Warning: Graphic content
A mum says her son was left with 'blisters the size of golf balls' during last week's heatwave, despite using an SPF from Aldi.
Sinead-Leah Greenwood, 23, from Heywood, said she used SPF 50 on her son Johnny over the weekend. But despite covering Johnny in the Lacura suncream, Sinead says her son woke up in the night screaming in agony with blisters all over his back and chest.
After taking the little one to A&E, the mum claims doctors told her it looked like a reaction to the cream.
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“I feel devastated because I was the one who bought the cream," she said.
“He was playing in the new paddling pool we bought him and had a t-shirt on but took it off because it started to get wet and heavy on his skin.
“I reapplied the sun cream multiple times in the day but I was a bit surprised when I noticed he was going red.
“I know he’s only three but he’s never had any kind of sunburn or reaction to the sun before, he usually just goes brown and within about an hour or two I noticed his skin was going red.
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“He seemed fine during the day, we kept him out of the sun, the redness stayed the same, but there was nothing else to make me feel concerned.
“That night he went to sleep and woke up at 11pm screaming in pain. I was just covering him in aloe vera cream because he was so red.
“The only place that wasn’t burned was his face and that’s the only place I hadn’t put the cream because his face does react to things.”
The following day Sinead says she kept Johnny medicated on Calpol to deal with the pain but was left in tears herself when she undressed him that evening to see that ‘blisters the size of golf balls’ had developed over his back and chest.
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"He was crying in pain and I was crying with him because they looked so painful," she said.
“We were going to take him to A&E but he was so worn out and tired that we didn’t want to wake him up and remind him of the pain so we took him the next morning.
“They told us that it looked like a reaction to the suncream and not just sunburn.
“We have been moisturising constantly and while he’s doing that he’s screaming because it hurts the skin on his belly and his back is peeled off so it’s just red raw and he screams every time we have to get him dressed.”
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After sharing the images on Facebook, Sinead says she has been contacted by other parents who have had the same experience.
Aldi warned that the product label clearly states children should not be exposed to the sun between 12 and 2pm at all.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “All of our sun protection products are rigorously tested and meet all necessary quality and safety standards.
"However, even high-factor sunscreens do not provide 100 per cent protection and it’s important that customers follow the instructions on the bottle, including not exposing babies and young children to direct sunlight.”
Featured Image Credit: Caters News and MediaTopics: Parenting, Health, Life