For a typical sunburn the burned skin itself doesn’t hurt, but it is extra sensitive to touch and heat. Clothes rubbing against burned areas can cause discomfort. When I have been sunburned I usually have to take a lukewarm shower since the usual water temperature for my showers makes it hurt too much. If I already have a sunburn then I am especially careful to avoid exposing these areas to more direct sunlight. The first day or two are the worst. After this the redness disappears and then the burned outer layers of skin begin to peel or flake off. Since I burn really easily as it is I tend to avoid going out in the sun altogether.
Here is a link to webmd.com with additional information on sunburns that may also help answer your other questions.
I’m sorry if you got nasty scars from it, but it’s not always the case. I got second degree sunburns four times between the ages of eighteen months and 16 years, and have no scars whatsoever from the ordeals. My younger brother also got them the last time I did, and didn’t scar at all either.
I think it’s a bit extreme to arrest someone for something like that. Given how he gave his statement " “There was no sunscreen or nothing on these children,” I’m a bit biased against the sheriff and wonder how he came to his conclusion that they didn’t have any sunscreen on. Did they do some sort of chemical test of the kids’ skin to see if any traces of sunscreen appeared? Or did he just guess?
Some times sunscreen doesn’t work. That’s how my brother and I got our last severe burns: we reapplied supposedly water-proof 30+sunblock every 30 minutes while spending the day in our Aunt’s pool. I don’t think we could have burned worse if we’d put nothing on at all. It surely wasn’t our Aunt’s fault we got burned, was it? For all we know these kids did have sunscreen on, and it didn’t work.
As another poster so eloquently put it, its this summer’s shark
attacks. Kidnapping is statistically down this year, but don’t let the media know that.
Sunscreen. Shade. Indoors. all/any of these will help avoid 2nd degree sunburns.
The ages of the children is a key factor - infants (and all three were essentially) have very delicate skins. from the link provided
emphasis mine
Yes, I’ve had sunburns before. My son’s father took him out to the lake all day and even w/sunscreen, the child got burned (FTR, he was just starting to turn pinky red in pain at the end of the day). However, it’s clear from the description (that the kids were RED while still outside, so the burn was going to get worse, that it was 2nd degree, involving blisters) that this was not a simple sunburn.
(It’s like if you read that some one was arrested for ‘spanking’ their child and related gosh, I got spanked and it wasn’t a big deal - but then the article goes on to explain that the ‘spanking’ was done on an infant and with a baseball bat…)
For her to be wheeling those kids out in the sunlight while they changed color w/o getting them indoors ! I would assume that they’d been crying at some point.
I don’t think that you get CPS on your tail for failing to send in a sick note. Also, often there isn’t a “conviction” or any court proceeding, just a record of behavior that can be used as evidence of a history if things get worse.
I have been sunburned quite a few times and have had somewhat more than twenty skin cancers removed. I am a slow learner. Every time I go for a walk (fully protected) on the beach, I see people who appear to be reasonable, concientous adults allowing todlers to play at the Gulf’s edge—it is an educational thing: People don’t understand the danger and don’t believe it will happen to them or theirs. I have attempted to talk to some of these people and the general attitude seems to be that they consider me a busy-body old bastard who doesn’t know how to mind his own business. I guess people have to learn the hard way.
LouisB, my father got much the same reaction as you (“busy-body old bastard”) when he told of the dangers of the sun to parents with infants and toddlers. He started doing this 46 years ago. It embarrassed the hell out of me until I found out why he did it.
Like others in this thread, I was badly burned as an infant. Mom and Dad took me (about 3 months old), kiffa and our older brother to Huntington Beach, in Southern California. We were new to the area (I was really new!) and my parents were thinking “Hey, this is great - we can come to the beach a lot!” I was well covered, except for my face, and they had put a blanket over the bassinet to further protect me. By the time we got home, blisters had begun to form around my eyes. They grew to be grape-sized and there was some worry about what would happen to my eyesight (not to mention scars). Fortunately, no scars and my eyesight remained fine (until recently :rolleyes: ). Bless him and bless you too for trying to prevent injury, guilt and remorse.
LouisB, my father got much the same reaction as you (“busy-body old bastard”) when he told of the dangers of the sun to parents with infants and toddlers. He started doing this 46 years ago. It embarrassed the hell out of me until I found out why he did it.
Like others in this thread, I was badly burned as an infant. Mom and Dad took me (about 3 months old), kiffa and our older brother to Huntington Beach, in Southern California. We were new to the area (I was really new!) and my parents were thinking “Hey, this is great - we can come to the beach a lot!” I was well covered, except for my face, and they had put a blanket over the bassinet to further protect me. By the time we got home, blisters had begun to form around my eyes. They grew to be grape-sized and there was some worry about what would happen to my eyesight (not to mention scars). Fortunately, no scars and my eyesight remained fine (until recently :rolleyes: ). Bless him and bless you too for trying to prevent injury, guilt and remorse.
Have you actually read the multiple threads on this issue which are happening right now and people’s various comments? If not, then you might want to take a look at the What IS Child Endangerment thread which is happening in GD right now about what constitutes - or should constitute - “child endangerment”.
Unfortunately, many people believe that simply applying more and more sunscreen as the day goes on will protect their children from the worst possible effects of the sun. A lot of people really do NOT understand what SPF ratings mean. SPF 30 + does NOT mean that if you would usually burn within 2 minutes you can stay in the pool all day as long as you keep applying the stuff. What it means - at best - is that the period you can spend in the sun WITHOUT suffering consequence “X” (eg, reddening of the skin) is extended by a finite limit. If - like myself and 2 of my children - you’re “exposure limit” is 2-5 minutes depending on the time of year, then that limit becomes 60 to 150 minutes in the sun on that day MAXIMUM, even assuming that you’re reapplying the shit. It most certainly does NOT indicate that “applying it every hour” means you can stay out in the sun all day.
There are things, which we as parents are assumed to know - like not putting babies in water without testing the temperature or not leaving them in locked cars. There are many more things in respect of which community service announcements are sometimes far more effective than any legal sanctions.
Quite clearly, as I live in “a sunburnt country”, I’m aware of just how dangerous sun exposure can be not only to infants but to people in general. As someone who lives in a nation of extreme climates, I’m equally aware of how easily children can fall victim to frostbite when on a family day out at the snowfields.
I don’t know how your “community service” announcement stuff works in the US, and so I’ve probably bitten a tiger by the tail here, but YES - in this day and age - I would expect a parent to be aware of the risks to which they are subjecting their child and I would expect anyone who has access to the internet to take their advice about the benefits of any particular product to do some research instead of simply taking the word of the manufacturers that it works.
Experience shows us in all fields of endeavour that people aren’t great at reading labels or following instructions if doing so would inconvenience them or cost them more money.
But don’t blame the manufacturers if the “suncreen didn’t work” when it was clearly NOT applied in accordance with the instructions.
FRT - yes, if it’s a public event in Australia, the Cancer Council is there dispensing free sunshades and free sunscreen and various corporate sponsors combine to provide free water or other fluids.
If that is NOT happening in the US, then perhaps people should be asking “why not”.
Guin, in answer to your question re dehydration : unffortunately dehydrated people have a tendency to go quiet and listless rather than “whinge”. So the very baby which by behavioural criteria is being a “good baby” - ie, not crying, is lethargic, not wetting, not demanding food or drink, could actually be in deep trouble by the time anyone realises the severity of the problem. Dehydrated people tend not to sweat either, and for some reason we regard sweating as an indication of not coping with the heat, when in fact the reverse is true.