First it was Alan. It took me a while to figure it out. Every time we were in the sun, he would break out in little pimples. I finally found out that he is violently allergic to sunscreen - every time I used a sunscreen on him, his skin broke out in an angry red rash. Apparently, it's not itchy; at least, he's never complained about that. But his face (arms, legs, what have you) gets puffy and pimply and feels like sandpaper for days. In truth, it seems to bother me more than him but I don't think it can be good for a little body to react like this.
He tans very easily, so I used physical blockers like hats, and avoided the harshest hours of the day. I could simply not find a good sunscreen for him. How can you test it when you know you are hurting your child? Every time I put sunscreen on him, I cringed inside. I would rather leave it away - who knew what bad late consequences the constant rashes could trigger? Then David had the exact same reaction - they are only 16 months apart, so timing was (not) on our side.
After lots of trial and error and lots of puffy faces, we ended up with California Baby sunscreen - a PABA-free, titanium oxide sunscreen that works really well for my kids. It comes in sticks and lotions and it works - what more do you want? I also used it on Jacob since we had it around and he never had a problem.
And you know what else? I forgot about it. This summer, the kindergarten asked to bring in sunscreen and I bought some sunscreen at the local drugstore and left it to use for David and Jacob. What the hey? Leah is ten months old, so the hormone-foggy-brain-excuse doesn't fly. I even had some CB sunscreen in the basement, leftovers from our consumables shipment. How stupid is that?
And the kindergarten teachers dutifully lathered David and Jacob in sunscreen. Now they both look like their cheeks had been exposed to harsh, harsh winter winds, all red and angry and cracked. I've long suspected that David is a nasal carrier for staphylococcus aureus as he's got a constant runny nose and frequent problems with impetigo -- abd now he's also breaking out in hives as the bacteria invade the open skin. I could kick myself, so angry am I with myself.
Resolution 1: Throw out old sunscreen, get more CB when in the US in two months. For ALL kids.
Resolution 2: Eradication therapy with David. I hate overzealous use of antibiotics but I can't have him break out in hives every other week, and whenever he has the smallest littlest scratch. That can't be good for his system either. Possibly, I will include Alan and Jacob as they have similar problems, if not as severe as David.
Ah. The joys of having children. The joy of being clueless. [Kick, kick, kick.]
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