Kids and Sun (dermatologist, school, live in)

[ang08]

Coming from the Pacific NW, the idea of year-round sun is both exciting and concerning. As adults I'm sure it's easy enough to limit exposure. But not so much with kids - walking/biking to school, recess, sports, etc. So I'm curious how parents handle that or if it's something you worry about. Is it year-round sunscreen every day? Are your kids always tan? Of course now there's the debate about whether sunscreen itself is bad for you....sigh.

[dive77mmwet]

well in the summer the kids will be in side because its too hot out, in the winter its' too cold out so no problem with the sun exposure.
Its the novelty of it and trust me to most it grows old quick!
some oldsters I know look like prunes due to so much over exposure but that's what keeps the dermatologist's down here busy!

[CravenClan]

I have grown up in Southern California and as a kid lived in lotsa sunny places, and we LIVED in the sun. My kids too grew up the bulk of their life in California, and in summers we would go to AZ togo to the river and that really is the only time i put sunscreen on my kids, as well as being at the pool or beach, for an extended period of time..

As for tan, that depends, somepeople don't tan..My husband has beautiful olive skin that gets VERY dark, i am more on the fair side, it takes me a llloonnngg time to "build" a tan. Our kids of 3, 2 have his skin, and the youngest got mine....she is pretty fair.

I plan on growing old laying in the sun, being leather up with a drink in my hand...but that is way down the road...lol

[mayorhaggar]

I grew up in Florida and moved out of state when I was 20. It's so hot most of the year that you spend most of your time indoors in the a/c. If you are outside, you instinctively learn to avoid being in the sun--you cross to the shady side of the street when out walking about, you park in the shade when you can, you try to limit your time out in the sun. It's not so much because you're conscious of skin damage or whatever, it's more that it's so uncomfortable to be under the sun that you learn to avoid it. And if you don't instinctively do it, you should probably teach yourself to do so.

Also eventually you build up a darker skin tone which deals with sun better, when I lived in Florida I had kind of an olive complexion. Now that I live in the foggy and cooler Bay Area I'm much paler and burn easily.

Definitely put sun lotion on the kids if you go to the beach, and if they're out doing something like sports that involves being out in the sun for hours at a time. If it's just for an hour or less they should be ok but monitor what happens to your kids because everyone's skin tone is a bit different. Make sure you and they drink a lot of water if they're out for a long time to avoid dehydration or heatstroke. After they get burned a couple times they'd learn what to avoid on their own, I and any other kid growing up in FL definitely did. Getting burnt a few times won't kill them, but being out in the sun every single day for several hours at a time should probably be avoided, but they're probably not going to want to be out that long unless they're at the pool or the beach. The beach can be a bit dangerous because the water and the cool breezes on the shore can trick you into thinking it's cooler than it is, so you don't mind the sun as much as if you were inland--probably 90% of the time that I got burnt as a kid was at the beach because I didn't put on sunscreen. Tell your kids that the sun can be dangerous but don't make them afraid to go outside or they'll turn into video game zombies.

Also you yourself should be sure to wear sunglasses that block UV rays--that can cause damage. Apparently I have some slight sun damage in one of my eyes, probably from growing up in FL and never wanting to wear sunglasses, and I'm only 31. It's harmless for now but could turn into something worse later in life. Little kids can probably get away without them if they refuse to wear them, but at some point they should probably wear them, maybe ask an eye doctor or a pediatrician in Florida.

[CravenClan]

That is a good point...about sunglasses, I wear them ALL THE TIME, if not i have a headache....

I forgot, Yes i lather up my kids when they do sports as well...

Good point about hydration too...something to remember!