This is a question I ask myself a lot. One year I slathered SPF 30 on, had lunch outside (45 min, tops) and came in with a lovely burn.
So, if sunscreen extends the time you can safely be in the sun before burning, I've got what, a little over a minute I can be in the sun at any one time?
Great.
My Darling Hubby bought me the "Keep out of direct sunlight" shirt from ThinkGeek for my birthday.
OK, but really. How much?
According to this article, at least 2 Tablespoons for you body, and half a teaspoon for your face. This other article says essentially the same thing. Both of those talk about relative SPFs and have other tips. I like the shadow rule myself: If your shadow is shorter than you, head for cover.
But staying inside and/or out of the sun totally isn't going to cut it. I want to be outside. (Maybe not so much this week.) The other day I popped into a Dollar Store, and picked up a set of plastic measuring spoons:
Now I can squirt sunscreen into them, hand it to Peanut, and get her used to the volume that needs to be slathered on, and repeat as necessary. Pumpkin will still require some parental assistance, but still has a handy visual aid. These things are going to live with the sunscreen bottles, and will be traveling to the beach with us this year, too.
Love the t-shirt!
ReplyDeleteJ got his first sunburn last month. Bad mama moment. The skies were grey and heavy when I walked him to soccer camp, and I had dressed him accordingly - raincoat and cosy fleece pants. Some time during the camp, the skies cleared and the sun came out. His arms were rosy red. I still feel guilty. S has my complexion, so I'm even more anxious about his sun exposure.
I've also switched to a mineral-based sunblock (Badger), and since it leaves a white tinge to the skin, it helps to see what parts have been adequately covered. (W still needs to learn this, because I've had two burns on my back this year, even though he'd applied the sunblock...)