How much sun is too much for a child?
My three months old son really likes to sit or lie in the spots where the sun shines through our windows unto the floor. I guess he likes the additional warmth.
Currently it's winter in Germany (from a temperature perspective) so the sun isn't that strong, but I'm afraid in spring and summer eventually the sun will get very dangerous for the delicate baby skin.
I could not find any concise advice on this matter, some say "no sun at all", some say "sunlight is good", some say "sunlight only to a certain degree". Obviously this highly depends on the geographic region and the actual age of the child.
Are there any rules of thumb to decide how much sun is too much? Is there any typical behaviour or reactions to watch out for which indicate too much exposure? Or is it better to play it safe and avoid direct sunlight under all circumstances?
EDIT: I'm interested in both indoor and outdoor exposure, because all children will be exposed to sunlight both indoors and outdoors. (Except for some places in Africa perhaps)
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The pragmatic answer is ... if the child gets a sunburn, there was too much sun. How much sun is highly variable between people; the only real way to know is to get out in the sun and watch the kid. Start slow, perhaps 15 minutes increments, and pay attention. You will know soon enough. Be prepared with long sleeve clothing, shade, sunscreen and water.
Note: the question does not address exposure to heat, which is a different but related question. When a child is outdoors or exposed to direct sunlight for non-trivial amounts of time, supervisors need to pay attention for symptoms of heat-related ailments. Sunscreen, hats and long sleeves can prevent sunburn, but the kid might get heat stroke or dehydration!
I am English, but have fairly dark skin due, in part, to my ancestry. I sit in the sun for 20 minutes and turn brown. That's me. My wife, a traditional English rose, as such, needs two weeks in the sun to turn white after each winter. Each person's skin is different, and that goes to their kids too. I have 3 kids. One of them has good olive skin, so we don't mind her being in the sun for any period of time; she doesn't burn. The next, like the wife, has quite sensitive skin, so we keep our eyes on her more. The other, like me, has fairly dark skin, for an English person, so, again, we don't tend to worry about her more.
However, The most important source of vitamin D is not food, it's sunlight. Vitamin D isn't actually a vitamin, it's a steroid hormone that the body produces using UVB rays from the sun. Vitamin D deficiences in babies can arise if babies receive inadequate exposure to sunlight.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend all breastfed babies be given vitamin D supplements. This is because, they say, breast milk does not contain enough vitamin D (or sunlight maybe?)
Read more: www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-and-vitamin-D.html#ixzz1M1ksDh83 aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;111/4/908
Read more: www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-and-vitamin-D.html#ixzz1M1kSx3Kt
Anecdotally, as a kid, I was blond, blue eyed and spent 12 hours a day semi naked (just in shorts) in the sun, fishing, playing sport, sitting about, swimming and I never burned. I do think we tend to worry about too many things nowadays. I think an element of common sense is needed here; if it is 32 degrees outside and bright sunlight, don't let the kids play outside for too long without some kind of lotion on. If it is 18 degrees and not so sunny, whilst you do have to keep an eye open, it's not so bad.
"To make enough vitamin D, a baby in a diaper [nappy] needs a total of only 30 minutes of sunlight a week-less than five minutes a day. Fully clothed and without a hat, a baby would need two hours of sunlight a week, or about 20 minutes a day. Medium to darker skin tones need a little more time in the sun."
mothering.com/breastfeeding/the-politics-of-vitamin-d
If you're asking about the effects of sunlight on children indoors then my answer is that there are no ill effects and the child can stay in the sun for as long as it wants.
There is no risk of sunburn or other sun-induced dangers. As Lennart points out in a comment, there are also no vitamin benefits as there would be outdoors.
Really the only consideration is that it can get quite warm near a sunny window. Make sure the room temperature and clothing is appropriate, and that objects in the sunlight don't become too heated (like seatbelts in a car).
Sun is a good source of vitamin D, so I would not avoid it completely.
Try to stay out of direct/strong sunshine between 10am and 4pm, and have your baby use sunscreen and a hat regularly.
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