7 Best Sunscreens for Kids and Babies (And Score 30% Off Our Favorite One!)
Trying to figure out the best sunscreen for kids and babies? We’ve got you covered!
Protect those babies! ☀️
On the hunt for the best sunscreen for kids and babies? These are the top-rated ones for 2022 that are safe as they are effective. Get ready for summer fun!
When choosing the best (and worst) sunscreens on our lists below, we compiled reputable feedback from Consumer Reports and EWG to give you the highest-rated & best-tested sunscreens on the market.
*Keep in mind, it’s recommended to consult with your family physician when considering any sun protection for babies under the age of 6 months.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, while it’s super important to have a great sunscreen, it’s just as important to apply it correctly for the ultimate effectiveness.
Here are the steps to follow when protecting all children against the sun:
- Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher.
- Limit sun exposure and the amount of time outside.
- Always check the expiration date to make sure it’s still good.
- Apply it generously – 1 shot glass is the average amount used to cover your body.
- Make sure to apply sunscreen thoroughly and be sure to cover hard-to-reach places (scalp, ears, back of the neck, etc.)
- Apply about 15 minutes before going out in the sun.
- Reapply sunscreen every 2 hours when out in the sun.
- Wear sunscreen every day – regardless of the weather, the sun can damage your skin so stay protected.
Hip Tip: SPF Sunscreen is eligible for reimbursement with FSA, HSA, and HRA accounts. A broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 15+ protection (and above) is FSA and HSA eligible! And to make shopping for these products even easier, Amazon now has an FSA & HSA Store!
*For more information on sun safety for children and babies, head over to skincancerinfo.org.
Here are the best sunscreens to buy for kids & baby:
- Pipette Mineral Sunscreen – Best cream sunscreen
- Trader Joe’s Spray Sunscreen – Best spray sunscreen
- Blue Lizard Baby Sunscreen – Best unique sunscreen
- Made Of Sunscreen – Best clean sunscreen
- Badger Baby Mineral Sunscreen – Best sustainable sunscreen
- Thinkbaby Sunscreen – Best vegan sunscreen
- Baby Bum Sunscreen Face Stick – Best stick sunscreen
1. Pipette Mineral Sunscreen is a safe, fragrance-free kid’s sunscreen I’ve been using since last summer.
Best cream sunscreen
Warm weather is here and Pipette will hit all the marks if you’ve been searching for a sunscreen you’ll feel good about putting on your kiddos.
It’s a true baby-friendly & reef-friendly sunscreen, packed with powerful SPF 50, and uses 100% mineral, non-nano zinc oxide for broad-spectrum UVA/UVB protection! It’s even fragrance-free, so it’s sensitive enough for all skin types.
Pipette sunscreen is made with non-comedogenic & real ingredients you can trust, like wild gooseberry extract, plant-derived antioxidant bisabolol, and sugarcane-derived squalane (a skin-moisturizing superhero all babies are born with), and so much more!
For just $5, it’s also available in a travel size.
Better yet, it goes on so easily, rubs in quickly, is also great for little ones’ faces, and isn’t greasy whatsoever! 👏 YES, YES, YES! 👏
2. Trader Joe’s sunscreen has the best ratings of all the sunscreens.
Best spray sunscreen
Trader Joe’s Spray Sunscreen – $14.49 on Amazon
- Or buy it in-store at Trader Joe’s for just $6 each! (Prices may vary by store.)
Trader Joe’s offers an effective spray-on sunscreen and is surprisingly one of the greatest on the market according to many research sites. While it’s not necessarily marketed for kids, it’s great for anyone with its easy spray design. It provides UVA & UVB protection, contains skin-nourishing ingredients like aloe, vitamin E, and coconut oil, is water-resistant, and the SPF more than meets the Skin Cancer Foundation standards!
The best part? It’s only $6 a can in Trader Joe’s stores. However, you can get it shipped right to your door on Amazon for under $15.
3. Blue Lizard baby sunscreen is the #1 recommended brand by pediatricians.
Best unique sunscreen
Make no mistakes and start buying this baby sunscreen for your kiddos if you’re big on listening to whatever the doctor ordered. A top choice among many other options on the shelf, this sunscreen is also known to be the #1 mineral-based sunscreen brand by pediatricians.
This Blue Lizard formula contains absolutely no fragrances or parabens so it’s suitable for even the most sensitive baby skin. Best of all, the “smart bottle” it comes in turns itself pink wherever there are harmful UV rays so you’ll always know when it’s time to reapply. 😱
4. The Made Of sunscreen is certified organic & made of plant-based ingredients.
Best clean sunscreen
Made Of Sunscreen – $17.99 (regularly $19)
Clip the coupon for 10% off at checkout
Final cost just $16.19
Choose this sunscreen for one of the cleanest lotions offered to cover your baby from head to toe! In fact, grab one for you too, mama, because even parents are raving about the effectiveness of this formula!
Rated a 1 on EWG (which is the best), it also earns many other reputable brag rights such as meeting the NSF Organic Standard, being certified gluten-free, and being even a USDA certified biobased product. Plus, it’s crafted with only the best organic ingredients such as beeswax, raspberry seed oil, and cocoa seed butter. On top of that, their 75% organic to 25% natural claims are even backed by strenuous lab testing so everyone can buy with confidence. 🙌
5. Badger Baby Mineral Sunscreen is pediatrician tested and meets all of EWG’s criteria.
Best sustainable sunscreen
Badger Baby Mineral Sunscreen – $17.99
- Thrive Market member? Score this Badger Baby sunscreen for just $14.29 with your next order!
This pediatrician-tested sunscreen is gluten-free, hypoallergenic, formulated with 98% organic ingredients, and meets all of EWG’s requirements. It’s also just as effective as it is gentle on your skin with the active ingredient, zinc oxide, and nourishing ingredients like sunflower oil, jojoba, and beeswax leaves.
This mineral sunscreen is a great choice for any parent if your goal is to find quality sunscreen from a trusted and reputable brand. Even better, it’s a sustainable choice considering it’s reef-friendly, certified cruelty-free, packaged in a 50% PCR tube, and made with clean solar power. WOW! 🤯
6. Thinkbaby sunscreen is vegan and is the #1 best-seller in baby sun protection.
Best vegan sunscreen
Thinkbaby Sunscreen – $18.49 (regularly $23.99)
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Rated as the #1 best seller in baby sun protection on Amazon and boasting over 6,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, this baby sunscreen is already a no-brainer if you’re looking for the best sunscreen for kids! This broad-spectrum UVA & UVB sunscreen has 50 SPF and is astoundingly water-resistant for up to 80 minutes which means more fun in the sun!
With stellar reviews, it also has many other impressive qualities such as being vegan and Leaping Bunny certified which means this sunscreen contains no PABA, parabens, phthalates, BPA, oxybenzone, avobenzone, petroleum, gluten, dairy, or toxic chemicals. 👏🏻
7. Baby Bum Sunscreen Face Stick is made in the USA and is a great travel-friendly sunscreen.
Best stick sunscreen
Baby Bum Sunscreen Face Stick – $9.97
Headed for a family vacation and need something travel-friendly? The Baby Bum sunscreen stick is perfect for little ones’ faces and will make application a cinch. It’s also moisturizing (without being oily) and is fragrance-free, hypoallergenic, pediatrician-tested, and dermatologist-tested so it’s a great option for all skin types.
To top it off, this dye-free and vegan sunscreen is packed with restorative oils and is also cruelty-free. Even better, it’s free from gluten, parabens, formaldehyde glycol, propylene glycol, petrolatum, petroleum, phthalate, sulfates, silicone, talc, and mineral oils! 😱
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Here’s one popular kid’s sunscreen to totally avoid:
Babyganics Mineral-Based Baby Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50
This popular sunscreen formulated for babies fell wildly short of the 50 SPF claim as it tested under SPF 10! It was also reported to have below-average protection against UVA rays and cast a white, greasy film on the skin. In fact, it performed the absolute worst out of all the tested sunscreens on Consumer Reports. No, thank you!
You’re going to want to try all of these beach hacks this summer!
Babyganics is super inconsistent. I used to buy their brand and the first tube was great! Yes, white cast but that’s expected with this one. After that first tube my girls always got a sunburn. I bought a multi-pack and neither were effective. Very disappointing. I have been very happy with the Trader Joe’s spray. It’s effective and the bottle lasts (unlike the few spray brands I’ve tried). I also am a fan of Blue Lizard. I haven’t tried the others. I’m very pale and live in California. The sun and I have a love hate relationship. I’m always looking for excellent sunscreen!
Pediatricians also recommend no sunscreen for babies under 6 months of age. They suggest physical barriers (UV blocking clothes, hats, shade, ect). So even with the Blue Lizard brand I would ask your pediatrician before buying/applying.
I was going to say the same thing. I just asked my sons pediatrician and she said to avoid sunscreen until 6 months (adjusted for preemies). She recommended light clothes and sun hats. But she said if we didn’t have an alternative to use a baby one. She also said no pool/lake/river for our 19 week old, only like a splash pad in the back yard
You can mix zinc oxide powder (non-nano version) with your moisturizer for a safe sunscreen under 6months. zinc is the main ingredient in most diaper rash ointments fyi. My Ped. okay’d this as I was in a situation where I wasn’t going to be able to avoid sun exposure.
YES to being careful with Babyganics. I used it for years and loved it. It went on and absorbed so well. We live in Hawaii and are in the sun a lot, so I can attest that it worked. We stopped using it because my kids suddenly were getting really burnt and when I looked online, sure enough, the most recent reviews were terrible. Now I know why. We’ve avoided it since. This was a couple years ago…
I’ve never tried the Trader Joe’s brand. Does anyone know if it sprays on clear so we don’t have to rub it in?
I’ve read that you need to rub all sprays in for effectiveness 🤷🏻♀️
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its clear I do not rub in
Hey Natasha! I have used this multiple times and it does spray-on clear. 🙂
My kids take their googles on and off and seemingly they wipe the sun screen off….any one have a preferred face sunscreen for kids?
Today Consumer Lab released a list of sunscreens that tested high for benzene. Neutrogena and Banana Boat had some that were on the list with detectable levels of benzene. Blue Lizard had none detected. The whole list lives behind a paywall, but if you buy any supplements at all, it’s worth a membership.
Check environmental working group ewg.org.
I agree with looking at EWG first. Many on this list are not rated well. Pipette is a 5 out of 10. If you truly want a better option, there are several brands rated 1-2, which would be considerably better. Badger sunscreen is one we have found works well for our super fair skin.
Love Badger brand, and the certified gluten free ones are Celiac safe so a win win!
Badger brand is great and they have certified gluten free ones that are Celiac safe!
Think dirty is a great app to check how good or bad the sunscreen is with chemicals and fragrance
Thanks for the tip, Julia!
My kids and I have very fair skin. The Blue Lizard didn’t work well for us and we still got burnt. We like Think Sport (and Think Baby) the best for not getting burnt, even after a few hours at the water park. Badger also works well against sunburn, but it kind of has an off-putting scent.
Same… they also got a rash from it as well
Thanks for your feedback, Jessica! So glad you’ve found something safe that works well for you and your kiddos. Enjoy your summer!
Any recommendations for bug spray safe for toddler (and not too smelly)?
Hey Pam! I absolutely love this natural bug repellent! It’s actually so safe, it’s edible (although not recommended to eat). 😉 My entire family has used it for years and it’s very effective. It does have a scent since there are essential oils, but I find it to smell incredible!
Blue Lizard Baby is apparently the exact same formula as Blue Lizard Sensitive — just a different bottle. They can be used interchangeably.
I checked the ingredients and that’s what I found out too! All my girls can use is Blue Lizard. We tried to few brands and my girls skin breaks out.
Don’t use spray sunscreens you breath that in. It’s terrible for your lungs. Also The weather Channel just had dermatologists on for sunscreen day, they said to use spf50. And that sunscreens are tested when you apply it looks as white as a sheet of paper. Most people don’t apply that thick. So use spf 50 or higher. Stay safe.