A Kids' Sunscreen Topped 2025 US Rankings, But Others Flopped
For parents, 2025's tests cut both ways: the best-scoring sunscreen was a kids' formula, yet several kids' products badly underperformed, so here's how to choose.
Coppertone Water Babies Lotion SPF 50, a sunscreen marketed for children, earned the top overall score in Consumer Reports' 2025 testing of 51 sunscreens, while in the same year three kids' SPF 50 products, Black Girl Sunscreen Kids, Coppertone Kids Tear Free, and Soleil Toujours, tested as low as SPF 13 to 14 in CR's broader database.
Consumer Reports' analysis suggests that a 'kids' label tells you nothing certain about SPF performance, so its testers steer parents toward top-rated formulas applied liberally rather than toward products simply branded for children.
Questions we get a lot
Is a 'kids' sunscreen automatically better for children?
No. In Consumer Reports' 2025 testing, a kids' formula, Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50, topped the rankings, yet three other kids' SPF 50 products measured as low as SPF 13 to 14. The 'kids' label does not predict performance. Choose based on test results and apply a generous, even layer.
Which kids' sunscreens underperformed in 2025?
In Consumer Reports' broader 2025 database, three kids' SPF 50 products, Black Girl Sunscreen Kids, Coppertone Kids Tear Free, and Soleil Toujours, measured as low as SPF 13 to 14, as reported by CBS News. That is far below the labeled SPF 50. It is a reminder to check independent test results before trusting a child's product.
r/Parenting: 'I assumed any 'kids SPF 50' was a safe bet, how do some test as low as SPF 13?'