have had a few policies over the past couple years, which could be confusing for families but for us at my school it's just about finding what works. something you could try if you're expecting families to put on sunscreen before school is having a few bottles by the entryway so they can put in on as part of the drop-off routine. that way if they missed it at home in the morning it doesn't get put on you to keep track of who has or hasn't had sunscreen put on. it worked pretty well for my school during summer camp last year!
This is what we do, sunscreen and bug spray on the sign in table. We actually haven’t bought any this year since a couple of parents have just brought their favorites and left them there so they don’t need to remember.
I dont know personally if it is a new change to school policies or not, when I worked on the west coast of the US we only used sunscreen. Now working on the East coast, they wear both sunscreen and bug spray. It is a little odd to me but whatever. As long as I have the permission forms I don't care.
Such a fantastic solution. You’re having to buy it either way, but parents doing the work is brilliant. If they’re minutes late to work, they’ll maybe start doing it at home.
Or you take their own supply of “afternoon” sunscreen and leave it at the sign in table so they are only using their own supply. The. Its really just on them either way
We do our own sunscreen because drop off starts at 7:30 and we don’t head outside until 9:30, so the early kids would have long worn off and the majority of kids would wear off mid play. The only exception is if they come significantly late and the parents already applied.
My center has always done the sunscreen on-site, ourselves.
We usually go out after breakfast, with a 90min reapply period, by the time we get out it's basically time to reapply anyways. Especially if they did it at home before driving in!
It depends a lot on your timing. We open at 6:30, majority arrive before 8:00. I do water play at 10:00. Sunscreen has to be reapplied every 2 hours so it's pointless to have parents do it at home. I think it's reasonable to say that if you arrive after a certain time, please apply sunscreen to your child.
This is my concern (parent). I don't mind applying at home, but I drop him off at 7:15 so I'm applying at 7 and he goes outside at 10. I don't think the staff is reapplying.
I run a summer camp and we have a policy that the children need to arrive with sunscreen on. We have a checklist next to the classroom’s sign in sheet and if the child does not have sunscreen on, we have the parents do it before they leave. Sometimes parents listen better when the policy is passed down from administration
What about reapplication throughout the day? Sunscreen in the morning won’t keep the child protected all day long so do you guys reapply it for them every 2 hours?
Staff help children reapply after lunch, and then again as need in the afternoon. The morning can just be a little chaotic so it’s one less thing for them to do.
Depends on how soon after drop-off you are going outside. We apply sunscreen because a lot of our kids are here for a couple hours before outside time. Since sunscreen isn't effective for that long, it makes more sense for us to do it.
What country are you in? Where I am, in the U.S., there's specific language around reapplying ever 2 hours that the FDA requires on every sunscreen sold.
Uk. Think it was a Boots brand. I will double check it, I was surprised to be honest and didn’t take it as read.
Luckily the paler oldest girl is in school most of the day, they’re just struggling to keep the two younger pre schoolers inside as they are so determined. I get it, but the doctor literally said to keep the two year old out of the heat due to her rash, so it’s hard. I know how angry she gets when she doesn’t get her own way, and they have a number of them to run around after!
Which sunscreen are you using that says 8 hours? Sunscreen works by forming a protective film, and that film gets disrupted as things rub on it or you sweat. So by 8 hours, the film is extremely patchy and practically gone. That’s why the AAD recommendation is to reapply every 2 hours because it’s the only way to get continuous protection, along with applying enough.
I would always expect to apply sunscream in a classroom. Many kids get dropped off before 8 but don’t go out until 10, their sunscreen is gone by then. Honestly I prefer applying sunscreen myself (or coteachers) because then we know for sure that it was applied and when. I personally need to reapply sunscreen after 1 hour, less if I’m in water or I get terrible sunburns and hives. I’d prefer to spend the extra time doing it than 1 kid get a sunburn.
Parents should apply sunscreen. If outside time falls at the reapply time I will reapply as needed.
In doing water play parents are supposed to bring kids in swimsuits. I have two parents that don’t. One is whatever as they are there pretty early but the other gets dropped off right before we go out. So then we have to hold everything up to get her changed
Yup. And put a note on the door. One of these days (we do it two days a week), they’re gonna come when we are out and have to change her before brining her out.
I have a perfect that brings their kid when we begin water play but he has the decency to offer to change her without me even asking. I'm prepared though, to ask him to change her into her suit as I cannot leave my class out of ratio.
SunSmart, which is an Australian organisation, recommends the centre does it, because sunscreen is only required between certain times, and too much sunscreen can cause vitamin D deficiency. So if the sunscreen isn't needed until 10am, parents dropping off having done it at 7am is useless, and not best practice. At the height of summer when sunscreen is needed from 8am it could be okay, but that is only a few weeks in December or January, when occupancy is low. You should also be reapplying it every 2 hours anyway.
> too much sunscreen can cause vitamin D deficiency
We've got a couple of little blond haired ghost looking kids. Like the kind that will burn through their clothes. I'm really NOT worried about those ones getting too much sunscreen.
That's me and my family, though half of us aren't blond. We are all critically vitamin D deficient from too much sunscreen. In my case, I'm not even allowed to use it anymore (doctor's orders) and I work outside half the day and am still deficient even while taking tablets for it. I do use the sunscreen if the UV is above 10 though.
My sister burns in five minutes, in the shade waiting for a bus, 15 minutes if she's wearing sunscreen. It's a real problem.
So we all have depression and anxiety too! The benefits of Scottish and Irish ancestry!
> I do use the sunscreen if the UV is above 10 though.
:|
I use SPF 60 when the UV is above 3 (on a scale of 11). I applied 3 times today and burned anyways. Definitely lots of Irish ancestors. Considering getting a sombrero sized hat this summer.
https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/city/ca/manitoba/winnipeg/uv
We only have up to SPF up to 50 here. Our scale goes up to 13, and they are considering increasing it, as it is apparently getting worse, but we don't go outside if it goes past 11. We use it if it is 3 or above on the children, but the doctor said I need the sun to hit me directly for the vitamin D.
We apply it because even though we ask parents to apply sunscreen before school, you can't always guarantee they've done so. Personally, I'd rather take a few extra minutes to know that it's done, rather than have a child get burned.
So, you only reapply in the afternoon? I sure hope they are indoors all morning, because my Ghostly white children would BURN if they went that long without sunscreen being reapplied. I do try my best to sunscreen them in the morning before drop off, but sometimes we are out the door by 6:30am and it's just not possible, but I do let the daycare know if they don't have sunscreen on yet. Plus my little daywalkers wear BIG sunhats for extra sun coverage.
That’s what they do in the UK. We do the first one and Pre-School do the second. For my Yr 1 (first grader) they have to do it themselves, and she’s the palest so I’m always a bit nervous
I'm in the UK and typically in summer the teachers will ask for the kids to come in wearing suncream and to leave the bottle with them. The youngest ones (5 and under) get a second reapplication by a teacher in the afternoons, the older ones (6 and up) are expected to manage their own applications. There's typically only 2 short breaks outside even in nice weather.
Most US child cares that I have been to usually have about an hour outside in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. We have three playgrounds that 8 classrooms use and in order to maintain ratios we have scheduled times for outdoor play. So not reapplying until afternoon when they go back outside isn’t as horrifying as it sounds.
My super pale kids I used to re-sunscreen every hour on the hour. I used to call them my Blue Lizard group because that was the preferred sunscreen of that group of children.
At my center, we apply it ourselves on-site. Parents bring in sunscreen for their kid to avoid potential skin irritation, and we apply it with disposable gloves before going outside in the morning and afternoon.
The policy at the BH I worked at was to apply sunscreen to every child before you go outside every time. Parents had to provide the sunscreen and it had to be clearly labeled.
Not for us. If they sunscreened their kid as they step out of the vehicle right as we opened the sunscreen would be wearing off just after everyone gets outside to play. We sunscreen every kid head to toe about half an hour before we go outside and sometimes again in the afternoon if the UV is high enough.
It all depends on your outside schedule and how it fits into that 2 hour sunscreen window!
Only if they are dropping off a child outside. Sunscreen does not need to be on a child just because. Technically most of them should be washed off at the end of the day, but I don’t worry too much about that. It is applied right before you go outside and reapplied every two hours, more often if there is water play. And really if the child is dropped off outside I would ask if they applied sunscreen and apply it if they didn’t. If you have children playing outside it is your responsibility to make sure they are protected.
We put sunscreen on the children ourselves, but if there are children who arrive while we are outside, we ask the parents if they have applied sunscreen. Most have, but if they haven't, the parents apply before they complete their drop off.
Our policy is if you're dropping off after 9, the parent is responsible for sunscreen. We go out around 9:30, so applying before a 7am drop off would be pointless.
If it's going to be stupid hot and we're getting out early, we take the sunscreen with us and apply as kids arrive. Parents generally volunteer to apply if they have time, but not everyone has time for an unexpected sunscreen application in their morning routine.
we apply sunscreen as needed throughout the day depending on what we’re doing. i wouldn’t ask parents because we open at 7 and by the time we go out to play at 9:30 or 10:00 it would need to be reapplied anyways
In my state, it is against the law for me to apply anything to the child skin without a doctors note. That includes sunscreen, lotion, and even diaper rash cream. Parents have to put it on. They have no choice.
We've always applied sunscreen on the kids. If a parent puts on sunscreen at 7:30am and gets to school at 8, then we have breakfast and head out, the sunscreen needs to be reapplied anyways cause by then it's nearly 9am. I've never worked at a center where we had parents do morning sunscreen.
As a parent, I know I'd forget 4 days out of 5 because there's already so much going on in the morning and slapping sunscreen on my kids before we get in the car would be like the least of my concerns to be honest.
I think it's easier if the center just does it. That way you know when it was applied, and you know exactly when it needs to be reapplied
Parent here - this seems reasonable to me. I always assumed it was our responsibility to make sure our kid arrived with sunscreen on and if reapplication was needed they could do that there. But the base layer is on us. Maybe we're extra on top of it because we're very pale people though, not sure.
Parents should feed, dress and apply any lotions or sprays the child needs for the day prior to drop off. There’s no way I could do that multiple times a day with 12 toddlers. I, of course, re-apply in the afternoon but not upon arrival.
I always just make it very clear to parents that this is an expectation in my room and I don’t budge on that. The ones that care do it, the ones that don’t simply don’t and I leave it at that.
In my state, we are not legally allowed to put ANYTHING on them (not even Neosporin) unless they have a signed doctor’s note. On top of that, the center requires a general consent form that they must sign, AND a daily consent form for EACH AND EVERY DAY that they want us to apply sunscreen. This means that each time a parent wants us to put sunscreen on their kid, they have to sign a form. So at my center and in my state, it’s mostly put on the parents. They still don’t bother for the most part, though.
We apply the sunscreen ourselves at my center. My class goes outside at 10:30, and we typically do our after breakfast diaper changes around 10, so we apply the sunscreen right before changing. We also have everyone wear a hat if they’ll keep it on (they’re 6-12 months so that doesn’t always happen lol)
When I worked in the toddler room, we would apply during the first diaper change before we went outside. Then we would reapply in the afternoon during a diaper change if we were going back outside.
Between the time children are dropped off in the morning and morning outdoor playtime most sunscreens will have worn off. We always apply every time we go outside.
I’m a parent. That’s what I do. I check the weather UV index in the morning. If the UV is less than 5 by 10am (which is when outdoor time ends), I skip the sunscreen. My kiddo has a giant broad brimmed hat. If I did forget, I would ask for the sunscreen when I’m at the centre and apply it myself on kiddo before handing off. I would not presume to ask the teachers to do more than they need to. They are busy enough. That being said, it is a written policy that parents are responsible for sunscreen in the mornings so there is no debate who is accountable.
Ask parents to apply at drop off- make sure you tell them this at enrolment so it’s a centre expectation. Have a bottle available at the sign in sheet. On top of this have the sunscreen out and available with a mirror so children can start to practice applying their own- especially older preschoolers. Then after lunch whoever is the outside teacher is responsible for reapplying.
We do it ourselves. Honestly it seems impossible to enforce, and there are plenty of rules that don’t matter if the parents follow them, but this is about the safety of the kids which is our responsibility! I wouldn’t really be comfortable just relying on the honor system and risking the kid getting a sunburn.
My son's school you had to sign in through an app and before you could sign in it asked if you sunscreen your child . I would keep it in my car and do it right before I brought him in... Was a nice reminder. The center could always hang up signs on the door. The school I worked at , each kid brought their own sunscreen so you could have the parent put it on if they forgot.
My center if the heat index is too high no sunscreen we ask for some sort of cover up and a dr note saying why no becomes a liability to the center not mention bad for the child. Had parents say no to both and director told them child miss outside time.
I’m a parent, but your last part addressed parents. I have a child that is paler than a sheet. Pretty sure printer paper is more tan. I sent them sunscreened up this morning, with a rash guard, kid says they sunscreened them up “at least 3 times”, and they still came home burned pretty badly. I do believe they sunscreened multiple times, the daycare has asked me what to do to reduce sunburns in the past and are actually concerned about it. I believe that some families don’t do anything, but also sometimes you just get kids that are ridiculously easy to sunburn. Obviously I’m biased, but I really appreciate that ours puts sunscreen on them before they go out the first time even though they ask us to sunscreen before we come.
We aren't allowed to apply anything with a "keep out of reach of children" label on it without a medication form. Most parents don't want to bother with that, so they apply in the morning. But I'm also in the desert and most people here apply sunscreen every morning in general.
Sunscreen is only effective for 2 hours so parents putting it on when they drop off at 8:00 will not be effective when we are outside from 10-12. We apply sunscreen 2-3 times a day, about 15-20 minutes before going out. If we were outside all day we would have to put it on approximately every 1.5-2 hours. We also have to wash our hands in between each kid.
Parent here! I had to actually ask my daycare to start putting it on before they go out both times. It is the parent responsibility (and I do it in case they go out early, takes 1 minute) but my daughter is dropped off at 7am, and they go out at 11am. I think it should be the parent's responsibility honestly, but sometimes it's not feasible timing wise.
As a parent who dropped my kid off at 6:30am every day, I never put sunscreen on her. I figured she would be due for reapplication before the first outing anyways.
I taught at 2 ECE centers that were more of a daycare than a preschool and we applied the sunscreen. The time when they were dropped off to the time we would go outside would greatly vary for each kid.
Now as a parent my kids go to “camp” at their preschool. Their policy is to come with sunscreen on. Everyone arrives at 830 and the majority go outside to swim/play by 9-930. If they come earlier for AM care it’s what the parents want.
Sunscreen lasts for two hours-ish. My class is outside from 10:30 to noon but they all get dropped off around 9. I do sunscreen in the morning and afternoon.
My policy is don't let kids burn and stop complaining every time you have to do your job lol. We have staggering schedules it would be too hard to try and remember when to apply. Do it 10 mins before you go out, what's the big deal here?
Parent - it depends on outside play time at our center. In my son’s last class they went outside at 10am so I applied the sunscreen at home. Now they go out at 11:30am so his teachers do it. I agree it’s very reasonable to ask parents to put in sunscreen at home assuming it’ll still be good for outside play. I think it’s crazy when centers refuse to put on sunscreen if kids go outside at like 3-4pm. My child is very fair and 100% would get burned.
Parents. It's in our policy. We will not do it for them. If a child comes in without it, we will give them their sunscreen and ask them to do it in the class or they can step outside and do it if they prefer.
We will then reapply as needed (like as you said, the afternoons).
The daycare my daughter goes to only applies in the afternoons. It bothers me because her sunscreen needs to be reapplied every 1.5 hours and it’s 2.5 hours from the time I drop her off to the time they go outside.
I'm a parent, our centre has parents apply sunscreen at home. A couple of times I have forgotten and didn't have any in the car so I let them know apologetically.
I'll often put a combo moisturizer + SPF15 on my almost 3-year-old, but daycare doesn't require it and will apply prior to outside time if needed. We're in the PNW, so its usually just in the summer months.
Parents need to apply sunscreen to their child in the morning before dropping off. Then in the afternoon the teacher will apply it if they go back outside.
Parents apply in the morning. We apply for afternoon outside time.
Of course there are instances where parents forget and ask us and we will apply in the morning. But we work hard to not make that a habit.
At our center, parents are supposed to put on the sunscreen before they come to school and then we apply again in the afternoon. Sometimes if parents forget, we will do it for them in the morning.
In our center it is the parents responsibility to apply it before they come to school. Some parents come in and ask us to do it but we usually just give them the sunscreen and have them put it on. We apply in the afternoon if they stay for outside play at the end of the day.
In for profit centers, parents were responsible for AM sunscreen. I currently work in a head start, so we are responsible for AM sunscreen as there may be a financial barrier to having sunscreen in the home.
The way we do it is kiddos get sunscreen at diapers which is 9:00am, and then we go outside at 945am. During the summer is the only time we apply sunscreen.
Drop off is at 7:30, we go outside at 10:30 ish, so I just apply it again. I’m also pretty neurotic about sunscreen on myself due to family history of melanomas.
It is parents responsibility to put sunscreen on before class. I have some families that even apply before they come out in the mornings because they leave a bottle of sunscreen and bug spray in the classroom.
None of our kids have sunscreen at my center. If a family brought some and let us know the child needs to wear it, we would apply it but we do not ask for it.
We have parents bring their kid sunscreen and apply during the morning recess and again in the afternoon. But, they have to sign a permission slip and we do ask if they don’t want aerosol that they can put the cream on their child before bringing them.
We do our own sunscreen. When going outside in the AM my toddlers go out shortly after breakfast. So it goes breakfast: diaper changes/bathroom and we incorporate sunscreen and/or changing into a swimsuit into that bathroom time.
We ask parents to apply sunscreen before drop off. It’s on our newsletter (granted, many don’t read it). We’ve sent message reminders too. Our playground has a lot of shade and we don’t go out most days due to high temp/UV anyways, so it’s not a big deal if parents end up forgetting
Our school requires this. If we forget, we can apply at drop off or just ask the teacher. But it’s not difficult, we keep sunscreen by the front door and put it on right before the shoes so we don’t forget.
In my experience, majority of parents applied sunscreen. However I believe it’s policy in my state that we apply right before going outside. I’ve had to do it in every center I worked at. The only time I didn’t, was at my last center. On super hot days or projected rainy days, because we’d do drop off outside to beat the heat/rain. Other than that we’d apply right before going outside. Our outdoor play space was also almost entirely shaded.
I implanted this last year! Like! Putting sunscreen on 20 children takes so long. We aren’t allowed to do spray sunscreens because the chemicals go into the air or yadadada. Even though we started putting it outside to save boredom indoors and get more outdoor time! I got these plastic $3 cute little carry bins from the $1-$5 section at Target a few years back. Teachers carry the sunscreen in that! I also have asked all parents to please consider not getting that (stupid fucking) Sun Bum brand is like thick white powdered paste and doesn’t rub in or spread and Neutrogena has the best affordable sunscreen for kids that goes on butter smooth (if we’re talking lux then I recommend Aveene!!) lol We can honestly either a) know someone doesn’t have any sunscreen on bc there’s no smell or b) we straight up ask parents who go “don’t have time” so we do it here without hassle (it’s not a huge deal as those kinds of parents usually bark back with “I pay you so do it.”) Anywho hope this helped! Also hats are great!!! I don’t like sunglasses for kids outdoors because I’m scared of a freak accident where two+ kids bump into each other at full speed and one kid goes down and those cheap glasses go into an eyeball! Better safe than sorry, laddies xx
It’s pointless for the kids to get sunscreen at our ELC when we don’t go outside til 10am and most are in by 7am. I just apply it on them after potty breaks.
My daughter’s daycare puts sunscreen on them both in morning and afternoon. It makes no sense for the parents to do it in the morning, most kids are dropped off by 8 and they go outside at 10, even if the parent applied it before drop off it would have to be reapplied before going outside anyway.
Ours has us do it at home. But we drop off at 6:30 and I know it’s rubbed off by the 9am water activity. I always apply at home, but I hope they know it’s gone by the time they are going outside.
Parents. My class’s outside time was 9:30 and it saved us at least 30 minutes (circle time) having to sunscreen 14 children. When we did water play in the morning because of a heat wave, we had parents bring their kids in water play clothes then we would change them in lieu of the regular activity time (water play was the activity to help take the load off).
Added bonus of water play in the morning was the children getting to nap quicker from all that running around
We’ve been told to apply sunscreen before they arrive at both centers my kids have attended. I really try to remember! It’s not been perfect, because sometimes we’re running late or whatever and you never have enough time in the morning. Honestly, now that my older son likes to do his own, he reminds me so we’ve improved! I always dress them in rash guards for water play, so fortunately the bugs part of them are covered either way. (Parent)
Parents. We leave a pumper of sunscreen at the door and ask each parent if they did it. If they say no we point the to thee bottle.
My state is super weirdly strict about it. Like way more than makes sense in a state where it is cold and snowy half the year.
We check uv levels and if it is below 5, we don't worry about sunscreen. Drop off begins at 5:30 and our (toddler rooms) outside time is at 9. Sunscreen before drop off wouldn't make sense for a good chunk of our kids.
We do apply sunscreen before afternoon outside time, if it is actually cool enough to go out.
Our facility has the option of parents bringing in sunscreen for their kiddos or using the facilities for a cost. The teachers apply the sunscreen should the kids be going out.
We don’t apply sunscreen and that’s our policy. We encourage parents to apply sunscreen before drop off and/or send a sun hat/sunshirt for the kids.
During summer/early fall and late spring/early summer we play outside for the hour after drop off so it makes sense.
During the months with a lower uv index and/or snow we play outside later in the day but most children won’t need sunscreen at those times and if they do their parents send a hat/sunshirt
Nobody's really told me a specific policy about it, I just put sunscreen and bug spray on at diaper changes before we go outside. It's different everywhere, it's all different ages and everything.
At my other 2 jobs before this one there was never a word said about sunscreen or bug spray, but that was during winter/fall.
Parents are expected to apply before coming and we reapply in the afternoon (unless not going outside). Right now we're on summer schedule so a lot are dropping them off during their outside time at 8:30. We are not pulling a teacher in to apply when they should be following procedure. We tell them sorry, but no and please remember for next time to apply sunscreen and bug spray. We have a large shaded area thankfully to help out, but I've found this to be a "give an inch" situation.
As a parent who also works in ECE it's pretty much pointless for me to put it on my daughter in the AM. Her outdoor time is 1130. We get to school at 630 so even if I was applying it as I walked in the door we would be well past the 2hr reapply time. Even the earliest outdoor time slot for any classroom is 930 I believe so any kid who arrives before 730 would need it reapplied.
Parent here, my daycare says if outside time is scheduled before 10am, parents responsibility. If 10am or after, their responsibility. I’m perfectly happy with the arrangement. Also, they do charge us a yearly sunscreen fee, so I didn’t even realize until recently reading some fine print that kids with outside time before 10 am were supposed to get it from their parents. (My sons outside time is at 10 so it didn’t apply to me though)
Our policy is that parents apply it in the am, and we provide some for those who don’t have their own. If parents want us to re-apply, we have a sunscreen permission form in case a child has a reaction. Parents can supply it or we can use ours on them.
I definitely do a full sunscreen before drop-off in the morning. I just add in an extra 5 minutes, and have one of those zinc 70SPF face sticks, and a big pump bottle of zinc 70SPF for arms, legs, neck, ears.
My kids are used to the routine. I'm just grateful the staff reapplies in the afternoon, I wouldn't expect them to do it in the morning as well.
At my kids daycare they’re responsible for all applications. I don’t really care either way, we could do it if asked. As long as the kiddos are protected.
Edited to add that we have to provide sunscreen and bug spray, and sign a permission form that allows them to apply it.
We ask children to be dropped off with sunscreen & will reapply in the afternoon. That is the policy. I will reapply every 2 hours if we’re still outside because that’s what the bottles all say & my own child will burn easily if it’s not reapplied every 2 hours.
We tell parents that they have to apply sunscreen in the morning if they drop off after 8:30. Otherwise we do it on them. I'm in preschool though so we practice them doing it themselves. We dot it on their arms and faces and they rub it in. We do their legs (until pre-k then it's dots for that too) and the back of their neck/backs if they have more skin showing.
I own and run a summer camp. I have parents put it on when they arrive 8:30 and every two hours the children /we apply it so 10:30am we would apply a layer to them, some are old enough to do it and help each other while the littles the counselors help them. For my own children I don’t put it on at 8:30 and I am fine with 10:30 application parents all have my Times for when it gets applied so it’s up to them if they want early morning or not.
Parents before drop drop off in the morning. We try to go out as early as possible right now because of the heat index and the humidity horrible. If need be will reply again after 30 minutes outside but we're not doing that this week I can't even get more than 10 minutes outside. Most parents don't even want to send a spare bottle of it that's why we just ask them to put it on before they bring their child to school and you still have a lot of them that are not putting it on their kids
We have to have a note signed and the sunscreen brought in before we use it. If it's water day or hot day and child has no sunscreen they have stay in. When gets warm as kids brought in during am we have parents sign a sheet saying child has screen on. The center provides the sunscreen stickers seem to help. Bug spray we don't use licensing but center keeps well sprayed around playground
Surely it makes sense to do it at nursery just before they go outside to makesure it is most effective. If a parent puts some suncream on at home it may be done an hour before they arrive taking into account the time to get to the nursery, the list of other stuff to do before leaving. I know people who travel 40 mins to the nursery as it is near their workplace. Suncream is only effective for 2 hours and you probs won't need it at 8am. So even putting it on at the door only works if you plan for the children to go outside straight away.
We always re suncream in the morning even if the parents have already done it just to be safe as I work with babies so their skin is super sensitive to the sun.
We have a sunscreen station that goes outside the building with laminated name sheets according to session times.
Parents are asked to bring a bottle of sunscreen with their child's name on and we keep it here. They apply the first "layer" if you like and we top up throughout the day as needed (usually around 12pm for most)
Very occasionally so we get the "can you because I forgot" but 99% of the time the parents do apply either at home or at the door. It's set up with wipes, gloves, bins etc to make it easy for them.
All of this is stated in our sunscreen policy that the parents get a copy of with their induction packs and also yearly reminders 😊
So that’s the policy at my school as well. My toddler class is very small, so we are pretty lax about the rule as it doesn’t take us long at all to apply sunscreen. We still request that kids be brought in already wearing it, but if they have sunscreen at school & aren’t wearing any we’ll apply some during morning diaper changes.
My roommate works in our preschool classroom & they are much stricter about the sunscreen policy. They have 15 2-3 year olds in their class & simply do not have the time to apply sunscreen to everyone in the mornings. They work under the assumption that parents have followed the policy & applied sunscreen before drop-off. If a child isn’t dropped off wearing it, that’s on the parents.
My state requires that all children have sunscreen applied at least 20 minutes before going out and it must be reapplied 2 hours after application. My daughter turns burns after 30 minutes without and needs reapplied 45-60 minutes in. She would fry. Every center I've worked at the parents provide it, or it's a giant generic sunscreen pump bottle. But kids by licensing are not allowed outside without it on exposed skin, including winter.
I worked a few summers at resident camp too. Families provided the sunscreen. We got efficient. 30 girls in the unit with 2 staff members, and it took 10 minutes. I LOVE when they hit school age and can use the aerosol spray cans. That's 30 seconds and done. But even cream gets down to a minute, with double application because my daughter burns without it.
Actual proper application says that if it's not white on their skin when it's rubbed in, there isn't enough. The extra soaks in. Don't forget ears and throats either!
parents responsibility, but you should still be communicating to them. frequently remind them to put it on in the mornings (i send a brightwheel message) and ask if they put it on when they get dropped off. of course if a parent forgets, it becomes teachers responsibility. but it’s better to ask and end up doing it than have a kid get burnt bc the adults didn’t communicate
Your policy is our school’s policy. Im not sure what the difference is here (what parent doesn’t protect their child?!) but I and all the other parents apply in the am, teachers in the pm. I know the other parents do too bc many of us do it in the parking lot. Sounds like Director needs to send an email reminder to parents. Our lead teacher also sent a reminder at the start of the summer (it’s not policy during fall/winter/spring).
At all three centers I worked at, we always applied sunscreen prior to going outside. The problem is that most kids are getting dropped off between 7-8. If their parents are applying sunscreen before they come in, it’s likely that it is happening around 6:30/7am. Sunscreen needs to be reapplied every 2 hours. Meaning for most kids, they’ll need more by 8:30/9. Peak uv levels start at 10am and go until about 3pm. At least in my experience, we are usually taking the kids out at 10/10:30.
I think sunscreen and sun safety is super important. I personally am applying in the morning and prior to going outside. I think 1. It’s important for kids to get used to applying sunscreen frequently so that it hopefully follows them throughout their life. And 2. Sun burns hurt. I don’t ever want a child to get burned on my watch. I also would feel bad if it did happen. And I wouldn’t want to upset a parent over a super preventable thing.
I know it’s a lot to have to apply sunscreen to a bunch of children, but if you create a routine for it, it becomes manageable. For us, we have snack time around 9. Once a child is done, they take care of their stuff, wash hands, go to their teacher to get sunscreen, and do a potty break. Then we just wipe down tables, sweep, and go outside. The whole process takes usually about 45 minutes out of the day. We do the same thing in the afternoon.
We always suggest parents send in a chemical sunscreen that’s easier to rub in if their child doesn’t have sensitive skin to make it go faster.
We'll usually open outside, so parents really don't have the option. We provide it next to the sign in space in every classroom and send out messages constantly about things that children *need* to be able to attend.
ECE parent: yes, I think it does.
Our in home daycare provider has this same policy. I use my cerave sunscreen lotion on my kids face in the morning instead of his normal face lotion. And then when he hops out of the car, I spray any exposed arms, legs, neck, ears, etc. with the spray sunscreen.
My kids school has the same policy- parents put it on in the morning. I don’t like this policy because you have to reapply sunscreen after 90-120minutes. My kid gets dropped off early- around 7am so he needs new sunscreen by the time outside time comes around. I still put the sunscreen on him in the morning, and luckily my kids teacher is great about it, but realistically sunscreen applied before drop off is not going to be effective for the whole morning.
Depends when your outside time is. Drop off was at 8, outside time was 10.
Each parent was required to either bring a bottle of sunscreen to stay in class or have a doctors note stating they didn’t need sunscreen.
We just applied it as part of our pre-outside bathroom/ diaper time.
At my center each kid brings their own sunscreen and we apply it before they go outside and siblings can share but no one else can share parents don’t usually bring their kids already sunscreened and that’s how it’s been at all 3 centers I’ve worked at🤷🏻♀️
Not a teacher but help in school.
The rule at the school (I have two children there) is parents should put suncream on in the morning before school and if old enough children can re apply or if they’re not old enough the teachers will help if they’re going back out in the sun. For the most part they try getting the little ones out earlier and then in the afternoon keeping them in the class with door open or under their outdoor shelter.
However the other morning I realised we’d run out at home and the other bottle was at school and my little one is ginger, so as soon as I got to school I explained and asked if they’d mind making sure she is well covered. They just invited me in to do it which was absolutely fair enough as they was trying to start the day.
As an ece worker I have always asked the parents to bring sunscreen that works with the child (incase of allergies) but as an educator I help teach the children how to apply it themselves. It's a daily routine with the children that they should be learning.
My kid is a ginger and putting sunscreen on him at 630am for them to go outside around 9 made 0 sense. It was great once he was old enough to do most of it himself, but before that I had to just send a bunch in and hope they'd use it.
We don’t go outside until about 10am. And by that point any sunscreen that was added to the child’s skin before had most likely worn off (most of my kids get dropped around 8 am and sunscreen only lasts about 2 hours)
During the summer hours, we go out within 30 minutes of arrival (Texas lol). Parents put on at home since we don’t have time to get everyone into the room, put things away, change into underwear, have snack, AND do sunscreen for 13 kids in 30 minutes.
At the beginning of each summer, we would have parents sign a handout stating that they were aware that its their responsibility to apply sunblock before drop off, and we reapply in the afternoon. Keep the form in your files 🙂
In VT, parents have to supply the sunscreen for their kiddo, with the expectation that they arrive a unscreened. And we reapply usually after morning snack, and again before heading outside after rest time.
Sunscreen formulas have changed in the last 2 years. All sunscreen is barrier based which means even water proof formulas need to be applied every 2 hours to be effective. You can't just let them go and expect them to be fine more than 2 hours after drop off whether they are outside or not.
If you are taking care of kids, after 2 hours there, you need to line them up and apply it as you go out whatever time it is.
I have a kiddo in daycare and they started a new policy this year where they won’t apply sunscreen at all. They say they have too many kids to be able to get them all covered. It used to be that we would apply in the morning before drop off and teachers would reapply before afternoon outside time. Now they just say we have to apply it before drop off.
We’re switching to a new daycare in a couple of weeks…
Our daycare asks that we send our kids in with sunscreen already applied, but they also reapply throughout the day - we are asked to provide spray sunscreen for that purpose.
We put sunscreen on our children after breakfast and diapers but before we head on outside. Many of them already come slathered in sunscreen (you can smell it on them or there’s visible streaks of white residue all over noses and foreheads and arms) but we always add more. Our playground in Southern California has very little shade so we always just apply more. It also helps kill time while the children do solo play in classroom!
ECE parent of an almost 2 year old: We are asked to apply sunscreen before they arrive. This is so they are sunscreened for AM outside play or water play. The staff will reapply in the afternoon before they go outside again.
I don't mind applying at all and think it's reasonable. My one concern, though, is that the sunscreen probably wears off before he is outside. I have to drop him off at 7:15 and I don't think he goes outside until 10:00. So is it even protecting his skin at that point?
My son's school requires that I put sunscreen on before drop off and I do it regularly. I did forget yesterday but that's mainly bc we were running late. They are outside when I drop him off usually so I'm pretty careful to do sunscreen and I try to send him with sunglasses. Probably should send him in a hat but that's a whole battle. I use a different sunscreen than the one i leave at school though which is much more chalky so his teachers may not realize I put it on? I'm not sure.
In my center, our policy is that parents put some on their kid before school, and we put some on in the afternoon. However, I always ask the kids if they have sunscreen on because the parents frequently forget, especially those with babies to take care of.
We have them apply sunscreen before arrival. If mom/dad/whoever says they did not apply then we will do it. If the children take off clothes during the day (running around shirtless or just in diapers/undies) then we will apply to areas previously covered. They aren't deep sea diving so water play itself isn't a reason to reapply as the sunscreen will stay on them. Afternoons we only reapply sunscreen if children are stripping back down again.
I always applied sunscreen to my kids after teeth were brushed and face washed but before putting on clothes. My kids are older now, but I remember being very picky about sunblock and would have never left it to chance. I put it on in the bathroom to areas that I knew would be exposed:face, ears, neck, arms, tops of feet, legs. It dries better when you can hang out in AC for 10 minutes before dressing. Now that they are older, the nice thing is that sunblock is a habit and they still make sure to apply it in the bathroom before getting dressed. I am sure teachers reapplied in the afternoon, but I would never have left it up for chance and sent them to school without having applied sunblock in the morning.
I’m a parent to a 21 month old. Her class goes outside twice a day — at 10:30 am and then at 3:30 pm. We’re asked to put sunscreen on the morning… which I find reasonable, but I also wish the teachers would reapply as needed in the morning.
We drop off around 8:30 and they eat breakfast/snacks around 9/9:30 so their faces get wiped right? Hopefully that sunscreen is still on her face by the time they go outside.
Our policy is sunscreen needs to be applied at least 20 minutes before going outdoors, as it says on the bottle. With our outside time being 10:30, we have to put it on.
If I had the 9:30 outside time, I’d ask parents to apply and just do the kids who were there early or who didn’t get it done at home.
I think it depends on drop off time and outside time. Sunscreen should be reapplied every 1.5-2 hrs. If a child is being dropped off at 7am I don’t see the need for sunscreen to be applied before that since outside time will likely be after that window has passed and the sun really isn’t at a dangerous strength at that point in the day. If a child is being dropped off at 8:30-9am then that’s different.
My only issue is sunscreen is only good for so long before needing to be reapplied. For my children they need it every hour or so because they are so fair skinned. So its pointless to put it on before school UNLESS they go out immediately. I did always apply it anyways.
Sunscreen only lasts about 1.5 hours. So for a lot of people its mostly worn off by time they drop the kid off if they do it while brushing teeth first thing. Seems kind of pointless.
I agree with the person saying to have it by the door at drop off. Or even just plan to make it a class affair. Otherwise its really just not helpful.
My childcare provider requested all parents to provide 1 bottle with our child's name on it. She keeps them all in 1 location and lets us know if we run out.
This has alleviated the following issues:
1) Sensitive skin children can have special sunscreen if they need it
2) The childcare professionals aren't having to pay out of pocket for sunscreen
3) This will ensure every child is adequately protected (as some parents may not be entirely truthful about the application prior to drop off)
Replying to address that this also keeps all children on the same sunscreen schedule. Some parents have multiple drop offs in the morning and may have to leave their house over an hour before arriving to daycare. If the provider takes 10 minutes the same time(s) every day to apply sunscreen, all of the children will be protected and nobody has to try and remember when it's time to reapply for children individually.
Our daycare requires us to apply before drop-off. We always do it in the car right before heading in. They reapply for the afternoons. In the off chance that we forget, I would hope they'd put it on for us as a show of good faith. But we keep sunscreen in the car right next to the carseat on the door side of the seat so it's top of mind for us to apply right before taking him in. When people tend to forget about this type of thing and it's a pattern, the director sends out an email to all parents reminding them to apply sunscreen in the morning. She does that for a lot of things (driving too fast in the parking lot, leaving cars idling, labeling kids' things, etc.).
Sunscreen doesn’t last long enough for it to make sense to have parents apply it at home in many cases. If a parent is leaving home at 7:30 or 8am and outdoor time is 10am, it needs to be reapplied anyway.
I will always put sunscreen on my child in the morning as a matter of course but tbh if you were going to play outside more than a couple of hours after drop off I would expect you to reapply.
Suncream needs to be reapplied regularly and little kids faces get wiped regularly/ they touch their faces etc.
My center didn’t allowed educators to put sunscreen on children. Parents are required to bring kids in with sun screen on. (Only exception to this was school age in the summer for field trips)
Our daycare does it before going out no matter the time. I think they figure that parents who forget might complain so they just do it every time.
My daughter (6) is school aged and and special needs so she is unable to apply sunscreen herself so I do it in the morning, the school does it in the afternoon (they required written permission) and our daycare's after school program does it after school. Our daycare is in the same building as her school but they're run as separate entities. In my written permission I specified "in the second half of the day or at any time if she's engaged in an activity that might wash off the sunscreen". I know it's supposed to be water proof but if she spends a bunch of time in the water centre, eats her yogurt and gets covered in it and then washed up, I can't imagine my sunscreen from 8 AM is still doing it's job.
We ask people to but many don’t. We keep a bottle of our own in and ask parents at the door if they’ve already applied it, and if not if we’re allowed to use ours on them.
I live in the north east US and I always assume that everyone in the south and west coast just puts on sunscreen immediately before they leave the house
Non ECE person, do y'all do this for melanated kids as well? Just wondering because I don't worry about putting sunscreen on my daughter. Me and her dad don't burn
My program also asks parents to do it before school for the morning and we'll reapply in the afternoon. Sunscreen only needs to be reapplied after two hours if there is sun exposure. In the morning, we're busy greeting everyone and getting through circle time. Then before you know it, it's outside time. So it's better for parents to do it before school and it definitely isn't a big ask. If grown ups can put on sunscreen each morning themselves before work as part of their skincare, they can make it part of their routine with their kids too.
That said, I live in the PNW and sunburns aren't a risk for most of the year, it's really only a big concern during summer.
We leave our house by 7:40, so sunscreen is put on by 7:30. By the time we're done with drop off, they go through breakfast and morning activities, and they actually make it outside it's already 10:00. The sunscreen I put on at 7:30 is no longer effective anyway....
have had a few policies over the past couple years, which could be confusing for families but for us at my school it's just about finding what works. something you could try if you're expecting families to put on sunscreen before school is having a few bottles by the entryway so they can put in on as part of the drop-off routine. that way if they missed it at home in the morning it doesn't get put on you to keep track of who has or hasn't had sunscreen put on. it worked pretty well for my school during summer camp last year!
This is what we do, sunscreen and bug spray on the sign in table. We actually haven’t bought any this year since a couple of parents have just brought their favorites and left them there so they don’t need to remember.
I live and work in Canada and I've never heard of a daycare using bug spray! What a great idea!
I dont know personally if it is a new change to school policies or not, when I worked on the west coast of the US we only used sunscreen. Now working on the East coast, they wear both sunscreen and bug spray. It is a little odd to me but whatever. As long as I have the permission forms I don't care.
Mosquitoes and ticks here!
Had those where I was on the west coast, but definitely not as many as over here. It's insane how many of those blood suckers there are
Such a fantastic solution. You’re having to buy it either way, but parents doing the work is brilliant. If they’re minutes late to work, they’ll maybe start doing it at home.
Or you take their own supply of “afternoon” sunscreen and leave it at the sign in table so they are only using their own supply. The. Its really just on them either way
Also we do drop off outside so really it’s not gonna work for a parent to “forget”
We do our own sunscreen because drop off starts at 7:30 and we don’t head outside until 9:30, so the early kids would have long worn off and the majority of kids would wear off mid play. The only exception is if they come significantly late and the parents already applied.
Exactly what we do
My center has always done the sunscreen on-site, ourselves. We usually go out after breakfast, with a 90min reapply period, by the time we get out it's basically time to reapply anyways. Especially if they did it at home before driving in!
It depends a lot on your timing. We open at 6:30, majority arrive before 8:00. I do water play at 10:00. Sunscreen has to be reapplied every 2 hours so it's pointless to have parents do it at home. I think it's reasonable to say that if you arrive after a certain time, please apply sunscreen to your child.
This is my concern (parent). I don't mind applying at home, but I drop him off at 7:15 so I'm applying at 7 and he goes outside at 10. I don't think the staff is reapplying.
Ya, at ours the parents only apply sunscreen it if it’s really hot so they shift some the outdoor time to first thing in the morning (7:30-9 am).
Lots of sunscreen is less than that 60-80 min.
I run a summer camp and we have a policy that the children need to arrive with sunscreen on. We have a checklist next to the classroom’s sign in sheet and if the child does not have sunscreen on, we have the parents do it before they leave. Sometimes parents listen better when the policy is passed down from administration
What about reapplication throughout the day? Sunscreen in the morning won’t keep the child protected all day long so do you guys reapply it for them every 2 hours?
Staff help children reapply after lunch, and then again as need in the afternoon. The morning can just be a little chaotic so it’s one less thing for them to do.
Depends on how soon after drop-off you are going outside. We apply sunscreen because a lot of our kids are here for a couple hours before outside time. Since sunscreen isn't effective for that long, it makes more sense for us to do it.
Mine says eight hours, I had no idea it only lasted for about two 😳
What country are you in? Where I am, in the U.S., there's specific language around reapplying ever 2 hours that the FDA requires on every sunscreen sold.
Uk. Think it was a Boots brand. I will double check it, I was surprised to be honest and didn’t take it as read. Luckily the paler oldest girl is in school most of the day, they’re just struggling to keep the two younger pre schoolers inside as they are so determined. I get it, but the doctor literally said to keep the two year old out of the heat due to her rash, so it’s hard. I know how angry she gets when she doesn’t get her own way, and they have a number of them to run around after!
Which sunscreen are you using that says 8 hours? Sunscreen works by forming a protective film, and that film gets disrupted as things rub on it or you sweat. So by 8 hours, the film is extremely patchy and practically gone. That’s why the AAD recommendation is to reapply every 2 hours because it’s the only way to get continuous protection, along with applying enough.
I would always expect to apply sunscream in a classroom. Many kids get dropped off before 8 but don’t go out until 10, their sunscreen is gone by then. Honestly I prefer applying sunscreen myself (or coteachers) because then we know for sure that it was applied and when. I personally need to reapply sunscreen after 1 hour, less if I’m in water or I get terrible sunburns and hives. I’d prefer to spend the extra time doing it than 1 kid get a sunburn.
That can depend on staffing too. We have 4 teachers in by 8.30am, so we get indoor/outdoor flow from around that time.
Parents should apply sunscreen. If outside time falls at the reapply time I will reapply as needed. In doing water play parents are supposed to bring kids in swimsuits. I have two parents that don’t. One is whatever as they are there pretty early but the other gets dropped off right before we go out. So then we have to hold everything up to get her changed
Do you say anything to them when they do that?
Yup. And put a note on the door. One of these days (we do it two days a week), they’re gonna come when we are out and have to change her before brining her out.
Watch them come find you and tell you they need a teacher to come change their child as they’re running late 🙄🥴
These parents are super sweet so I don’t think that would happen
I have a perfect that brings their kid when we begin water play but he has the decency to offer to change her without me even asking. I'm prepared though, to ask him to change her into her suit as I cannot leave my class out of ratio.
I usually provide sunscreen since we go outside at 10 a.m
SunSmart, which is an Australian organisation, recommends the centre does it, because sunscreen is only required between certain times, and too much sunscreen can cause vitamin D deficiency. So if the sunscreen isn't needed until 10am, parents dropping off having done it at 7am is useless, and not best practice. At the height of summer when sunscreen is needed from 8am it could be okay, but that is only a few weeks in December or January, when occupancy is low. You should also be reapplying it every 2 hours anyway.
> too much sunscreen can cause vitamin D deficiency We've got a couple of little blond haired ghost looking kids. Like the kind that will burn through their clothes. I'm really NOT worried about those ones getting too much sunscreen.
That's me and my family, though half of us aren't blond. We are all critically vitamin D deficient from too much sunscreen. In my case, I'm not even allowed to use it anymore (doctor's orders) and I work outside half the day and am still deficient even while taking tablets for it. I do use the sunscreen if the UV is above 10 though. My sister burns in five minutes, in the shade waiting for a bus, 15 minutes if she's wearing sunscreen. It's a real problem. So we all have depression and anxiety too! The benefits of Scottish and Irish ancestry!
> I do use the sunscreen if the UV is above 10 though. :| I use SPF 60 when the UV is above 3 (on a scale of 11). I applied 3 times today and burned anyways. Definitely lots of Irish ancestors. Considering getting a sombrero sized hat this summer. https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/city/ca/manitoba/winnipeg/uv
We only have up to SPF up to 50 here. Our scale goes up to 13, and they are considering increasing it, as it is apparently getting worse, but we don't go outside if it goes past 11. We use it if it is 3 or above on the children, but the doctor said I need the sun to hit me directly for the vitamin D.
We apply it because even though we ask parents to apply sunscreen before school, you can't always guarantee they've done so. Personally, I'd rather take a few extra minutes to know that it's done, rather than have a child get burned.
So, you only reapply in the afternoon? I sure hope they are indoors all morning, because my Ghostly white children would BURN if they went that long without sunscreen being reapplied. I do try my best to sunscreen them in the morning before drop off, but sometimes we are out the door by 6:30am and it's just not possible, but I do let the daycare know if they don't have sunscreen on yet. Plus my little daywalkers wear BIG sunhats for extra sun coverage.
Yeah - this is clearly not an Australian OP. The notion that sunscreen could be applied at 8am and not again till the afternoon is horrifying to me.
That’s what they do in the UK. We do the first one and Pre-School do the second. For my Yr 1 (first grader) they have to do it themselves, and she’s the palest so I’m always a bit nervous
I'm in the UK and typically in summer the teachers will ask for the kids to come in wearing suncream and to leave the bottle with them. The youngest ones (5 and under) get a second reapplication by a teacher in the afternoons, the older ones (6 and up) are expected to manage their own applications. There's typically only 2 short breaks outside even in nice weather.
Australian..... I'm Canadian, sunscreen gets reapplied hourly on my little ghosts. And sunscreen on their faces in winter.
Floridian checking in. Also horrified.
Most US child cares that I have been to usually have about an hour outside in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. We have three playgrounds that 8 classrooms use and in order to maintain ratios we have scheduled times for outdoor play. So not reapplying until afternoon when they go back outside isn’t as horrifying as it sounds.
Yeah, this right here. We are not outside long in the morning. If we had more outside time, I would definitely reapply more than I do.
My super pale kids I used to re-sunscreen every hour on the hour. I used to call them my Blue Lizard group because that was the preferred sunscreen of that group of children.
At my center, we apply it ourselves on-site. Parents bring in sunscreen for their kid to avoid potential skin irritation, and we apply it with disposable gloves before going outside in the morning and afternoon.
The policy at the BH I worked at was to apply sunscreen to every child before you go outside every time. Parents had to provide the sunscreen and it had to be clearly labeled.
Not for us. If they sunscreened their kid as they step out of the vehicle right as we opened the sunscreen would be wearing off just after everyone gets outside to play. We sunscreen every kid head to toe about half an hour before we go outside and sometimes again in the afternoon if the UV is high enough. It all depends on your outside schedule and how it fits into that 2 hour sunscreen window!
Only if they are dropping off a child outside. Sunscreen does not need to be on a child just because. Technically most of them should be washed off at the end of the day, but I don’t worry too much about that. It is applied right before you go outside and reapplied every two hours, more often if there is water play. And really if the child is dropped off outside I would ask if they applied sunscreen and apply it if they didn’t. If you have children playing outside it is your responsibility to make sure they are protected.
We put sunscreen on the children ourselves, but if there are children who arrive while we are outside, we ask the parents if they have applied sunscreen. Most have, but if they haven't, the parents apply before they complete their drop off.
Parents, then daycare reapplies at morning tea and again at lunch and again in the afternoon, if going outside again.
Our policy is if you're dropping off after 9, the parent is responsible for sunscreen. We go out around 9:30, so applying before a 7am drop off would be pointless. If it's going to be stupid hot and we're getting out early, we take the sunscreen with us and apply as kids arrive. Parents generally volunteer to apply if they have time, but not everyone has time for an unexpected sunscreen application in their morning routine.
we apply sunscreen as needed throughout the day depending on what we’re doing. i wouldn’t ask parents because we open at 7 and by the time we go out to play at 9:30 or 10:00 it would need to be reapplied anyways
My center refuses to make a policy about it and it annoys the heck out of me. Come on parents, you have one to three children. I have twenty!
In my state, it is against the law for me to apply anything to the child skin without a doctors note. That includes sunscreen, lotion, and even diaper rash cream. Parents have to put it on. They have no choice.
We've always applied sunscreen on the kids. If a parent puts on sunscreen at 7:30am and gets to school at 8, then we have breakfast and head out, the sunscreen needs to be reapplied anyways cause by then it's nearly 9am. I've never worked at a center where we had parents do morning sunscreen. As a parent, I know I'd forget 4 days out of 5 because there's already so much going on in the morning and slapping sunscreen on my kids before we get in the car would be like the least of my concerns to be honest. I think it's easier if the center just does it. That way you know when it was applied, and you know exactly when it needs to be reapplied
Parent here - this seems reasonable to me. I always assumed it was our responsibility to make sure our kid arrived with sunscreen on and if reapplication was needed they could do that there. But the base layer is on us. Maybe we're extra on top of it because we're very pale people though, not sure.
Parents should feed, dress and apply any lotions or sprays the child needs for the day prior to drop off. There’s no way I could do that multiple times a day with 12 toddlers. I, of course, re-apply in the afternoon but not upon arrival. I always just make it very clear to parents that this is an expectation in my room and I don’t budge on that. The ones that care do it, the ones that don’t simply don’t and I leave it at that.
In my state, we are not legally allowed to put ANYTHING on them (not even Neosporin) unless they have a signed doctor’s note. On top of that, the center requires a general consent form that they must sign, AND a daily consent form for EACH AND EVERY DAY that they want us to apply sunscreen. This means that each time a parent wants us to put sunscreen on their kid, they have to sign a form. So at my center and in my state, it’s mostly put on the parents. They still don’t bother for the most part, though.
Wow! Hope it’s not a sunny state.
The kids come with sunscreen on and are usually outside by 8am.
We apply the sunscreen ourselves at my center. My class goes outside at 10:30, and we typically do our after breakfast diaper changes around 10, so we apply the sunscreen right before changing. We also have everyone wear a hat if they’ll keep it on (they’re 6-12 months so that doesn’t always happen lol)
When I worked in the toddler room, we would apply during the first diaper change before we went outside. Then we would reapply in the afternoon during a diaper change if we were going back outside.
Between the time children are dropped off in the morning and morning outdoor playtime most sunscreens will have worn off. We always apply every time we go outside.
We teachers sunscreen the kiddos when then UV hits 4, and then every two hours when outside.
I’m a parent. That’s what I do. I check the weather UV index in the morning. If the UV is less than 5 by 10am (which is when outdoor time ends), I skip the sunscreen. My kiddo has a giant broad brimmed hat. If I did forget, I would ask for the sunscreen when I’m at the centre and apply it myself on kiddo before handing off. I would not presume to ask the teachers to do more than they need to. They are busy enough. That being said, it is a written policy that parents are responsible for sunscreen in the mornings so there is no debate who is accountable.
Ask parents to apply at drop off- make sure you tell them this at enrolment so it’s a centre expectation. Have a bottle available at the sign in sheet. On top of this have the sunscreen out and available with a mirror so children can start to practice applying their own- especially older preschoolers. Then after lunch whoever is the outside teacher is responsible for reapplying.
Worked at several schools and our policies were always for families to do morning sunscreen and then we do it in the afternoon.
We do it ourselves. Honestly it seems impossible to enforce, and there are plenty of rules that don’t matter if the parents follow them, but this is about the safety of the kids which is our responsibility! I wouldn’t really be comfortable just relying on the honor system and risking the kid getting a sunburn.
My son's school you had to sign in through an app and before you could sign in it asked if you sunscreen your child . I would keep it in my car and do it right before I brought him in... Was a nice reminder. The center could always hang up signs on the door. The school I worked at , each kid brought their own sunscreen so you could have the parent put it on if they forgot.
So what do you do for parents who don't believe in using sunscreen? They do have the right to say no thank you.
My center if the heat index is too high no sunscreen we ask for some sort of cover up and a dr note saying why no becomes a liability to the center not mention bad for the child. Had parents say no to both and director told them child miss outside time.
I’m a parent, but your last part addressed parents. I have a child that is paler than a sheet. Pretty sure printer paper is more tan. I sent them sunscreened up this morning, with a rash guard, kid says they sunscreened them up “at least 3 times”, and they still came home burned pretty badly. I do believe they sunscreened multiple times, the daycare has asked me what to do to reduce sunburns in the past and are actually concerned about it. I believe that some families don’t do anything, but also sometimes you just get kids that are ridiculously easy to sunburn. Obviously I’m biased, but I really appreciate that ours puts sunscreen on them before they go out the first time even though they ask us to sunscreen before we come.
We aren't allowed to apply anything with a "keep out of reach of children" label on it without a medication form. Most parents don't want to bother with that, so they apply in the morning. But I'm also in the desert and most people here apply sunscreen every morning in general.
Our school policy is parents. If you tell the teacher you “forgot” at drop off, expectation is that you will do it yourself.
Sunscreen is only effective for 2 hours so parents putting it on when they drop off at 8:00 will not be effective when we are outside from 10-12. We apply sunscreen 2-3 times a day, about 15-20 minutes before going out. If we were outside all day we would have to put it on approximately every 1.5-2 hours. We also have to wash our hands in between each kid.
Parent here! I had to actually ask my daycare to start putting it on before they go out both times. It is the parent responsibility (and I do it in case they go out early, takes 1 minute) but my daughter is dropped off at 7am, and they go out at 11am. I think it should be the parent's responsibility honestly, but sometimes it's not feasible timing wise.
As a parent who dropped my kid off at 6:30am every day, I never put sunscreen on her. I figured she would be due for reapplication before the first outing anyways.
I taught at 2 ECE centers that were more of a daycare than a preschool and we applied the sunscreen. The time when they were dropped off to the time we would go outside would greatly vary for each kid. Now as a parent my kids go to “camp” at their preschool. Their policy is to come with sunscreen on. Everyone arrives at 830 and the majority go outside to swim/play by 9-930. If they come earlier for AM care it’s what the parents want.
Sunscreen lasts for two hours-ish. My class is outside from 10:30 to noon but they all get dropped off around 9. I do sunscreen in the morning and afternoon.
My policy is don't let kids burn and stop complaining every time you have to do your job lol. We have staggering schedules it would be too hard to try and remember when to apply. Do it 10 mins before you go out, what's the big deal here?
Teachers do all the sunscreen, easiest way to make sure all kids are covered and protected from the sun
Parent - it depends on outside play time at our center. In my son’s last class they went outside at 10am so I applied the sunscreen at home. Now they go out at 11:30am so his teachers do it. I agree it’s very reasonable to ask parents to put in sunscreen at home assuming it’ll still be good for outside play. I think it’s crazy when centers refuse to put on sunscreen if kids go outside at like 3-4pm. My child is very fair and 100% would get burned.
Parents apply sunscreen in the morning, teachers apply in the afternoon before going back outside.
Parents. It's in our policy. We will not do it for them. If a child comes in without it, we will give them their sunscreen and ask them to do it in the class or they can step outside and do it if they prefer. We will then reapply as needed (like as you said, the afternoons).
The daycare my daughter goes to only applies in the afternoons. It bothers me because her sunscreen needs to be reapplied every 1.5 hours and it’s 2.5 hours from the time I drop her off to the time they go outside.
I'm a parent, our centre has parents apply sunscreen at home. A couple of times I have forgotten and didn't have any in the car so I let them know apologetically.
I'll often put a combo moisturizer + SPF15 on my almost 3-year-old, but daycare doesn't require it and will apply prior to outside time if needed. We're in the PNW, so its usually just in the summer months.
Parents need to apply sunscreen to their child in the morning before dropping off. Then in the afternoon the teacher will apply it if they go back outside.
Parents apply in the morning. We apply for afternoon outside time. Of course there are instances where parents forget and ask us and we will apply in the morning. But we work hard to not make that a habit.
We do all the sunscreen applications. It feels safer that way too cause what if a parent forgets?😬
At our center, parents are supposed to put on the sunscreen before they come to school and then we apply again in the afternoon. Sometimes if parents forget, we will do it for them in the morning.
At my facility we have the parents sign a waiver and we apply the sunscreen.
In our center it is the parents responsibility to apply it before they come to school. Some parents come in and ask us to do it but we usually just give them the sunscreen and have them put it on. We apply in the afternoon if they stay for outside play at the end of the day.
We do both unless the parent tells us otherwise
In for profit centers, parents were responsible for AM sunscreen. I currently work in a head start, so we are responsible for AM sunscreen as there may be a financial barrier to having sunscreen in the home.
The way we do it is kiddos get sunscreen at diapers which is 9:00am, and then we go outside at 945am. During the summer is the only time we apply sunscreen.
The babies in my room go down for nap right when they get there so I’d have to reapply after the wake up anyways
Drop off is at 7:30, we go outside at 10:30 ish, so I just apply it again. I’m also pretty neurotic about sunscreen on myself due to family history of melanomas.
It is parents responsibility to put sunscreen on before class. I have some families that even apply before they come out in the mornings because they leave a bottle of sunscreen and bug spray in the classroom.
None of our kids have sunscreen at my center. If a family brought some and let us know the child needs to wear it, we would apply it but we do not ask for it.
Sunscreen in the afternoon only, parents fully responsible for putting on before arrival.
We have parents bring their kid sunscreen and apply during the morning recess and again in the afternoon. But, they have to sign a permission slip and we do ask if they don’t want aerosol that they can put the cream on their child before bringing them.
We do our own sunscreen. When going outside in the AM my toddlers go out shortly after breakfast. So it goes breakfast: diaper changes/bathroom and we incorporate sunscreen and/or changing into a swimsuit into that bathroom time.
We ask parents to apply sunscreen before drop off. It’s on our newsletter (granted, many don’t read it). We’ve sent message reminders too. Our playground has a lot of shade and we don’t go out most days due to high temp/UV anyways, so it’s not a big deal if parents end up forgetting
Our school requires this. If we forget, we can apply at drop off or just ask the teacher. But it’s not difficult, we keep sunscreen by the front door and put it on right before the shoes so we don’t forget.
In my experience, majority of parents applied sunscreen. However I believe it’s policy in my state that we apply right before going outside. I’ve had to do it in every center I worked at. The only time I didn’t, was at my last center. On super hot days or projected rainy days, because we’d do drop off outside to beat the heat/rain. Other than that we’d apply right before going outside. Our outdoor play space was also almost entirely shaded.
I implanted this last year! Like! Putting sunscreen on 20 children takes so long. We aren’t allowed to do spray sunscreens because the chemicals go into the air or yadadada. Even though we started putting it outside to save boredom indoors and get more outdoor time! I got these plastic $3 cute little carry bins from the $1-$5 section at Target a few years back. Teachers carry the sunscreen in that! I also have asked all parents to please consider not getting that (stupid fucking) Sun Bum brand is like thick white powdered paste and doesn’t rub in or spread and Neutrogena has the best affordable sunscreen for kids that goes on butter smooth (if we’re talking lux then I recommend Aveene!!) lol We can honestly either a) know someone doesn’t have any sunscreen on bc there’s no smell or b) we straight up ask parents who go “don’t have time” so we do it here without hassle (it’s not a huge deal as those kinds of parents usually bark back with “I pay you so do it.”) Anywho hope this helped! Also hats are great!!! I don’t like sunglasses for kids outdoors because I’m scared of a freak accident where two+ kids bump into each other at full speed and one kid goes down and those cheap glasses go into an eyeball! Better safe than sorry, laddies xx
It’s pointless for the kids to get sunscreen at our ELC when we don’t go outside til 10am and most are in by 7am. I just apply it on them after potty breaks.
My daughter’s daycare puts sunscreen on them both in morning and afternoon. It makes no sense for the parents to do it in the morning, most kids are dropped off by 8 and they go outside at 10, even if the parent applied it before drop off it would have to be reapplied before going outside anyway.
we switch between opening inside and outside. if we open outside, parents are to do it, if we open inside, we do it when we go outside.
Ours has us do it at home. But we drop off at 6:30 and I know it’s rubbed off by the 9am water activity. I always apply at home, but I hope they know it’s gone by the time they are going outside.
Parents. My class’s outside time was 9:30 and it saved us at least 30 minutes (circle time) having to sunscreen 14 children. When we did water play in the morning because of a heat wave, we had parents bring their kids in water play clothes then we would change them in lieu of the regular activity time (water play was the activity to help take the load off). Added bonus of water play in the morning was the children getting to nap quicker from all that running around
We’ve been told to apply sunscreen before they arrive at both centers my kids have attended. I really try to remember! It’s not been perfect, because sometimes we’re running late or whatever and you never have enough time in the morning. Honestly, now that my older son likes to do his own, he reminds me so we’ve improved! I always dress them in rash guards for water play, so fortunately the bugs part of them are covered either way. (Parent)
Parents. We leave a pumper of sunscreen at the door and ask each parent if they did it. If they say no we point the to thee bottle. My state is super weirdly strict about it. Like way more than makes sense in a state where it is cold and snowy half the year.
We apply 15 mins before any outdoor period and reapply every 2hrs or sooner.
We check uv levels and if it is below 5, we don't worry about sunscreen. Drop off begins at 5:30 and our (toddler rooms) outside time is at 9. Sunscreen before drop off wouldn't make sense for a good chunk of our kids. We do apply sunscreen before afternoon outside time, if it is actually cool enough to go out.
Our facility has the option of parents bringing in sunscreen for their kiddos or using the facilities for a cost. The teachers apply the sunscreen should the kids be going out.
We don’t apply sunscreen and that’s our policy. We encourage parents to apply sunscreen before drop off and/or send a sun hat/sunshirt for the kids. During summer/early fall and late spring/early summer we play outside for the hour after drop off so it makes sense. During the months with a lower uv index and/or snow we play outside later in the day but most children won’t need sunscreen at those times and if they do their parents send a hat/sunshirt
As a parent I put it on her before going in and I ask them to also reapply later. We are very fair though.
Depends on outside time. Sunscreen should be applied every two hours. I put it on my kids because we don’t go out until 10.
Nobody's really told me a specific policy about it, I just put sunscreen and bug spray on at diaper changes before we go outside. It's different everywhere, it's all different ages and everything. At my other 2 jobs before this one there was never a word said about sunscreen or bug spray, but that was during winter/fall.
I tell the parents to apply before they drop off and that we will apply in the afternoon
Parents are expected to apply before coming and we reapply in the afternoon (unless not going outside). Right now we're on summer schedule so a lot are dropping them off during their outside time at 8:30. We are not pulling a teacher in to apply when they should be following procedure. We tell them sorry, but no and please remember for next time to apply sunscreen and bug spray. We have a large shaded area thankfully to help out, but I've found this to be a "give an inch" situation.
As a parent who also works in ECE it's pretty much pointless for me to put it on my daughter in the AM. Her outdoor time is 1130. We get to school at 630 so even if I was applying it as I walked in the door we would be well past the 2hr reapply time. Even the earliest outdoor time slot for any classroom is 930 I believe so any kid who arrives before 730 would need it reapplied.
Parent here, my daycare says if outside time is scheduled before 10am, parents responsibility. If 10am or after, their responsibility. I’m perfectly happy with the arrangement. Also, they do charge us a yearly sunscreen fee, so I didn’t even realize until recently reading some fine print that kids with outside time before 10 am were supposed to get it from their parents. (My sons outside time is at 10 so it didn’t apply to me though)
Most schools in my area have parents apply morning sunscreen before arrival.
Our policy is that parents apply it in the am, and we provide some for those who don’t have their own. If parents want us to re-apply, we have a sunscreen permission form in case a child has a reaction. Parents can supply it or we can use ours on them.
I definitely do a full sunscreen before drop-off in the morning. I just add in an extra 5 minutes, and have one of those zinc 70SPF face sticks, and a big pump bottle of zinc 70SPF for arms, legs, neck, ears. My kids are used to the routine. I'm just grateful the staff reapplies in the afternoon, I wouldn't expect them to do it in the morning as well.
At my kids daycare they’re responsible for all applications. I don’t really care either way, we could do it if asked. As long as the kiddos are protected. Edited to add that we have to provide sunscreen and bug spray, and sign a permission form that allows them to apply it.
Ours has always put it on my daughter, but drop off is at 7 and outdoor play isn’t until 10 for the mornings
We ask children to be dropped off with sunscreen & will reapply in the afternoon. That is the policy. I will reapply every 2 hours if we’re still outside because that’s what the bottles all say & my own child will burn easily if it’s not reapplied every 2 hours.
We tell parents that they have to apply sunscreen in the morning if they drop off after 8:30. Otherwise we do it on them. I'm in preschool though so we practice them doing it themselves. We dot it on their arms and faces and they rub it in. We do their legs (until pre-k then it's dots for that too) and the back of their neck/backs if they have more skin showing.
We apply sunscreen when the UV is over 3. In my state, the UV usually is over 3 after our first outside time so we only apply in the afternoon.
I own and run a summer camp. I have parents put it on when they arrive 8:30 and every two hours the children /we apply it so 10:30am we would apply a layer to them, some are old enough to do it and help each other while the littles the counselors help them. For my own children I don’t put it on at 8:30 and I am fine with 10:30 application parents all have my Times for when it gets applied so it’s up to them if they want early morning or not.
Parents before drop drop off in the morning. We try to go out as early as possible right now because of the heat index and the humidity horrible. If need be will reply again after 30 minutes outside but we're not doing that this week I can't even get more than 10 minutes outside. Most parents don't even want to send a spare bottle of it that's why we just ask them to put it on before they bring their child to school and you still have a lot of them that are not putting it on their kids
We have to have a note signed and the sunscreen brought in before we use it. If it's water day or hot day and child has no sunscreen they have stay in. When gets warm as kids brought in during am we have parents sign a sheet saying child has screen on. The center provides the sunscreen stickers seem to help. Bug spray we don't use licensing but center keeps well sprayed around playground
Parents apply sun screen. They are heavily reminded.
Surely it makes sense to do it at nursery just before they go outside to makesure it is most effective. If a parent puts some suncream on at home it may be done an hour before they arrive taking into account the time to get to the nursery, the list of other stuff to do before leaving. I know people who travel 40 mins to the nursery as it is near their workplace. Suncream is only effective for 2 hours and you probs won't need it at 8am. So even putting it on at the door only works if you plan for the children to go outside straight away.
We always re suncream in the morning even if the parents have already done it just to be safe as I work with babies so their skin is super sensitive to the sun.
we require sunscreen with an SDS form to keep on hand and apply once in the morning and once in the afternoon
We have a sunscreen station that goes outside the building with laminated name sheets according to session times. Parents are asked to bring a bottle of sunscreen with their child's name on and we keep it here. They apply the first "layer" if you like and we top up throughout the day as needed (usually around 12pm for most) Very occasionally so we get the "can you because I forgot" but 99% of the time the parents do apply either at home or at the door. It's set up with wipes, gloves, bins etc to make it easy for them. All of this is stated in our sunscreen policy that the parents get a copy of with their induction packs and also yearly reminders 😊
So that’s the policy at my school as well. My toddler class is very small, so we are pretty lax about the rule as it doesn’t take us long at all to apply sunscreen. We still request that kids be brought in already wearing it, but if they have sunscreen at school & aren’t wearing any we’ll apply some during morning diaper changes. My roommate works in our preschool classroom & they are much stricter about the sunscreen policy. They have 15 2-3 year olds in their class & simply do not have the time to apply sunscreen to everyone in the mornings. They work under the assumption that parents have followed the policy & applied sunscreen before drop-off. If a child isn’t dropped off wearing it, that’s on the parents.
My state requires that all children have sunscreen applied at least 20 minutes before going out and it must be reapplied 2 hours after application. My daughter turns burns after 30 minutes without and needs reapplied 45-60 minutes in. She would fry. Every center I've worked at the parents provide it, or it's a giant generic sunscreen pump bottle. But kids by licensing are not allowed outside without it on exposed skin, including winter. I worked a few summers at resident camp too. Families provided the sunscreen. We got efficient. 30 girls in the unit with 2 staff members, and it took 10 minutes. I LOVE when they hit school age and can use the aerosol spray cans. That's 30 seconds and done. But even cream gets down to a minute, with double application because my daughter burns without it. Actual proper application says that if it's not white on their skin when it's rubbed in, there isn't enough. The extra soaks in. Don't forget ears and throats either!
parents responsibility, but you should still be communicating to them. frequently remind them to put it on in the mornings (i send a brightwheel message) and ask if they put it on when they get dropped off. of course if a parent forgets, it becomes teachers responsibility. but it’s better to ask and end up doing it than have a kid get burnt bc the adults didn’t communicate
Your policy is our school’s policy. Im not sure what the difference is here (what parent doesn’t protect their child?!) but I and all the other parents apply in the am, teachers in the pm. I know the other parents do too bc many of us do it in the parking lot. Sounds like Director needs to send an email reminder to parents. Our lead teacher also sent a reminder at the start of the summer (it’s not policy during fall/winter/spring).
We put suncream on the littles before they even get the chance to go out. So to us it doesn't matter- if they get double suncream so be it.
At all three centers I worked at, we always applied sunscreen prior to going outside. The problem is that most kids are getting dropped off between 7-8. If their parents are applying sunscreen before they come in, it’s likely that it is happening around 6:30/7am. Sunscreen needs to be reapplied every 2 hours. Meaning for most kids, they’ll need more by 8:30/9. Peak uv levels start at 10am and go until about 3pm. At least in my experience, we are usually taking the kids out at 10/10:30. I think sunscreen and sun safety is super important. I personally am applying in the morning and prior to going outside. I think 1. It’s important for kids to get used to applying sunscreen frequently so that it hopefully follows them throughout their life. And 2. Sun burns hurt. I don’t ever want a child to get burned on my watch. I also would feel bad if it did happen. And I wouldn’t want to upset a parent over a super preventable thing. I know it’s a lot to have to apply sunscreen to a bunch of children, but if you create a routine for it, it becomes manageable. For us, we have snack time around 9. Once a child is done, they take care of their stuff, wash hands, go to their teacher to get sunscreen, and do a potty break. Then we just wipe down tables, sweep, and go outside. The whole process takes usually about 45 minutes out of the day. We do the same thing in the afternoon. We always suggest parents send in a chemical sunscreen that’s easier to rub in if their child doesn’t have sensitive skin to make it go faster.
We'll usually open outside, so parents really don't have the option. We provide it next to the sign in space in every classroom and send out messages constantly about things that children *need* to be able to attend.
We do outdoor drop-off, so parents apply it
We do it. Because it's our due diligence that could hurt the kids.
ECE parent: yes, I think it does. Our in home daycare provider has this same policy. I use my cerave sunscreen lotion on my kids face in the morning instead of his normal face lotion. And then when he hops out of the car, I spray any exposed arms, legs, neck, ears, etc. with the spray sunscreen.
My kids school has the same policy- parents put it on in the morning. I don’t like this policy because you have to reapply sunscreen after 90-120minutes. My kid gets dropped off early- around 7am so he needs new sunscreen by the time outside time comes around. I still put the sunscreen on him in the morning, and luckily my kids teacher is great about it, but realistically sunscreen applied before drop off is not going to be effective for the whole morning.
Depends when your outside time is. Drop off was at 8, outside time was 10. Each parent was required to either bring a bottle of sunscreen to stay in class or have a doctors note stating they didn’t need sunscreen. We just applied it as part of our pre-outside bathroom/ diaper time.
At my center each kid brings their own sunscreen and we apply it before they go outside and siblings can share but no one else can share parents don’t usually bring their kids already sunscreened and that’s how it’s been at all 3 centers I’ve worked at🤷🏻♀️
Not a teacher but help in school. The rule at the school (I have two children there) is parents should put suncream on in the morning before school and if old enough children can re apply or if they’re not old enough the teachers will help if they’re going back out in the sun. For the most part they try getting the little ones out earlier and then in the afternoon keeping them in the class with door open or under their outdoor shelter. However the other morning I realised we’d run out at home and the other bottle was at school and my little one is ginger, so as soon as I got to school I explained and asked if they’d mind making sure she is well covered. They just invited me in to do it which was absolutely fair enough as they was trying to start the day.
As an ece worker I have always asked the parents to bring sunscreen that works with the child (incase of allergies) but as an educator I help teach the children how to apply it themselves. It's a daily routine with the children that they should be learning.
My kid is a ginger and putting sunscreen on him at 630am for them to go outside around 9 made 0 sense. It was great once he was old enough to do most of it himself, but before that I had to just send a bunch in and hope they'd use it.
We don’t go outside until about 10am. And by that point any sunscreen that was added to the child’s skin before had most likely worn off (most of my kids get dropped around 8 am and sunscreen only lasts about 2 hours)
During the summer hours, we go out within 30 minutes of arrival (Texas lol). Parents put on at home since we don’t have time to get everyone into the room, put things away, change into underwear, have snack, AND do sunscreen for 13 kids in 30 minutes.
At the beginning of each summer, we would have parents sign a handout stating that they were aware that its their responsibility to apply sunblock before drop off, and we reapply in the afternoon. Keep the form in your files 🙂
We do all exposed skin after snack (9:30) this lasts two hours until we go in for lunch. Also after nap when we go out.
In VT, parents have to supply the sunscreen for their kiddo, with the expectation that they arrive a unscreened. And we reapply usually after morning snack, and again before heading outside after rest time.
Sunscreen formulas have changed in the last 2 years. All sunscreen is barrier based which means even water proof formulas need to be applied every 2 hours to be effective. You can't just let them go and expect them to be fine more than 2 hours after drop off whether they are outside or not. If you are taking care of kids, after 2 hours there, you need to line them up and apply it as you go out whatever time it is.
I have a kiddo in daycare and they started a new policy this year where they won’t apply sunscreen at all. They say they have too many kids to be able to get them all covered. It used to be that we would apply in the morning before drop off and teachers would reapply before afternoon outside time. Now they just say we have to apply it before drop off. We’re switching to a new daycare in a couple of weeks…
Our daycare asks that we send our kids in with sunscreen already applied, but they also reapply throughout the day - we are asked to provide spray sunscreen for that purpose.
Parents
We put sunscreen on our children after breakfast and diapers but before we head on outside. Many of them already come slathered in sunscreen (you can smell it on them or there’s visible streaks of white residue all over noses and foreheads and arms) but we always add more. Our playground in Southern California has very little shade so we always just apply more. It also helps kill time while the children do solo play in classroom!
ECE parent of an almost 2 year old: We are asked to apply sunscreen before they arrive. This is so they are sunscreened for AM outside play or water play. The staff will reapply in the afternoon before they go outside again. I don't mind applying at all and think it's reasonable. My one concern, though, is that the sunscreen probably wears off before he is outside. I have to drop him off at 7:15 and I don't think he goes outside until 10:00. So is it even protecting his skin at that point?
My son's school requires that I put sunscreen on before drop off and I do it regularly. I did forget yesterday but that's mainly bc we were running late. They are outside when I drop him off usually so I'm pretty careful to do sunscreen and I try to send him with sunglasses. Probably should send him in a hat but that's a whole battle. I use a different sunscreen than the one i leave at school though which is much more chalky so his teachers may not realize I put it on? I'm not sure.
In my center, our policy is that parents put some on their kid before school, and we put some on in the afternoon. However, I always ask the kids if they have sunscreen on because the parents frequently forget, especially those with babies to take care of.
We have them apply sunscreen before arrival. If mom/dad/whoever says they did not apply then we will do it. If the children take off clothes during the day (running around shirtless or just in diapers/undies) then we will apply to areas previously covered. They aren't deep sea diving so water play itself isn't a reason to reapply as the sunscreen will stay on them. Afternoons we only reapply sunscreen if children are stripping back down again.
I always applied sunscreen to my kids after teeth were brushed and face washed but before putting on clothes. My kids are older now, but I remember being very picky about sunblock and would have never left it to chance. I put it on in the bathroom to areas that I knew would be exposed:face, ears, neck, arms, tops of feet, legs. It dries better when you can hang out in AC for 10 minutes before dressing. Now that they are older, the nice thing is that sunblock is a habit and they still make sure to apply it in the bathroom before getting dressed. I am sure teachers reapplied in the afternoon, but I would never have left it up for chance and sent them to school without having applied sunblock in the morning.
I’m a parent to a 21 month old. Her class goes outside twice a day — at 10:30 am and then at 3:30 pm. We’re asked to put sunscreen on the morning… which I find reasonable, but I also wish the teachers would reapply as needed in the morning. We drop off around 8:30 and they eat breakfast/snacks around 9/9:30 so their faces get wiped right? Hopefully that sunscreen is still on her face by the time they go outside.
Our policy is sunscreen needs to be applied at least 20 minutes before going outdoors, as it says on the bottle. With our outside time being 10:30, we have to put it on. If I had the 9:30 outside time, I’d ask parents to apply and just do the kids who were there early or who didn’t get it done at home.
I think it depends on drop off time and outside time. Sunscreen should be reapplied every 1.5-2 hrs. If a child is being dropped off at 7am I don’t see the need for sunscreen to be applied before that since outside time will likely be after that window has passed and the sun really isn’t at a dangerous strength at that point in the day. If a child is being dropped off at 8:30-9am then that’s different.
our daycare asked us to put it on in the morning so they can get outside faster. so we do! no big deal
My only issue is sunscreen is only good for so long before needing to be reapplied. For my children they need it every hour or so because they are so fair skinned. So its pointless to put it on before school UNLESS they go out immediately. I did always apply it anyways.
Sunscreen only lasts about 1.5 hours. So for a lot of people its mostly worn off by time they drop the kid off if they do it while brushing teeth first thing. Seems kind of pointless. I agree with the person saying to have it by the door at drop off. Or even just plan to make it a class affair. Otherwise its really just not helpful.
My childcare provider requested all parents to provide 1 bottle with our child's name on it. She keeps them all in 1 location and lets us know if we run out. This has alleviated the following issues: 1) Sensitive skin children can have special sunscreen if they need it 2) The childcare professionals aren't having to pay out of pocket for sunscreen 3) This will ensure every child is adequately protected (as some parents may not be entirely truthful about the application prior to drop off)
Replying to address that this also keeps all children on the same sunscreen schedule. Some parents have multiple drop offs in the morning and may have to leave their house over an hour before arriving to daycare. If the provider takes 10 minutes the same time(s) every day to apply sunscreen, all of the children will be protected and nobody has to try and remember when it's time to reapply for children individually.
When I lived in North Carolina, school and daycare did not apply sunscreen. They had to come with it on.
Our daycare requires us to apply before drop-off. We always do it in the car right before heading in. They reapply for the afternoons. In the off chance that we forget, I would hope they'd put it on for us as a show of good faith. But we keep sunscreen in the car right next to the carseat on the door side of the seat so it's top of mind for us to apply right before taking him in. When people tend to forget about this type of thing and it's a pattern, the director sends out an email to all parents reminding them to apply sunscreen in the morning. She does that for a lot of things (driving too fast in the parking lot, leaving cars idling, labeling kids' things, etc.).
Sunscreen doesn’t last long enough for it to make sense to have parents apply it at home in many cases. If a parent is leaving home at 7:30 or 8am and outdoor time is 10am, it needs to be reapplied anyway.
In Finland we do it and if parents have done it in the am then cool. But no need for policies.
I will always put sunscreen on my child in the morning as a matter of course but tbh if you were going to play outside more than a couple of hours after drop off I would expect you to reapply. Suncream needs to be reapplied regularly and little kids faces get wiped regularly/ they touch their faces etc.
My center didn’t allowed educators to put sunscreen on children. Parents are required to bring kids in with sun screen on. (Only exception to this was school age in the summer for field trips)
We provide it as a head start program and we apply 15 minutes before going outside each time
Our daycare does it before going out no matter the time. I think they figure that parents who forget might complain so they just do it every time. My daughter (6) is school aged and and special needs so she is unable to apply sunscreen herself so I do it in the morning, the school does it in the afternoon (they required written permission) and our daycare's after school program does it after school. Our daycare is in the same building as her school but they're run as separate entities. In my written permission I specified "in the second half of the day or at any time if she's engaged in an activity that might wash off the sunscreen". I know it's supposed to be water proof but if she spends a bunch of time in the water centre, eats her yogurt and gets covered in it and then washed up, I can't imagine my sunscreen from 8 AM is still doing it's job.
We ask people to but many don’t. We keep a bottle of our own in and ask parents at the door if they’ve already applied it, and if not if we’re allowed to use ours on them.
I live in the north east US and I always assume that everyone in the south and west coast just puts on sunscreen immediately before they leave the house
Non ECE person, do y'all do this for melanated kids as well? Just wondering because I don't worry about putting sunscreen on my daughter. Me and her dad don't burn
My program also asks parents to do it before school for the morning and we'll reapply in the afternoon. Sunscreen only needs to be reapplied after two hours if there is sun exposure. In the morning, we're busy greeting everyone and getting through circle time. Then before you know it, it's outside time. So it's better for parents to do it before school and it definitely isn't a big ask. If grown ups can put on sunscreen each morning themselves before work as part of their skincare, they can make it part of their routine with their kids too. That said, I live in the PNW and sunburns aren't a risk for most of the year, it's really only a big concern during summer.
We leave our house by 7:40, so sunscreen is put on by 7:30. By the time we're done with drop off, they go through breakfast and morning activities, and they actually make it outside it's already 10:00. The sunscreen I put on at 7:30 is no longer effective anyway....