Red Hot Beach Baby - Sun Safety for Babies

A red hot beach baby is definitely NOT a good thing and something you want to avoid if at all possible. Babies tender skins need protection from a hot summer sun. Baby sun safety is vital. Please do not try to give your baby a ‘healthy’ tan, keep him or her covered and protected from the sun this summer. Put a sun shade cover over their prams or buggies and cover any exposed skin with a high factor sun cream to prevent their tender skin from burning. Just 5 minutes exposure to a really hot sun could do irreparable damage that will come back and haunt them in later life. 90% of all diagnosed skin cancers are believed to relate back to a burning incident in childhood.

Make sure your baby has plenty to drink on hot days. Offer them a bottle with plain water, even if they are breastfed. Dehydration can very quickly become a serious problem in babies up to 2 years old. Babies are good at letting you know when they are in discomfort by crying loudly ad often. Don’t ignore this – it could be a sign that all is not well.

Severely dehydrated red hot beach babies may not cry. They may not have the strength!

Classic signs of advanced dehydration in babies include skin losing its elasticity and a baby’s head showing signs of a sinking fontanelle.

The fontanelle is the gap on a baby’s skull that hasn’t yet closed over, just above their forehead. Normally it is covered with a rigid membrane and you sometimes see a pulse beating just under this membrane. That is perfectly normal. When this membrane becomes sunken and dipping inwards, that is a sign of dehydration which can be fatal.

It is vitally important to get fluids into that baby as soon as possible, If the baby is ill and vomiting everything up, take him or her to your nearest emergency centre for treatment. Babies actually succumb to dehydration much quicker than adults or even older children, so don’t wait around for it to get better on its own.

Even if the child is not vomitting, a sunken fontanelle is serious.Please don't ignore it.

Years ago I worked with babies suffering from gastroenteritis in a fever hospital. We used to sit with these poor wee mites 24 hours a day making sure they got fluids into them using tubes and all sorts of things.

The sucking instinct is very strong in babies, we got their fluid levels back up but not without a fight. Dehydrated babies are weak and irritable and lose their sucking instinct as they show no interest in their surroundings, far less have an appetite of thirst.

It’s not just the sun, but the heat will dehydrate a baby really quickly. If it is at all possible, position baby next to a fan so that they are not breathing in stale hot air, and please make sure baby gets extra fluids during a heat wave.

Taking baby down to the beach is really not a good idea if he or she is under walking age. The sun’s rays are actually stronger in a beach location, even if there is a sea breeze. The sunlight gets reflected off the water and this in turn intensifies its rays.

If you absolutely have to, dress baby in clothes that are as light as possible and provide a sun shade for baby to sit or sleep under. Under no condition take baby down to the water without a high factor sun cream – 50 or more if possible. Reapply often. Babies skins are beautifully soft and downy, but oh so tender. Sea water is salty and the salts also amplify the sun’s rays, so if you do take baby to the shallow water please don’t take him or her there for longer than 10 -15 minutes maximum, less is better.

If you have baby in the car with you on the way to the beach, or on the way back, please never ever leave your baby in the car on a hot stifling day while you nip into a shop or whatever, without opening the car window at least a fraction to let in air.

I know this is a worry nowadays that someone might nick your car with baby in it and you want to lock it up securely – probably you have central locking and a press of a button locks it, but even if you only intend to be a minute in the shop, open those windows!

You never know what could delay you in the shop. A big queue at the checkout, or the appearance of an armed robber, or a lightning strike, who knows?

Don’t let your baby become yet another victim of hyperthermia that we read about every summer. Follow a pattern of never leaving your baby in a hot car under the summer sun without ventilation, even for a moment.