Best Baby Sunscreens 2021
Updated May 10, 2021
The Best Sunscreens for Babies with Sensitive Skin this year are:
How did I make this decision?
As we are approaching summer, I have been receiving a lot of questions from moms about which baby sunscreen to buy. I decided to write a review of the best baby sunscreens and rate the positives and negatives of each major type of sunscreen. I rated each one based on 3 criteria: (1) effectiveness against UV light, (2) hypoallergenic ingredients, (3) appearance and feel of sunscreen.
In general, you can apply sunscreen liberally on your babies starting at 6 months. Under 6 months, you can use sunscreen on the face or small areas of the body. It is best to apply a thin layer of moisturizer prior to the sunscreen. You would want to apply the sunscreen 15-30 minutes prior to going outdoors. Take the sunscreen with you to reapply during the day at least every 1- 2 hours, especially after your child swims or exercises. In addition to sunscreen, it is important to place your children under shade, give them hats, and have them wear sunglasses. You want to lower your child’s risk of getting sunburn and skin cancer later in life as much as possible.
Sunscreens that I consider hypoallergenic are physical blockers which contain zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. I avoided chemical sunscreens which include oxybenzone. The downside of zinc oxide and titanium dioxide is it leaves a white film which may not match your child’s skin tone. However, physical blocker sunscreens are the safest for sensitive skin. In addition, I only looked at sunscreens with SPF 30 or higher. I also avoided sunscreen sprays for inhalation risk.
The Top 2 Baby Sunscreens for Sensitive Skin are:
- CeraVe Hydrating Mineral Sunscreen
- TruKid Eczema Daily Mineral Sunscreen
Both of these are highly rated by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and National Eczema Association (NEA). I also closely vetted all the ingredients as well to make sure they were safe. Both are physical blocker sunscreens and provide good UVA and UVB protection.
CeraVe Hydrating Mineral sunscreen for face SPF 50+ is my personal favorite as it performed well in all 3 of my criteria. CeraVe contains ceramides which are important for the skin. CeraVe Baby sunscreen was also one of my top sunscreens, but was recently discontinued by the manufacturer. However, this sunscreen contains similar hypoallergenic ingredients to CeraVe Baby sunscreen and has also earned the NEA seal of approval. The feel of this sunscreen is light and blends easily. The only downside is it does leave a slightly white film, but that is similar across all physical sunscreens.
TruKid Eczema Daily Mineral Sunscreen SPF 30+ is a strong competitor to CeraVe sunscreen. It performed higher than CeraVe on the EWG rating and also earned NEA seal of approval. It has very pure ingredients, but it does not blend as easily as the CeraVe one. However, the final result leaves less of a white film compare to the CeraVe one after it is fully blended.
Strong Runner Ups or Other Solid Choices (in no particular order):
- Badger Clear Zinc Sport Sunscreen SPF 35+
- Baby Bum Mineral Sunscreen SPF 50+
- Thinkbaby Sunscreen SPF 50+
- Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen SPF 50+
- Earth Mama Kids Uber-Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen SPF 40+
These 5 were rated very high by EWG, but were not listed in safe product list in NEA. This could be from 2 reasons: either the sunscreen brands did not apply for NEA seal of acceptance or they did apply but did not pass. However, I closely looked at all their ingredients and they were hypoallergenic, which is why I still listed them under solid choices.
Badger Clear Zinc Sport Sunscreen is one of the few physical sunscreens which does not leave a white tint! It also has the fewest and purest ingredients. It scored in the highest category in the EWG, and I was tempted to list it in my top 3, but since it did not have the NEA seal of acceptance, I placed it at the top of this solid sunscreen category. Downside is it is thick and vaseline- like.
Baby Bum Mineral Sunscreen is water resistant, which is an extra plus. Ingredients are plant based and vegan. I also like the feel of this sunscreen and it blends in well.
Thinkbaby Sunscreen SPF 50+
Water Resistant
Similar to Baby Bum, Thinkbaby Sunscreen is also water resistant, which is important for swimming or sweating. The feel of this sunscreen is excellent, and it is easy to blend.
Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen SPF 50+
Water Resistant, Smart Cap Technology
Like Thinkbaby and Baby Bum, Blue Lizard Australian Sunscreen also is water resistant. In addition, it has a smart cap technology in which the cap turns blue in harmful UV light. This sunscreen is a little more watery compared to Thinkbaby and Baby Bum.
Similar to the above sunscreens, Earth Mama Kids is also water resistant. It also performed quite high on EWG rating. This sunscreen uses very pure ingredients as well. However as a result, the feel and appearance of this sunscreen was not my favorite.
These sunscreens did not make my top sunscreen list this year:
- Aveeno Baby Continuous Protection- UV protection was significantly lower than SPF indicated
- Babyganics sunscreen- octisalate was a questionable ingredient, also poor balance of UVA protection in relation to SPF
- Banana boat suncare- poor balance of UVA protection in relation to SPF
- Cetaphil sunscreen- UV protection was significantly lower than SPF indicated
- COOLA mineral baby sunscreen- poor balance of UVA protection in relation to SPF
- La Roche-Posay sunscreen- contains avobenzone, which is more of a chemical sunscreen as opposed to a physical blocker
- Neutrogena Pure and Free Baby- poor balance of UVA protection in relation to SPF
- Vanicream- poor balance of UVA protection in relation to SPF
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