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Kids Beach Cover Ups by Terry Rich
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One of the most critical needs for a good kids cover-up is for sun protection. Let's forget the actual swimming for the moment and talk about the time before and after the water - when kids are hanging out, playing games or running off to the shop for an ice-cream.
Now unfortunately young kids find it a challenge to carry a towel around with them. And even if they do they won't wrap it around their body to protect them from the sun. In reality they will likely drag it along behind them or drop it somewhere. Nor will they put on clothes over wet swimmers (you wouldn't either!). What they will do is just as kids do which is run all about the place in their swimmers. And that's OK and for a short time but as their parents and guardians it is us that also need to consider the sun and their skin.
So here are a few points for consideration:
 Kids skin is very delicate and sensitive AND it burns far easier and quicker than adult skin. It also carries the damage long term. Did you know that most of the skin damage we have as adults is a result of over exposure to sun as kids. So the freckles, the wrinkles and the skin cancers are most often traced back to sun exposure as a child. It is true.
Is is also true that sunscreen washes off in water and with sweat. Some products are better than others in staying put when wet, but they all loose some protection after in water and with sweat. That is why the directions always say 'reapply after swimming'. And we should. But practice shows that we don't do this as often as we should. We just forget from time to time (well I know I do). The other unfortunate truth is that it is very hard to apply sunscreen when skin is damp or wet. The cream just slides along but does not go in. So you end up wiping the sunscreen all over their skin with very little of it going in. For reapplication to be effective skin must be nice and dry - which it is not easy when they have just climbed out of the water.
Lastly, skin and sun experts always advise us to stay out of the summer sun during the hottest times of the day - between 11:00am and 3:00pm usually. This is very good advice, but unless you live next to the beach or happen to love early morning or late afternoon swimming, then this is hard to achieve unfortunately. When we are having a day at the beach we usually get there about 11:00am, have a great day splashing about and then about 3:00pm we head home! We're not trying to defy the sun advice, but it's just the way a day like that pans out. So we end up being in the sun during the hottest, most damaging sun periods of the day. And it's summer - naturally!
The point of all this is straightforward. We are responsible for our kids skin and it is very important to protect it. And this is why we suggest a good kids cover-up is a mandatory beach and pool accessory for all young kids. A cover-up that cover's their skin and is made from a suitable fabric that offers protection from both UVA and UVB sun rays and radiation.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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