It is hard to believe that today is the first official day of summer seeing as we have been experiencing record high temperatures in the last few weeks. But alas, the golden days of summer are upon us. And what better way to protect ourselves from that ever-oppressive (but fabulous) sun? With LOTS of sunscreen. While it is important for us to take a few minutes before we head out to the beach, the pool, or even just working in the yard to throw on some sunscreen we must also remember it is twice as important to lather up our children and especially babies.

Did you know that a typical cotton t-shirt only provides an SPF of about 5? How about that one blistering sunburn for a child greatly increases their risk for melanoma later in life? Sunscreen is a MUST for children of all ages; here are some tips to remember when heading into the great outdoors…

• Apply sunscreen to children every two hours when they are playing sports or swimming
• Look for clothing that has UVB/UVA protection built into the fabric
• Get them in the habit of wearing a hat to cover their face when out in direct sun
• The American Academy of Pediatrics gives the green light to sunscreen on babies who are six months and older (look for an organic version such as Avalon Organics) but always keep baby in the shade and out of direct sunlight
• Wear sunscreen that has both UVA and UVB protection and at least SPF 15 (we recommend SPF 30 or SPF 45)

Remember, you are your children’s defense when it comes to the elements… so get them protected and get out there and have fun!

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 12:27 pm and is filed under All Natural Baby. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.