Burn Baby Burn!"Burn baby burn!" Hopefully, this won't happen to YOUR baby, but if it does and your little one gets a sunburn, you as a parent of course are going to want to treat it right away. None of us like to see our children suffer, and sunburns can be especially painful.
If at all possible, of course, make sure your baby doesn't burn to begin with. To that end, high SPF sunscreens specifically geared for children's sensitive skin are on the market, and you should use these with your child. Many of them are hypoallergenic and non-scented, so you can use them with relative abandon, providing, of course, that you don't get them in your child's eyes. Opt to reapply protection every couple of hours, especially if your child is going in the water and the sunscreen may wash off. (This is true, by the way, even with sunscreens that call themselves "water resistant.")
Unfortunately, even if you use sunburn prevention such as sunscreen, it may be the case that your child gets burned anyway. And if that's the case, "Burn baby burn" may become an unfortunate reality. If that's true, you want to soothe your child right away and take care of both the burn and the pain.
If the sunburn itself is mild, providing soothing relief with aloe vera gel should be all you need to soothe your child's burn so that he or she feels better. Check with your pediatrician and see if giving your child some children's pain reliever, such as children's ibuprofen or acetaminophen, may be in order.
If the burn is severe
If "burn baby burn" isn't just a saying but your child really does have a severe burn, such that the skin has begun to blister, make sure you take the child in to see the doctor right away. Very small children especially don't have the thermostatic function in their bodies that older people do, and can get very sick from a severe burn. So when in doubt, see your doctor, and especially do so if your child is still in pain even after a couple of hours, after you've given a pain reliever and used topical applications like aloe vera gel to try to soothe the pain, or if he or she is exhibiting other troublesome behavior, like lethargy, throwing up, and so on.
Finally, one note of caution is that "burn, baby, burn" may not just be temporary. Studies have shown that even one severe sunburn in childhood can greatly increase the risks of skin cancer later in life. So before your child ever gets a sunburn, slather on the sunscreen, and use other protection like sunglasses, hats, and longsleeved clothing to protect from the rays of the sun. Have fun, and above all, don't get burned. Top Go from this Burn Baby Burn's page to the Sunburn in Children's page. Sunburn Magazine's Home |
