Summer vacation is just around the corner, meaning kids will soon be participating in activities, such as sports and camps, many of which take place outdoors. As such, parents should be prepared to protect their little ones by stocking up on sunscreen to protect them from exposure to harmful sunrays.

When looking for sunscreen, it can be extremely difficult to choose the best option for your child as there are a huge variety of brands on store shelves, each with different descriptions and numbers. To help you make an appropriate selection, your North Valley pediatricians would like to offer the following sunscreen guidelines for your consideration:

  • Broad Spectrum. To help narrow down your choices, pediatrics doctors recommend that you always select a broad spectrum sunscreen. These types will help to provide the best overall protection against both types of harmful ultraviolet rays, which include UVA and UVB.
  • Sunburn Protection Factor (SPF). The SPF tells you the amount of protection provided against UVB rays specifically, which are the rays that cause burning. For example, a bottle with SPF 15 tells us that a person can be exposed to the sun 15 times longer than someone that hasn’t applied this sunscreen before they start to burn. Pediatricians in Phoenix AZ recommend that you choose an SPF with a minimum of 30 for your child.
  • UVA Protection. While there is no rating used for UVA rays, which are the rays that cause aging of the skin, there are products that can offer protection from these harmful rays. North Valley pediatricians recommend choosing sunscreens that contain any of the following: avobenzone, ecamsule and zinc oxide.
  • Water Resistant/Water Proof. To ensure that sunscreen stays on and protects your child while they play outdoors, especially while swimming, it is important that you select a water resistant or water proof sunscreen. Water resistant sunscreens maintain their protection levels for approximately 40 minutes upon immersion in water. After this time, it is necessary to reapply in order to stay protected from the sun. Water proof sunscreens last a little longer, with a time of about 80 minutes.

Keeping the above guideline in mind will help you to select the best sunscreen for protection of your family while outdoors this summer.

In addition to sunscreen, also make sure that you keep up with the recommended schedule for well child check ups. If it is time for your child to receive one of his or her annual well child checkups, put your trust in the hands of the expert pediatrics doctors of Pediatrix, a highly regarded pediatrician in Phoenix AZ. At Pediatrix, our highly qualified, experienced pediatrics doctors will carefully check all components of your child’s health to ensure that they are healthy and able to participate safely in activities year round, including the summer months.  To schedule an appointment with one of our fantastic North Valley pediatricians, call Pediatrix at (602) 866-0550 or contact us online.