Here’s What You Need to Know About Sun Exposure and Sunscreen for Kids

Did you know it only takes about 7 minutes for the receptors in your skin cells to become fully saturated with Vitamin D? Your family may be itching to get to the beach or to the pool and soak up the summer sun, especially after having spent so many months stuck at home. However, it’s important to protect you and your children from the harm the sun can cause, including greater risk for skin cancer, increased photo aging, and a variety of other rashes that can arise as a result of strong sun exposure. Here’s what the experts say you need to know about sun exposure and sunscreen for kids in order to properly protect your whole family from the harmful effects of UVA and UVB rays.

Use zinc oxide sunscreen.

When it comes to sunscreen, there are two main categories: physical blocks and chemical blocks, says Kenneth T. Kircher, D.O., FAOCD, dermatologist on the medical staff of HealthAlliance Hospital in Kingston. While chemical blocks absorb the harmful UV rays from the sun, physical blocks cause those rays to bounce off of your skin. Both are useful, but Dr. Kircher recommends zinc oxide (a physical block), especially for children, because as a naturally occurring mineral, zinc is thought to be safer to use on small children. Titanium dioxide is another physical block, while everything else is a chemical block.  Dermatologist Elizabeth C. Smith, M.D. recommends using half of a golf-ball-sized glob of sunscreen for each application.

Sunscreens won’t harm you.

A study by the Food and Drug Administration shows that an amount of chemicals is absorbed through the body when chemical block sunscreens are used. However, the main chemicals in those sunscreens—avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, and ecamsule—are not harmful to the body. The FDA’s study was simply conducted to find out more safety data, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The ingredients used most frequently in sunscreens in the U.S. are safe.

Some bottles print an expiration date while others do not. If there is no expiration date, then you should purchase a new bottle each year to be safe that the active ingredients, like zinc oxide, are actually working, suggests Karin Sadow, M.D., F.A.A.P.

The higher the SPF, the better.

You’ve likely heard the rumor that an SPF higher than 50 does not make a difference. While the increase in protection is quite small once you go above 50, it does make a difference. “When [a brand tests] a sunscreen, they put them on way thicker than you would wear it,” Dr. Kircher says. So, with SPF 50, you may actually only be getting an SPF of 30-35, he explains.