Suncreen suggestions ???

[HaViet]

Hi everyone,

With the help from folks here, we're finally ready for our family trip to Disney next week.

Since we have young children, ages 5-10, and will be around in the parks and pools pretty much all day, we like to get some suncreens for the kids.

Any suggestions on which suncreen to get for Florida sun?

Thanks much!

 

[Gracie09]

We are very pale and use blue lizard. It's thicker than some other brands and is a physical not chemical block (so you have to rub it more) but my dd has never never has a burn and I haven't since I started using it.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Remember parents need it too. We are not very brand specific, but are pretty firm in how we use it. We like a good face stick for faces. We mostly choose the name brand on sale and choose a baby or child kind to avoid eye burning if it gets in the eyes. Use this on ears too. Re-apply this often! We like a spray for the first spray down before leaving the room. We cover faces to avoid inhaling the stuff and choose a 45-50 factor. We carry the smaller lotion bottles and reapply that to exposed area as needed. We use pretty much whatever brand is one sale for these. Remember to pay attention to heads too, the part in hair can become very burned easily. Spray or lotion this area or wear a hat. Also be sure to get feet. They often get missed and burn quickly too. Be sure to use enough.....one regular size bottle for a family of four each day is pretty much what you should use. A spray bottle goes fast! Prices at WDW are high, so bring enough that you don't hold back on how much you use.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Watch this Healthcare Triage video. Dr. Aaron Carroll talks about sunscreen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLLXkYQkPqI

 

[slzer0]

Carry a sunscreen stick for face touch ups.

 

[snowweisz]

This is my favorite one

I love that it's so easy to apply and reapply during the day and it's also water resistant.

I wear a cosmetic one on my face though, would never never apply this one on my face. Faces need a facial sunscreen imo.

 

[ZeroMyHero]

The higher the SPF, the better. Get SPF 50 for your kids (and even for yourself) and make sure to reapply every two hours or so. My girls are fair-skinned blondes and I am a very pale redhead, so we also wear hats and usually wear tops that cover our shoulders, too. I even set an alert on my phone so I don't forget to reapply. It's easy to lose track of time and not realize how much sun you're getting at Disney, and nothing ruins a vacation like sunburn.

 

[HaViet]

Thanks everyone, lots of good suggestions.

Doesn't seem like there are any specific brands/products to considered.

 

[ZeroMyHero]

Not really, no. I'd go with what's the least expensive so you can buy more and use more. Each person should use about 1 oz of sunscreen per application. That's enough to fill a shot glass. Of course, people are all different sizes, so you might use a little more than an ounce or a little less, but it's a good guideline to follow. Also, everyone can use the same sunscreen. There are no different or "special" ingredients in kid sunscreen vs. adult sunscreen. It's all the same stuff.

 

[slzer0]

Doesn't a shot glass hold two ounces?

 

[Mariep26]

I use blue lizard as well based on the ratings from EWG. I was looking for the cross section of effectiveness and cost and this suited nicely. I also was trying to avoid some of the chemicals. The one I have is SPF30 I believe...I read somewhere that SPFs over a certain number does not provide any extra protection so I won't pay more for higher SPF.

 

[bandksmommy]

Just returned from Disney with my family and this is what we used: water babies 70 SPF (lotion) on bodies and a Neutrogena (65 SPF) for faces that I got at walmart. For my kids (who's dad is Hispanic so they are light skinned but tan) this was enough as far as protection but I wouldn't use the face one again. It was great in that there was no eye stinging (and they were sweating plenty) BUT no matter how much I rubbed it in or how long before going outside, the minute they started sweating their faces were WHITE. :-b So back to the drawing board on that one.

Now for ME (I burn easily)......first 2 days I did the same as the kids and I burned. So for the rest of the trip I used a 100 SPF banana boat kids that I happened to have and it worked great! No more burning after that.

 

[kohlby]

I have a children who are sensitive to sunscreens. There is no way we could use a spray sunscreen. For a while, we could only use California Baby on my youngest- which is expensive. Then we were able to use Water Babies on him, which is what my other two kids use as well. Even I, use Water Babies due to my skin being sensitive too. (The baby sunscreens are often more gentle than the adult sunscreens). But the 5 year old has had delayed rashes that lasted several days the last few times he's used it. I tried Neutrogena's Baby sunscreen this week for the first time and so far, so good. So, my suggestion would just be to try it out at home first. (Make sure you try it out in the sunlight too - as some sunscreen allergies only occur with sunlight).

 

[ryansstitch]

My dd is sensitive to everything, and as she is still nursing, I use what she uses. We get honest company brand sunscreen. It's non nano (if that matters to you), organic ingredients, very gentle and no questionable ingredients. I usually order from honest company itself, but this time I waited too long before we needed more. Costco has a set including their spray, lotion, and stick sunscreen for $20. Comes out cheaper than the equivalent items purchased for many mainstream sunscreens. Neither of us is very light, so can't speak to how well it would work for someone with a pale complexion though, but so far no burns.

 

[WIDisneyFan]

One added word - be sure to reapply often! Even the best sunscreen is only good for a limited time (have learned that the hard-way more than once)

 

[livndisney]

One added word - be sure to reapply often! Even the best sunscreen is only good for a limited time (have learned that the hard-way more than once)

But don't use the spray in line or around other people. The bus is also not a good place to realize 'hey i forgot to put sunscreen on my kids" and whip on the spray.

Spraying sunscreen in the bathroom is also not a good idea since it can make the floor slick.

 

[ellone]

The higher the SPF, the better. Get SPF 50 for your kids (and even for yourself) and make sure to reapply every two hours or so. My girls are fair-skinned blondes and I am a very pale redhead, so we also wear hats and usually wear tops that cover our shoulders, too. I even set an alert on my phone so I don't forget to reapply. It's easy to lose track of time and not realize how much sun you're getting at Disney, and nothing ruins a vacation like sunburn.

Actually stick to SPF 30. The higher SPF sunscreens use more oxybenzone and that is a skin irritant AND hormone disrupter. Also avoid rentinyl palmitate (which most will claim is vitamin A). It causes more skin lesions and tumors.


I try to avoid chemicals so I use Kiss My Face. I'm a fair skinned blonde and even without reapplying my last trip in May I got no sunburn.