I don’t know about you, but it is very hard to find a great sun hat for my toddler and pre-schooler.  The hats in the local stores are very pretty, but they are missing some important features that make a great sun hat:

  • Ventilation holes.  Many of the hats go so far as to have a liner in a different color, but no air holes to help keep my kids cool.
  • A wide brim.  The two areas most exposed to the sunlight are my kid’s necks and ears.

My kids, especially my son, is very sun sensitive.  He is a red head =-).  Both my kids sneeze (light sensitivity) and get heat exhaustion if they are not wearing a hat in the sun.

Although it costs more, I finally found some hats with ventilation at Solartex.com.  Solartex has SPF ratings for their hats as well.

I chose the cream colored afternoon sun hat so my daughter can use it when he outgrows it.  Also, the light color will reflect the sun more effectively.

How to get your kids to wear hats

People ask me how I am able to get my kids to wear their hats.  It takes persistence.  I tell them we will have to go inside if they take them off and follow through with the threat.

We have a big tree in the backyard and I put up a tent every once in a while.  I let them know that they can take the hats off if they are in the shade.  This gives them a measure of control.  =-)

Water Bottle Fun

Another thing I do is have a water bottle for each of my kids available.  They love to drink from these and I don’t have to worry about dehydration.

If the weather is hot enough, I allow them to fill and refill them at the outside water spout.  =-)