Keeping your baby cool in hot weather
It is essential that you keep your baby cool during hot weather. Exposure to sunlight, especially early afternoon or summer sunshine (which is very powerful), can cause a range of complaints such as sunburn, heatstroke, heat rash and, in the worst cases, skin cancer.
The best way to tackle this is to avoid the sun if practical. If you do need to go out in the sun, you will need to ensure your child is wearing both a sun hat and a high protection factor sun cream (that is not out of date).
If your child is fair-skinned, you must be especially vigilant about her exposure to sunlight as the harmful rays will have more effect on her skin than it would for darker-skinned children. In spite of this, all babies and children should be adequately protected and ideally not exposed to too much sun.
Seek shade whenever possible, and if you are sitting in the park or garden try to make sure there is a tree that you can sit underneath. When you are walking around with your baby in her pushchair, you should ensure that she has a parasol attached that will shield the sunlight from her face and body.
Make certain your baby has a good supply of cooled, boiled water that you can give her to keep her hydrated and do not put too many clothes on her. For an older baby, you can give pieces of thirst quenching fruit, like pieces of melon or pears. Babies may not feel like eating much in the heat, so something like fruit and yoghurt should suffice until it cools down.
Ideally, her skin should be as covered as possible, but without too many layers. The fabric your baby wears is extremely important, as a material like cotton is going to be far cooler than a nylon one. Bear this in mind when purchasing new clothes and dressing your baby for time in the sun.
Even when it is not very hot or even especially sunny, the UV rays from the light can still harm, so ensure you make these changes as a lifestyle change rather than just a short term experiment.
Checklist for spending time in the sun:
• Sun hat
• High protection factor sun cream
• Parasol for pushchair
• Plenty of cooled, boiled water
• Right amount of clothes in a suitable fabric
• Shade to sit under
If you do not follow these guidelines your baby could become sunburnt. This is very painful for a small baby and can lead to skin cancer. Do not let your child get burnt in the sun. In some cases, if the baby or child has been exposed for a long time to the sun without adequate protection or enough water to hydrate himself with, he may develop Sunstroke. This is a dangerous condition where the baby cannot regulate his temperature and his body, literally, overheats. When this happens, your baby’s body won’t be able to lower his temperature as his sweat glands will have ceased to work.
Symptoms to watch out for are: your baby’s pulse rate rising, if he becomes extremely tired and drowsy, or if he does not respond in the usual way to you. In extreme cases, your baby could lose consciousness or even stop breathing (Go to our video First Aid:What to do if your baby stops breathing for further advice in this situation).
To treat mild sunstroke, you should lie your baby down somewhere cool, provide him with lots of water to rehydrate him, remove his clothes and sponge him down with cool water. If you have a fan, he should be placed near it. Obviously if his temperature were to rise to 40 degrees C, you should call for a doctor as this is extremely serious.
Tip: If you are travelling abroad to a hot country, the sun may be more intense than in the UK and take less time to do its damage. Be especially vigilant about protecting your baby in this situation.
For more tips, watch the gurgle video on Keeping you baby cool in hot weather. If you have any other questions about protecting your baby in hot weather, you can ask them in the Guide to Baby area of the answers page.
Last Modified:
Mothercare
ELC
