BabyFamily & Relationship

Preventing Baby Sunburns with Banana Boat Sunscreen

A little girl holding a baby

Babies have an elevated risk of experiencing sunburn. First and foremost, their skin is tender, soft, and does not yet have the natural protection that the skin of older children will have formed. Secondly, because parents have become aware of the fact that bundling up their little ones is actually unhealthy, more skin is left uncovered and thus accessible to the sun’s rays. Finally, a good many sunscreen products are not made with infants in mind and are actually not recommended for use on the skin of babies six months of age or younger.

What’s a mom to do?

Head for the sunscreen section in your local mega mart and take a look at what Banana Boat sunscreen has to offer for the tender skin of babies. You will notice that for infants there are three options: you may choose the lotion, spray or pump spray. Each is tear-free and measures in at SPF 50.

Banana Boat Baby Tear-Free Sunblock Lotion SPF 50

The main ingredient is titanium dioxide which provides the barrier between baby’s sensitive skin and UVA as well as UVB rays. As such, it is hypoallergenic and not known to cause any outbreaks, rashes, or other undesirable side effects. Since it is waterproof, your little one can play in and out of the water and still be protected. Best of all, it is fragrance free, which leaves mom to enjoy that incomparable “baby smell” that cannot be bottled and disappears only too soon as the little one gets older.

Banana Boat Tear-Free Pump Spray SPF 50

The spray is pretty much the same as the lotion. It is easier to apply than the lotion, especially with squirming infants who are too busy to hold still and dutifully let mom apply the sunscreen that will protect their skin. Since the spray goes on white, mom can tell where she sprayed.

Banana Boat Baby Tear-Free Sunblock SPF 50 Continuous Lotion Spray

This is the one product that carries the warning that moms should talk to their pediatrician before using it on babies younger than six months. Additionally, it only comes in a six ounce spray bottle and therefore is not that great of a value when compared to the other products which come in eight ounce packages.

One word of warning

Hypoallergenic does not imply that the product is free of any components that could cause an allergic reaction in your baby! Instead, it simply refers to the fact that known allergens were eliminated in the production of Banana Boat baby sunscreens. It is still recommended practice to perform a little patch test and rub only a minute portion of the substance on your child’s upper arm and then wait a few hours to see how the skin will react.