Living in a Sunny Climate -- Caring for Toddler Porcelain Skin

I'm a redhead and all of my kids have blonde hair and blue eyes, so I feel your pain. It's ok to let him get a little color, it's ok for him to be exposed to the sun. You just don't want him to burn, that's what damages the skin, not the tanning.
Keep him out of direct sunlight during the worst of it, 10am-3pm, but otherwise he should be fine. You want the melanin in his skin to show up, it's protecting him, you also want the sun to get to his skin, he needs it to make Vitamin D. Have him wear a hat and keep his shoulders covered, that will reduce the risks the most.

More importantly...your son NEEDS vitamin D! Do not block it out all the time. If you do use sunscreen for swimming, beach, etc make sure its organic like California Baby or something similiar so he does not soak in toxins that can hurt him in the future. People underestimate the huge connection between Vitamin D and developmental issues, MS, ADHD, and so many diseases!

The sun is life; our primary source of energy...it is true that exposig to it in excess is very bad but avoid it so extremely is bad too....all livebeings need it. Excess of chemicals of the sun blocks can´t be good also (have you read the ingredients of the sun blocks?). Excess is bad in both sizes. Every human being has its arms or face or legs darker than the parts of the skin that is always covered like the tummy or the private parts around. My skin on the outer zone of my arm is darker than the inner side of it! It is normal! Let your son´s skin get used very slowly to the sun, so it will be able to be outside like a normal person in the world. Over protect his skin makes it week. Also this over protection gives a mesage to your son that the sun is bad, being outside is bad, I am soo week, and this is the worst part. The sun before 10 am and after 4 pm is ok. Don´t be so afraid when his skins turn a little red or a bit more, this is normal proces of getting used to the sun, protect him but be carefull of the extrems that are so bad! and don´t be afraid of nothing in life, have confidence, use always common sense.....good luck

a hat and good sun clothes are your best bet. a little bit of color is a good thing, it means he's getting enough sun to make vitamin D. please be cautious with sunscreen. if you are out in it and you can't use a physical block you've got to use it, but please don't make it a standard part of your regular daily routine. skin is so important, and sunscreen is composed entirely of chemicals. it's not a good combination.
khairete
S.

Sounds like you are doing great! New vitamin D research (just google it) finds that some sun exposure is absolutely mandatory for our bodies. It's more important than we've ever known previously. Doctors now recommend 20 minutes of sun exposure daily -- without sunblock so that the body can absorb it.

We also use spf 50 sun hats (scroll down to the bottom of the page): http://www.snugasabug.com/resultsor.cfm?sf1=Category&...

and rash guards w/ spf50 when in the water.

And don't forget the eyes! Just bought some of these for my daughter; actually found them on Ebay, brand new, for half the price than what is listed on the Baby Banz site: http://www.babybanz.com/ Our daughter adores them!

Hi, We live in Florida and my daughter is very light skinned, blonde, blue eyes. She spends A LOT of time at the beach/pool and the best sunscreen I have found is Blue Lizard. My dermatologist recommended is and it is amazing! She never burns, I rarely need to re-apply and it is not greasy. It is a little more expensive but you don't need to use as much so it lasts longer. I used to be able to find it a CVS but last time is wasn't there so I ordered from drugstore.com. You can read the reviews there, too- it is excellent. I have gotten all my friends and family to use it now and they say the same.

Of course your child will have some color on exposed skin, specially if you compare it with his tummy or any other part that's under his clothing. You say yourself that you spend maybe a couple of hours every day at the park. Just be careful to do this before 10 am and always using sunblock (even in shady areas). We all need some sunshine, it is the best source of vitamin D, so helpful for the absortion of vitamin C.

You're doing a great job! Keep up the good work!!

I was just gonna say, one) sunglasses are good for the eyes. Especially if they have light colored ones.

And also, some times our babies get red literally just from the heat outside. So it may not even be sun. My fair skinned childs cheeks turned pink, but after inside a while they lightened up.

Sun is good, just not too much. And shade eyes and NOSE.