Yesterday my 9 month old son had his well check and the very first thing she commented on was the mosquito bites on his legs. They were so bad that she prescribed oral steroids, cortizone cream, and antibiotics. I use bug spray on him every time we go outside but nothing seems to work. Even if I dress him in long sleeve shirts and pants, he still gets bit all over his legs. I asked the doctor for a recommendation and she said to keep him inside because obviously the spray wasnt working. I thought that was a little unrealistic and was wondering what you guys did to keep your kids bug bite free. I really cant just keep him inside because I have a 2 year old girl that loves to be outside and keeping her inside would be horrible for the both of us. So far I have tried, Off Family, Sun and Bug, Skintastic, and Skin So Soft. I will try anything just so long as I get to take my little girl outside to play.
I use a dryer sheet from a health & wellness company I shop with. Wipe it all over (especially exposed skin) and it will do the trick!
D.
You could get a mosquito net to go over his stroller. Should be able to find one at Babies R Us.
Also, this may sound crazy, but sometimes things you eat could make mosquitoes more likely to eat you up. I've heard that eating bananas makes you more susceptible to mosquitoes. I don't even know where I heard it, but it caught my attention at the time because I was covered in bites....and I had been eating bananas at breakfast for a couple days.
For bug spray, we've used the sunblock with bug guard in it (I think Bullfrog makes one).
As far as steroids for the bug bites, that seems a bit much. Have you tried plain old Benadryl? My kids swell up a lot from mosquitoes too, but Benadryl solves the problem.
I'm starting to hear that anything with DEET under 10% is okay for toddlers. I'd discuss with pediatrician before using. It's worked better for us than any natural application, but I use in evening right before bath time, so it is not on my son long.
HERE IS A 100% NATURAL suggestion if you live in a place that you can treat your yard. We use Mosquito Barrier. It's a concentrated garlic juice that you mix and spray throughout your yard. It really seems to have helped, but you have to reapply every couple of weeks and after heavy rain. You can learn more at www.mosquitobarrier.com. Considering the succes we have had with this product, there must be something about the garlic theory, so I'm going to try the other garlic suggestion myself.
I've also heard that rubbing a dryer sheet (one that has not been through the dryer yet) over your clothing before going outside works....my aunt swears by it!!
I heard that wearing a dryer sheet or a few keeps mosquitoes away. havent tried this but my mother has she says it works. just a thought to try.
Hi Mommy Y.!
I was watching the news a couple of days ago, and they were talking about the mosquito problem. They strongly suggested using Avon's 'Skin So Soft'... said it worked very well for that problem. And of course, don't hesitate one second further to call your City people to come and spray. Too many deaths thus far have already been reported. Take care of those babies! BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!! God bless!
I too have heard the dryer sheet theory!! Apparently they are good for many things other than drying your clothes!! :) Good Luck!
I just took my 18 month old to the dr for this very exact thing & one of the things he told me to do was to have him eat more garlic. Apparently somthing in the garlic keeps the mosquitos away & he also gave me this foam stuff called Luxiq to apply to the bites as soon as I see one & it keeps the bite from getting all inflamed & huge. I took a piece of garlic & rubbed it on him the other day & he came in with no bites on. So I will keep garlic on hand. I know how frustrating this is so good luck to you.
M. K
I mix Skin So Soft bath oil with water and put it into a spray bottle. I spray my hands and then rub them all over my twins' bodies except heads. I do the same for DH and myself.
Here is a link that might offer you some other suggestions:
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa050503a.htm
Also, I found a gel like substance at the Whole Foods Market that helps with itching after being stung. I didn't have the spray on vacation so I got stung.
A friend of mine told me that her pediatrician said to wipe dryer sheets on him and it would keep the bugs off. It's worth a try......
Call your city health department and inform them of how bad the mosquitoes are in your area. Here in Irving they will come out and spray during the night. The city has all of their child care providers keep them informed as to where they need to be spraying since we are spread all over the community. But they, also, ask for help from the other citizens, too. They will put forth extra effort to spray the highly infested areas.
I use the spray for lower extremeties..but for face and hands..I apply a thick layer of cream like Eucerin or vaseline..and it has helped till now.
All 3 of my children are allergic to mosquitos-my 12 mo. old son is severely allergic. There are a couple of things that we do to try and avoid bites. One is to give him a crushed 1/2 of the vitamin b-1. This really works-we usually mix it in yogurt or applesauce. It will take a few days to kick in but it does work. Another thing is we spray our yard with a mosquito repellant mix that you can buy from Home Depot or Lowe's. It hooks up to your water hose and it really does cut down on the mosquitos considerably. Finally, we use a sunscreen called BugBlock and it's sunscreen and bug repellent and it's deet free. It's not always easy to find but it's worth trying the different places. We have to be careful what we put on our son due to allergy induced severe excema, but we have found this to work really well. I hope some of this helps! By the way, dryer sheets do okay but they don't work real well. I think mosquitos must be drawn to certain people rather than others. :) Blessings!
