Tuesday 2 June 2009

Slip,Slop,Slap!!

The weather has been glorious for a few days now which means days out and playing in the sun.

Now I'm probably a little over protective when it comes to BG and the sun, I cover her with factor 50 suncream, make her wear a sun hat and stick her under an umbrella or parasol on her buggy!!!

The reason for this? quite simple I want to protect my child from sunburn and skin cancer. I burn really easy as does OH, I couldn't think of anything worse then BG having sunburn I think it would break my heart!!

Now like I said I'm a little over protective so I reapply lotion often and make sure that she is well covered from the sun. So imagine my surprise on how unconcerned some parents seem to be about protecting their children from the sun!!

This weekend we went to the park, pub and the seaside and the amount of children I saw sitting in the sun with no hat or cover really shocked me. You could see some of the kids getting really red it was awful. Babies in prams sat in the midday sun with no protection, the sun quite clearly in their eyes. Who knows if they had bothered to put suntan lotion on them!


I was disgusted with the lack of care these parents seemed to have for the children's well being, I wanted to run over to them and shout "cover you kids up".

Now I know you can't protect children from everything and some kids hate wearing hats (BG does), scream when you put the cream on (BG does) but at least try, especially the babies that are laying/sitting in the sun.

The Australians have a sun campaign called Slip -Slop-Slap, Slip on a shirt, slop on sunscreen, Slap on a hat.

So to all parents Slip, Slop, Slap and protect your children from the sun!

NM x

9 comments:

  1. Well said.

    My friend was at a wedding at the weekend and was telling me about a baby was left in its buggy for ages with no cream (or so it seemed), hat or parasol. The mother was too busy flitting about and the father nowhere to be seen, so after some gentle nudges too the mother about how hot it was etc etc - which the mother ignored - she pushed the buggy the 2 metres or so until it was under the shade of a tree. About twenty minutes had passed at this point with the baby sitting there in the middle of the day on the hottest day of the year. Shameful.

    My friend was furious! The brides granny applauded her. The mother said nothing, apparently not even showing a tiny bit of shame.

    I think some people are just dickheads. Simple as that really!

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  2. I think you are absolutely right! My 2 boys are really fair skin and I am constantly worrying about the effect of the sun on them. Like you said I would hate it and feel so responsible if they were sunburnt. I also got the full sunshade cover for all my buggies (yes I know I am a bit of a buggy freak) but it is brilliant as you don't have to worry so much when the baby is in it. I find it better than the umbrella because when you move the sun changes direction and you are constantly moving it around. Anyway well done for this article!

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  3. I totally agree. We're a very fair skinned family and I always make sure the kids are covered up and have lots of sun cream on. I know some people who never bother to put sun cream on their kids - so irresponsible. At the moment my Facebook page is full of people saying they're burnt - why have a tan when you can be pale and interesting instead?! Great post x

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  4. Fabulous - I didnt know about slip, slop, slap!

    Clever aussie's.

    Lovely post. RMx

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  5. OMG Pregnant - I completey agree, I would have done the same thing as the Granny it really annoys me!

    Perfectly Happy Mum - You haven't seen the size of the umbrella!! It supposed to attach to those fold out chairs you take camping etc but my OH adapted it to fit the buggy its huge and keeps her completly shaded no matter where the sun is! Thanks x

    Clareybabble -Thank you x I think pale and interesting is def the way to go!

    Rebel Mother - Yes they are, thank you x

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  6. Some people are so stupid, it beggars belief.
    I'm the same as you, we're all fair-skinned and mine don't go out with out T-shirts, hats and factor 50. I always keep the baby in the shade too. And they're frequently offered water to drink.
    Reminds me of a family that stayed in our hotel in Cyprus one holiday. None of them wore sun-screen, they were all pink piggies by their first lunchtime. Poor kiddies. They only ate chocolate cake for lunch, then the parents drank all afternoon. Snob? Me? Yeah, a little!

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  7. Oh god, sunburned children make me feel physically sick. I was at a family bbq at the weekend, my son is 18 m and his cousin 10m.My mum set up a paddling pool for them, my husband had to insist it was in the shade, while my stupid brother bemoaned how cold they would get: better cold than cancer!! So his son is 1/3 Italian, doesn't mean he won't burn. He was naked in the sun for an hour,no hat, nothing. My son had on a vest, hat,and copious amounts of suncream. I hope he never burns. Fair skinned or not, children need to be kept safe. My son is excellent at wearing his hat, this is because mummy & daddy lead by example and also wear hats. Kids love to copy!

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  8. Sandy - I'm a snob to when it comes to certain things and looking after your kids is one of them

    allgrownup - How cute, me and OH do the same so hopefully as she gets older she will want to copy us

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  9. Hi,
    Slip, slop, slap - a great way to remember everything. Long gone should be the days of not putting on suncream. We all know the risks and it's bad enough not putting cream on ourselves but not protecting our kids is 10 times worse. I live in Spain so get through quite a bit of suncream. I have to nag my husband to put it on, which he begrudgingly does but my son is always lathered up. It's weird though that my son's Spanish friends that come round never have cream with them or on and are always a bit put out when I make them use some! I get the "I don't need that" comment and they get the "In my house you do" back!
    Cheers, Chloe

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