Around the "June Day" festival, a variety of parent-child activities are dazzling, and parents start summer travel planning early.
Taking children out often means a variety of equipment, related children's products also increase marketing efforts, styling functions have their own selling points, and some also provide test reports as reference. However, some selling points are misleading.
Long-sleeved trousers are not ideal for sun protection
When outdoors, many parents will also adopt physical sun protection for their children, including letting their children wear light long-sleeved pants, hats, etc., thinking that "covering the skin" can protect them from the sun.
This is not enough.
Outdoor clothing designer Cheng Bo introduced that clothing with sun protection index is not only physically blocked, but also can block harmful light in different bands through the characteristics of the sunscreen fabric itself. The national standard has clear provisions on the material, function, etc. of sunscreen clothing, and requires related products to be labeled with UPF50+. Therefore, on the topic of outdoor clothing selection, children are similar to adults, and it is recommended to wear products made of fabrics with sun protection index.
Similarly, sun hats made of sunscreen fabrics are more suitable for outdoor activities than regular sun hats. It is recommended that the hat used by the child be larger with a larger brim to achieve full face sun protection. If you're outdoors for a long time, you can choose a shawl hood design that protects your child's face and neck.
In addition, children have the characteristics of large range of movement and easy sweating when exercising, it is recommended to choose hats made of lightweight, breathable, and quick-drying materials, or products with a hollow cap design to help dissipate heat. A windscreen rope is also necessary to prevent the hat from falling off when your child is exercising or when the wind is blowing.
Product introduction diagram, independent of brand (the same below)
Another protective detail is that it is necessary to prepare sunglasses for the child.
Many parents know that outdoor exercise can help prevent myopia. However, long-term, direct exposure to ultraviolet rays can also harm children's eyes. The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that sunglasses that provide 99% to 100% protection against UVA and UVB can significantly reduce eye damage caused by exposure to the sun.
When choosing sunglasses, it is recommended to abandon those products with brightly colored lenses. According to the national standard GB39552.1-2020 "Sunglasses and sunglasses - Part 1: General requirements", lens categories are divided into light-colored sunglasses, sunshades and special purpose sunglasses. Lens colors are preferably gray, brown and yellow-brown. Brightly colored sunglasses may not provide protection and can harm vision.
Qualified children's sunglasses must also meet national standards.
First of all, sunglasses should have an anti-ultraviolet effect, and the product should be marked "UV400" in accordance with national standards.
Secondly, the mirror surface of the sunglasses should be curved to cover the skin around the eyes to block UV rays from all angles as much as possible.
Finally, pay attention to the material safety of children's sunglasses. It is generally not recommended to choose glass lenses, but those that are wear-resistant, fall-resistant, and impact-resistant. PC and TAC are ideal materials for the lenses of children's sunglasses currently on the market, they are more impact-resistant and lighter than glass lenses.
In addition, young children are more suitable for lightweight rubber frames, because rubber has flexibility, can be twisted at will, not easy to break, not easy to press the bridge of the child's nose and ears, more comfortable to wear.
Can skin care products be used for babies "for the whole population"?
Outdoor activities, sunscreen and other skin care products are also commonly used. In some short video platforms and e-commerce live broadcast rooms, many anchors promote skin care products that are "suitable for the whole population", indicating that adults can use them, and children can also use them. But professionals disagree with this statement.
Yang Chi, R&D director of mother and baby brand Babycare, pointed out that children should try to avoid adult skin care products, especially functional skin care products, such as whitening, anti-wrinkle, etc. Even for products marked "for the whole population", it is recommended to check the specific ingredients.
He explained that the stratum corneum of children's skin is not fully developed, the differentiation is not complete, and the skin barrier effect is relatively weak, which is very different from that of adults. Therefore, the national "Cosmetics Classification Rules and Classification Catalogue" and "Technical Guidelines for Children's Cosmetics" divide children's skin care products into two stages: 0-3 years old (infancy) and 3-12 years old (childhood). From the specific performance, children's skin absorbs water quickly but has poor water retention capacity, skin protection ability is relatively weak, and it is easy to be stimulated by external irritis to produce atopic dermatitis such as eczema. Based on the above characteristics, children's skin care products mainly have moisturizing and soothing functions.
The person in charge of maternal and infant research and development of Shangmei Co., Ltd. also said that it is not recommended for children to use adult cosmetics, because adult skin care products are mainly based on efficacy in formula design, but some functional substances have a risk of irritation to children's skin.
Looking at the ingredient list of skincare products, you can get a clearer picture of why "for all people" may not include children.
For example, children should not use cosmetics containing alcohol, propylene glycol and other ingredients for a long time, they can trigger allergies; It is not recommended to contain methylparaben and ethylparaben preservatives in skin care products for children under 3 years old, which can easily lead to the accumulation of estrogen; Preservatives such as methylisothiazolinone are irritating and sensitizing; Clobetasol propionate belongs to hormones and can cause allergic phenomena such as "big-headed dolls"; Cinnamyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol, citronellol and other flavors and fragrances are easy to contain allergens, children's skin care products are preferably fragrance-free formulas; Vitamin A alcohol, arbutin, vitamin C and other ingredients common in adult cosmetics are also not suitable for children, although such ingredients have corresponding skin care effects, but the transdermality is strong, easy to irritate children's skin.
Yang Chi also reminded parents not to be misled by "natural ingredients" or "plant ingredients" in children's skin care products, "natural" and "plant" do not mean safe, because some natural ingredients or plant extracts also contain allergenic ingredients.
When purchasing, it is important to look for the "little golden shield". This is the new symbol set up by the state to distinguish children from adult products. As for the test reports provided by many merchants and the "differences between national and European standards" introduced by some anchors, parents should take a comprehensive view and not blindly follow.
The person in charge of maternal and infant research and development of Shangmei Co., Ltd. said that domestic and foreign standards have their own strengths. For example, domestic standards cover many basic requirements for children's skin care products, such as whether the added substances are legal, safety performance, label specifications, etc. EU standards for children's cosmetics include restrictions on the use of certain ingredients, residue limits, etc. These standards can be referenced.
Yang Chi said that for the test report provided by the enterprise, it is necessary to check the source of the "report". In general, if the report comes from a CMA-qualified third-party testing organization, the results are relatively credible. As for common international certifications, such as "ECOCERT" (International Ecological Certification Center), "Derma" and other certifications, relevant test reports or certification results are required from international certification bodies.
Young children are outdoors, these equipment should be noted
Yang Chi also mentioned that when some young children are outdoors, they should pay special attention to safety when choosing related supplies.
For example, young children often carry strollers when they go out, and many strollers emphasize their light nature. But parents should not overly pursue the small and light stroller, if the four-wheel distance is too small and the frame is too light, then the lively baby is likely to roll over when playing in the car.
The state implements 3C certification for children's carriage products, and children's bicycles, children's tricycles, children's strollers, baby walkers, etc. need to pass 3C certification and be labeled before they can be listed. Therefore, parents can not only look at the appearance of the cart when purchasing, but should prefer certified products.
From the point of view of the comfort of children, it is important to sit steadily, comfortably, and spaciously. This depends on whether the fabric is soft and breathable, and whether the seat space is large enough; And whether the cart is bumpy, etc. It is recommended that parents pay attention to whether the cart has a shock-absorbing structure such as shock springs when choosing a stroller.
Professionals also have something to say about the bottles that young children use when they go out. From the perspective of feeding bottle material, glass is the most common, will not produce harmful substances due to high temperature, very safe. However, glass is heavier and easy to break, so it is not suitable for carrying it outside or letting the baby use it alone.
As far as plastic materials are concerned, common are PC (polycarbonate), PP (polypropylene), PES (polyethersulfone), PPSU (polyphenylsulfone), which are usually engraved on the bottom of the container. It should be noted that although the PC material is transparent and light and cheap, harmful substances will precipitate when exposed to high temperature, so the country has banned the use of PC material to produce infant bottles. If you see a feeding bottle of PC material, you should not only avoid it, but also complain and report.
As for the PP bottle, there is no problem with safety. However, its molecular structure density is low, so the hardness is poor, not wear-resistant, easy to age and discolor after a period of use, and the user experience is poor.
In contrast, PES and PPSU bottles are more recommended. These two materials are widely used in medical devices and other fields, among which the impact strength and chemical resistance of PPSU are higher than PES, so the price is also higher, which is a common material for medium and high-end feeding bottles.
When choosing a bottle, also consider the shape of the bottle and nipple. First of all, the shape and diameter of the bottle should be designed to be easy to hold, so that parents can maintain the feeding action naturally and for a long time to avoid diseases such as tenosynovitis. Secondly, the length of the pacifier should fit the baby's mouth shape, not too long or too short. Studies have shown that when babies suck on nipples, the mouth has a natural inclination angle to the nipple, which is about 13°. Therefore, some bottles are currently tilted at an angle, which helps to give the baby the feeling of sucking close to breast milk and reduce the intake of air.