The daily sunscreen dance (sponsored by Neutrogena)

Thanks to Neutrogena for sponsoring Rookie Moms today. At the bottom of this post, we are hosting a giveaway for a bundle of sunscreen. Enter to win!

We take sunscreen super seriously, and today we’ve partnered with Neutrogena to share some tips. Some kids HATE to put on sunscreen. I won’t name names, but one of them is in the video right below this text. Every day with him is a dance — I’ve watched Heather do it — and it’s not 100% fun. So, we mamas have to work extra hard to make it fun, make it daily, and seriously not screw this up.

Since wearing sunscreen is not about opting in — it’s mandatory — here are the strategies we use to make sure we do it.

Keep on trying. There are many form factors of sunscreen available. If you watch the video above, you’ll see Sawyer wanted to try all of them. Spray for legs and arms? You got it kid! Prefer dry-touch for your face? No problem. Leave a comment if you want to learn more about the methods that Heather has tried on him; they are too numerous to name here.

Leave it around, everywhere. I have it in the car, near the front door, in a bin in the backyard, and in most of my bags. I am forgetful, and keeping it in the places I need it reminds me to apply it all the time. (An actual study shows that keeping sunscreen near your toothpaste increases daily usage!) If I get to the park and I haven’t done my kids faces yet, I can grab some from the back seat. See? Organized!

Apply my own sunscreen in front of the kids. Since they love to mimic Mommy, having them follow along step-by-step is another strategy. Now our noses, and cheeks, now our ears. You get the idea. We need to show them that we do it daily.

Set a timer. I was responsible for my one-year old niece, who has a Snow White complexion, in the pool the other day. Since I was terrified of letting someone else’s child get burnt, I literally set a timer on my phone for 30 minutes. I made sure to get out, dry her off, and reapply, because I was pretty sure no amount of sunscreen was too much for this baby.

Supply sunscreen to anyone who is caring for your child.  Did you know that as few as two painful sunburns during childhood significantly raises the risk of melanoma, compared to kids who have never been sunburned? Dang. 99% of dermatologists agree that using sunscreen helps lower skin cancer risk. That’s pretty much everyone who knows anything about skin health. I will never be insulted if you tell me to sunscreen your child while I am watching her. I will be totally grateful if you have it in her diaper bag.

Keep skin covered. This generation will think wearing long sleeves in the pool is normal. Really! Keep hats and cover-ups available and decrease overall exposure.

YouTube stars the Holderness Family also made a video to encourage families to do whatever it takes to sun-protect our kids’ skin (including dance!). To help support this important cause, Neutrogena will donate $10K to the Children’s Melanoma Prevention Foundation. Yay!

Pro tip: Kids love videos, regardless of the topic. Call your kids over to watch this video:

Ok, are you ready? We’re going to select three winners to receive a goody bag of sunscreen from Neutrogena. Use the widget below to enter.

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This post was sponsored by Neutrogena® as part of an influencer activation for The Motherhood. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC) guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.