Second for summer comes the travel cot/playpen which, if you've a nice semi-shaded spot in a flat garden, is a wonderful place of safety for a baby, and one that should be encouraged before they can crawl, if they are to stay in it without objection. Baby Dan, Mamas and Papas and of course Graco all offer these, with the more expesive models having a wide range of extras features to ensure those summer days are happy ones.

Next on the list for summer, comes a swimming aid. With babies, swimming teachers recommend allowing them to experience water in a pool from around six months, and the baby float seats are a great way to have fun with them, providing mum or dad holds on to the seat too. Toddlers will be ready for float-adorned swimwear, with removable sections to adjust the degree of buoyancy as they become more confident. Cheeky Rascals offer Splash About with their wide range of children's swimming goods. Zoggs and Floaties are also well worth looking at and for more in sun protection clothing try Koolsun and Sun Togs.

Sun Protection should be high in all parents' minds with children of all ages. Skin cancer has increased drastically over the past ten years and exposure to burning in childhood is known to be a contributing factor in later life. The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends to keep newborns out of the sun completely, and apply high factor sunscreens on babies over the age of six months. In 2004 the Trading Standards Instritute voiced concerns that children's products were misleading as they offered high anti UVB protection, but did not focus on blocking out the harmful UVA rays which can lead to cancer.

UVB radiation can cause sunburn and is associated with the development of skin cancer.  Until recently, UVA was thought to be relatively harmless, although largely responsible for skin ageing.  But there is increasing evidence suggesting that UVA can damage the genetic material in skin cells; the DNA, and may also help to cause cancer.  The intensity of ultraviolet radiation varies depending on the time of day, time of year and which country you are in.  This is because these factors affect the position of the sun in relation to the earth.

There is no international measurement of UVA protection. A method called the ‘star system' is used here in the UK to measure UVA protection.  There are 0 to 5 stars.  The higher the number of stars, the greater the protection against UVA.  But the star system only measures UVA protection in relation to UVB, so it can be confusing.  A sun cream with a higher SPF and 3 stars may give more UVA protection overall than a low SPF cream with 4 stars.