De-Stress Summer | Keeping your Children Safe in the Sun

Keeping your children safe in the sun.

As the clouds and drizzle make way for glorious sunshine, our first instinct is to burst out of the house and soak up as much sun as possible. Luckily, spending time in the sunshine does indeed have a lot of benefits:

  • Reduces the risk of Type 2 diabetes
  • Boosts vitamin D meaning stronger bones, healthier eyes and improved immune system
  • Improves sleep pattern
  • Boosts your mood

But whilst these benefits are great, we also need to be aware of the sun’s dangers. This is especially true when you have young children as the sun can leave lasting damage.

Here is our brief guide for keeping your little ones safe in the sun.

Slip, Slop, Slap

Some of our Australian customers introduced this saying to us and we love it!

The advice is:

  • Slip on a shirt
  • Slop on sunscreen
  • Slap on a hat

If you are finding it hard to convince your kids to do it just introduce them to this painfully catchy jingle (you are welcome!).

These are the basics of staying safe in the sun but there are plenty more tips and facts we can share with you.

Always Wear Sun Cream

We have spoken about the importance of suncream before on the blog but the simple facts are worth restating.

Not protecting yourself in the sun drastically increases your chances of contracting skin cancer. A recent survey revealed that 1 in 5 UK adults weren’t aware that the SPF rating didn’t mean protection against all forms of damage from the sun.

SPF only protects you from UVB so you also need to check the star rating for UVA when you are picking a sun cream.

We sell a number of chemical-free sun creams that provide full-spectrum protection (UVA and UVB) which are appropriate for children. MyChelle Dermaceuticals Sun Shield and the Sunblock range from Jason are two of our best-sellers.

To keep your kids safe and fully-protected from the sun, apply sun cream 20 minutes before they go out to play in the sun and every 2-3 hours after that.

Cover up and seek shade

Wearing long sleeved, loose fitting tops and wide-brimmed hats will help protect their skin.

Encouraging them to take part in activities in the shade will also keep them safe and cool.

Avoid the Strongest Rays

You should avoid letting your kids play outdoors when the sun’s rays at their strongest. At most times of the year, this will fall between noon and 2pm.

Stay Hydrated

The easiest way to tell if you are staying hydrated is to check the colour of your urine. If your urine is a dark shade of yellow, you need more water. You are looking to have a very pale shade of yellow.

This is an important fact to pass on to your children and be open to talking to them about.

There is no rival to water when it comes to re-hydrating but why not try our summer cooler recipes as novel way to stay cool and refreshed in the sun? They are also a fun project to make with your kids.

Be a good role model

Your children are brilliant at copying you – let’s face it, they’ve picked a good role model! Whatever you do, they will follow so make sure you also follow all the sun safety tips.

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