Sunburns hurt! There is no way around it. There have been a few times in my life where I have been sunburned and have had trouble wearing clothes or moving comfortably. After those instances I am on more alert to make sure that my children do not endure the same thing!
UV Skinz sun protective clothing company hopes to shed light on Skin Cancer Awareness Month through annual “Save A Baby’s Skin” campaign.
UV Skinz, one of the original companies to design and manufacture sun protective wear, wants to ensure that all babies are given proper protection against skin cancer, and has chosen to do so by donating free baby swim shirts to newborns at various maternity wards and pediatrician’s offices throughout the United States.
What's a sunburn?
Rhonda Sparks, the woman who founded UV Skinz in 2005 after losing her 32-year old husband to melanoma says, “We are super excited to be offering baby UV swim shirts to the newest members of the families as we feel all babies deserve quality, chemical-free sun protection from the very start of life.” In addition to the large donations going out to the hospitals and doctors, UV Skinz will also add a free baby UV Skinz swim shirt to each order placed in May, in hopes it will find its way to a baby-in-need. Sparks goes on to say, “We want wearing UV Skinz swim shirts to be a preventative to sun burns like toothpaste is to cavities. If we can keep one sun burn from happening, then Darren’s life and our hard efforts are all worth it.”
The effects of sunscreen on babies’ thin skin have not been adequately tested to date. Babies cannot communicate what is uncomfortable or what may be irritating to their skin and eyes. UV Skinz products carry a UPF rating of 50+, which blocks over 98% of the sun’s harmful UVA and UVB rays, without using harsh chemicals that can often be found in topical sun screen lotions. Without exception, babies under age six months should not be in the sun.
Only one severe sunburn in childhood can more than double the chances of skin cancer developing in adulthood. With every sunburn comes a decrease in the skin’s natural ability to protect itself and a higher likelihood that skin disease, eye damage or weakening of the immune system will occur later in life.
The National Cancer Institute reports that while many common cancer rates are falling, melanoma rates within the U.S. continue to grow at an astonishing rate. Sparks implores parents to cover their children, discourage tanning bed use and protect them from becoming the one in five Americans who will develop skin cancer in their lifetimes.
Skin cancer is something that is close to me as my Grandfather had it, and one of the moms in my weekly moms group from church has had it. Some ways that I keep the Sun’s rays off of my children are large hats and buying full piece bathing suits for my children to get the most coverage from the sun. No bikinis here at our house!
What are some ways you help your children avoid the Sun’s harmful rays??
Cee
Wednesday 25th of May 2011
We wear our UV Skinz! LOL!!
I'm not a big fan of the chemicals in sunscreen, so I use the max amount I can on select parts that aren't covered by our UV Skinz. So, knees to ankles, back of hands, and the lower half of the face....ah, UV Skinz...so perfect in their covereage capacity!