Do your toddlers get color from the sun?

[Anonymous]

I think that poster is right about its not being able to 100% prevent a tan. A sunscreen with SPF 50 (let's assume UVA/UVB protection) allows about 2% of the radiation to get through. So something is hitting your skin and reacting with it, even if you religiously apply and reapply sunscreen. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use it. Protect as much as possible, but know it's never 100%.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/05/04/DI2006050400681.html

[Anonymous]

Here's an analogy.... Sunscreen and condoms

If used correctly it is 99.9999% effective, but there's still a chance for a kid or a tan

[Anonymous]

I have a related question. We apply sunscreen to our 3 year old prior to summer camp/preschool, but he is pretty fair. I asked the preschool to re-apply if he is out for more than an hour or so (though it is 50 SPF/waterproof), but they said that they CAN'T per school guidelines even if I give the teacher permission.

Anybody else have this issue?

By the way, my kids are fair and both have tan lines. I'm not thrilled about it, but it is hard to avoid entirely...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a related question. We apply sunscreen to our 3 year old prior to summer camp/preschool, but he is pretty fair. I asked the preschool to re-apply if he is out for more than an hour or so (though it is 50 SPF/waterproof), but they said that they CAN'T per school guidelines even if I give the teacher permission.

Anybody else have this issue?

By the way, my kids are fair and both have tan lines. I'm not thrilled about it, but it is hard to avoid entirely...

My day care requires us to put sunscreen on our kids each day before drop off, but then they reapply in the afternoon. I had to fill out a medical form to permit them to do so. They also will only apply once, per their guidelines. Not sure why, although twice a day is enough for my son. I'd be a little concerned if your child requires another application. Weird.

Have you tried Blue Lizard? It has tremendous staying power, even in water.

[Anonymous]

OP, I also use the Cali Baby on my one year old and haven't found any tan lines. BUT, I also keep her in the shade a lot to play or at the beach and avoid the 10-2 hours because of the heat and intensity of the sun. I also use hats and sun shirts over her swimsuit.

I guess I treat the sunscreen as almost a back up plan. I just try to keep her playing in the shade as much as possible. Most playgrounds are shady and we bring a shade to the beach, so that covers a lot.

I'm also wondering if everyone covers their babies in sunscreen every day in the summer around here? Because even walking in a stroller they can get sun on their legs, etc. With the Cali Baby lotion, that is going to get expensive fast!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Laughing about 13:59's reference to old days with Coppertone suntan lotion. Weird how much things have changed in one generation, huh? For some reason, my husband never updated his lingo and calls sunscreen "sun tan lotion." It always makes me stop for a moment to make sure he's really not putting that on the kids!

Actually the lotion wasn't so bad, as some moisterizers with sunscreen have that lotion feel - it was the Coppertone suntan OIL that was so bad. I can remember my dad putting the oil on - to soak up those rays.

Yes, times have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I also use the Cali Baby on my one year old and haven't found any tan lines. BUT, I also keep her in the shade a lot to play or at the beach and avoid the 10-2 hours because of the heat and intensity of the sun. I also use hats and sun shirts over her swimsuit.

I guess I treat the sunscreen as almost a back up plan. I just try to keep her playing in the shade as much as possible. Most playgrounds are shady and we bring a shade to the beach, so that covers a lot.

I'm also wondering if everyone covers their babies in sunscreen every day in the summer around here? Because even walking in a stroller they can get sun on their legs, etc. With the Cali Baby lotion, that is going to get expensive fast!

I do it if he'll be out more than a 1/2 hour. Blue Lizard is cheaper and still great. You could switch between the two if you wanted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Respectfully, the fact that two of your kids tan and one doesn't, even though they wear the same sunscreen really isn't determinative.

If you use the "right" sunscreen, (or maybe really we're talking about sunBLOCK), it will prevent (or at least reduce) tanning... because it SHOULD be blocking those tanning rays as well as the "burning" rays. I don't doubt that, despite this, your kids tan differently due to their normal pigmentation. What I take issue with is your statement that "sunscreen does not keep one from tanning." My point is, a good sunscreen absolutely will keep one from tanning.

My dermatologist respectfully disagrees with you. We discussed this topic on Monday and no matter how much block you put on, you will in fact tan depending on the strength of the sun, length of time in the sun and melanin in your skin. A block will not stop a tan from appearing per my doctor. I can provide their name if you'd like to discuss it with them.

I'm not the PP, but I'd like the name of your dermatologist. I'm shocked that someone with a medical license is telling you that sunscreen does not work (and should not be used) to prevent tans.

Where did I say the dr told me not to use sunblock? That is not what I said. Of course he (Dr. David Green) recommends sunblock. What I said was it does not 100% prevent a tan from appearing.

No where did I say not to use it, I said regardless you will tan a bit over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Respectfully, the fact that two of your kids tan and one doesn't, even though they wear the same sunscreen really isn't determinative.

If you use the "right" sunscreen, (or maybe really we're talking about sunBLOCK), it will prevent (or at least reduce) tanning... because it SHOULD be blocking those tanning rays as well as the "burning" rays. I don't doubt that, despite this, your kids tan differently due to their normal pigmentation. What I take issue with is your statement that "sunscreen does not keep one from tanning." My point is, a good sunscreen absolutely will keep one from tanning.

My dermatologist respectfully disagrees with you. We discussed this topic on Monday and no matter how much block you put on, you will in fact tan depending on the strength of the sun, length of time in the sun and melanin in your skin. A block will not stop a tan from appearing per my doctor. I can provide their name if you'd like to discuss it with them.

I'm not the PP, but I'd like the name of your dermatologist. I'm shocked that someone with a medical license is telling you that sunscreen does not work (and should not be used) to prevent tans.

Where did I say the dr told me not to use sunblock? That is not what I said. Of course he (Dr. David Green) recommends sunblock. What I said was it does not 100% prevent a tan from appearing.

No where did I say not to use it, I said regardless you will tan a bit over time.

I'm the poster who's had skin cancer (melanoma). Of course you never implied not to use sunblock. I don't think the other poster read your post closely. Anyway, my dermatologist would agree with your dermatologist. Sunscreen still lets a small percentage of rays to get through - plus of course the vast majority of people never use enough to fully protect themselves, plus they don't apply it often enough (every hour or so if you're sweating or swimming).

I don't want anyone to go through what I've gone through, so I just wanted to jump in here and say that you're right, and to reiterate again that sunblock can save your children's lives someday!!! When I look at my children's perfect, flawless skin, I just wish that MY parents knew enough to put sunblock on me every day of my childhood.

Also, as per brands, my dermatologist always says he doesn't care, but I like Blue Lizard. I like the Kieh's line for kids too, but it doesn't seem to last as long. Also, if you want to go more commercial, Coppertone has a brand new "pure and simple" line for kids - it's mostly zinc oxide and it's tear free.

[Anonymous]

We religiously apply 50-70spf total sunblock to 14 month old and he is getting quite the tan-- shirt lines, sock lines. He is a blue-eyed blonde but has my olive skin. He is also outside alot everyday. I never got a sunburn growing up---even hours on the soccer field in the 70s/80s when ppl really didn't use sunscreen.

3.5 year old older brother (even though they look identical!) never tans (or burns) through the same exact sunscreen but he is very fair like my husband.

My mom lathered me up with sunscreen as a child I would turn very dark by the end of the summer.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I didn't expose my 9mo to sun - always in shade and in hat, and she looks like she was working the fields all summer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a skin cancer survivor.

Most dermatologists agree that no tan is safe. A tan is a visible sign of damage to your skin. Though skin cancer is rare in children, most skin cancers in adults are the result of childhood sun exposure. Skin cancer is on the rise in the U.S., especially among young women - and they are dying from it.

Having said all that, I personally believe that you can't underestimate the genetic component, especially fair skin. If my children had dark olive complexions, and they tanned easily, I wouldn't worry about skin cancer as much as I do. I don't think I would necessarily freak out if I saw tan lines.

For anyone who really cares, my dermatologist would say no prolonged sun exposure from 10-2 each day. (This is hard with schools and camp, but we try to work around it.) Waterproof (not water resistant) sunscreen of SPF 30 must be applied every hour. (SPFs higher than that don't make much of a difference.) Hats all the time. And my kids have a bunch of SPF tee shirts - they're cute and you can barely tell that they're different from normal tee shirts.

This stuff is easy to control when your children are young - harder once they reach school. But I consider it a life or death issue for my kids, so I try my best.

Oh yeah, one point to the poster who talked about vitamins - children don't need much sun exposure to get vitamins D anymore. I think the guidelines are 5-30 minutes twice a week. Your children will not get scurvy I promise you. You should ask your pediatrician about that one - it's sort of a old wives tale at this point.

You laid it all out. I'm a dermatologist and I could not have said it better myself. The most important point here, to parents is what is bolded. A tan, though it appears to give people a healthy look is nothing more than a visible sign of damage to the skin. If it were not so pretty, then we would do a much better job of avoiding it all together.

Furthermore, melanoma is increasing faster than ANY other forms of cancer. The scary thing about melanoma is it very often turns into metastatic melanoma and spreads to other areas of the body such as the lymph nodes and causes death via another form of cancer, such as liver or brain, when actually the original cause was the melanoma and probably could have been avoided in the first place.

As far as getting vitamin D from the sun (my tan patients love to use this logic) you get this by just normal activity outside, such as walking to your car, simple errand running, and going to the park. There is no need to go so far as to get a tan to get your vitamin D.

For my family, I am of course very diligent due to the people I see and the frequency in which I have to send my patients to see oncologists. We use SPF 70, which is probably no more effective than 50.

I know one day when my kids can make their own decisions, they will get tans just like every other young adult, however since the most damage is done to skin in the early years, I'm going to do everything in my power to give them the most healthy future possible.

**one more point, PLEASE do not count on you or your child having lots of melanin. I have seen African Americans with serious late stages of melanoma. People with darker skin often do not realize that they are at risk too because they have never "burned". Their survival rate is much lower than people with fair skin because fair skin people are on the look out because they are the higher risk group.