Banana Boat sunscreen: two-year-old Zayden healing from sunburn but mum yet to hear from manufacturer

A HORSHAM toddler who was seriously sunburned allegedly despite wearing SPF50+ sunscreen, is healing well.

Two-year-old Zayden ended up with large blisters on both shoulders, which bled and became infected, after a family trip to the beach last week.

Following a trip to the hospital and multiple doctor’s appointments, Zayden’s mum Jennifer Moore said he is doing much better.

 “The dressing is going to stay on for another four days,” she said.

“The small blister has healed completely and the bigger one is looking really good.

“Since the blisters have been covered up, the treatment gel has been working a lot better.”

Ms Moore said Zayden was able to use the playground on Friday afternoon.

“But he got a bit sore at the end so we had to go, but he’s starting to get back into activities.”

Ms Moore applied spray-on Banana Boat sunscreen to Zayden multiple times during their trip to the beach at Warrnambool.

“I applied Banana Boat sunscreen before we left and then again at the beach,” she said.

“We went into the water for a swim. I got out half an hour later with my little one because he had had enough.

“I applied more sunscreen but he ended up severely burned. It hasn’t worked at all. He has big blisters on his shoulders.”

Ms Moore said she followed instructions on the sunscreen package.

“I’ve had a few other mums talk to me about it and they said Banana Boat hasn’t worked when they’ve had it on their kids in the water,” she said.

“It doesn’t stick to the skin.”

Ms Moore said she had contacted Banana Boat by phone and email.

“I’ve had no responses at all. I got left on hold for half an hour but I had to hang up as I’m on pre-paid,” she said.

“I have tried to contact them via email.” 

Ms Moore said she was focused on helping Zayden get better but she wanted the company to acknowledge her concern.

“If it was from the product itself, if Zayden had sensitive skin, then fair enough,” she said.

“But the doctor said by the looks of it, it is sunburn.

“I just really want them to be aware of it because I have had other people tell me they have had it on their body and on their kids and still got sunburn.”

Banana Boat and other brands have come under scrutiny this summer after a number of people said they had allergic reactions or sunburn after using sunscreen.

The complaints frequently mentioned spray and aerosol varieties..

The Mail-Times has contacted Banana Boat for comment.

Last week, Banana Boat’s regional vice president Ivan Nuich posted a statement on the company’s Facebook page.

“We are very sorry to hear that some customers have been unhappy with certain Banana Boat products,” Mr Nuich stated. 

“While we can’t talk about any individual cases specifically, we would like to reassure everyone that we take each customer’s concerns very seriously and investigate them when contacted.

“To date, we have never found any issues with our product range.”