Protecting Baby from the Sun
With three small children the idea of lubing them all up with Sunscreen can be daunting. My little Bugs and Belle are highly uncooperative when it comes to the application of Sunscreen, increasing my dread. But, since we are committed to having lots of fun adventures in the sun I do it often. I will share with you my strategy.
First off my Dermatologist always tells us to make sure you put on sunscreen well in advance so it has time to set in. I apply sunscreen before we leave, even if it will be an hour or more until we are actually out in the sun. I have my children strip naked and apply it everywhere. I do this for two reasons. First of all I don’t want to miss a spot. I also don’t like getting grease stains on their clothing from sunscreen, so having them naked makes it much easier to apply. Since we are at home (or our base camp) when we do this I can corner them and get it on. If I wait until we get to our destination they are usually so excited they want to explore and I can’t get them to stand still. Also if water is involved it is better to have it on well in advance, otherwise it washes off the minute they hop in the water.
The other thing I highly recommend are rash guards. Rash guards are thin little shirts made of lycra that offer superior SPF protection. The surfers use them because sand will stick to your skin and grate on it when you are lying on your surf board. But they are great for just about anyone. They dry very quickly and are comfortable to wear both in and out of the water. If you google “rash guard” you will find a huge selection of shops specializing in these (I’ve also seen them at Old Navy.) I recently got a Banz full suit for Evan and have LOVED it. It even zips through the seat for easy diaper changes. I purchased mine from an ebay seller Sundropskids and it was a very pleasant transaction.
Here is Evan in his little suit.
Don’t forget the hat and sunglasses! Evan has really light colored hair and you can see his scalp right through it so I pretty much have to put a hat on him. I also make sure to spray Amy’s part with sunscreen (she usually wears braids in the water) so she doesn’t get burned there. Evan absolutely won’t wear a hat so I got one with a nice chinstap, he has no choice. Also remember to reapply sunscreen often, espcially if you are in the water. If you’ve lubed them up well as I have suggested you usually only need to hit them quickly to reapply places that are exposed the most.
