Don’t we all miss that tender, soft, plumpy and squishy skin from our childhood?! Unexpectedly, as the time passes, with consistent unprotected exposure to the sun, the skin loses its elasticity.
Consequently, as the research suggests, you might feel your skin saggy with fine lines, wrinkles and even age spots or sun burns. Hey, don’t lose heart! You can avail a number of treatment options for your concerns including never missing your sun protection.
On the flipside, the skin of children is quite tender and sensitive as compared to adults. This might lead to inflamed skin or sun burns on their skin even if exposed for a short duration to the sun in their playtime. But as they say, “prevention is always better than cure”. So, if not you, protect it while your children have it!
Shield your children’s skin with a good and effective sunscreen every time they step out to play or build those sand castles! We are here to help you out with how to pick the right sunscreen for your child’s innocent and smooth skin. Let’s get started!
Skincare for kids matters!
Of all the little things, let sunscreen be a priority for your kids. And mind you, skincare for children is as important as it is for adults. Wondering why? Well, here is the answer!
The intensity of sun rays varies geographically. It is further influenced by the Air Quality Index of that place. Lesser the AQI, less the pollutants and least are the rays blocked by the dirt particles hanging in the atmosphere. This eventually makes the sun rays (UVA and UVB) sharp and even harmful to the tender skin of children. This is where skincare comes into picture.
And among all the steps in skincare, suncare is crucial to protect the skin from every sign of premature aging. This concludes to the fact that age is just a number in skincare. It does not matter how young your babies or children are, like you, their skin needs attention, love, acceptance and care.
So, start with the sunscreen which protects your kids from skin allergies and irritations induced by sun rays when all they want is to have fun on bright sunny days. These are available in the form of creams, lotions, sprays and even powders.
5 Simple and Smart Tips to Pick the Right Sunscreen for kids
Take your step towards shielding your little one’s skin from the sun rays and consequent skin allergies with these simple yet smart tips to pick the perfect sunscreen for them!
1. High SPF to protect from UVB rays
SPF, which is responsible for protecting skin against harmful UVB rays, is also an important aspect to look for in a sunscreen designed especially for children. And to shield their fragile and sensitive skin under the sun, opt for a sunscreen with an SPF higher than 30.
Higher SPF gives higher coverage as it filters out the maximum of the harmful rays. Sunscreen with SPF 50 gives better protection to their skin by blocking 98% of UVB rays.
2. PA rating to block UVA
PA refers to “Protection Grade of UVA”. This implies that it blocks out UVA rays to the maximum. Higher the PA rating, higher the protection from such rays for kids.
Various PA ratings give various levels of UVA protection such as
- PA+ offers a little UVA protection
- PA++ offers moderate UVA protection
- PA+++ offers good UVA protection
- PA++++ offers the highest UVA protection
3. Broad Spectrum for overall coverage
For maximum protection of your child’s skin, always and always look for a sunscreen that is broad spectrum. These are the ones that save children’s skin from UVA and UVB rays from the sun.
4. Look for Water and Sweat resistant sunscreen
Outdoors are children’s favorite spots! Don’t stop them from playing just because the sun is out there!
Rather, protect their skin with a sunscreen that is sweat and water resistant. Such sunscreens stay on for a good 40-80 minutes and do not wear off easily. So, look for the ones that say ‘water and sweat resistant’.
5. Avoid the ones with toxic ingredients:
Your child’s skin is precious like anything. Do not risk it with toxic ingredients like PABA, Parabens and Oxybenzone. Research suggests that such chemicals can harm your little one’s skin causing inflammation and irritation or other skin allergies.
So, make it a habit to check the ingredients section before buying any product for children and yourself as well.
6 Protective measures against sun for kids
Apart from selecting that right sunscreen for your lovely children, here are the protective measures for their added protection under the sun.
- It is always advised by dermatologists to reapply sunscreen after every 2 hours when your children are outdoors.
- Just a reminder that sunscreen is just not for the face, but also all the body parts that might be exposed to the sun like ears, neck, hands, legs and feet. This ensures complete protection!
- Make your child’s sun safety fun by adding funny or playful sunglasses and a flavored yet SPF infused lip balm!
- Keep your kids’ clothing breezy and light like cotton to avoid rashes and irritation from sweating.
- Try to teach your kids the importance of sunscreen and always ask them to carry it as the first thing whenever they step out of the house whether it is cloudy, rainy, wintery or sunny.
Conclusion
As parents, those cute cheeks of our children make us want to protect their innocence even more. But in the process of looking after them, do not sideline your skin care. Give a little of love to yourself as well for you cannot pour out from an empty cup! And it all starts with you.
Moreover children learn from their parents. So, try to set an example and take care and teach children the same!
P.S.
Hydration in kids is also an important factor especially in summers because of continuous sweating when outdoors. So, make sure children do not miss out on maintaining their water level to compensate for the water loss.
