ONE OF THE country’s main children’s hospitals has issued a plea to parents to keep their children safe during the ongoing heatwave. Temple Street Children’s University Hospital has seen a spike in the number of children presenting with sunburn since the beginning of the heatwave. The ongoing sunny weather, which is already causing issues with water supplies around the country, is expected to last for at least another week. Temple Street has seen six cases of children with serious sunburn since the fine weather began. All were aged older than four.“If you think your baby or child has been affected by overexposure to the sun, for example, if the baby or child appears dizzy, weak or is complaining of intense thirst or a headache, please go to your GP or local Emergency Department without delay as this could be an indication of heatstroke which can develop very suddenly and rapidly and is extremely dangerous,” said consultant in emergency medicine at Temple Street Dr Ike Okafor. The following is the hospital’s advice for keeping children safe during the heatwave.
Always keep babies under six months in the shade make use of shade that is around you and use extra shade for prams and strollers as needed make sure the shade casts a dark shadow make sure babies are covered up: Dress babies in loose-fitting outfits with long sleeves and long shorts. Make sure they are made from a close-woven material that does not allow sunlight through babies are kept in the shade and covered with clothes you will only need to use a small amount of sunscreen on the areas not covered with clothes. This can be reapplied every two hours choose a sunscreen that is made for children and babies. Make sure to patch test it on their skin first. If their skin reacts to the product stop using it straight away, and try a different brand offer the baby plenty of cool drinks keep your living space as cool as possible keep windows that are exposed to the sun closed during the day, and open windows at night when the temperature has dropped. Close curtains that receive morning or afternoon sun and turn off non-essential lights and electrical equipment they generate heat
Where possible keep children out of the sun between 11am and 3pmKeep older children safe by following the SunSmart Code, especially children with pale or freckled skin that does not tan or burns before it tans, children with red or fair hair and/ or a large number of molesting a hat a baby or child likes to wear. Make sure it has a wide brim that gives shade to the face, neck, head and ears. A tie under the chin may stop them from taking it off it is important that children, as soon as they can, wear wrap-around sunglasses that give UV protection only use sunscreen on those areas of the skin that cannot be protected by clothes or a hate Sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher and UVA protection choose a sunscreen (sprays, lotions, creams and mists) that the child likes usingPut plenty of it on dry skin 20 minutes before they go outside and reapply every two hours far as it is possible to plan outdoor events so that children can be in the shade when UV rays are at their strongest from 11am to 3pmOffer children plenty of cool drinks keep your living space as cool as possible
Matt Connolly5y
Quick, an opportunity to go tut, tut, wag your finger and act smug.
Ruth Corbally5y
@Matt Connolly: in fairness though in this day and age we all know the dangers of sun exposure. You can get perfectly good cream in Lidl and Aldi for next to nothing so there’s no excuse. Letting yourself get sunburnt is idiotic- not protecting your child is just wrong. 1 bad sunburn can have lasting consequences.
John Ryan@Ruth Corbally: As a kid, I was poxed by sunburn. I’d be wearing factor 50 and a t-shirt and still burn to the point where I’d have huge puss-filled blisters on my back. Some kids skin will just go from fine to “holy fu*k what happened” in seconds. Not all of it is due to negligent parents.
No excuse pure neglect I bet the parents are not burned like that. Get social services to take note. I am just back from Spain you would not know kids where away only really I had UV sets on kids they are 7 and 9 the number of kids burned as were wearing bikinis and swimsuits and in the pool all day the parents were not burned
Martin Sinnott6y
Give them an iPad or a phone between 11am and 3 pm should keep them indoors out of the sun