Parents with small kids- do they wear hats?

[jm106]

Do you make your kids wear hats to keep the sun off of them? We are going in may and I know hats can get hot but sunburn can be worse. They really prefer no hats but I would like to find light weight hats to try. I dont wear them but in WDW I often need to give my face a break from the sun.
What do you do for little kids?

 

[kchughes]

I make my DS (now 8) wear a hat in the parks and have since he was 4. Last year we ended up buying an adult "safari" hat because it was mesh on the sides and had a chin strap that could tighten. He still had sun protection on the very top and on the brim to protect his face. That way he still got a little air in the sides. He hates sunscreen on his face so this was his only option. But I still managed to get his cheeks and lips with roll on type sunscreen.. If you have infants or toddlers, check out OldNavy or Gap to see what they have this spring. That is where I always got his hats at that age.

 

[meganb]

My kids hate hats, but I ususally have luck with visers, which is what we will be using next week!

 

[Lisha428]

Yes both my kids, now ages 4 and 7, have always worn hats in the parks. The are fair skinned and burn easily. A burn along your hairline hurts like crazy!! We like the "bucket" style hats with a wide brim all the way around. Actually found cute Disney one's there in the parks while we were there as we FORGOT ours at home last month! Oops! Have fun!

 

[GRUMPY D]

we have gone 3 times in may and hats are a must , so is sun screen we use waterproof kids coppertone 50 spf with uva/uvb protection and apply it a couple times a day , morning before we leave and late afternoon , and just a side note baby wipes in a pinch they we help cool you down and clean up a sticky kid after they have ice cream , hope this helps and have a fun trip

 

[jm106]

I definitly know sunscreen is a must,that goes with out saying. They wear it home as well and I get a better quality that stays on much longer and reapply often.
I guess Ill just keep trying with the hats, they just dont want them on. Visors are an idea for ods but yds has fine blonde hair so a hat would be better.

 

[turkeymama]

Mine have never worn hats to the parks. We rely solely on sunscreen for protection, which hasn't failed us yet.

 

[5 for WDW]

Our children always wear hats in WDW. So do both my husband and I. We use sunscreen of course, as well.

The hats are good for not only sun protection but, help the blue eyes most of us have as well.

They are also really good for hiding a sweaty or wet head!

 

[redcubfan]

My younger son is fair skinned with light blonde hair, so a hat has always been a must in DW. If you decide on hats, just make sure they are light colored because the darker colors will get so hot on their little heads! We found a perfect bucket-style cream colored hat at our local zoo in the "safari" section of the gift shop, but there were cute ones in all the Disney parks too. Good luck!

 

[lucyem]

We try to keep hats on them. Bucket hats seem to be a favorite for little ones as baseball caps tend to be tighter around the head. Plus the bucket hat covers more.

Being as fair as I and my oldest are we use really good sunscreen as our first line of defense. This is a great source for finding sunscreens http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

 

[sls_ontario]

DD who is almost 6 was wearing a hat .... you might want to take a brush for when the hats come off and you do photos with Characters. DD has crazy hair at the best of times ... even worse with hat head!!

Sometimes we didn't take her hat off ... but I see now that makes for less than ideal photos!!!

 

[jm106]

We try to keep hats on them. Bucket hats seem to be a favorite for little ones as baseball caps tend to be tighter around the head. Plus the bucket hat covers more.

Being as fair as I and my oldest are we use really good sunscreen as our first line of defense. This is a great source for finding sunscreens http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/

Thanks. we use a great sun screen, Blue Lizard sensative or baby which gets a 2 recomendation on that list( with kids and myself fair skinned, I have done my homework on this topic and used that site in the past.) We have bucket hats, with ties, with out, base ball, characters, they just dont care for it. I am giving it some practice runs and encourage them.

 

[homedad]

kids have always worn hats and sunglasses for sept trips

 

[naomi78155]

DS wears a hat when we do a full day outside. Costco has some cute ones now that are "survivor style" with the flap in the back. They are very lightweight and maybe mesh, I can't really remember. They had a lot of different colors/patterns.

 

[MinnieGi]

Yes my kids wear hats. Now my 6yo DS loves hats and wears them at home, but my 10yo DD is not a hat wearer except at WDW. She likes to wear visors now that she is older but wore the bucket hats when she was smaller. Since there are soooo many cool styles at WDW to choose from it wasn't a problem gettting her to pick one out to wear. And since SOOOO many people are wearing hats it helped her want to wear one too!!

 

[karliebug]

My kids never wanted to wear hats until I bought them baeball caps at a craft store in their pick of color and we used them to have the characters autograph them! No fumbling to find a book in your backpack, the kids willingly wore the hats, and they had a great souvenir.

 

[BigTikiDaddy]

Hats and sunscreens are musts, especially DD2, who is very fair skinned. DW and I wear it all too, and both of us, especially DW hate wearing hats (I need to, there's no hair to keep my head from burning I put sunscreen up there too). DW and I wear Tillys and DD2 wears her sister's old one, and we might get DD1 one too, last trip she wore an Ariel beach hat, but it was a heavy material.

 

[akl-fan]

I was unable to keep a hat/cap on my DD(1) last year as it was in her field of vision. She would however wear a bandana as she couldn't see it. It worked great as she didn't have very much hair.