Their skin is so delicate that the sun and wind can burn them easily. If there is any tanning on your babies skin it means that there is some skin damage. Special care must be taken of babies when they are taken abroad where the weather is different from that of his home country. The mildest of sunburns is very painful for the baby and studies have shown that skin cancer is related to sunburn in childhood. Here are some tips to protect the baby from the sun:
l Dress your baby up in long-sleeved T-shirts and trousers made of cotton. This will be cool and protect the skin from the sun.
l Do not let your baby out in the sun especially at noon when the sun is the strongest
l Use a sun block every time you take the baby out. The sun protection factor should be at least 25. Apply this cream every two hours. Studies have show that people should be using thrice as much cream as they are using now.
l Use a broad rimmed straw hat when you take the baby out in the pram. If the canopy of the pram is small, attach sunshades to protect the baby from the sun.
l Sometimes babies can have a heat stroke due to over exposure to the sun. The common symptoms are vomiting, listlessness, headaches and drowsiness. Give your baby plenty of fluids and consult your doctor immediately.
American Academy of Pediatrics advised against the use of sunblock in babies under six months of age. Now they recommend:For babies under six months of age, sunscreen may be used on small areas of the body such as the face and the back of the hands if adequate clothing and shade are not available. For older children, test the sunscreen on the baby’s back for a reaction before applying it all over. Apply carefully around the eyes, avoiding the eyelids. If your baby rubs sunscreen into her eyes, wipe the eyes and hands clean with a damp cloth. If the sunscreen burns her eyes, try a different brand or try a sunscreen stick or sunblock with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide. If a rash develops, talk to your pediatrician.”
There are two very important reasons for not overusing sunscreen in young babies:
Infants and children have what is called a high body surface to volume ratio. What this means is that proportionately babies have more skin for the size body as compared to an adult. Sunscreens are made of chemicals. On the older child and adult, the chemical exposure is relatively minimal because the body surface ratio is smaller than a baby. Therefore, babies get a higher “dose” of sunscreen than do those older. While this exposure would most likely not cause any problems, the likelihood of an adverse reaction is greater. Babies have a mildly impaired mechanism to keep cool by sweating. In addition, they have a greater risk of becoming dehydrated due to heat. Sunscreen can somewhat impair effective cooling by perspiration, so placing it on an infant could be detrimental.
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