Talking Allergies

The three sun screens our allergist suggested are Cliniderm, Marcelle 25 and Neutrogena Sensitive Skin 30. I see you have issues with the Neutrogena Julie so that makes me question our son's tolerance to it as he reacts to everything also.
I did email each company and ask if it is possible to have a tester size sample sent to me. I haven't heard back yet but it would be great as I don't really want to spend 60 bucks on more sun block just to find out after a tsp. we can't use it.
For now he wears a sun shirt and we keep him in the shade as much as possible.
Has anyone tried the Cliniderm yet?

If I can't find a sunscreen he can use I guess we can always have his bubble tinted :

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

I received an email back from Marcelle. Unfortunately their product line of sunblock our allergist recommended has been discontinued. I thought I'd attach a portion of the email from Marcelle as it might be of some help for others in finding a safe sunscreen.



What I find is exactly what Susan pointed out, medicinal ingredients are basic, it's all the non-medicinal ingredients where I seem to notice botanical products.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

Based on some previous posts, and because I couldn't find the Cliniderm (I only looked in 2 stores: Superstore and Walmart), we decided to try the "Coppertone Kids Spray and Play", and SURPRISE - it's working (at least so far). Our son has had no irritation from it, even on the back of his neck. He's worn it about 3 times so far, but the true test will now be the combination of the extreme southern Ontario heat (which has finally hit), along with the sunscreen. Both the heat and sunscreen are irritants for our sons' skin, so we'll see what happens. I don't know why this would work better than the "Neutrogena for Sensitive Skin"... it just has to be a trial and error thing with each child. The Neutrogena was the best we've found (until we found the Coppertone Kids Spray and Play), but it is NOT waterproof. As soon as our son would get a little wet (washing the car and waterfights), the light blue tinged sunscreen would be running down our sons body!

We've sure spent a lot of money on sunscreen! Sometimes, we try it once, and it's obvious right away that our sons skin will not tolerate it. Last summer, we tried Aveeno Baby (spf 55) and it was instantly irritating, same for Coppertone Spectra Kids (spf 50). And now we've tried a different Coppertone product, and it's NOT irritating! So, just because a company produces an irritating formula, there might be another that works just fine.

I'm not a fan of sunscreen either, but if we're going to be out for a long time, we have to wear it.

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

Thought I'd post again -- the Kinesys is great, however, because it's water and sweat "resistant", not so good if you're planning on spending the day in or around the water...you really have to remember to reapply this one. Or use it on non-water days...
Like AnnaMarie, I can vouch for the Coppertone Oil Free (won't clog pores, waterproof, fragrance free) -- no itchy skin issues and it really lasts in or out of the water...

http://www99.epinions.com/reviews/Coppe ... e_Sunblock

I received responses back from Neutrogena and Cliniderm. Neutrogena doesn't have any samples but said they mailed me a rebate. Cliniderm emailed me back today and they do have samples which they have already mailed to me. I emailed back and asked which stores carry their product as I too can't seem to locate their products.
As you suggested Ethansmom if these don't work I will try the Kinesys as is has been suggested to me by a few people. I don't like the fact that the neutrogena isn't waterproof but I'll first try find a sun block our son is ok with then look for alternatives.
Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.


Here's the info our son's allergist mailed out to me regarding sunscreen reactions: (as I mentioned above I contacted Marcelle and they no longer make sunblock)

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

FYI, the good allergy-conscious sunscreen brands don't contain PABA.

As I'm the one with the allergies, I defer to others on what they've found best for young children. I will say that we received a Cliniderm sample at the magazine, and I've been using it. Quite like it- so a positive review.

Someone mentioned sun-protective clothing. A while back, Allergic Living featured SunSeals products - good quality, nice styles: http://www.sunseals.com/index.html

I think Karen (former mod.) had put us on to the brand as she'd bought some of the clothes for one of her boys.

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

Thanks Gwen for the link to the sun products. I have looked all over for a long sleeve shirt for our son, most companies make short sleeve which to me seems to defeat the purpose.

I feel like I'm in a constant learning curve. What I used to think of as good, top of the line, healthy, pure etc.. I am constantly having to re-evaluate. I know now how much I didn't used to know For example , I used to grab a sunscreen for out daughter and go (for the price of most sun blocks they seemed like they must be good), now I read, research, compare, question every ingredient. Same applies for food, what I used to think of as good, healthy, pure etc. now I know how far off base I was.

I am glad to hear you have positive things to say about Cliniderm Gwen...fingers crossed!

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

I think we're probably going to try Cliniderm. We've been using the Coppertone Kids Spray and Play, and it's still not the best. If our son needs it for a couple of days in a row, even with showering him off at the end of the day, his skin is irritated. He doesn't have a rash, but he's itchy nonetheless.

By the way, when we shower him, we always use Aveeno Bath Oil, so his skin is quite sensitive.

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14 yr old daughter: no health issues
11 yr old son: allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, fish, sesame, sunflower, mustard, poppy seeds, green peas, some fruits, instructed to avoid all other legumes (except soy & green beans), pollen, cats, horses

For swimming, we use Banana Boat sport (orange in a large tube-like shape) because it is waterresistant and sweatproof. We find it does not run in our eyes with goggles on like Ombrelle did. The thicker the better for swimming in my books. Nothing else has worked as well for us and we swim almost every day.

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me: allergic to crustaceans plus environmental
teenager: allergic to hazelnuts, some other foods and environmental

YAHHHHH!!! I received the Cliniderm samples tried it on our son's neck, chest and legs all with NO REACTION!!! Tomorrow I'll use the second sample and try it on his face.
I see from their pamphlet that Cliniderm contains no dyes, perfumes, lanolin, formaldehyde, parabens or proteins. It's called Cliniderm Gentle Protective Lotion SPF 45.

....later in the day....

Yahhh.....hhhh...hhh..hh...h (fading fading fading out)
So I couldn't be more thrilled to have found a sunscreen which works yet I must say I took a big gulp when I found out the cost. I purchased a 75 ml bottle today at Shoppers Drug Mart which cost 30$ + tax!
So this must be the first time I've really seen a positive that our son is so young (small is more like the key word here) and has allergies. It won't take so much lotion to cover his body

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

I jinxed myself complaining about the price!!!
I used the Cliniderm today on his face and sure enough his neck all broke out in a red rash. It wasn't anywhere near the extent of the other sun screen reactions and the red rash did go away without causing an eczema flare up so that's good. If I HAD to use sonblock I would use this. I think I'll just keep him covered for a year or so in sun shirts and hats and try sunblocks again when hopefully his skin is less sensitive.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

How odd - that new Cliniderm stuff is so free-from, as you were saying. That's unfortunate.

Wonder if the sun itself is setting off the rash at this age? Maybe your hat-and-sleeves approach is the best bet for now. Perhaps your allergist could enlighten?

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Allergic to soy, peanut, shellfish, penicillin

The first reaction was 100% from the sunscreen I put on him. The rash a couple days ago after the second trial of Cliniderm I now think is from grass. What I have noticed in the past two days is that our son seems relatively ok in our backyard UNLESS my husband or a neighbor is actually cutting their grass. He started sneezing and got a rash two days in a row now (without sunscreen) while grass was being cut. As all his ear issues are from being outside I think that grass at this point would be the most logical conclusion.
I'm sticking to the cliniderm and going to try it indoors today so there are no other environmental factors which may irritate his skin.

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DD 12 yrs -no allergies
4 yr old DS - asthma/eczema Anaphylactic to Peanuts, all tree nuts, sesame , all pea/lentil legumes, gelatin.
Allergic to trees, grass,ragweed, feathers, dander, mold and dust.
Outgrew eggs, fish, shellfish

This works for Adair as well - he will react to most others.

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Son (09.08.07) - Peanut/Nut Allergy, Dogs, Cats and Eczema
Daughter (16.02.09) None that we know of

I've just joined, and I know this is an old thread, but I'm sure this will come up again!

We used Ombrelle for one summer, but the next summer it irritated our daughter's skin.

So I looked for the simplest, most natural type of product and found Badger Sunscreen at a health food store. The active ingredient is zinc ozide, so it is a bit white on the skin, but it works well and smells nice. It also gets a 0/10 on the health hazard scale: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/produc ... d_id=92830

Hope that helps some of you next summer!