "solution" to an extreme carries the risk of causing a different set of problems. Moderation is almost always best. (I threw in "almost" to avoid turning that assertion into an extreme of its own.)

Heck no. I think this is just another thing we are going overboard with.

I personally think daily exposure to sunscreens (and all the chemicals in it, especially inhaling with the spray sunscreens) is worse than sun exposure. We need sun exposure, it is healthy for us! (But in moderation, not hours at the lake or the pool).

I think you are doing it right.

Well where we live we have to at least in the summer.
It is just part of it.

My SIL children are very, very fair skinned and those boys, 1 in college and the other in high school, use sunscreen almost every day.

My mother is in her mid 70's and people ask her all of the time, "why don't you have any wrinkles?" My mother avoids the intense sun. The main reason is she easily can over heat. She is and always has been sensitive to the heat. She wears a moisturizer with an SPF. She has always worn a hat in the summer and sits in the shade.

As moms, we just do our best. I cannot imagine any of us intentionally try to hurt or do any harm to our kids. Just do what you can do and try to teach your children to do for themselves in the future. Our daughter knew sunscreen was needed all summer. It was just part of her routine and still is.

No. Only when at pool or beach or when they will be in direct sun for li g periods of time. Do not use it for just your everyday living.

I do not put sunscreen on my kids (or make them put it on) every day. In the winter they don't get enough exposure to the sun, and when they are in school in the spring and fall they are not in direct sunlight long enough to worry about it. I do make them put it on every day during the summer months when it is sunny and they are going to be outdoors for the better part of the day (which is pretty much every day in the summer). They just put it on when they get dressed and reapply throughout the day as needed. If for some reason we aren't going to be outdoors, or we are just going to be in and out they would skip it. I wear sunscreen on my face every day all year round (I buy foundation with 15 spf and wear 15 spf Chapstick). I put it on the rest of my body the same as the kids, when I am going to be in the sun. We al have very fair skin and burn easily, and we all love being outdoors and in the sunshine. My grandmother and my sister had skin cancer and so did my MIL.

not unless at the beach, pool, or sports (summertime). one of my kids has a very pale skin so she gets burnt easily, so she needs a thick layer if at pool or beach. my other kid has olive skin, she never burns with our without sunscreen. for her, i use spray sunscreen (face and shoulders/arms especially). i don't use sunscreen. i have vit d deficiency, and hate the pills. so sun is for me.

J., those mamas are lying or stupid or just plain trying to one up everyone around them.

Thank goodness for common sense. You're doing it right.

No
My allergy to the vast majority of sunscreens over ride my desire to wear it. I have a very few that I am not allergic to and those are hard to find and expensive.
When I have been talked into using sunscreen I end up with a worse burn than the days I skip it. Since I stopped using sunscreen I burn far less often then I used to.
I dress for the sun, keep to the shade when I can and other things to keep from burning and use a small amount of the ones I can use when I absolutely have to.
I follow the same things for my kids. They have had allergic reactions to sunscreen as well.

Sunscreen unless it is raining. And yes on myself as well. In the winter I just use a moisturizer with SPF 25, in the Spring/summer/fall I use real sunscreen too. I use spray for DS and my body, face sunscreen for my face.
Only 5 sunburns (that is only one a year for 5 years) doubles your lifetime risk for melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer (and a young person's cancer) http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/sunburn/facts-about-...

http://www.aad.org/media-resources/stats-and-facts/preven...

Wearing sunscreen is part of life - no different than buckling up every single time we get in the car.

I do the same as you. Only with prolonged sun exposure.

Every day? Perhaps if I lived elsewhere: here in Portland, it's sort of a daily prospect about half the year~ do we put on sunblock, or no? Warm, overcast days, sunny days, yes, we do; but we get so many cool, cloudy days even in summer sometime that honestly, it really isn't necessary.

Add to this that you really have to get cleaned up in the evening if you've been wearing sunblock, which means a second shower in the evening. So, if I did this daily, I'd end up buying about 3-4xs the amount of sunblock we'd really need AND paying for the extra water for the shower. We do wear sun hats, uv protective clothes for the kiddo on hot water-play days but as a general rule, no, I don't put sunblock on every day.

I don't think is one of those 'bad mom' moves, but maybe a time where we have to use our common sense as parents and not over-do things if there is no need. And we are vitamin D deficient up here in the rainy Willamette Valley... we need all the gentle sunshine we can get.

My kids are all grown but no I did not put sunscreen on them every day when they were kids. I burn really easily and I have Vetiglieo, losing the pigment in my skin and hair. I always wore sunscreen daily especially on my face for years. Then a few years ago I had too much calicium and not enough Vitamin D causing leg cramps and other issues. I found out then sunscreen blocks the absorbation of Vitamin D from the sun. So now I usually only wear it when I am doing yard work or going to be out all day for an event.
Strange thing my legs neither tan nor burn so I often don't sunscreen them, giving my body a chance to absorb Vitamin D.

We live in AZ and put it on when we will be out in the sun for any period of time. If we are just hoping in and out of the car going places then no, we don't. But if we go to the pool or park, of course. AZ is #1 in skin cancer so it's a given. It's been 105 here or hotter for the last couple of weeks already. Yuck. Oh, I do have to say, my husband puts it on faithfully every day since he is in and out of the car and offices in sales. So he has one of those face sticks he uses and puts it on his arms because he's Irish and would fry right up if he didn't.

I only wear a face moisturizer with spf and put on sunscreen if I will be in the sun for a prolonged period of time or at the pool. My boys are in college now, but I never put sunscreen on them daily. They would wear it if out in the sun a long time or during peak times, and of course if at the pool or beach.

I didn't even realize some people put it on their kids for regular day-to-day activities. We only use it for extended periods of time outside on sunny days. I also try to let them catch some rays first for the Vitamin D, since we are all deficient in it. We have to take Vit D supplements, so we take all the sunshine we can get.

No, I don't even buy any unless we decide to go to the pool for the day. I know we should be more careful but every single person in the world is in the sun every day and hardly anyone wears it. I think that our sun does damage our skin but if it's not the sun it's something else.

Every time I forget they get horribly burned. Then I feel just awful. I forgot to reapply it the other day and both kids are peeling now and were in a lot of pain for a couple days. So...I guess your kids are not burning when you forget? Both my kids look tan...they play outside a lot. But their skin type is such that they burn very easily. So, yes, I try very hard to remember to put sunscreen on every day.

nope. i'm just like you.
khairete
S.

I live in south Louisiana and I only put it on me or my kid when we were at the beach, the pool, fishing, or camping.