Ants!!

Hi there!
I always use a combination of 1/3 cup sugar to 2/3 cup baking soda. Just sprinkle it around the corners and seams of the wall- it's harmless to children and I don't have any more ants :)

I've used oregano where I see them. They won't cross over it. In four years in one house I only had to use it twice when I saw them. The only problem is it does make your floor look like you haven't vacuumed recently and you do have to keep it there for a few days. The other plus is the kids didn't like it, so they would leave it alone.

vinegar is suppose to help keep ants away, I found this on this site that has 101 things that vinegar can do. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm the same way with having a 5 year old and two dogs I really don't want to use pestisides.
The quote and web address are as follows:
"Deter ants. Spray vinegar around door and window
frames, under appliances, and along other known
ant"trails. http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/homemaking/vinegar.html#...

There are little canisters of ant killer that you can buy and hide under your sofa, in cubbards, and other places little hands cant reach. We have the same problem and we have placed them all over our house and it has helped a lot. You can get them at Home Depot. We have also gotten the metal stakes to put on the oustside of our house to stop them from coming in. We have had a lot of sucess. The nice thing about both of them is that even if your child finds the canisters or stakes all of the ant killer in contained and they cannot get into them. Good luck.

Terro Ant Bait is what I use... or used, for that matter. We moved here from NY, where the ants run rampant. They sell several products, but what I found that works best is the liquid bait, that you put just a couple drops inside a bottle cap, and place it randomly where you think the ants may be coming from. They will find it. And it works! I only had to use ONE treatment and they were gone for the whole year.
www.terro.com So you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. I really don't know if they sell this in CO, but it's worth looking for.
Hope this helps!
Also, I have used Ortho Home Max spray, within the last month. I did the treatment while my 1 year old was down for his nap. It is safe to use. And it is safe around pets and children when after it dries. I have had no problem since I used that treatment.

If you can find the source, sprinkling Cinnamon will take care of the problem. I put Cinnamon inside my kitchen baseboards and problem ended. They will go elsewhere because they will not cross the cinnamon because it burns their feet.

Sometimes childcare rules are helpful to parents.
Require your child to eat in a highchair or at a table.
Then crumbs will no longer be everywhere.
I teach childcare training, and encourage parents to attend.
There is a wealth of knowledge in my classes.

Ants come in cracks, doors, behind baseboards and from crawlspaces. Seal what is cracked or has a space.
Look everywhere. Look under cupboards an where counter tops attach. They colonize under cement slabs.

P.
www.braveheartwomen.com/P.
(click on about me to learn more!)

I've heard corn meal, they eat it and cant digest it, it takes a few weeks, but the'll be gone. (So I've heard) Sot I'm trying it...GL.

I have always used some type of chalk line. Such as chalk or powder. Most ants will not cross a chalky line. We have also found in area, if it is in the garage or door area to pore bleach in that area...I always did it at night when my twins were asleep. I'm sure you have received much better suggestions -- but this has always been my temporary fix. Good Luck E.!

I've used vinegar in the past. Putting it in a spray bottle and spraying where you see them outside and on any hard surfaces usually makes them go away.

cayenne pepper is really good about keeping them away. Also mint leaves on your counters and stuff will help keep them off your counters and tables. I hope this helps

E.,
please let me know what works for you becasue I have the exact same issue because of my 1 yr old. thanks!

I have had ants too and still do sometimes. In my house they lik greasy salty foods like chips or crackers and any thing that's sweet. I have ant traps that I have put by my entryways. Sometimes I put them under the carpet. I find one of the good ways to keep ants out is to sweep my floors often. In your area in any hardware store there should be ant traps you can buy. I also have some liquid stuff I put down cracks if I see an ant trail going that way. The hardest thing with a small child is to get them to leave it alone. To them anything is a toy. Ants are so annoying. I hope you find something soon.

Draw a line of chalk at all your windows and doors and anywhere you suspect they could come in. Ants don't like to cross a chalk line for some reason.

J. R

Hi E.,

An old time remedy for ants is to place baby powder around the outside of the building, or where-ever you see a trail of ants. The do not like to walk through it. Also, a product call "Grants" ant traps are great if you can hide them behind bushes, or out of reach of little ones, and animals.

Have a great week!
C.

We had ants earlier this year. We put out ant traps where we saw them and just made sure to clean the floors every day, the kitchen and take out the trash. Within a few weeks they were gone. (The poision is in the trap, so the kids can't get to it, but I put it them in inconspicuous places so they didn't even notice them.) I tried all the "home remedies" with no luck. We never found where they were getting in, either.

Good luck getting rid of the ants.

Paprika :>

Like you, I didn't want to spray chemicals. Somehow/somewhere I found a suggestion for paprika and figured I'd give it a try. It worked really well. The effects are not immediate, but they are long lasting.

Since you're not sure where they are coming in, I would recommend sprinkling the paprika along the perimeter of the room, where the wall meets the floor.

Good luck!

Dish soap kills ants and also corn meal. They will eat the corn meal and they can't digest it. I've been using corn meal inside my house and dish soap outside. They've been great alternatives to the poison I used to use. They seem to work even quicker.

Hi E.,

I had the same problem in our previous home. The ant problem was so bad, I thought they were going to carry our house away and relocate us! I tried everything from pest control companies to Raid and nothing worked until I tried a product called Terro. (www.terro.com) We used it continuously for about 1 month and no more ants. We recommended it to our neighbor and after 3 weeks, they also had no more problems. I don;t know what is in it, but it works..

Good Luck..
J.