How to Keep Your Baby Safe in the Sun?

When the sun is shining, of course you would like to go out and have some fun with your baby. Since your baby is too young and doesn’t have a skin that can deal with direct sunlight, you need to be a little careful. It’s the best practice to not expose your child directly to sunlight during the initial six months. After six months, when he start crawling you need to find a shade to protect her fragile skin whenever you go outside. Make sure that he is wearing loose-fitting clothes, sun hat, and sunscreen before your go out. Most of the baby caretakers recommend that you should keep your baby inside during the peak sun times, from 11am to 3pm.

How to Keep the Sun off Your Baby’s Skin?

Whenever you go outside, keep your newborn under a shade as much as possible like under a canopy, tree, sun tent or an umbrella. If your infant is not mobile, he will be happy to stay under the shade as long as you stay outside. But, if your baby has started crawling or walking, make her sit under the shade through providing his best toys if it is too hot.

During the middle of the day, it is very important to stay out of the sun even for youngsters because it can be dangerous for the skin (especially for sensitive skins like baby’s skin).

Make your child wear loose, closely woven, lightweight fabric like cotton. Also, he should wear a foreign legion style, or wide-brimmed, hat that will not only shade your baby’s face but also the ears and neck. While purchasing the hat, make sure that it is a Velcro strap or elasticated, so it won’t come off easily.

Babies do have sensitive eyes that should be kept in mind while you plan to go out. You need to purchase some kind of sunglasses for your babies to keep them protected. Sunglasses don’t need to be too expensive, but they should be of high quality. Some examples of good glasses are:

A UV 400 label, which means that it provides hundred percent UV protection.
There should be a CE Mark and British Standard.
To keep them on, they should have a neoprene or adjustable rubber.

Read More: Baby Foods for Outdoor Activities

When you are going out with your baby and sun is on, make sure that you attach a sun hood, umbrella, or a sun canopy to her pushchair or pram. While moving, make sure that you regularly check that it is shading him from the sun. In case, you can’t protect your baby from the sunlight exposure, the next way to protect is using a sunscreen.

Which Sunscreen is Optimal for Your Baby?

When your baby gets 6 months old, you can use baby sprays or lotions. Since we can’t be too sure about the effectiveness of sunscreen on younger babies, it is recommended to not use any kind of sunscreen before six months. Try to keep the baby out of the sun rather than using any sunscreen during the initial six months.

For babies over six months, get a sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 15. Furthermore, try to get a sunscreen that is a broad-spectrum brand with four or five-star rating. It indicates that the sunscreen will provide good UVB and UVA protection.

While applying the baby sunscreen, make sure that you applying everywhere not covered by the clothes. Normally, sunscreen is required to reapply after 3 to 4 hours, but if your kid has played in water, you need to reapply immediately. Some companies have made tinted creams, which instantly show if you missed a part of your baby’s skin.

What to do, if Baby Gets Sunburn?

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Apart from your best efforts to protect the baby’s skin, it is very much likely to get sunburn since it is very delicate. At first, you might have no idea that he gets sunburn until you see the redness after 3 to 4 hours.

When you see the redness, you need to:

Soak a cloth in cold water and place it on the red area for about ten minutes. Repeat the trick various times a day.
Use tepid water to bath your baby, it will help in reducing the redness.
Use a moisturizer.
Give him extra drinks or breastfeed to cool him down.

If these tricks are not working out or you have notice that your baby’s sunburn is severe, visit your doctor as soon as possible. The doctor might provide you a soothing cream or suggest infant paracetamol.

Images via source: Pixabay