Why did my mom let me get sunburned all the time as a kid?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with previous posters that 1) parenting is more intense 2) lack of rash guards/swimwear but also 3) lack of variety of sunscreens. We have sunscreen in makeup, lotion, different types for skin-sensitive, different scents. It makes it more accessible to people and more of a cultural “must”

I don't think this makes sunscreen "more accessible" to parents with young kids. Is your 5 yr old layering sunscreen in makeup and buying specialty versions? No. If anything, the recent conspiracy-mongering that the chemicals in sunscreen cause cancer is making some parents LESS likely to use sunscreen. I've heard parents fretting over sunscreen brands and formulations in recent years. Back in the 80s and 90s you just bought some SPF 50 in whatever brand was available/cheapest/smelled best and called it a day.

Getting back just smearing on whatever sunscreen you have access to and stop trying to optimize everything would make parenting less miserable

[Anonymous]

I remember my aunts wearing suntan oil and sitting out on the beach as late as the 90s. We also definitely had fewer products with lower SPF back then, I think SPF 30 was highest? My aunts have all had basal cell carcinomas removed. My mom would get her shingles triggered by sun burn so she was obsessive about hats and hasn't had any skin cancer issues.

[Anonymous]

Just think, OP, your kid will post on their generation's messaging forum to criticize everything YOU did! Woohoo! All the horrible dangers you exposed them to without being aware, except that your kid will conveniently forget that fact! How dare you disrupt their endocrine systems with microplastics before scientists found a work-around for that!

Or maybe they'll be less dumb than you are. Let's hope.

[Anonymous]

I'm 49. We only wore sunscreen at the beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:80s were a time of being raised with benign neglect (leave them alone and they'll figure it out), now we helicopter parent.

Also a fairskinned, the 80s were my HS years when we slathered on baby oil and roasted ourselves at the pool every time we went. People in general weren't as worried about skin cancer or sunburns back then

But sunburns are very painful. Even if you'd never heard of melanoma, you'd think you'd take steps to avoid sunburns just because they are so miserable. A bad sunburn on very fair skin, especially on a kid, can cause fever and painful itching and burning for days, and the skin will peel for weeks. That's not "benign neglect." It's like intentionally giving your kid a virus for no reason whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with previous posters that 1) parenting is more intense 2) lack of rash guards/swimwear but also 3) lack of variety of sunscreens. We have sunscreen in makeup, lotion, different types for skin-sensitive, different scents. It makes it more accessible to people and more of a cultural “must”

I don't think this makes sunscreen "more accessible" to parents with young kids. Is your 5 yr old layering sunscreen in makeup and buying specialty versions? No. If anything, the recent conspiracy-mongering that the chemicals in sunscreen cause cancer is making some parents LESS likely to use sunscreen. I've heard parents fretting over sunscreen brands and formulations in recent years. Back in the 80s and 90s you just bought some SPF 50 in whatever brand was available/cheapest/smelled best and called it a day.

Getting back just smearing on whatever sunscreen you have access to and stop trying to optimize everything would make parenting less miserable

Agreed but this thread is about a parent screwing it up even when parenting was more simple and straightforward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:80s were a time of being raised with benign neglect (leave them alone and they'll figure it out), now we helicopter parent.

Also a fairskinned, the 80s were my HS years when we slathered on baby oil and roasted ourselves at the pool every time we went. People in general weren't as worried about skin cancer or sunburns back then

But sunburns are very painful. Even if you'd never heard of melanoma, you'd think you'd take steps to avoid sunburns just because they are so miserable. A bad sunburn on very fair skin, especially on a kid, can cause fever and painful itching and burning for days, and the skin will peel for weeks. That's not "benign neglect." It's like intentionally giving your kid a virus for no reason whatsoever.

Your mom was raised by people who grew up without sunscreen’s existence. Sunburns were a normal part of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you remembering the sunscreen of the 80s accurately? The two most common strengths were SPF 4 and 8. There was little differentiation between products sold as “suntan lotion” that were promoted as a way to HELP you tan and sunscreen.

Also, from a scientific perspective, it was literally easier to sunburn when you were a kid because the hole in the ozone layer was much bigger back then, allowing more UV rays reach the earth’s surface.

See page 3

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/eokids/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/05/26_Ozone_6_2020_508.pdf

There was sunblock in the 80s -- yes you could get SPF 4 sunscreen or "tanning lotion", but every grocery store also sold and SPF 20 or 30 sunblock -- it's what my fair skinned aunts stocked up on. Also using zinc, especially in your face, was a trend picked up from surfers and came in fun colors. People knew about sun protection in the 80s and it was available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you remembering the sunscreen of the 80s accurately? The two most common strengths were SPF 4 and 8. There was little differentiation between products sold as “suntan lotion” that were promoted as a way to HELP you tan and sunscreen.

Also, from a scientific perspective, it was literally easier to sunburn when you were a kid because the hole in the ozone layer was much bigger back then, allowing more UV rays reach the earth’s surface.

See page 3

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/eokids/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2020/05/26_Ozone_6_2020_508.pdf

There was sunblock in the 80s -- yes you could get SPF 4 sunscreen or "tanning lotion", but every grocery store also sold and SPF 20 or 30 sunblock -- it's what my fair skinned aunts stocked up on. Also using zinc, especially in your face, was a trend picked up from surfers and came in fun colors. People knew about sun protection in the 80s and it was available.

If OP wants to hold a grudge about this she can but I think she’d be better off chalking it up to “it was a different time, we know better now” and moving on.

[Anonymous]

I got burns a lot too- usually when not with my mom. But we had sunscreen 15 or 30 didnt reapply it all that often and a lot of people weren’t using it. I remember going to a birthday party with slip and slide type things and wearing a t shirt over my suit so I’d get less sun- the mom wasn’t worried I wasn’t allowed to get my shirt wet and called my mom. Different time- it’s a real positive change.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the 80s took and remember quite a few bad burns. Reapplying sunscreen wasn’t really a thing back then. I also don’t think it was waterproof either.

[Anonymous]

I was raised in a tropical 3rd world country in Asia. Mosquitos, erratic electricity supply, and intense heat was the reality of our lives. Our work around was -
- mosquito nets when we slept, insect screens on windows, citronella creams for our skins, mosquito coils to drive away the bugs, bug spray, long sleeved shirts and pants to protect ourselves from the bugs.
- keeping the house cool by airing it out in the morning and keeping the blinds and curtains closed, having ceiling fans on inverters to keep the breeze going and stone floors and brick walls to keep the house cool indoors.
- no one went out without being covered well to protect from the sun rays, and we all carried umbrellas to protect ourself from the direct sun rays. It is only in USA I saw red lobster white men running without shirt in the middle of a heat wave. Why? why?

Your skin will turn into leather with all this sun worship.

[Anonymous]

It was hip to be ran in the 80s. Full 🫸

[Anonymous]

Tan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you don’t have a dad?

This was kind of my thought too. Blame the mom always.

OP here and actually I didn't have a present dad. But also, in my family, DH doesn't do the sunscreen because he's Italian and tans easily and doesn't know how to do it (if he applies it, he misses spots or puts it on top thin). But my mom was fair and knew how to do it.

That is weaponized incompetence. He can do it.