Sunburned

[Simone82]

Hello iam not from Australia but Germany and i came across this forum.. Iam desperate... I thought Australians might understand my fear since i got mocked and laughed at in a german forum i posted.. My 9 year old son went to the lake with my brother and his daughter and i made sure he takes his sunscreen.. I hurried to put it on his face in our yard but my brother pressured to leave so i told all 3 to not forget to put it on the rest of his body. My son woke up sunday morning with a sunburned back and i lost it... I could not believe they did not put the sunscreen on him because they put it on themselves. Iam so scared now.. My son is just 9...i have been crying since sunday and cannot keep a clear thought anymore. I have been reading a lot online and mostly it says how bad a sunburn is for a child.. I feel like my son will getvskincancer for sure now. Please do not laugh at me... Iam so scared really

[PapaBill · Accepted solution]

Hi @Simone82 

It sounds like you feel very strongly about what happened to your son.  Sun burn sounds funny until you see what damage it really can do.   How bad was your sons burns?  Was he hospitalized?  Did you need to seek medical professional support?

The good news is dispute anything you read, people get sun burnt all the time here in Australia and we don't all get skin cancer.  The damage from sunburn are a painful lesson many children here learn first hand and  why you need sunscreen.

I am not suggesting you ignore the issue, just need to get the right perspective.  

All parents hate to see our children suffer, especially when it is preventable but you cant undo what is done.

Your son will now understand why sunscreen is important better than a hundred lectures from Mama.

I do think a discussion with your brother is in order.  Did his cousin get burnt?  If not why not if they went to the lake together?   Does he understand your child ended up suffering physical harm and pain in his care ?

In closing my family like most in Australia believe no amount of rushing was an excuse to miss out on the sun screen.. You just cant afford to miss it in our summer.  

[PapaBill · Accepted solution]

Hi @Simone82 

It sounds like you feel very strongly about what happened to your son.  Sun burn sounds funny until you see what damage it really can do.   How bad was your sons burns?  Was he hospitalized?  Did you need to seek medical professional support?

The good news is dispute anything you read, people get sun burnt all the time here in Australia and we don't all get skin cancer.  The damage from sunburn are a painful lesson many children here learn first hand and  why you need sunscreen.

I am not suggesting you ignore the issue, just need to get the right perspective.  

All parents hate to see our children suffer, especially when it is preventable but you cant undo what is done.

Your son will now understand why sunscreen is important better than a hundred lectures from Mama.

I do think a discussion with your brother is in order.  Did his cousin get burnt?  If not why not if they went to the lake together?   Does he understand your child ended up suffering physical harm and pain in his care ?

In closing my family like most in Australia believe no amount of rushing was an excuse to miss out on the sun screen.. You just cant afford to miss it in our summer.  

[TOM-RO]

Hi @PapaBill 

Thanks for your support of @Simone82 , you made some really great points. Just letting you know, I edited your post to remove parts that could be taken as medical advice, as this is against our community guidelines. If you’d like to have a look at the community guidelines they can be found here.

@Simone82, it sounds like this is a scary situation for you. Have you thought about taking your son to see a doctor? They will be able to let you know what the possible impacts of his sunburn might be, which might help to alleviate some of your anxiety. Good on you for opening up about the emotional impact of this, it is very brave given you were not treated very well on other forums. Let us know how you go

[Simone82]

Thank you for your answers.. I took my son to a doctor but it was not a dermatologist. We tried to get to one but they said they cannot give us an appointment so we took him to our normal doctor. She was not happy about his sunburn. My son had pain the day after they went to the lake and a day later he said it was gone but i believe he only said it to calm me down. No my niece was not burned since he put sunscreen on her but not on my son. This is the thing that burdens me the most. He does not know that iam doing so horrible now..he lives 2 hours away and only comes every 2 weeks to see his children. I have no more joy i still cry and all i read online is that sunburns especially in childhood increase the risks for skincancer dramatically.. I cannot eat anymore iam not even hungry anymore. All i can think about is my son and that i wish i never did let him go with him... I talked with a dermatologist on the phone and she said he should go to skincancer screening every year from now on. It scared me even more to hear this. Iam just lost....

[Simone82]

His skin is peeling off since Thursday now.. It is the first layer of his skin but it still does not look nice.. My son is biracial his Father is afro american but i have red hair and very pale skin and my son got more of my skin.

[TOM-RO]

Hey there @Simone82 

In Australia we take sun damage very seriously as the sun has a much stronger effect here than it does in other countries. I believe this is due to damage to the ozone layer in relation to Australia's physical location.  It sounds like you have done absolutely everything in your power you can to be safe. It sounds like there is a lot going on in your life, how have things been for you in general? Do you need support for yourself?

[Simone82]

Thanks for your message..iam doing little better since m cousin came today and told me she got sunburned all the time as a child and her boyfriend said the same about himself plus her 7 year old sun recently had a sunburn too although he had the highest sunscreen on. And his skin peeled off too... So iam a little better and was able to shake the fear off a bit.. At least i can function normally again. But all the stuff i read about sunburns scared me so much... My mom told me too that she and her siblings always sunburned in the 1960s and 70s while working on the field... I know everyone is different but i was really traumatized the whole past week.. Iam glad i feel better now although iam sure i will still be worried about what effects the sunburn could have in the future. But iam trying to think positive. And yes i have lots of problems or issues with myself too...

[Michael219]

I think you should be careful from now. You can prevent sunburn by taking precautions like:
>Seek shade.
>Wear clothing with UPF protection
>Wear sunglasses with UV protection.
>Wear a wide-brimmed hat.
>Always apply sunscreen at least 15 minutes before going outdoors, even on a cloudy day.