Strollerderby

Can't wait for THIS battle with my MIL, who believes that a nice dark tan is healthy and that by wearing SPF 55 day in and day out, I'm depriving myself of vitamin D.  Thanks, I'll take a supplement of D3 daily, as opposed to exposing my pale, molely self to a known carcinogen...

...her main theory right now is that children under the age of 3 don't require sunscreen.  Someone is not going to be under the sole care of his Grandma this summer.

We all need exposure to the sun, the sun is a good thing for us, and just like everything else, it is wonderful in moderation. Rickets on the rise again, it is important to get at least 30 minutes of sun exposure without sunscreen. A tan is healthy, a burn is not, so everything in moderation. Don't bash your MIL, she knows what she is talking about, and your kids will do just fine with her, she did raise your husband. We didn't get slathered up with sunscreen when we were kids, it didn't exist, we cooled off when we got too hot, came in for a bit, played in the shade. Sunscreen is a good thing, but it needs to be used correctly, and not all of the time. Sun exposure not only prevents rickets, but also helps with depression and immunity. It is not a good thing to be a freak about lathering on the sunscreen. Dermatologists have a different view point, and they are getting information from sponsored paid studies, but it is not what is best for humans, and our skin can actually build up a protective layer with good sun exposure to protect from skin cancers.  The sun is not a carcinogen, and sunscreen can be worse, they can contain loads of carcinogenic chemicals. Just use it sparingly and wisely and don't be afraid of nature, humans have existed for thousands of years with out sunscreen, and skin cancer is very new, and it's developments coincide with the invention of tanning salons, where most people get skin cancers and sunscreens.

Sam, a tan is not healthy.  It is a sign of damage.  Do your research please.  Dermatologists are not the devil and they aren't being paid off.  Again, please do your research - TAN IS DAMAGE.  

I have had four pre-cancerous moles removed from my person.  I stand by my stance.  Tanning and sun exposure are not a sign of health; it does damage to the skin.  Our skin CANNOT build up a protective layer, it is simply biologically impossible.  I am not bashing my MIL, simply stating that since she will not listen to what my husband and I say, she will not watch our child.  (This isn't the only item - she thinks we should put our son in a forward facing carseat in the front seat, thank you.)

Look, you have read what supports your argument, but it is not entirely correct.

You MIL raised a kid in a different area, and she is not going to kill your child. The reason we put kids in the back is because of air bags. If you don't have them in your car, then there is really no reason you can't put your child in the front. We put our infant seat in the front, and it made driving a whole lot safer for us when we were driving alone with the baby. I understand why she thinks it is a good idea, but if you don't agree, then you need to let her know why, with out such a "I know so much more than you do" air. Because you don't, and who knows what future generations will be doing with their kids. We don't have all of this stuff right.

Look, if you want to slather your self with chemical toxic sunscreen and take chemical supplements for something nature provides for in its most perfect form, then go do it. But that is not what is best for anybody, and it should not be advocated.

I can't believe there is even a debate regardng the safety of sunscreen versus sun damage.  Seriously, I can't even address the wrongness of Sam's comments.  Repeat after me: chemicals are not automatically bad.  As someone who has LOTS of skin cancer in my family and ridiculously fair skin, I hope to be the first generation who doesn't have to have cancer cut off and out of my skin, thanks to diligence with sunscreen my whole life.

Also, this is kind of OT, but the back seat is safer because of its positioning in the car.  It has more protective material behind it, usually (trunk or cargo space, etc.), and in any accident in which the car that has the child has the front end engaged (head on collision or driver with child rear ends someone), there is more material there as well, to stop the other car before it reaches the baby.  The middle of the back seat protects a child better in a side-impact collision for the same reason (note that it is nearly impossible to have the child in the middle in the front seat).  Physics also shows why a rear-facing seat is safer than a forward facing seat, particularly in the case of small babies whose neck and spine are not strong enough to withstand any whiplash type motion: if the baby faces backward, all its forward momentum is absorbed into the seat, rather than by the baby's body as it is yanked backward by the straps.

Sam, I am happy that your children survived your negligence in car seat and sun safety (although sun damage is cumulative, so they may have skin cancer down the line).  But just because we "used to do it that way" doesn't make it right or safer.  I will say again, I cannot believe there is even a debate about this.  CV, you keep on your protective parenting- your MIL is not right about these issues!  

www.mcw.edu/.../healthlink.htm

You should not slather yourself with sunscreen. Period. It is not good for you to not ever absorb the suns rays. I am not talking about frying yourself, I am talking about healthy sun absorption. No one is talking about letting your self get damaged by the sun, but a tan is healthy, it does help your body provide it's own sun screen. The sun is good for you. Moderation and practicality are the key to everything. It is not good to be freaks about the sunscreen, just like it is not good to be freaks about the hand sanitizer.

Look, if you have to drive 30 miles with a screaming newborn in the back of your car, and you can do that without wrecking or endangering others, than that is great. But we found if we put the car seat in the front, rear facing, with no air bags, he did not scream, I was a safer driver and he was just fin. We have no air bags, which is the issue with positioning car seats. The middle is said to be safest when there are rear passenger air bags.  

Sam is a troll, apparently.

Also arguing with a cellular biologist about whether UV radiation does or doesn't damage skin cells, and assuming my MIL raised my husband, which is not the truth.  He was removed from her care, btw.  

In short, I'm ignoring the troll.  It'll go away.