Baby Sun Protection

Special Attention: Protecting Babies!

Babies and toddlers need consistent protection for their very sensitive skin which burns easily. You know how soft they are; so imagine how vulnerable! Also, it’s when your children are young and with you most of the time that you can most effectively reduce UVA exposure

Babies under six months should actually be kept out of direct sun and as much skin surface as possible should be covered. Common sense indicates loose clothing that allows for ventilation to avoid making the baby too hot.

Baby clothes made from sun protective material – material with an Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) rating of 30+, is optimum.  Land’s End makes a good-looking baby swim suit that covers most of the body (or this baby swim suit  for girls).  They also have sun protection toddler t-shirts.  Both provide UPF Protection of 50+.  Check them out.

You can also use natural fibers in a tight weave but they do not offer guaranteed protection. That cute little long-sleeved T-shirt may only offer a UPF of 5 to 10.

Start early with a baby sun protection hat! Makes it easier later on if you get your baby used to wearing one early on.

Even though there is apparently no scientific study showing that sunscreen harms infants, I personally would try to avoid it until the child was over six months old – I tend to be very conservative with infants. However, my feeling is that rather than risk UV radiation exposure, when taking the baby outdoors, I would use baby sunscreen on that exposed, fragile skin. (There is sunscreen information just below.

After six months, I would continue to always seek shade and avoid being out during the times of day when the UV Index is high. This is easy until your child starts to walk! (The UV Index varies from location to location and you can check it every day with the National Weather Service and the Environmental Protection Agency websites.) I would also clothe as much of the baby’s body as possible and add sunscreen to protect the small areas of exposed skin.

Choosing a baby’s sunscreen is very individual – you want a sunscreen that doesn’t irritate the toddler’s skin. No rashes, redness or spots. So try it on a very small area to begin with. Use a sunscreen with at least a SPF rating of 30+. The best in my opinion is California Baby.  The Environmental Working Group did a study on the effectiveness of sunscreen, and rated California Baby a best performer.

A lot of parents also like Blue Lizard Sunscreen Baby, SPF 30+, 9 oz (According to their product information, Blue Lizard Baby Sunscreen has the “newest nanotechnological super micronized ingredients titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.”) Sunscreen should be applied 20 minutes before going out and reapplied at least every 2 hours.

Some parents think that their babies and children need a lot of sun to produce enough vitamin D. Vitamin D (the “sunshine vitamin”) is essential for strong bones and calcium absorption. However, the indications are that we only need a few minutes of exposure to UVR, two to three times a week, for adequate vitamin D production. And it helps that infant formulas and cow’s milk are fortified with vitamin D. Generally, reasonable baby sun protection should not create a risk of vitamin D deficiency.