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Baby Sun Protection and Sun Safety
What causes sunburn?
Sun burn
is the result of overexposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation. A baby's
skin is very thin and delicate and produces less melatonin than an adults, so
despite your best precautions, sun burn can happen — and it may take as little
as just ten to 15 minutes of exposure.
Your baby
can even get burned on a cloudy or cool day, because it's not the visible light
or the heat from the sun that burns but the invisible UV radiation. Regardless
of the long term risks of skin cancer, sun burn has much more immediate effect –
it is painful and can also cause more serious problems such as dehydration and
fever.
You may not notice sun burn immediately after you bring your baby out of the
sun because the redness and pain of a mild first-degree burn can take several
hours to appear. A more severe second-degree sunburn can cause red, tender,
swollen, or blistered skin that's hot to the touch. It's extremely unlikely
that a baby would get a third-degree burn — the worst kind — from sun exposure.
How should I treat mild sunburn?
If the
sunburn is mild, soak a terry nappy, muslin or clean cloth in cool water, wring
it out, and gently place it on the sunburned area for ten to 15 minutes a few
times a day (make sure your child doesn't get chilled). You could also bathe
your baby in a mixture of cool water and baking soda to help cool the skin and
reduce redness. Follow either treatment with a gentle application of
water-based moisturizer. Also, give your baby plenty of fluids — breast milk,
formula, or, for an older baby, water — to prevent dehydration.
If the sunburn is severe and the skin is blistering, which is a sign of a
second-degree burn, call or visit your doctor for specific recommendations. The
doctor may prescribe topical steroid ointments or creams, an infant pain
reliever or dressing of the blisters.
Peeling
usually begins three to 10 days after the sunburn. Don't be alarmed when it
happens; peeling is a natural part of the healing process. Just make sure your
baby stays in the shade until her skin has healed and dress her in loose cotton
clothing that won't irritate her sensitive
How can I keep my child from
getting a sunburn?
The
cumulative nature of sun damage indicates that infants should be protected from
exposure to UV radiation from the day they are born. Of course, Australian lifestyles mean that in
practice this can be extremely difficult, especially once baby is moving
around.
The Australian Cancer Council
recommendations to reduce exposure to UV are as follows:
1) Plan the day’s activities to minimise the infant’s exposure to the sun, especially between 10am and 3pm.
2) Cover as much of the infant’s skin as possible with loose fitting clothes and wraps made from closely woven fabrics.
3) Choose a sun hat with a broad-brim or in a legionnaire style so the baby’s face, neck and ears are protected.
4) Make use of available full shade and provide shade for the
infant’s pram, stroller or play area. The material used should cast a dark
shadow. The infant will still need to be protected from scattered and reflected
UV radiation.
5) Check the infant’s clothing, hat and shade positioning regularly
to ensure he/she continues to be well protected from UV radiation
6) Apply a SPF30+ broad spectrum water resistant sunscreen. Broad
spectrum water resistant sunscreen (SPF 30+) may be applied to any small areas
of skin that cannot be protected by clothing (such as face, ears, backs of
hands). Sunscreen will need to be applied 20 minutes before going outside and
reapplied every couple of hours or more often if it has been wiped or washed
off.
The use of Sunscreen and Babies or Infants
There is much talk on website blogs and in
the media about using sunscreen on babies, but there is really little conclusive
evidence that using sunscreen on infants is harmful. Although it is true that premature
infants may have increased skin permeability consistent with incomplete
development of the skin, studies have shown that the structure of the stratum
corneum (the skin layer principally determining permeability) in full term
infants is indistinguishable from that of adults providing an effective
barrier.
If babies and infants are protected from the
sun by keeping them in the shade, or using sun protection or UV clothing and
sun hats, then sunscreen need only be used occasionally on very small areas of
an infant’s skin.
When trying a new sunscreen, do a patch test on
your child's back to make sure he doesn't have a reaction to it. If he does
develop a rash or redness at the test site, choose a hypoallergenic formula
instead. Organic or chemical free
sunscreens are readily available in all good pharmacies and supermarkets.
Today you decide what their skin will be tomorrow. Keep baby safe in the sun!
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