What You Need To Know About Sunscreen Safety

Posted on in Healthy Lifestyle, Kid's Health by Dr. Marie Battaglia

sunscreen safety

You may often think about the health and quality of the food you put into your body, but have you stopped to think about what you put ON your body? Your skin is a huge sponge like organ that absorbs many of the products you put on it.

With spring weather and more sunshine on the horizon I wanted to share some valuable information on sun protection and especially choosing a sunscreen that is safe and doesn’t contain harmful ingredients, especially for babies and children!

Traditional sunscreens can be full of harmful chemicals and in recent years, zinc based sunscreens have gained more popularity due to their safety when it comes to you and your child’s health (it stays on the surface to protect and reflect against UVA and UVB vs being absorbed into your bloodstream).

There are some great brands out there but I’ve always found the best way to know if a product is safe is to use the Environmental Working Group’s sunscreen guide. This article from the Environmental Working Group Website does a great job at answering so many sun safety questions. I encourage you to read through it for evidence based information.

The ThinkBaby, ThinkKids, ThinkSport line is one of my favourites and has a high rating by the EWG. I have a limited quantity of  SPF 30 ThinkBaby and ThinkKids for sale at the office. They are great for sending with your child to daycare and summer camp, and I always have a stash at home for playing outside, going to playgrounds, soccer practice etc. Most sunscreens need to be reapplied often especially if your child is swimming or sweating.

In addition to safe sunscreen, remember to wear protective clothing if you are going to be out in the sun for extended periods of time, seek shade for sun breaks, and wear hats to protect your scalp, forehead and ears 🙂

Now bring on the sun please mother nature!

 

I’m Dr. Marie and helping moms and their children is my passion. I support women through conception, pregnancy, and postpartum. I help babies with feeding challenges, torticollis, flat spots, and tongue ties. I help babies and kids optimize their neurodevelopment. Dr. Graham and I are life partners, business partners, and parenting partners to our two daughters, Zoey & Eloise. It definitely keeps life interesting but we wouldn’t have it any other way.