Choose a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen that offers a minimum sun protection factor (SPF) of 15. Once your baby reaches 6 months of age, it’s time to introduce sunscreens. Otherwise, it’s best for your baby to wear sun-protective clothing in the car. Or, consider professional protective window film (but check local regulations for these). Consider buying a UV shield, which you can hang over any window that allows sunlight to reach the child’s car seat. By law, front windshields are treated to filter out most UVA, but side and rear windows generally aren’t. Like UVB rays, UVA rays damage DNA and can lead to skin cancer. While glass screens out most UVB rays, the chief cause of sunburn, UVA rays can penetrate windows. (Many stores sell baby-sized versions with soft elastic straps to keep the glasses on.)Ĭar rides can lead to unintended sun exposure, too. Our research at the University of Miami found that while most parents (83 percent) try to keep infants under 6 months old in the shade, they are less likely to cover their baby consistently with hats (only 43 percent did), long-sleeved shirts and long pants (only 40 percent did). Sunglasses that filter out UV are also extremely important, since the melanin in babies’ eyes is still forming. It’s also best to dress your baby regularly in a brimmed hat and lightweight clothing that fully covers the arms and legs. Keep to the shady side of the street on walks, and use the sun shield on your stroller. It’s especially important to avoid direct sun exposure and seek the shade during the sun’s hours of greatest intensity, between 10 AM and 4 PM. How to Protect Your Babyīecause infants’ skin is so sensitive, it’s better in the first six months to shield them from the sun rather than use sunscreen. There is strong evidence that sun exposure and sunburns during childhood multiply the risk of one day developing skin cancer, including melanoma. While melanoma still rarely develops before age 20, incidence in children and teens is rising rapidly. The skin of all infants (not just those who have fair skin) is particularly vulnerable to sun damage. This is partly because they haven’t yet developed all the melanin - the natural skin pigment that provides some sun protection - that they will have when they get older. As a result, 12 percent of the parents reported that their babies’ skin had tanned before they were 6 months old, and 3 percent said their infants had been sunburned. Worse, we found that as many as one-third of parents actively increased their infants’ sun exposure each day, believing mistakenly that it would build their babies’ tolerance to the sun’s rays. When our research team at the University of Miami surveyed local parents about how well they were protecting their young children from the sun, the results were alarming. Research shows that some babies are being exposed to the sun’s damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays in the first six months of life, when their skin is most vulnerable. Now that Melissa and her husband, Ryan, have two boys who inherited the same fair skin she and Ryan have, she worries about keeping them protected. Luckily her doctor caught it early, but it was a scary wakeup call. In 2010, when she was 36 years old and seven months pregnant, she was diagnosed with a stage I melanoma on the back of her thigh. She also used tanning beds in high school and college. She remembers being sunburned as a child from daily summertime trips to the pool with friends. Melissa Flesher, a mother of two young boys in Topeka, Kansas, knows firsthand how dangerous the sun can be. BRAY, MD, KEYVAN NOURI, MD, and COLLEAGUES Here, we offer their simple tips to prevent damage to your child’s skin that could lead to skin cancer.īy FLETA N. Yet our experts report that too many babies are getting tans and sunburns. Photo: iStock Parents’ instinct is to protect their infants and toddlers from harm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |