Beach with newborn

khammond3

Our daughter is 3 weeks old and we are taking a day trip to the beach. We will be there for about 3-4 hours. We bought a big umbrella to keep her in the shade, can we put sunscreen on her? Also what else do you recommend? Can you really get sunburnt even under a shade? We also got a battery operated fan to make sure she doesn't get too hot.

hlm184

Thanks for the tips, we're heading to the beach when DS is a little more than a month old.  Found some cute wide-brimmed hats at Once Upon a Child to go with the umbrella.

Smores730

You can get burnt in the shade. We bought a uv rash guard shirt

Mustardseed2007

You have an umbrella so it's probably fine but just throwing out there that they also sell little enclosed tent things or the beach. A friend of ours has one and we used it when we went to the beach and ds was 6 months. It was really good at blocking the sun and also sand kicked up by heavy winds.
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ksulli

A lot of sun reflects off the water & sand, so even if the umbrella has SPF in it you still get sun in the shade.

Avion22

Ditto the reflection off the sand and water.   Cotton clothing and even a muslin blanket won't offer a ton of protection either (better than nothing, but still not great).   Ask your pedi about sunscreen.   Honestly the last place I'd want to take a newborn is the beach.  Sand + diaper changed = miserable.

Megczapla

A friend of mine took her daughter to the beach when she was just about 3 months old. They kept her clothed and under the umbrella the entire time. The sun reflected off the sand and sunburned her exposed skin. They just had to watch it peel in the weeks after. The poor babe!!! Just be super careful and keep that babe covered!!!!