1.  Hike as early in the day as possible.  I am not a morning person at all, but for hiking I’ll drag myself out of bed at the crack of dawn.  “Early” this summer was between nine and ten.  Ridge slept so much those first couple months that he would sleep on the way to the trail-head, sleep on the hike, and sleep on the way home.  It was great!

2.  Find a shady trail.  My preference is to be above treeline but this summer was time to head into the woods.  Shady trails usually equaled cooler temperatures and less chance of sunburns.

3.  Wear a cool long sleeve outfit.  Ridge had white pants and cardigan outfit that he wore almost every hike and a lot of days at the dog park.  The pants even had feet to prevent gaps between socks and pants and reduce worry about sunburns.  

4.  Use sunscreen if your pediatrician ok’s it!  Our pediatrician is wonderful!  She has been in pediatrics a long time and is well respected.  Since she is the EXPERT on baby health so I listen to what she has to say.  Yes it is our choice to do what we want with our son but I normally take her advice.  She said by all means use sunscreen so we did sometimes.  Mostly on extra sunny days when it was hard to keep him completely covered.  And the time I forgot socks.

5.  Sun-shield or hat to keep sun off the face.  He did not always like to wear a hat so the sun-shield on the Ergo was a lifesaver!

How do you stay sunburn free?