Sunscreens have different chemicals and different make-up. There is a lot of controversy as to whether or not you should use avobenzone in a sunscreen, even though it’s approved by the American Academy of Dermatology. There have been no studies to show that there have been any problems in humans. There are still some things on the internet about whether it’s safe or not, so some people want to have an alternate choice. There are sunscreens that have physical blockers, such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, and those are inert, and they sit on the surface of the skin. They’ve been compounded as such so that they basically block the light, rather than using a chemical method to decrease the amount of ultraviolet that gets to the skin. The other sunscreens may or may not have avobenzone, they may have PARSOL® 1789, they may have other UV agents in them. Those chemicals have to be on the skin for about an hour before they’re totally effective.
For children, between 0 and 6 months, they really shouldn’t have to be outside. Between 6 months and one year, I would recommend a physical blocker that has titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, but once you get past age 1, any of the sunscreens are fine.
The physical blockers only go up to about SPF 60, and the chemical blockers go up to about SPF 110.