There is a particular kind of chaos that arrives with the first properly warm weekend of the year.
The paddling pool comes out of the shed, someone loses a sandal within minutes, and you suddenly remember the sun cream in the bathroom cabinet expired last August.
We are quite good, as parents, at worrying about the big obvious things. Car seats, allergies, that wobbly trampoline at Grandma's.
Sun protection tends to sit further down the list, partly because we live in Britain and the sun feels like a rare treat rather than a hazard.
But children's skin is far more delicate than ours, and the habits we build now genuinely shape their health for decades.
So before the summer holidays kick off, here are ten things worth knowing.
Jump to:
- Children's Skin Burns Much Faster Than Yours
- A Normal T-Shirt Blocks Far Less Sun Than You Think
- Upf And Spf Are Not The Same Thing
- Not All Sun Hats Actually Protect
- Yes, They Can Burn On A Cloudy Day In Britain
- Babies Under Six Months Need Shade, Not Sunscreen
- You Are Almost Certainly Not Using Enough Sunscreen
- Water And Sand Turn The Sun Up
- Time Your Day Around The Sun
- Make It A Habit, Not A Battle
- One Last Thought
Children's Skin Burns Much Faster Than Yours
A child's skin is thinner than an adult's and produces less protective melanin, so it burns more quickly and the damage runs deeper.
Research suggests that around a quarter of our lifetime sun damage happens before we turn twenty, and getting badly sunburnt in childhood can double the risk of melanoma later in life.
That sounds frightening, and honestly, it should focus the mind a little. The flip side is that childhood sun protection is one of the few areas of parenting where a handful of simple habits makes an enormous long-term difference. No sticker charts required.
A Normal T-Shirt Blocks Far Less Sun Than You Think
This one genuinely surprised me. A standard white cotton t-shirt has a UPF rating of only around 5, which means roughly 20% of the sun's UV rays pass straight through it and onto your child's skin.
Once that t-shirt gets wet in the pool or the sea, the protection drops even further, to nearly nothing.
So the classic trick of popping an old t-shirt over a swimsuit "to be safe" is not doing anywhere near as much as we all assumed.
For swimming and beach days, purpose-made UPF 50+ swimwear for kids blocks 98% of UV rays and, crucially, keeps blocking it when wet, because the protection is woven into the fabric rather than depending on it staying dry.
Leading UK-brand equatorsun has been making certified UPF 50+ sunsuits, swim tops and leggings for babies through to teens since 2006, and once you've used a proper sunsuit you won't go back to the soggy t-shirt or wetsuits.
Upf And Spf Are Not The Same Thing
Quick jargon-buster, because the labels are confusing. SPF is for sunscreen and mainly measures protection against UVB rays, the ones that cause sunburn. UPF is for fabric and measures how much of both UVA and UVB radiation the material blocks. UPF 50+ is the highest rating, letting less than 2% of UV through.
The simple way to remember it: SPF is what you rub on, UPF is what you put on. Dermatologists recommend using both together, with clothing doing the heavy lifting and sunscreen covering whatever skin is left exposed.
Not All Sun Hats Actually Protect
Here is one I learned from the British Association of Dermatologists: those cute bucket hats and baseball caps we all buy leave the ears and the back of the neck exposed, which are two of the most commonly burnt spots on small children.
Their advice is a legionnaire-style hat, the kind with a flap covering the neck, or a proper broad brim.
If your little one is the hat-flinging type (whose isn't?), look for kids' UV legionnaire hats with neck flaps that have a chin strap and a UPF 50+ rating, so the hat that actually stays on is also the one doing the most good.
Yes, They Can Burn On A Cloudy Day In Britain
Up to 80% of UV radiation passes through cloud, which is why children come home pink from sports day when it never felt hot. Temperature and UV are two different things entirely.
The easiest habit is checking the UV index on your weather app each morning. The NHS advice is simple: if the UV index is 3 or higher, protection is needed. In the UK that is common from March right through to October, not just in July.
Babies Under Six Months Need Shade, Not Sunscreen
Sunscreen is generally not recommended for babies under six months, because their skin absorbs more of the chemicals. The safest approach for tiny ones is shade, a pram parasol or sunshade, and lightweight protective clothing and a sun hat covering as much skin as possible.
If you are heading somewhere hot with a baby, a UPF 50+ sunsuit and a proper sun hat do most of the work, and you can keep any sunscreen for the small bits that peek out, like cheeks and hands, once they are old enough.
You Are Almost Certainly Not Using Enough Sunscreen
Most of us apply about half the amount of sunscreen needed for the SPF on the bottle to actually work. For a full-grown adult, the NHS suggests six to eight teaspoons for the whole body, and children are not far behind once you count arms, legs, ears, feet and that little parting in their hair.
Use at least SPF 30 with a 4 or 5 star UVA rating, apply it 15 to 30 minutes before going out, and reapply every two hours, and always after swimming or towelling off, even with "water resistant" formulas. Nobody enjoys the reapplication wrestle, which honestly is half the argument for covering more of them in UPF clothing and having less skin to cream in the first place.
Water And Sand Turn The Sun Up
Sand, water and even concrete reflect UV rays back up at your child, so a day at the beach or beside the pool delivers far more UV than the same day in the garden. Being in the water offers little protection either, as UV penetrates well below the surface.
This is why beach days are the ones where the full kit matters most: swimwear that covers the shoulders and torso, hat, sunscreen on the gaps, and regular breaks in the shade.
Time Your Day Around The Sun
In the UK, the sun is at its strongest between 11am and 3pm. On holiday in hotter countries, it is usually 10am to 4pm. You do not need to keep children indoors for four hours (imagine trying), but it is the sensible window for the picnic under a tree, quiet time in the tent, or the indoor ice cream stop.
We plan beach mornings early and head back out late afternoon when the light is gorgeous anyway. The children last longer, the photos are better, and nobody melts.
Make It A Habit, Not A Battle
Children copy what we do far more than what we say. If they see you putting on your own hat and sun cream without a fuss, it slowly becomes just something the family does, like seatbelts.
A few tricks that help: let them choose their own sun hat and swimsuit so they feel some ownership, make sunscreen part of the getting-dressed routine rather than a separate event, and keep a spare hat and mini sunscreen in the car and the school bag.
Primary schools now teach sun safety as part of the curriculum, so you may well find your five-year-old lecturing you about the UV index before long.
One Last Thought
None of this is about fearing the sunshine. Sunny days are some of the best days of childhood, and a bit of daylight is good for all of us.
It is simply about doing the easy things well: cover them up, find some shade in the middle of the day, use enough sun cream on the rest, and repeat until it is second nature.
Their forty-year-old selves will thank you, even if their four-year-old selves absolutely will not.
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