Preventing Burns, Breaks & Bites: Summer Tips with Dr. Reece & Jennifer Rubner, CPNP

Summer fun comes with hidden risks—but pediatrician Dr. Elizabeth Reece and pediatric nurse practitioner Jennifer Rubner are here to help. In this episode, they share expert tips on sun protection, trampoline safety, and insect bite prevention every parent should know.

Learn why sunscreen matters even on cloudy days, how to apply it effectively, and what to do for babies under six months. Discover why most trampoline injuries happen with multiple jumpers and how to keep backyard play safe. Plus, get practical advice on avoiding mosquito bites, removing ticks, and protecting kids from Georgia’s summer bugs.

Don’t miss this essential summer safety guide from trusted pediatric experts. Subscribe now and visit medlinkga.org for more family health resources.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Today, we are joined by Dr Elizabeth Reese, a
pediatrician, and JenniferRubner, a certified pediatric
nurse practitioner, both fromour Banks and Danielsville
offices.
Together, they'll be sharingvaluable insights on sun safety,
trampoline safety and insectsafety.
So let's get started.
Even when you're not going tothe beach, you should be wearing
sunscreen right.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Every single day of your life, even when it's cloudy
, yeah even when it's cloudy?

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Yes, that's true.
That's true.
Isn't the UV index sometimeshigher when it's cloudy?
It's easier to get burned.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
The general recommendation is just for
babies.
We know we don't want to see atan baby.
No tan babies.
If they're less than six months, they should really be out of
direct sunlight.
So if you're going to go to thepool or beach, try to go in
your low sun times If you wantto get them into water.
Make sure that they have a hatthat covers their face, ears and

(01:00):
back of the neck.
And under six months they don'tusually recommend sunscreen.
But if you are concerned thatthey're going to be somewhat in
the sun because your family's inthe sun, it's better to have
the sunscreen and no sunburnthan no sunscreen.
You can test patch that on ababy, meaning put that on like
the back of their leg, waitovernight and just make sure

(01:23):
that they don't break out fromit.
But we'd prefer under sixmonths would be like in a shady
out of direct sunlight area.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
And I'm a big fan of the, the bathing suits.
Now that come like they havethe sleeves, the UV protective
all the way down sleeves They'llbe, and they just they cover
more of the body.
I'm a big fan of those, for,you know, kids of all ages, yeah
, but especially the youngerkids, so that you give just,
you're getting better coverageif you're covering them with a

(01:53):
sun shirt or a bathing suit.
That's more of a sun protective.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Now don't put sunscreen underneath that but
that just gives them an extralayer of protection too.
Yeah, so they can do both ofthose, and if they can limit the
sun exposure between 10 am and4 pm is the strongest time of
having sun on you and then alsoif they'll wear sunglasses to
give them some UV protection fortheir eyes, that's a good idea

(02:19):
as well.
Sunscreens we'll recommend toapply those to kids for about 15
to 30 minutes before they goout in the sun.
Like, don't wait till you getto the beach, go ahead and put
that on, and that allows timefor that to set on their skin.
And then and really use a lot.
Feel like you're slathering on.
Don't think that you want tokeep your bottle of sunscreen

(02:40):
for like three years.
Just use it and also look at it.
It's usually dated and eventhough some things you might
think it was dated, but it'sprobably okay.
Go ahead and spend the money toget the one that's in date and
use a lot of it, even on cloudydays, and you want to put it on
every two hours and every timethey come out after swimming is
a good, is a kind of a good ruleof thumb it's a.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
It's a.
It's a good idea to spend themoney and replace that sunscreen
every summer to make sure thatyou're not going to get burnt
with old sunscreen yeah, becauseit can cause chemical reactions
, right yeah, well then, they domake kinds that have like
titanium dioxide or zinc oxidefor sensitive skins, because the
other ones have more of thatchemical reaction.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
But those are the old-fashioned kinds that used to
be where they'd make you realwhite on your nose, like if you
picture the lifeguards withtheir white nose.
But now they have those thatwill either come in fun colors,
that kids sometimes like, orthey do blend in better than
they did.
You'll still notice that theyhave some sunscreen, but it
doesn't.
It's not that bright whiteanymore and that's the best for

(03:43):
like your nose, your cheeks, thetop of your ears and your
shoulders.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
And I really like the sun sticks too to do that.
So instead of trying to get allof the areas that stick out
with the lotion, I still do thelotion, the sunscreen lotion
part.
But your nose that reallysticks out.
You've got that.
Those sun sticks with the zincon it to get the nose.
And then you know, thecheekbones, the ears, the

(04:08):
forehead, where my kids arealways tending to, you know, be
most exposed.
Um, you know, I do a nicelittle layer and you can
actually see it like glisten asit stays um, which is great
because it just.
It avoids those really painfulfacial burns too.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
I never thought of it .
I feel like the ears aresomething I avoid.
Because I never think aboutthat, because I got hair, yeah,
yeah.
But then that is something toreally consider, because I know
my brother just his ears arepeeling right now because he was
in the sun.

Speaker 2 (04:37):
My boys, because they tend to wear their hair like
buzzed, and my husband theyalways have yeah they're.

Speaker 1 (04:42):
I always make them make sure they get their ears
too they're gonna even sometimesyour hair, because I know like
if I part my hair very strictlyI get a sunburn right in my
scalp because I never thinkabout it.

Speaker 3 (04:53):
We have to do the hairline, yeah, so we usually do
like a three my kids think I'mcrazy, um, but we do like a
three-tier sunscreen, um, so westart with like the, the lotion,
um, and then, um the, any areaswhere they get any more of the
zinc, we do the sun stick, sothat's like the face, the back

(05:14):
of the neck, um, and the parts,and then, um, I usually top it
off with the spray for anything.
I didn't listen really well andI've been doing it there.
I've got a fourteen and a halfyear old and an eleven year old
and I've been doing that methodfor years and we hardly ever
have any burns and on very fairskin.
Children so they can laugh atme all they want, but it works.

(05:38):
They won't be laughing whenthey're sunbathing.

Speaker 1 (05:40):
That's right when you're outside.
Sometimes too, even if you'regoing to go play on the
trampoline, I think it would besafe to say use your sunscreen,
because the sun's still there.
I feel like it's very common tothink I'm going swimming, I'm
going to be in the sun all day.
I need to put sunscreen on, butI'm going outside to jump on
the trampoline, ride my bike, dothis, do that.

(06:02):
I don't think about sunscreenAll day.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
Sporting games soccer games Saturday morning soccer
games where, you know, maybe thecoach forgot to put the
sunscreen on the back of theneck and then got burnt all day
because her hair was up.
You know stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
That's true.
I didn't even think about that.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
I was just sitting here thinking like Because they
spend a lot of time at sportingevents where they're out in that
sun and, yes, all of those needsunscreen.

Speaker 2 (06:27):
And here a lot of it will hit us when we're in those
first cooler days, when it'sstill got a little bit windy and
you're not hot, so you're notthinking about the fact that I
might be getting a burn.
And that's a lot of times whenyou go in with the worst sunburn
and you didn't even realize youwere getting burned until the
next day.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
Yeah, so with trampolines when you're outside
is there any?
Other.
You know, obviously wear yoursunscreen, check first thing.
What else would you say wouldbe good to have like notes to
have in your head for trampolinesafety?

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Well, we would the same way that we talked about
with our pool safety.
Really any you know, anythingwhere there is a potential for
injury, it's a good idea to havea adult supervisor that's out
there to just make sure thatkids are kind of being safe with
the equipment.
But most injuries are actuallydue to when more than one child
is jumping at a time.

(07:22):
So it's like 75%, I think, theysay, of trampoline injuries is
when two kids are on because onebounces like the other one off
as you go or they collide andfall.
So trying to just have oneperson on at a time Remember
that the nets that are aroundaren't really they're not like

(07:42):
catch-alls to make sure the kidswon't fall off of the
trampoline and trying just to beagain instilling in them just
safe maneuvers and allowing oneperson at a time.

Speaker 3 (07:53):
Yes, but you still do want that netting.
A lot of these trampolines willget old and the netting gets
worn out, and so people will getrid of it, and you just took
away a barrier for your kid fromfalling off.
You know that netting is notgoing to necessarily hold in
your older kid, but it mightkeep your three-year-old from
completely falling out so youknow, netting is a good thing

(08:17):
for sure.

Speaker 1 (08:18):
I know I didn't realize, I guess how weak not
really weak, it's not really theright word, but how fragile
kids' bones are.
Because this girl I don'treally know her, know her, but
her daughter just broke her legfrom jumping on the trampoline.

(08:39):
It was just because there wasmore than one kid on the
trampoline.
From jumping on the trampoline.
It was just because there wasmore than one kid on the
trampoline.
But when she landed it, just somuch, I guess, force brought
down and she just snapped herleg in half.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
I was like and you'll see a lot of that too where the
kids are playing around andjumping and there's multiple
around and they'll fall.
And they'll fall just in thewrong way on their leg and then
another kid falls on top of themand you definitely end up with
Georgia has bugs everywhere,Always mosquitoes.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Do you recommend using bug spray or how do you
recommend kind of fighting thosethings off, Because even ants
get on my nerves, oh yes thosefire ants are terrible.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
You can sort of look through your property.
Things like standing water, ifyou can get rid of that, that's
kind of a breeding ground formosquitoes.
Things like standing water, ifyou can get rid of that, that's
kind of a breeding ground formosquitoes.
Or if you need to treat if youhave fire ants and young kids,
because sometimes the they'llbite the child many times before
they're gonna cry out and thenand then you'll have to deal
with those all over their poorlittle feet as you go through

(09:45):
they.
If you're over two months old,you can use a deep containing
product.
It's a DEET which is what reallyhelps to repel insects.
And if you don't feelcomfortable putting it on their
skin, just have a light longlayer like a light long pants or
shirt, and then spray theirclothes.
Just like Jen had said aboutspraying the fragrance on.

(10:06):
You can do it that way as well,just to try to keep them
covered.
But keeping their skin coveredand then keeping the bug spray
on is the beginnings that youwould want to do and the kids.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
They love their flip-flops and their crocs and
and all those lovely um footwear, for they can where they can
get eaten at by bugs.
But if they're going to bewalking on, you know, high grass
um playing outside, wherethere's high grass and trails
and very wooded areas, you knowlike, just put your tennis shoes
and socks on.
You know, like your feet aregoing to be a little stinky and
smelly afterwards but it's goingto save a lot of ant bites or,

(10:41):
even worse, snake bites oranything else kind of bites.
You know, because it is summeris a breeding room for a lot of
things to bite you.

Speaker 2 (10:49):
And those crocs might be breezy and comfortable but
they're not really great for aforest or a nature walk you
still, even though it's hot, youstill want to go ahead and put
on your regular tennis shoes forthat and then after you're done
too, in your nature walk, justget used to checking your kids
for ticks and bites and anythingthat they see.
Because ticks, if they'reremoved quickly they're much

(11:09):
easier to get off of the skinand much less likely to transmit
any kind of disease like Lymedisease that sort of thing.
The shorter time that they'reon it's a fully fed tick.
When they get very engorged andenlarged that you have more of
a risk of transmission of thoseillnesses.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
So if you check them and you see it either just
crawling on the skin or it isjust latched on, then you're
going to have a little bit moreluck getting that off in there
and the hairline is reallyimportant doing a really good um
check on your hairline becausethose tics love to get into that
hairline that you know youdon't see them before um, and so
that sometimes you can um, ifyou're having trouble, if your

(11:45):
kid's got really thick hair, umpopping them in the bath and and
doing a really good shampooconditioner and feeling, feeling
all over for any ticks on theirhairline.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
Tuning in to the MedLake Health Connections
podcast.
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inspiring.
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Remember the information sharedin this podcast is for
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medical advice.
Always consult with your healthcare provider for any medical

(12:16):
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Until next time, stay healthyand take care you.