outdoor protections

leesa031906 · May 2013

what's a good sunblock / bug repllent i can use? Also are there some other items i need for outdoors?

atrinh11 · May 2013

My pedi recommended Vanicream for sunscreen. Mainly because the active ingredient is zinc oxide. I have the Honest Company sunscreen, which is also zinc oxide. It is a bit greasy in my opinion, but I guess it is better than some of the other chemicals used in other sunscreens.

As for bug repellent, I would suggest trying something with the active ingredient Picaridin (unless you want to go the natural route). I happen to work in the "insecticide" world, and I can tell you, we have never been able to make a natural repellent truly work, so you might be disappointed. Picaridin is an active that has been used in years in Europe, but is fairly new in the US. Check out the Avon Skin so Soft bug repellents. Some of those have Picaridin in them, and I know it is labeled as safe for kids.

With both sunscreen and bug spray, it is not about brand, but more about active ingredients. Learn about the safest actives for each and find products that use those.

As for other items for outdoors, our pedi just said to get UPF 50 clothing to protect LO's skin from the sun. Lots of brands have UPF 50, so look for the tag. She just said to keep him covered in the sun, and he should never get tan lines. If he does, he has had too much sun on his skin.

I hope that helps, Good luck!

karkissy09 · May 2013

We use BabyGanics from Target for Sunscreen. We haven't looked into bug repellant yet.

ExcitedMum2B · May 2013

I looked at this list for sunscreens recently

https://www.ewg.org/2013sunscreen/

and discovered my Aveeno baby was terrible by their standards. I'm trying to find the Balm Baby in a store to buy before we start hitting the pool.

fusionbride · May 2013

I just ordered Babyganics sunscreen and insect repellant. I haven't tried them yet, and prefer to avoid situations where baby is in full sun or attacked by bugs. But want to have them on hand incase I end up in one of those situations unexpectedly.