Sunscreen is a very important but misunderstood part of sun protection for children (and adults!). It should be remembered that sunscreen is just one component in preventing overexposure, skin damage/aging, skin cancer, or sunburn. Along with an application of sunscreen one should:
• Stay out of the sun, particularly between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. when the sun’s rays are most damaging
• Seek shade
• Dress in protective/reflective clothing (available at many retail stores)
• Put on hats
• Wear sunglasses (avoid discount sunglasses that are merely tinted and do not offer UV protection)
The most effective, and safer, sunscreens are mineral based (zinc and titanium) rather than chemical based sunscreens. Mineral based sunscreens work by protecting the skin from the sun by actually deflecting or blocking the sun's rays. Nonetheless, some people find mineral sunscreens to be thick and hard to apply evenly. Some mineral sunscreens don’t offer full UVA protection either so be sure to look for broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) protection.
Conversely, chemical based sunscreens work by absorbing the sun's rays. However, chemical based sunscreens have less stability, leach into the skin, and may disrupt the body’s hormone system. Additionally, these chemical sunscreens may be less effective and cause allergic reactions, while some people find them to be irritating to skin.
But back to some basic tips on how to properly use sunscreen.
Regardless of which type of sunscreen you use, be sure and apply evenly to all exposed skin. Pay careful attention to the back of hands, top of ears and feet, and the hairline. Sunscreen should be applied 15-30 minutes BEFORE going out into the sun and then approximately every 2 hours thereafter (more often if sweating or swimming).
Year round usage is key! The sun’s rays don’t become less damaging just because the weather is cold. Remember to apply sunscreen even when there is snow on the ground. In fact, the snow reflects the rays and they can be MORE damaging in the winter than at the beach in the summer.
Finally, the FDA states that sunscreens that advertise a sun protection factor (SPF) of more than 50+ are misleading (for practical purposes 50 is the maximum SPF) and may cause people to have a false sense of security and tempt them stay in the sun longer.
The sunscreens I recommend and use on my children are: California Baby, Badger, Thinkbaby, and Alba Botanical. A makeup sponge makes application of the thicker cream easier and more even.
For more information: Environmental Working group
http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/
Environmental Working Group's 2011 Sunscreen Report EWG's Skin Deep
breakingnews.ewg.org
EWG’s fifth annual Sunscreen Guide is our biggest and most fact-packed database of U.S. sun protection products ever –
• Stay out of the sun, particularly between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. when the sun’s rays are most damaging
• Seek shade
• Dress in protective/reflective clothing (available at many retail stores)
• Put on hats
• Wear sunglasses (avoid discount sunglasses that are merely tinted and do not offer UV protection)
The most effective, and safer, sunscreens are mineral based (zinc and titanium) rather than chemical based sunscreens. Mineral based sunscreens work by protecting the skin from the sun by actually deflecting or blocking the sun's rays. Nonetheless, some people find mineral sunscreens to be thick and hard to apply evenly. Some mineral sunscreens don’t offer full UVA protection either so be sure to look for broad spectrum (UVA/UVB) protection.
Conversely, chemical based sunscreens work by absorbing the sun's rays. However, chemical based sunscreens have less stability, leach into the skin, and may disrupt the body’s hormone system. Additionally, these chemical sunscreens may be less effective and cause allergic reactions, while some people find them to be irritating to skin.
But back to some basic tips on how to properly use sunscreen.
Regardless of which type of sunscreen you use, be sure and apply evenly to all exposed skin. Pay careful attention to the back of hands, top of ears and feet, and the hairline. Sunscreen should be applied 15-30 minutes BEFORE going out into the sun and then approximately every 2 hours thereafter (more often if sweating or swimming).
Year round usage is key! The sun’s rays don’t become less damaging just because the weather is cold. Remember to apply sunscreen even when there is snow on the ground. In fact, the snow reflects the rays and they can be MORE damaging in the winter than at the beach in the summer.
Finally, the FDA states that sunscreens that advertise a sun protection factor (SPF) of more than 50+ are misleading (for practical purposes 50 is the maximum SPF) and may cause people to have a false sense of security and tempt them stay in the sun longer.
The sunscreens I recommend and use on my children are: California Baby, Badger, Thinkbaby, and Alba Botanical. A makeup sponge makes application of the thicker cream easier and more even.
For more information: Environmental Working group
http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/
Environmental Working Group's 2011 Sunscreen Report EWG's Skin Deep
breakingnews.ewg.org
EWG’s fifth annual Sunscreen Guide is our biggest and most fact-packed database of U.S. sun protection products ever –
The Berry Sweet Life: Guest post from *Megan Krecsmar*
************Back to the Berry Wife*************Sorry I was unable to get the link to the site to work on here (still have a lot to learn about blogging! Just copy and paste the link into your browser)
On another note: I just had the realization that we have been cloth diapering for over a year now! (our Boo is 17months) We didn't start until he was about 5 months old.
Have you seen the adds for Pampers and Huggies lately?
It seems pampers is trying to make a faux cloth diaper, are they jealous?Don't get me started on the Huggies commercial that attempts to portray a little guy as a sex symbol in his "jeans" diaper.
These dipes are far from cute, do you know what goes into one disposable diaper?
disposables contain chemicals such as sodium polyacrylate(a chemical banned from tampons due to its link to toxic shock), and dioxin (a carcinogen). *** Info from www.ecobuns.com
Not to mention the petroleum that goes into making these babies! Do you really want to have all that on that cute little bum of yours 24/7???
Not using Cloth you will contribute over 7000 diapers to the landfill throughout your child's diapering years which will take over 200 years to decompose!
Did you know even with disposables you are supposed to dump the solids in the toilet so that they don't end up in the landfill and therefore in our water supply?
I think the biggest perk to cloth as far as the enviroment goes is that you can use the same diapers all of your children!
Talk about cute 
prints and colors, here is only some of our cloth collection!! Granted I try to go the gender neutral route incase we have a girl someday, if we do though I WILL have to get some pink ones for her of course! hehe
Love my diaper caddy? It's Thirty-One Gifts and I sell it! :) you can contact me at berrysweetboutique@ hotmail.com to order one for yourself!
I purchased 90% of my diapers from www.ecobuns.com Please check out the webpage and show her facebook page some love. They are so helpful and encouraging over there. If it weren't for their help I don't know if I could have stuck through this in the beggining!
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