Although many people think a suntan looks healthy, the link between sunlight and skin cancer has been proven. Research suggests that two or more cases of severe sunburn at an early age can increase the risk of skin cancer later on.

Even in Britain, babies should not go outside without sun protection from the middle of April to the end of September. Pale-skinned children are at risk of sun damage after only five minutes of sunshine .
Hats

Look for a hat that has a brim at the front and a flap at the back to shield your baby’s neck. Otherwise, go for one with a wide brim all the way round. It is never too early to start getting your baby used to wearing one. If you suddenly jam one on him in toddlerhood, the chances are that it will not be received well and a major strop will ensue.

Protective clothing

Between 11am and 3pm on sunny days, T-shirts are essential as shoulders are particularly vulnerable and burn quickly. Look for loose-fitting ones made of closely woven cotton. If you go to the seaside, make sure your child keeps on a T-shirt while splashing around in the water, and change him into a dry one when he’s finished.

The high-tech, and more costly, alternative is brightly coloured sun protection suits made of lycra or a lycra and nylon mix. These block out more than 80 per cent of harmful UVA rays, much more than a T-shirt can. They also dry quickly and can be worn in and out of the water.

Sunglasses

Sunglasses for children may seem a luxury, but they do protect their eyes from the sun, and children should be encouraged to wear them from the age of six months. Make sure they protect against both UVA and UVB rays and that they conform to the safety standard (BS EN 1836:2005). These will cost a little more, but cheaper versions may actually harm your child’s eyes instead of protecting them.

Look out for sunglasses with a rubber strap that fits comfortably around the back of your child’s head, as they’re more likely to stay on.

Sun creams

Opt for creams or sprays specially formulated for your baby’s skin because adult creams may cause irritation. Choose one that has a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. Some companies make tinted sun creams, so that you can see if you have missed a bit.

If you want to make sun protection more fun for your child, once you’ve applied sun cream carefully to his face, use some more to draw warrior stripes.

Canopies and parasols for buggies

A canopy tends to offer more protection than a parasol, which needs adjusting as the sun moves around. Check that the canopy or parasol fits onto your type of buggy before you buy. If in doubt, find a version that will adjust to fit all models. Alternatively, choose an elasticated UV sun cover. These are made of dark, synthetic mesh and cover the whole seat area of the buggy so your baby is totally protected.

To avoid extra hassle, make sure that you can open and close your buggy easily once the parasol is attached.

Beach cabanas

These pop-up shelters are made of nylon stretched on an aluminium frame and fold into a compact bag when not in use. They screen out up to 97 per cent of UV rays, and provide somewhere for your little one to sleep, eat his lunch or just take a break from the sun.

It’s worth even packing your cabana on cool days because they act as fantastic windbreaks. They come in baby or family sizes. Family-sized cabanas are pricier, but you’ll get many more holidays out of them.

Natural Baby Body Lotion By Mom’s Skincare

Mom’s Light Baby Moisturizer is a pure and gentle baby lotion for mom’s who know best. This light moisturizing baby body lotion is made from the purest natural oils and vitamin rich plant extracts to protect and nurture your baby’s skin – and your skin as well. Essential oils offer a pleasant natural scent of Rosemary, Lavender, and Chamomile.

Unconditional Love, Water, Aloe, Vegetable Glycerin, Fractionated Coconut Oil, Coconut Stearic Acid, Chamomile Flower Extract, Calendula Flower Extract, Cabbage Rose Water, Cucumber Fruit Extract, Shea Butter, Jojoba Seed Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Evening Primrose Oil, Avocado Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Allantoin, Beeswax, Xanthan Gum, Lavender Oil, Grapefruit Peel Oil, Rosemary Oil, Carbomer, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate (Salt Based Preservative)

“Our R&D team has created a great natural skincare product which we are proud to launch in the natural skincare market. The light baby lotion is ideal to replace the more synthetic based baby lotions on the market which use petroleum and waxes that can be dangerous for a young child”, Josh Mazur, Mom’s Skincare.

About Mom’s Skincare
Mom’s Skincare is a natural skin care company for mothers, babies, children, and family. Based in Southern California, the company developed a unique line of natural skincare products which incorporate a holistic approach to safe, natural, and nurturing skin care. Each product has been carefully developed with parents, dermatologists, organic chemists, and skin care experts to offer a distinctive blend of natural ingredients. For more information please visit (www.momsskincare.com)

Pay special attention to your baby’s comfort at night. “Overheating at night is more of a serious issue,” says Hartshorn. “It doesn’t just cause a rash, it can make it hard for the baby to breathe.” Instead of covering your baby with a blanket, which can pose a suffocation risk as well, try dressing your baby in footed pajamas or a wearable blanket. These blankets, which have a zipper up the front and arm holes, allow free movement, but keep baby just warm enough so that he or she doesn’t overheat.

Many babies get rashes in the winter, and they often pop up if the baby is overheated. In the summer, letting your baby run around naked for a bit will help. In the winter, however, you don’t have this option because it’s too cold. When the air gets chilly, Hartshorn suggests, “A nice warm bath in just plain water, or something with a real mild baby wash.” Using an oatmeal-based formula will help take the itch away. After they’re warm and dry, apply a petroleum-based cream on the affected area. This acts as a barrier against the elements and helps the rash to heal.

Babies are also faced with chapped lips and faces in the winter. With their little nose running and their mouth drooling, a child’s face is both cold and wet, which can accelerate chapping. In addition to wiping their face often with a clean tissue or cloth, try applying a little diaper rash cream. This, while a little surprising, helps heal the chapped lips and face and prevents future chapping as well.

Protect your baby’s skin suggestions:

• Make sure your child isn’t too close when you are preparing hot foods or brewing hot liquids.
• Avoid using a tablecloth, as a toddler could pull it and be burned by falling hot objects.
• Don’t heat infant formula in the microwave, as it may heat unevenly and burn baby.
• For older children, check the temperature of microwaved foods to make sure they’re not too hot.
• Check the temperature of bath water before immersing your child. Set your water heater to no higher than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Sun-safe habits should begin in childhood and last a lifetime.

Build safe sun habits into your family’s daily routine and show them how you protect your skin. Children respond better when they watch their parents.

Begin by teaching them:

1. Slip on a shirt
2. Slop on sunscreen with SPF15 or higher
3. Slap on a hat.

These actions are designed to reduce exposure to sunlight and therefore minimise the risks involved.

Further advice is to avoid exposure to the sun when it is at its strongest – between mid-day and three in the afternoon. When you think about it, this is the traditional time when many Mediterranean countries have lunch followed by a siesta – both taken indoors thereby avoiding the worst effects of the sun. So plan outdoor activities around this time.

How it Works

This soothing diaper ointment is rich with vitamins A and E to help nourish baby’s skin, while chamomile moisturizes and soothes. Sweet almond oil and beeswax, natural barriers, seal moisture into your baby’s most sensitive skin. Phthalate- and paraben-free.

How to Use It

Cleanse your baby’s skin and pat dry before applying ointment to diapered area.

Featured Ingredient

Sweet Almond Oil — Cold pressed from the dried kernels of the almond tree, this medium-weight oil is rich in proteins and vitamin D, and is excellent for the skin and nails.

Read more

Ingredients: Prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, zinc oxide, beeswax, lavandula hybrida (lavandin) oil, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil, tocopherol, lavendula angustifolia (lavender) oil, anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower extract, calendula officinalis flower extract, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, canola oil, glycine soja (soybean) oil

There was a ….”93 percent agreement among studies that spanking can lead to such problems as delinquent and anti-social behavior in childhood along with aggression, criminal and anti-social behavior and spousal or child abuse as an adult.

“There was a ….”93 percent agreement among studies that spanking can lead to such problems as delinquent and anti-social behavior in childhood along with aggression, criminal and anti-social behavior and spousal or child abuse as an adult.

The researchers suggested that children whose parents spanked, slapped, hit or threw objects at them may have a greater chance of physically or verbally coercing a sexual partner, engaging in risky sexual behavior or engaging in masochistic sex, including sexual arousal by spanking. The researchers warned, however, that this is not a one-to-one or causal relationship.”

If you are a regular to our site, then odds are you are an attachment parenting type who does not need a lecture on why to avoid spanking. If you are visiting however, you may still subscribe to the “spare the rod” mentality. Positive discipline is actually less stressful for both the parents and the children. Not only is it in keeping with the basic golden rule but it also teaches children from the beginning that violence is not an answer to your relationship problems. It does not take a leap of logic to see how a child who is physically hurt by the ones they love will grow up to equate pain with love.

A common misconception of positive discipline and attachment parenting in general is that kids can do whatever they want to with no discipline or boundaries. The opposite is in fact true. The cornerstone of effective positive discipline is fast, swift and consistent boundaries no matter what your actual technique for dealing with the situation. The child learns that there is a consequence to their action from their first tantrum or act of defiance. That consequence may be a naughty chair or time out but they will learn that something happens every time they are naughty. They learn not to be naughty without being physically assaulted by the people who are supposed to be protecting them.

For a great read, check out the Love and Logic series by Jim Fay. They are fantastic books offering real life advice and easy to follow examples that can get you started on a positive discipline path and regain control over your home even if your children are already teenagers. The books are highly recommended and they really work. Whatever you do, don’t hit your kid unless you really want to play roulette with his or her adult life.

Typically organic food contains higher levels of vitamin C enzymes and essential minerals such as calcium (63 percent higher), magnesium (118 percent higher), iron (73 percent higher) and chromium, cancer-fighting antioxidants and being 29 percent lower in mercury. Feeding the soil with organic matter instead of ammonia and other synthetic fertilizers has proven to increase nutrients in produce, with higher levels of vitamins and minerals found in organic food, according to the 2005 study, “Elevating Antioxidant levels in food through organic farming and food processing,” Organic Center State of Science Review (1.05)

2. Taste Better and Truer Flavor

Scientists now know what we eaters have known all along – organic food often tastes better. It makes sense that food taste more appetizing when raised in naturally in nature, but researchers at Washington State University just proved this as fact in lab taste trials where the organic fruits were consistently judged as sweeter. It makes sense that chemicals are not going to taste like mother nature provided. Organic produce is often lower in nitrates and higher in antioxidants than conventional food. A number of top chefs choose organic, and every year many are involved in the Soil Association’s Organic Food Awards.

3. High standards 

Organic food comes from trusted sources. All organic farms and food companies are inspected at least once a year. The standards for organic food are laid down in European, US and Canadian law. Genetically modified (GM) crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards as well as MSG and other provin toxins. Organic is the only de facto seal of reassurance against these and other modern, lab-produced additions to our food supply, and the only food term with built in inspections and federal regulatory teeth.

4. Build Healthy Soil

Mono-cropping and chemical fertilizer dependency has taken a toll with a loss of top soil estimated at a cost of $40 billion per year in the U.S., according to David Pimental of Cornell University. Add to this an equally disturbing loss of micro nutrients and minerals in fruits and vegetables.

5. Our Food Source Delima

There is growing concern about the high use of antibiotics on farm animals and the possible effects on human health. Soil Association standards prohibit the routine use of antibiotics. Animal welfare is taken very seriously under organic standards. The benefits of the organic approach are acknowledged by animal welfare organizations such as Compassion in World Farming as well as the UK and US government.

6. Kinder to Our Earth

The UK government has said that it is better for wildlife, causes lower pollution from sprays, produces less carbon dioxide – the main global warming gas – and less dangerous wastes.

7. Avoids Pesticides 

Over 400 chemical pesticides are routinely used in conventional farming and residues are often present in non-organic food. The UK government has recently found high levels of pesticide residues in baby food, spinach, dried fruit, bread, apples, celery, and chips. Chemicals kill.

8. Promote Biodiversity

Visit an organic farm and you’ll notice see a buzz of animal, bird and insect activity. These organic oases are thriving, diverse habitats. Native plants, birds and hawks return usually after the first season of organic practices; beneficial insects allow for a greater balance, and indigenous animals find these farms a safe haven. Organic farmers bring balance back into farming were all aspects of the farm building for the future crop and soil. Support Organic farms – they feed us and we want them around for a long time. According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, as of 2006 there are approximately 10,000 certified organic producers in the U.S. compared to 2500 to 3,000 tracked in 1994. People are taking charge of their own health.

9. Protect Future Generations

Reduce toxic load on humans and the planet. Before children are even born the toxic risk from pesticides has already begun. Studies show that infants are exposed to hundreds of harmful chemicals in utero. In fact, our nation is now reaping the results of four generations of exposure to agricultural and industrial chemicals, whose safety was deemed on adult tolerance levels, not on children’s. According to the National Academy of Science, “neurologic and behavioral effects may result from low-level exposure to pesticides.” Numerous studies show that pesticides can adversely affect the nervous system, increase the risk of cancer, and decrease fertility. Buying organic food promotes a less toxic environment for all living things. With only 0.5 percent of crop and pasture land in organic, according to USDA that leaves 99.5 percent of farm acres in the U.S. at risk of exposure to noxious agricultural chemicals.

10. It’s Important – Your Important 

We need to support companies that support us. Organic companies are on the cutting edge of product supply for the aware consumer and if we use our consumer power to support them they are more likely to thrive and add additional products and services to their offering. We do make a difference – every purchase says “yes I want pure products on my plate and in my cosmetic bag”.  It’s important – you’re important.