Every summer, parents become obsessed with protecting their babies’ delicate skin from the harsh sun, however, they don’t realize that in an attempt to shield or block them from the sun, they might actually being putting their little one in even more danger.
If keeping little ones shaded is out of the question, most parents rely on slathering sunscreen all over their babies. But if parents are just going out for a walk or running errands with the stroller, many love to pop up the stroller canopy cover and even drape a light blanket over to ensure not one ray of sunlight damages their baby’s skin.
While parents mean well, researchers in Sweden have discovered that draping anything, even the thinnest of cloths, can be extremely dangerous as the reduced air circulation and trapped heat can cause heat stroke and SIDS.
“It gets extremely hot down in the pram, something like a thermos,” Svante Norgren, M.D., a pediatrician at Astrid Lindgren children’s hospital in Stockholm explained. “There is also bad circulation of the air and it is hard to see the baby with a cover over the pram.” According to their experiment, leaving a thin cloth over a stroller on a mild 72-degree day for just 3o minutes caused the temperature inside the stroller to reach 93 degrees. And after an hour, the temperature rose to about 100 degrees.
Take a look at 3 safer ways to keep your baby protected from the sun AND the heat this summer:
3. Get rid of the blankets: Instead of draping a light blanket over your baby’s stroller, find a light, perforated material like mesh to shade your baby while also allowing air to circulate.
2. Sunscreen: If you want to keep your baby’s skin protected from the sun, apply sunscreen to only their exposed skin like hands, arms, faces, or legs rather then the entire body to save time.
1. Stroller Modifications: Choose a stroller with a large canopy cover and removable back panel so hot air doesn’t get trapped, and try clipping a small fan to the stroller’s handlebars to keep your baby from overheating.
Have you ever made this dangerous mistake? Let us know in the comments below, and please SHARE this with parents on Facebook to keep their little ones safe.
[Featured image: madame.lefigaro]
The Dangerous Stroller Mistake You’re Probably Making This Summer is an article from: LifeDaily