Water Safety, Sunscreen, and Bug Spray: The Complete Summer Guide for Babies and Toddlers
Summer with a baby or toddler is full of firsts. First splash in the kiddie pool. First trip to the lake. First bare toes in the grass at dusk while the bugs come out. It's also the season when new parents ask us the most questions, because so much of the advice out there is either outdated, contradictory, or written for adults, not for a six-month-old with delicate skin and no sense of danger yet.
At Rested, our Infant Care Specialists and Postpartum Doulas spend their days (and sometimes nights) right alongside families figuring this stuff out in real time. So we put together the guide we wish every new parent had on hand before the first hot day of the year.
Water Safety: The Rules That Never Bend
Drowning is fast, silent, and one of the leading causes of injury and death in young children. The good news is that a few consistent habits go a long way.
Never leave a child unattended near water, even for a few seconds. Not the bath, not the kiddie pool, not the lake shore. If you need to answer the door or grab a towel, bring the child with you.
Designate a "water watcher." At gatherings with multiple adults, it's easy to assume someone else is watching the water. Assign one adult at a time, phone down, eyes on the kids.
Layers of protection matter. Pool fencing, locked gates, and life jackets for open water are backup, not a substitute for supervision.
Babies under 1 should not be in pools without extremely close, arm's-length supervision, and most pediatricians recommend waiting until closer to 12 months for any kind of formal swim lessons, though supervised water play is fine earlier with the right precautions.
Bath time deserves the same seriousness as the pool. A few inches of water is enough. Gather everything you need before you start so you're never tempted to step away.
Sunscreen: What's Actually Safe for Little Skin
Under 6 months: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends keeping babies this young out of direct sunlight as much as possible. Shade, hats, and lightweight protective clothing are the first line of defense. If shade isn't available, a small amount of mineral sunscreen on exposed areas like the face and hands is considered acceptable, but it shouldn't be your main strategy.
6 months and up: Choose a broad-spectrum, mineral-based sunscreen (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) with SPF 30 or higher. Mineral formulas tend to be gentler on sensitive skin than chemical sunscreens.
Apply generously and often. Most parents underapply. Reapply every two hours, and immediately after swimming or heavy sweating.
Test a small patch first. Baby skin can be reactive. Try any new sunscreen on a small area a day or two before a big outing.
Don't forget the easy-to-miss spots: ears, the back of the neck, tops of the feet, and the part line if hair is thin.
Bug Spray: Timing and Ingredients Matter
DEET is considered safe for children over 2 months old, at concentrations of 30% or less. Higher concentrations don't work meaningfully longer, they just increase exposure.
Picaridin is another effective, well-tolerated option and is gentler smelling for many families.
Avoid combination sunscreen-and-bug-spray products. Sunscreen needs frequent reapplication; bug spray does not. Combining them means overapplying one or underapplying the other.
Apply sunscreen first, let it absorb, then apply bug spray on top.
Never spray directly on a child's face. Spray onto your hands first, then apply, avoiding eyes, mouth, and hands (little ones put their hands everywhere).
Skip essential oil-based "natural" repellents for infants. Many haven't been tested for safety in young children and offer inconsistent protection.
Permethrin-treated clothing is a great option for extended outdoor time, like camping trips, and reduces how much product touches the skin directly.
A Note From Our Team
None of this is meant to make summer feel scary. It's the opposite. A few clear rules, agreed on ahead of time, mean you get to actually relax at the cookout or the lake house instead of white-knuckling every minute. That's true whether it's just you, a partner, a grandparent, or one of our Infant Care Specialists on duty.
This is exactly the kind of thing our ICS team helps with day to day: not just keeping a baby fed and napped, but building the small, consistent habits that keep the whole summer season calmer for everyone. If you're heading into your first summer with a new baby and want an extra set of experienced hands, we'd love to talk.
