When you’re buying sunscreen for children, it’s an important decision, as their skin health depends on it. However, all the facts can make it hard to discern which are the best options for your needs. That’s what we seek to help you with here as we look at some basic facts to aid the decision-making process.
Skin cancer risk goes up considerably later in life when a young person experiences any kind of sunburn, so it should be avoided at all costs. So, let’s waste no more time getting to those important facts.
Sunscreen For Children Needs to Tick All the Right Boxes
There are certain elements you must focus on when purchasing sunscreen for children, as they matter to the end result. So, take a look below, where you’ll find a bunch of information that should make protecting your children that much easier.
- SPF Ratings Matter – When you look at the bottles of any sunscreen on the market, they’re going to have a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) rating that’s going to be either 15, 30, or 50. You need to focus on this aspect, but it doesn’t quite work in the way you might think.
SPF relates to the amount of extra time you can spend in the sun, not the UV protection it offers. SPF 15 offers 93% protection, SPF 30 gives 97% UV protection, and SPF 50 gives 99% protection – so it doesn’t figure numerically.
- Broad Spectrum Protection is Vital – There’s more than one type of UV ray that you need to think about. There are UVA, UVB and UVC rays that come from the sun. Thankfully, the earth’s atmosphere takes care of UVC rays, but UVA and UVB rays make it through. To get protection from both, you need broad-spectrum protection, or you’ll get sun damage.
- 2 Hours Is All You Get – No matter how good the sunscreen is, you won’t get more than 2 hours of protection. If you don’t reapply every 2 hours, you’re going to get burnt – that’s the long and short of it. This rule applies whether you’re using chemical or mineral brands.
- Sunscreen Expires – Just like other products you’ll find being sold online, sunscreen has a best-before date. It’s not dangerous, as such, to use it after this date, but it might be indirectly bad for your skin as it’s not guaranteed to give you the same protection as it would.
Knowing What’s What Is Important When Buying Sunscreen For Children
As a parent buying sunscreen, there are certain things you should know. The good news is that there are a ton of YouTube videos online and blogs like this one to give you some tips. By no means does this blog represent an exhaustive list of information, so you should keep researching.
The important thing to know is that it’s not just as simple as buying a random sunscreen and hoping for the best. Do that, and you increase your chances of sun-related misery.
