Sunblock for Yourself & Baby

We all know that too much sun exposure is bad for you. We also know that sunblock should be used to lower the possibility of skin cancer, getting burned and aging not so gracefully. But do we listen? No. I was always one that didn’t care much about my skin. Guilty! All I cared about was getting tanned, but after my recent “tanning” incident where I put on tanning lotion with only an 8SPF and got burned I’m changing my ways.

The way I raise Ziana is sometimes similar to the way my sister-in-law raises my nieces and nephews. Basically, anything she tells me I take it as the word of God and roll with it (well usually)! Her kids always have sunblock on even when there’s an overcast and you think there’s not any sun out. I took this tip and applied it to Ziana. Ever since the warm weather came rolling around Ziana was lathered with sunblock all over her body even on parts that wouldn’t be exposed.

I was a bit surprised when I spoke to many of my girlfriends with kids and they don’t apply sunblock on their kids. It’s extremely important and I’m sure if it wasn’t for my sister-in-law instilling this in me I probably wouldn’t be doing it either.

Here are some pointers on protecting yourself and your little one:

1. Physical or chemical-free sunscreens are good because they’re made with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide which is a plus because they act as a barrier on top of your skin. These react quickly on the skin.

2. The difference between those and chemical products is that they need to be applied about 15-30 minutes before heading out.

3. Chemical products should be tested on your child by applying a small patch on to make sure they aren’t allergic.

4. Look for sunblock that say “broad spectrum” that means they will protect the skin from UVA and UVB rays. If the sun block has zinc oxide or titanium dioxide then they have the UVA and UVB ray protector already.

5. SPF needs to be between 15-30. Nothing more than 30 because that means more and more chemicals are being put into it which will not be very effective.

6. You don’t need to buy “baby sunblock.”

7. Lay on the sunblock thickly. Make sure the white lotion completely diminishes into her skin.

8. Reapply the sunscreen often. Don’t trust that they say it will protect up to 8 hours.

To read the longer version read BabyCenter.