Sunscreen & Insect Repellent

10 minutes of sun a day is all we need to get vitamin D. With the rates of skin cancer these days, the benefits of sunsceen greatly outway the risks. Buy a natural sunscreen with either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, both are naturally occuring minerals that provide a full spectrum physical protetion against the harmful UV rays. I stay away from chemical sunscreens especially pasol 1789 or avobenzone. I haven't found a natural insect repellent that actually works but I use them anyway, and suffer through the mosquito bites. Lavender on insect bites helps too!
Enjoy the summer:)

I agree with Renee below. Make sure to always use sunscreen and be sure to reapply during the day. The more you burn the higher your chances of skin cancer later in life. Make sure to apply your insect repellent separately from the sunscreen - children can only have so much DEET applied and when the sunscreen must be reapplied you could be doing more harm than good. I like to use the Neutrogena sunscreen for us - it's more of a lotion and less greasy.

I have read about this. I too am confused on this topic so I hope you get alot of good replies. I recently purchased UV Natural ( http://www.uvnaturalusa.com/htm/default.asp ) for my daughter and decided for now I will use it on her when we go swiimming or on days when I know she is getting alot of sun exposure, or sun for long periods of time. Good luck!

I also put sunscreen on my boys for longer periods of time out in the sun. And dont forget yourself! I was not a good sunscreen user until I had kids... and I have read that skin cancer occurs 3 times more common than breast and lung cancer combined, scary. I also use the Arbonne sunscreen both for my babies and myself.

I would use sun screen if you are going to be outside longer than 30 mins. I know I don't always put sunscreen on my son, but I try to keep him in the shade then. We had him outside one day this year for 2 hours and my mom had forgotten to put it on him and he was pink just from that. My doctor has said to always remember to put it on if your going to be outside longer than 30 mins. And as far as the type of sunscreen, I get Melalueca sunscreen because Im a member and its all natural and I am allergic to things and I just don't want to take the chance that my son is too. Hope this helps:)

Hello, we use Arbonne Baby sunscreen for our son. I would feel awful if he got burned! It works really well!

http://arbonne.com/products/baby/

For insect repellant, we use Avon or a 10% deet product.

We use Sunscreen about 50% of the time when we're outside. I kind of use my own skin and comfort level as a guide for when I should apply sunscreen for my daughter. (And, especially during 12-4.) I always apply it right away if I know we'll be outside all day.

Insect repellant, I only use when we're at the cabin or in a wooded area, or mosquito's are visable.

Avon has a line of products that are instect repellants and suncreens together, which I like. One is a spray on product so it's easy to apply to clothes and skin. :)

Tip: I keep some insect repellant and sunscreen in my garage just for convenience so when we're out playing, I don't have to run back into the house to find it.

Hope this helps.

We use the Burt's Bees natural insect repellent and it has worked well for us, though it doesn't last as long as repellents with DEET. I am also going to be trying the lavender essential oil as a repellent this year.

I try to make sure we all have sunscreen on first thing in the morning so i don't have to chase them round trying to do it when they are outside.

I use lavender essential oil as a natural essenstial oil - make sure you buy a good one that is suitable for direct skin application.