My Favourite Sunscreens for Kids

Summer is around the corner (hopefully), which means it’s time to start prepping our summer gear — including sunscreen. There are lots of amazing options to choose from. Unfortunately, as with most products, not all sunscreens are created equally.

If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’re already convinced about the importance of sunscreen and why we need it use it, especially on our little ones. In this post, I’m going to focus on what to look for and what to avoid when you’re choosing a sunscreen. I will also share some tips for switching to more green products in general, and finally, my three favourite sunscreens that I use for my kids.

Have you ever looked at the ingredients listed on a product and felt like they were just a bunch of chemical names you couldn’t pronounce? Same. And for a long time I trusted that those long, fancy chemical names indicated that they were safe since they were carefully formulated in a laboratory. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case.

According to the Environmental Working Group (2020), these are some ingredients to pay attention to when choosing a sunscreen this summer:

Activate Ingredients to look for in Sunscreens (not all of these will be in a single product)

  • Zinc oxide (the higher percentage, the better!)

  • Titanium dioxide

  • Avobenzone

  • Mexoryl SX

Ingredients to Avoid in Sunscreens (Toxic UV fillers)

  • Oxybenzone

  • Octinoxate

  • Retinyl palmitate 

  • Octocrylene

  • Homosalate

  • Paraben

  • Phthalates

  • PABA

The reason we want to avoid or limit our use the ingredients listed above is because they do not simply sit on the skin and protect us from the sun. Those ingredients are absorbed by the skin quickly and enter the bloodstream within seconds. Each of these ingredients has a different affect on the body once it has been absorbed into the body. Many of those chemicals fall under the category of “Endocrine Disruptors.” This is when an ingredient can actually mimic a hormone in our body (EPA, 2017). An endocrine disruptor could block the production of a certain hormone that we naturally produce, or it could trigger the over-production of another hormone. Our hormones are incredibly sensitive chemical messengers that can be greatly affected by external disruptions, like synthetic chemicals. The ingredients listed above are commonly used in other cosmetic products as well, like make-up, shampoo, soaps, etc.

The most concerning ingredient listed above is, Oxybenzone. In terms of hormone disruption, it has a weak estrogen affect, moderate anti-androgen affect, and is associated with altered birth weight in human studies, according to the Environmental Working Group. Not great news.

Mineral based sunscreens containing zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are preferable ingredients because they create a physical barrier between the sun and your skin. The molecules from the minerals used are sized so that they sit on the surface of the skin, rather than penetrate it.

I am only scratching the surface here in terms of which ingredients are less toxic than others. I encourage you to read your product labels and do some digging. The Environmental Working Group is a fantastic resource for all products. I also like the app called, Think Dirty.

If this is your first time learning about product ingredients, you may feel overwhelmed. When I was student in Nutrition school, we learned a lot about toxic ingredients and how to read product labels. It totally freaked me out! I felt like I needed to rush home and throw out every item in my house and start from scratch. In reality, I didn’t do that because it would have been incredibly wasteful and quite frankly, I didn’t have hundreds of dollars on hand to put towards buying new products!

Here are a few things that may be helpful to keep in mind if you’re considering making the switch to less toxic products in general.

  1. Go Slowly — I appreciate that in general, green products are often created by smaller companies which increases the cost of the product, compared to other brands. I also appreciate that it means that these kinds of products are not accessible to everyone because of the price points. Luckily, more and more brands continue to release safe products which has created more of a range in price points. The most expensive ones are not always the best ones! You do not need to throw out every item you own if it contains a toxic ingredient. Instead is as you finish a product, try to replace it with a less toxic item, if you desire to do so. 

  2. Prioritize Products — Consider how much of a product you are using at a time to prioritize which new products you should purchase first. For example, let’s say you have an eye shadow that you wear once every few weeks and a body lotion that you lather on your entire body daily, and you want to get less toxic versions of both items. It would be best to prioritize the body lotion when you’re making your next purchase. Body lotion is a product you use more frequently and a larger amount of the product goes onto your skin to be absorbed into your body, compared to a small amount of eye shadow used infrequently. This is also why I prioritize sunscreen. We lather it on our children’s bodies several times a day.

  3. Choosing Products — I like to focus on supporting brands that truly stand for making safe, clean products. I avoid or limit the use of companies who “green wash.” This is when a large company comes out with one “natural” product to keep their hands in every pocket of the market. I’m glad to see some of those larger brands are making an effort to make safer products. That being said, I personally would rather put my money in the pockets of companies who whole-heartedly care about using safe ingredients because they recognize how they affect their customers’ health.

  4. Expiry Dates — Take note of the expiry dates on your products. Sunscreen from 3 years ago is not ideal to use this summer! Most products will have a small symbol on the back of the product or box indicating how long you can use the item for. For example, the symbol may look like a tiny jar with a lid opening and “12M” written inside the jar. This would indicate that the product is safe to use for 12 months after opening it. 

  5. Reducing Toxic Load — The intention of this post is not to make anyone feel “bad” or “guilty” for using products that contain certain ingredients. That’s not what this is about. Judgement-free zone here! You do you, and I’ll do me. The purpose of this is to provide you with information that may be new to you to help you make the best decisions for you and your family based on your comfort level and financial situation. This does not have to be an all-or-none approach. Using some “cleaner” products will still benefit your health. Any effort you can make towards reducing your toxic load is valuable. I still have some less than perfect products in my home that I’m slowly replacing.

Finally, I want to share my favourite sunscreens for kids, in no particular order.

Favourite Kid Suncreens2.png

As you can see in the image above, they include:

These sunscreens are all mineral-based and are free of harmful chemicals like parabens, phthalates and artificial fragrance.

I love using the Green Beaver and Earth Mama sunscreen lotions on the kids’ bodies because they go on thick and create a great barrier. I’ve heard some people say the Green Beaver one is too greasy, but it doesn’t bother me! The Think Baby stick is amazing for a quick face application! I like this one for the face because it absorbs very quickly and limits the chance that I’ll accidentally get sunscreen into their eyes, like I often do with a lotion. (Note: if you’ve never put sunscreen on a toddler, it’s similar to wrestling an alligator.)

Think Baby sells lotions in larger tubes as well, similar to the other brands. While these three happen to be my favourite, they are by no means the only safe choices. There are so many other great quality sunscreens on the market that would be safe to use on your children.

To be clear, I am not affiliated with any of these brands. I do not benefit from sharing these products with you. These are simply products that I love and that I have used on my own children. All three brands are companies that I respect and trust. I use many other products from each of these companies as well. I have linked each of the products above so you can find more information about the specific products.

I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during this bizarre time we’re experiencing, and that you can enjoy the nicer weather as much as possible!

Please note that if your baby is under the age of 6 months, you should not be using sunscreen on their skin. This is a topic you can bring up with your paediatrician to learn other ways to keep your infant safe in the sun (i.e. UV clothing, hats, etc.).

Leave me a comment below if you found this helpful! If you have any questions about anything I mentioned, you can email me: info@andreagracewellness.com

Andrea Lebovic