A Queensland mother says a Cancer Council children’s sunscreen gave her baby a “horrible rash” and saw him hospitalised for two nights.
Jessie Swan, from Hatton Vale in south-east Queensland, said her three-month-old spent three days and two nights in hospital receiving treatment for the redness she said was caused by the SPF50+ Peppa Pig sunscreen.
She posted a picture of her child on Cancer Council Australia’s Facebook page yesterday with a warning to other parents.
“Do not buy this sunscreen,” she urged.
Ms Swan insisted her child, who has now been released from hospital, had not been in the sun and the redness was not sunburn.
“He has not been in the sun, he was simply outdoors, so I put screen on him just in case,” she said.
Cancer Council replied to Ms Swan’s Facebook post apologising and suggesting they communicate directly.
The non-profit organisation said in a separate comment that Ms Swan’s story was “upsetting” and that they would investigate the matter further.
It said the sunscreen was approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and dermatologically tested.
“We would like to reassure everyone that our Cancer Council Kids sunscreen has been formulated to be as suitable for delicate skin as possible,” it said.
“It has a lower level of active ingredients when compared to other products and we have selected preservatives that are known to be more gentle on the skin.”
Similar Peppa Pig sunscreen stories surface.
Since the range was introduced a number of years ago, Cancer Council said in a statement it had received a “very small” number of complaints.
It said some of those complaints related to “issues with the function of the pump spray, not the sunscreen itself”.
But on “some occasions” there had been an “allergic or chemical reaction” to ingredients in the product, it said.
Ms Swan’s post generated over 3,000 shares and over 1,500 comments, including messages from people with similar stories.
A number also called for the product to be removed from the shelves.
“Both my kids have had bad reactions to this sunscreen,” Jo Robertston said.
“I have seen this sunscreen irritate so many children’s skin ever since it came out,” Malaney Pohatu said.
Another user said “people were stupid not to patch test anything they put on their children”.
Susan Haile-Cherry said both of her children reacted to the same sunscreen.
The mother said she had used the sunscreen on her daughter for years, so did not hesitate to apply it to her after purchasing a new bottle.
Her daughter had a mild reaction, while her son, who she did a patch test on, had a more noticeable reaction.
But Ms Haile-Cherry told the ABC she had not had issues with the sunscreen or others in the past, and suggested it might have been a bad batch.
This post originally appeared on ABC News.
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Top Comments
It's a little suspicious that only his stomach, face, and front of his arms are red and not everywhere else there would've also been sunscreen? so only the parts of his skin potentially exposed to the sun are red and she expects people to believe it? unless she only put it on the top of his arms and tummy... kind of weird.
If he was simply "outdoors" and not in the sun as she stated, why cover your 3 month old baby in chemicals and then complain when his skin reacts to it? I don't get it? Neutrogena has products that they recommend speaking to your Paediatrician for advice for children under 6 months.