Do you think parents use too much sunscreen on their kids these days?

I think people these days don’t put enough sunscreen!
I’m just kidding, but I do agree that parents these days do put a lot of sunscreen on their kids. You should still put on sunscreen, but not like OD sunscreen.

Not at all. I wear sunscreen every day because even though the chances are slim in my case skin cancer is very real. You can still get vitamin D with sunscreen (right?).

@Facade

UV-B radiation is what allows for the production of Vitamin D within the skin. Sunscreen blocks UV-B radiation.

So then why don’t I have a deficiency? I’m not trying to be smart, just wondering

I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. :)

lol, Where’s the doctor!
I still say kids need sunscreen

Maybe you just don’t know it?

@Facade

It’s not saying they don’t need sunscreen, it’s saying they don’t need as much sunscreen. They don’t need it every single time they go outside. They need it when they’re going to be outside for a long time. When we would go to the zoo, that’s 2 hours or more of walking in the sun and a sunburn could happen. But going outside for 15 minutes to play doesn’t need a bunch of sunscreen put on.

I was inspired to write this after I got on the topic skin after scalding myself this morning with boiling pie contents.

@DominicX I can agree with that

I do put sunscreen on my daughter if she is at the pool or going to be outside on a hot day for an extended period of time – more than 30 minutes, probably. She is very fair skinned and could go either way – burn easily or tan well. We haven’t let it get to the point of finding out yet. We did go to a lake farther south than where we live and I put 50 on her, but you could still see a light tan line on her back.

I’d rather see this than this.

@peyton_farquhar

That kind of tanning was done with a tanning bed, anyone can tell a fake tan from a real tan. It’s not saying we all need to become orange-skinned, it’s saying that being in the sun not long enough to cause a tan or a burn does not need sunscreen. Vitamin D can be produced during that time.

Are people even reading the articles I linked to? This isn’t just some random idea I came up with.

← not a fan of skin cancer

@cheebdragon

Skin cancer isn’t the alternative to slathering your kids with sunscreen every single time they go outside. Vitamin D has cancer preventing properties. Obviously, if there is risk of sunburn, you want to put on sunscreen. But if there’s not, there isn’t really a need for it.

Are people even reading the articles I linked to? This isn’t just some random idea I came up with.

A little sunburn builds character.

@Ivan

I hope you’re joking Ivan. Nowhere in the articles and nowhere in what I have said is it suggested that kids get sunburned.

@DominicX

Didn’t you get the memo? Apparently everything associated with bad parenting builds character.

@Ivan

lol…spanking, etc.

My parents never let me get sunburned, but they also didn’t have me put on sunscreen every single time I went outside, it was only when I was going to be outside for a long time, when a sunburn could happen. That’s all that’s being suggested here. No one is saying kids should get sunburned.

I prefer my kids not to get sunburned and only push the sunscreen if either is going to the beach or if my daughter is going to a tennis tournament. Of course, they are both teens now, so I might tell them to use it, but that doesn’t mean they do.

When I was in charge of the sunscreen, ie. when they were too little to escape, I only put it on them if they were going to spend more than an hour out in the sun. For me that would be too long, as I start to burn after about 20 minutes, but my kids never got sunburned until they were teens.

I also make sure they drink plenty of milk so they get both calcium and vitamin D that way. Of course, they are lactose intolerant, but our store now even carries lactose-free chocolate milk.

@Darwin

Yeah, same with my parents. I mean, I have blond hair and blue eyes and all my relatives are from Russia, which is as cold as a witch’s tit in a brass bra. I do seem to tan well, though. But not when I was a little kid. My skin used to be much paler. Even so, my parents only put sunscreen on me when I was going to be outside for a long time and I was never sunburned as a kid. My first bad sunburn came when I was 15 and I was out in the sun for 4 hours without sunscreen. That was just a product of me being an idiot. :P

Other than that, I’ve had my skin turn red sometimes in certain places where I didn’t put sunscreen (like my feet when I’m wearing sandals), but it’s always when I’ve been in the sun for a long time, definitely over an hour.

I put sunscreen on my son, but I put safe sunscreen on him. I think people need to read the ingredients on their sunscreen bottles…do you even know what half of those ingredients are?
We use mineral sunscreen, so it’s safe to put on. I think regular sunscreen is just as dangerous as no sunscreen at all (when it comes to causing cancer of some sort)

My mother was diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency recently, so she takes a supplement. I don’t think it means she wore too much sunscreen, actually…my mother only puts it on after she has burned. I’m sure some parents go overboard with the sunscreen, and some don’t use enough.
I only put it on my son for long days outside…at the beach, or the pool, or any outdoor event. I put it on his face and ears and arms and hands. Just so he has some more protection. I don’t put it on every time we go outside, so he gets plenty of vitamin D.

can you link me to the specific one you use. I’m using one by banana boat I got at the vitamin shoppe. I think it’s all right, but I’m always up for something better.

I have to disagree with the premise that people overuse sunscreen. First of all, sunscreen wears off, and also, spend enough time in the sun and you will get some color. Second, (and this is the reason why we don’t have an epidemic of rickets), lots of food (including the childhood staple, milk) are fortified with vitamin D. Thus, we are all pretty much safe. Skin cancer = bad. Vitamin D “deficiency” = easily corrected.

@casheroo I’d be interested to know what sunscreen you use as well.

Our pediatrician actually told me that kids should get some sun every day, and to use sunscreen if they’ll be outside for more than 20 minutes. I’m not even that diligent about it, but do put sunscreen on if they’ll be outside for an extended period of time, if they’re swimming or going to the beach, etc. The only time any of them has had a sunburn has been if my mother in law was watching them—twice, she forgot the sunscreen on a sunny day. ouch

I use Coppertone sunscreen, the spray-on kind, spf 30. On me, it works very well. On my mostly-Italian kids, it keeps them from getting burnt but doesn’t keep them from getting tan. By the end of the summer, they always have noticeable tan lines. You wouldn’t look at them and think they were tan, until you see them about to get into the tub. I am so thankful they have my husband’s skin tones and not mine (ie pale and freckley).

Kids aren’t drinking enough milk, the other main source of Vitamin D other than the sun. That is a large part of a lot of problems, especially since its often being replaced by soft drinks that contain sugars and all the other bad things that we hear about sodas. Lower amounts of calcium is as big of a problem as the lack of Vitamin D. There are a lot of foods that are fortified with various things, but the best source of calcium and D is being neglected. It might not be the best source of D, but we should be more concerned about more milk than less sunscreen.

That being said, skin cancer is a much bigger problem than a lack of D because it can go undetected for long periods of time. You can remedy one with a pill and the right foods, the other is less easy to treat. Most people don’t put sunscreen on their children every time they leave the house and most kids can get enough sun to absorb about enough Vitamin D just being outside the normal amount that they are if they leave the house to go to the grocery store, school, or anywhere else.

I use multiple kinds of sunscreen, Jason Naturals Blue Lizard California Baby

You don’t need a super high number, but you do need to reapply when out in the sun for extended periods.

Welp, the Blue Lizard one has parabens…the other two don’t list ingredients, but thanks anyways :)

@Facade Huh, that’s news to me. I picked that one up in a CVS one day.
Here’s a site with the ingredients to california baby
and the jason sunblock. i don’t think i use that exact jason sunscreen though.

“Ethyl and Propylparaben (Food Grade Preservative)” are in the cali baby but the jason one looks good. Where do you get your JASON sunblock?

@Facade Only online.

Ah, OK then.

I live in Miami and I rarely ever put sunscreen on. I even forget it sometimes while at the beach. I DO sometimes stay under the umbrella, however.

As long as it’s not over-done, it’s fine… some kids look like snowmen walking around outside, hehe.

I know that I had multiple serious sunburns growing up, and that many studies have shown that the greater the sun exposure (and burns) during childhood, the greater the risk of skin cancer. Being fair skinned, this is not a trivial matter for me. I wish there had been more knowledge about sunscreens back then.