Summer with children in Turkey: heat, sun, sea and when to worry

Heat: the risk people underestimate

The Aegean and Mediterranean coasts regularly sit at 35–40 °C through July and August; Istanbul is a few degrees cooler but humid, which makes it feel worse. Sea breeze on a beach is deceptive — it removes the sensation of heat while the sun does exactly the same work on your child's skin.

Small children are not small adults in the heat. They carry more skin surface for their body weight, so they take heat on faster; they sweat less efficiently; and most importantly, they do not reliably ask for water or say they feel unwell. A toddler absorbed in the sea will not come out because they are overheating. That job is yours.

• Plan around the sun: beach or pool early morning and late afternoon, indoors or in deep shade roughly 12:00 to 16:00.
• Light, loose, pale cotton clothing and a wide-brimmed hat. A UV swim suit is the single most useful thing to pack.
• Offer fluids on a schedule, not when your child asks.
• Never leave a child in a parked car, not even briefly with a window open. The interior climbs to dangerous temperatures within minutes, and this is how children die in hot countries every summer.
• Prams: a muslin thrown over the hood traps heat and turns the pram into an oven. Use a proper clip-on sunshade with air movement instead.

Sun and sunburn

A sunburn is a burn. In a small child it can mean pain, blistering, fever and a ruined week, and childhood sunburns carry consequences decades later.

• Factor 50, broad spectrum, for children. Apply generously about 20 minutes before going out.
• Reapply every two hours, and after every swim or towel-dry — "water resistant" means it survives a while, not a day.
• The places everyone misses: ears, the tops of feet, the back of the neck, the scalp parting, and under the edges of swimwear straps.
• Babies under 6 months should be kept out of direct sun altogether. Shade, a wide hat and light long sleeves, rather than relying on cream. Where a small area cannot be covered, a little sunscreen is reasonable.
• Sun reflects off water and pale sand — shade under a parasol is not full protection.

Sun cream is sold in every pharmacy (eczane) and in supermarkets here; at the counter, ask for "çocuklar için güneş kremi, faktör 50".

If your child does get burnt

Move out of the sun for the rest of the day, cool the skin with a cool shower or damp cloths, give plenty of fluids, and use an unperfumed after-sun or moisturiser. Paracetamol at the dose your doctor gave you helps the pain — see the fever guide for what it is called in Turkish pharmacies. See a doctor if there is blistering, if the burn covers a large area, if your child has a fever or is unwell, or if the child is under one year old.

Swimmer's ear, and what the pool passes around

After several days in the sea or pool, ear pain is one of the commonest complaints of the holiday. Swimmer's ear is an infection of the ear canal: the giveaway is that it hurts when you tug the outer ear or press the little flap in front of it, often with itching or discharge.

• Dry the ears gently after swimming — tilt the head, let water run out. Never put cotton buds into the ear canal.
• See a doctor for the pain, discharge or hearing change; it needs treating and does not reliably settle on its own.
• Pools also pass around stomach bugs, which is worth knowing if more than one child in the group goes down — see the diarrhoea and vomiting guide.
• A day or two of a red, sticky eye after heavy pool use is common; if it does not settle or the eye is painful or light-sensitive, have it looked at.

Water safety — the quiet one

Not a medical problem so much as the reason for most of them. Drowning in children is fast and almost silent — no splashing, no shouting, often less than a minute, and frequently within a few metres of adults who are present but not watching.

• For under-fives and any non-swimmer, supervision means within arm's reach, eyes on the water, phone down.
• In a group, name one adult as the watcher for a set period and hand over explicitly. "Everyone is watching" means nobody is.
• Armbands and inflatable rings are toys, not safety equipment. A properly fitted buoyancy vest is not the same thing as a float.
• Villa and rental pools frequently have no fence and no lifeguard. Check the pool area on arrival, before your child does.
• Any child who was submerged and then coughed persistently, seemed breathless or was very drowsy afterwards should be assessed the same day, even if they seem fine.

Mosquitoes and other bites

Mosquitoes are a nuisance along the coast and around still water, worst at dusk and dawn. They are not a serious disease risk for travellers in Turkey, but a scratched, infected bite can spoil a week.

• Repellents with 10–30% DEET are considered suitable from 2 months of age, applied by an adult: onto your own hands first, then onto exposed skin — avoiding the hands (they go in mouths), the mouth and the eyes. Wash it off at the end of the day.
• Under 2 months: no repellent. Use a pram net, light long sleeves, and rooms with screens or air conditioning.
• Avoid combined sunscreen-and-repellent products: sunscreen must be reapplied often, repellent should not be.
• Keep nails short and treat the itch, because the real problem is scratching. A bite that grows increasingly red, warm, swollen and painful over a day or two may be infected and should be seen.
• Get medical advice for any bite or sting followed by widespread rash, swelling of the face or lips, or breathing difficulty — that is an emergency.