Freckles

My son was also born without any birthmarks/freckles; he now has one near the crease of his elbow (he's 3 1/2). I'm not surprised, as I'm of Scottish heritage, complete with red highlights in my hair and many freckles (I also have a birthmark about the size of a half dollar under my arm). I'm not too worried about my son's freckle; I'm incredibly anal about sunscreen use, as well as staying out of the sun during "peak" hours. There's certainly no harm in mentioning it your daughter's doctor, but I wouldn't think it would be cause to worry overly much.

My kids are the same...no freckles until they hit about 3 and then I started seeing them. As a child growing up in Phoenix we NEVER wore sunscreen and I had tons of freckles. I wonder if sunscreen has any affect on how many freckles you get?

The important thing is to know how to spot a melanoma, and kids CAN get melanoma. I ask our ped to screen anything I think looks suspicious.

Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood

My girls have freckles, but they are more like moles. They were not born with them, but showed up over time. My littlest one was born with a birth mark on her lower leg. I thought it was dirt when she was a newborn. It has moved up her calf as she has gotten older and it is very faint.

I agree that we need to keep our kids in sunscreen. We try and put it on everyday before school. I had read that you get more sun as a child than an adult - makes sense, you don't see me out on the playground at school everyday! When we do things outside we try and stay in the shade, but the kids don't seem to care.

KarilouMomof2 is a discussion leader for arizonamoms.com living in Tempe. Her daughters are 9 and 6.

I was this way. I was born without freckles but did get them later on in life. Mine are on my arms, shoulders and upper back and chest area.

"It's not to late to become who you've always wanted to be..."

I have and LOVE freckles (I am Scottish Irish)....I don't know why majority of people I know don't. My husband HATES his. His 2 older kids have freckles - the daughter has tan skin complex and the son is very fair skin and the son has more and bigger freckles than the daughter. Both of our daughters are very fair skin and the oldest - age 3 - has not shown any freckles yet....

The little ones wears sunscreens a lot however when they are at daycare, the teachers don't re-apply so that's out of the question.

H~

My DS developed a freckle or small mole after he was born, also. I can't remember the age he was at, but he was still in diapers at the time, so he wasn't 3 yet. It's high up on his inner thigh, and I used to see it every day during diaper changes. Now that I don't see that area anymore (he's 7 now), I have the pediatrician take a look at it every year. Every year they say the same thing - it looks fine, we'll just keep checking it every year, and let us know if it changes.

My son just had one appear near his forehead. He was born with some on his leg, but this one is new. I just assumed you are born with some and some develop later. If you learn there is anything to keep an eye out on, at this young age, please let us know!

Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.

First, a little help: DS = ?

We're uber-Anglo: Scotch, Welsh, Irish, and English, so we have a bit of red in our hair, and we freckle as much as we tan. In fact, the more we tan, the more we freckle. First, it isn't a medical problem. It's the luck of the draw. Second, freckles are not unattractive; there's not reason to not want your child to have them.

God carefully paints each one of us to be unique. Even if we are the "spitting image" of a relative, no one would confuse us with him or her. A freckle or two -- or more -- is just part of the painting. She's still perfect, right?