Suncream

[Guest]

Enjoying the sunshine but have a question.

 

We have recently gone from a sessional pre-school to full day care and with the hot weather we have parents ask if we can apply suncream (that they have provided). What is the procedure? Do we get each parent to sign, giving us permission?

 

Thanking you

Scottiedog

[AnonyMouse_13453]

That's the easiest way. We buy some suncream and make sure parents know what we're using and if they don't like it, they provide their own and it lives in their child's tray.

[Guest]

We've added a column to our daily tick list to actually have parents confirm they have applied it that day. Then they can supply their own if they wish us to add more on longer days.

[AnonyMouse_19135]

I sent home a form along the lines of

 

I give permission for a member of staff to apply suncream to my child ********** when needed. I agree to provide a named bottle of suncream which will be with my child for each session.

 

 

We then have a box out in the foyer that the parents put the sun cream in and they know that if they haven't provided sun cream and their child has not had any put on before the session that they won't be going outside.

 

It's working really well and the parents are really happy that we will apply it for them

[AnonyMouse_7172]

We supply suncream to do 'top ups' during the day but when parents drop off at the beginning of sessions we ask if they have 'done' their child with the suncream - if they say no we give them one of our bottles and ask then to do it there and then [it takes too long for us to do all the children first thing before they go out; not so bad with topping up]. Parents can supply their own cream if they want to as well.

 

pw xx

[AnonyMouse_25331]

Doesn't really answer your question but I thought readers might be interested to see the response from Pre-school Learning Alliance when I asked about this issue last year. We had always asked parents to apply and provide their own suncream but I wanted to check what the 'procedure' was....

 

 

Childcare providers have a responsibility for the well-being of the children, so you must take measures to protect the children from the effects of the sun. If parents have signed a form to give consent for staff to apply sun cream to their child then there is no requirement to prevent staff doing so.

 

Parents can be asked to apply cream for their child at home before they attend the session (factor 15 or above) and to bring in a bottle of sun cream for their child so that it can be re-applied as the protection wears off. Children should be encouraged where possible to apply their own sun cream, with help from staff. It is also good to keep a spare supply of cream in the setting in case parents forget to bring their own. I would recommend that you talk to parents to find out whether there are any sun creams that their children have a reaction to before purchasing a cream for the setting.

 

You should also consider other sun protection measures, such as:

 

§ Ensuring children are not exposed to sun for long periods of time – e.g. consideration is given to times of the day when children will be outside, or that the premises allows for shaded areas to be provided.

 

§ Asking parents to bring in sun hats, long sleeved shirts and wraparound sun glasses.

 

§ Ensuring children do not dehydrate by providing water to drink.

 

SunSmart, a project by Cancer Research, has produced guidance for early years settings on sun protection and developing a policy. Further information can be found on their website http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/images/pd...idelines_07.pdf

[AnonyMouse_8466]

My parents sign a declaration to say that they will ensure they put suncream on their child before leaving them with us, and giving permission for us to reapply as necessary. They also sign to say that they have checked the ingredients of our suncream and will notify us if their child is allergic to any of the ingredients, in which case they supply their own.

 

One of my parents signed the slip but wrote "I think this is totally ridiculous" on the form - he was of the opinion that these things should just happen without needing to get parental agreement for every little thing! Perhaps he wouldn't have been so gung ho if his child had sensitive skin!

 

Maz

[AnonyMouse_19762]

One of my parents signed the slip but wrote "I think this is totally ridiculous" on the form - he was of the opinion that these things should just happen without needing to get parental agreement for every little thing! Perhaps he wouldn't have been so gung ho if his child had sensitive skin!

 

Maz

 

How rude and actually how ignorant - nothing ridiculous about it.......

 

We are 3 hours only, so I ask parents to apply before pre-school, on days like today (amazing hot in sunny Kent) I also wave a bottle of sunscreen about at 'meet and greet' just in case anyone has forgotten - I also request - shoulders covered and sunhats too - we start our session with outdoor play when it's really hot and sunny (can't freeflow ) - before the sun is too high.........

[AnonyMouse_8466]

How rude and actually how ignorant - nothing ridiculous about it.......

Not at all - perhaps it was the way I explained it. He was just complaining at the society we've become - in that we feel we need parental permission to carry out basic caring for our children to protect ourselves from complaints and/or litigation.

 

Maz

[AnonyMouse_19762]

Not at all - perhaps it was the way I explained it. He was just complaining at the society we've become - in that we feel we need parental permission to carry out basic caring for our children to protect ourselves from complaints and/or litigation.

 

Maz

Oh well - fair enough I suppose!

[AnonyMouse_30128]

i'm sure i'm preaching to the converted but you have to apply suncream at least half an hour before going out in the sun.......just to complicate matters!!!

[AnonyMouse_8466]

i'm sure i'm preaching to the converted but you have to apply suncream at least half an hour before going out in the sun.......just to complicate matters!!!

Ours says it should be applied 15 minutes before going outside.

 

Maz

[AnonyMouse_9650]

We too ask parents to apply suncream before children attend that day and it never ceases to amaze me how many "forget" even when blisteringly hot like yesterday.

 

We don't provide sun cream and after today I'm quite pleased we don't as have had at least six children who have had severe allergic reactions to their own suncreams even those that have been used for a couple of years. One child with severe eczema has also had a bad reaction to the cream he could tollerate and is now having to do a 24 hour patch test for a new GP prescribed one.

 

We also ask for sun hats at this time of year and again it is surprising how many people won't leave one or "forget" so have provided some v. unfashionable spares.

 

We free flow from first thing but when it's very warm and sunny do have periods of "indoors" time in the cool and the shade and lots of drinks.

 

Must however enjoy it while we can - it'll be raining soon enough!

[AnonyMouse_13532]

We used to ask parents to apply before dropping off and we would re-apply during the sessions (3.5 hours), all with signed permission slips and the parents supplied named cream which we kept in a box.

 

There were so many children coming in and saying that they hadnt been creamed that we had to apply cream to upwards of 20 children before allowing them outside, which was getting very long winded. And then there were the few which didnt require creaming because their parents used the 12 hour cream and they wondered why they werent included in the group creaming

 

So seeing how effecting the 12 hour cream was, we now ask all parents to apply this before entering the setting. We have 32 children and have not had one complaint about cost, as we know this cream can be quite expensive. Thankfully the parents understand that we are just trying to keep their child safe no matter what the cost.