Mosquito Bites and toddler

[es1967]

Ds has so many mosquito bites I'm freaking out. Every day he seems to get one or two more. We've had tons of rain and they are everywhere. I've put him in long pants but at home(inside) he will not wear clothes. So if one happens to sneak inside they bite him. I have one bite and he has 8 or so. The ones he has are taking forever to go away. How do I get them to heal faster? I have this burts bees stuff to help w the itch and I have the burts bees bug spray now too. I took him down to the laundry room and he got another 2 bites. Our laundry is downstairs in our condo so I can't leave him upstairs. I took him w me to walk the dog and he got a few more.
Any tips other that staying inside and not opening the doors. I'm going crazy w this.

[Alyantavid]

We use bug spray. I know its not very green, but dh and I have both had West Nile and this is one thing that I'll use a chemical for.

I don't have any advice on speeding up the healing, but I hope his itchies go away soon.

[onyxravnos]

there really is nothing more you can do. ds gets them all the time and he swells like crazy but besides the spray there really is nothing.... sorry

[friendlymamma]

Are you willing to use bug spray? My pedi thinks it's important to wear bug spray and brings it up every year at our well visit. He tells me that you need to make sure your bug spray contains DEET. I cannot remember what percent exactly. But the DEET is what really repels the little buggers. I've always bought the OFF family bug spray, but when I actally checked the label this year, the family one doesn't have DEET. But, the deep woods green bottle does, so we've been using that, and my kids do not get bites if they have it on. I don't know what to tell you about healing the bites, just don't let him scratch them, and use anti-itch or after bite stuff to help with that. HTH

[tanyalynn]

My son got a bunch of fire ant bites a few months ago (so, a different toxin, but still a toxin and itchy), and extra vitamin C, up to bowel tolerance, helped, and homeopathic ledum helped too.

[kcstar]

I hope I'm stating the obvious by asking if there are no open containers / standing water in the yard? Even a tiny bottlecap, turned up, can catch enough rain for mosquitoes to breed, I've heard.

You can buy mosquito dunks and place them around your yard, they have a bacteria that will kill mosquito larvae, prevent them from breeding. When I lived in Houston, I put a piece of one in each of my garden pots, as well as around any low-lying areas.

Also, I would spray around my house (outside and in) with Cedarcide, it's kid- and pet- safe. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Cedarcide around here. You CAN, however, buy cedar shavings (like for hamster bedding), and sprinkle that all around the outside of your house. Bugs don't like the smell.

[Neera]

This year we were able to find a bug net and have it velcroed on our door. couldn't find it at Home Depot or Lowe's. We bought it from a catalog. can check with dh if u r interested.

[mediafreak]

There are no surefire ways to counter mosquito bites but here are a few guidelines I can think of:

Mosquitoes have a limit to the speed wherein they can fly. Increase that wind speed and they are goners. I remember they can only fly up to eight mph. So blast them away with some breeze or electric fan action.

Moreover, mosquitoes easily dehydrate so they can't keep up with high humidity. For your part, you can wear loose-fitting garments. Don't wear blue and red (flower colors). Opt for green and brown (tree hues).

Hope this helps

[anyalily]

I am surprised no one mentioned essential oils! (Or did I miss it?)

Citronella oil, cedar oil, lemon grass oil are the main ones I can think of. Citronella is the strongest but they work well in combination.

I would put them in a carrier oil like apricot kernal or jojoba and rub his arms and legs with it. I think you could also make a spray yourself and spray his longsleeves. If the oils are dilluted and you are not soaking him, I am pretty sure they are fine for the older-baby-toddler set. (I am not an herbalist)

[Picard]

My sister and I get huge welts (two inches long) from mosquitos. My mom went to the skin specialist and got us a topical 'lotion' that contained zinc and a chalk (like) substance which we dabbed on with a cotton ball. It dried up white. It was soothing and stemmed the swelling.

[es1967]

Originally Posted by kcstar

I hope I'm stating the obvious by asking if there are no open containers / standing water in the yard? Even a tiny bottlecap, turned up, can catch enough rain for mosquitoes to breed, I've heard.

You can buy mosquito dunks and place them around your yard, they have a bacteria that will kill mosquito larvae, prevent them from breeding. When I lived in Houston, I put a piece of one in each of my garden pots, as well as around any low-lying areas.

Also, I would spray around my house (outside and in) with Cedarcide, it's kid- and pet- safe. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find Cedarcide around here. You CAN, however, buy cedar shavings (like for hamster bedding), and sprinkle that all around the outside of your house. Bugs don't like the smell.

We live in a condo that is right on the intracoastal-a big body of water . Our balcony has a huge bougainvillia (sp?) that is part of the problem. We love it but the mosquitos are everywhere. We only have a balcony. I'm hoping that the gardeners are coming to trim it soon. I think that would help alot.
I'll check into the cedar chips. Today I made a spray of lavender,peppermint and lemongrass to use actually for our dog. Another problem we are having is fleas- they are horrible right now. Its a real challenge to keep them off the dog and out of the house. I vacuum every single day-somedays twice. Anyways, today we went on the balcony for 5 minutes -I had DS beside me and he got 2 bites on his back!! So we are definitely not going onto the balcony w/o bug spray. I actually sprayed DS w the EO mix before we went out and I guess it attracted them. This is the worst year I have ever seen for mosquitos and fleas. I'm ready to move north!

[kcstar]

Originally Posted by es1967

We live in a condo that is right on the intracoastal-a big body of water . Our balcony has a huge bougainvillia (sp?) that is part of the problem. We love it but the mosquitos are everywhere. We only have a balcony. I'm hoping that the gardeners are coming to trim it soon. I think that would help alot.
I'll check into the cedar chips. Today I made a spray of lavender,peppermint and lemongrass to use actually for our dog. Another problem we are having is fleas- they are horrible right now. Its a real challenge to keep them off the dog and out of the house. I vacuum every single day-somedays twice. Anyways, today we went on the balcony for 5 minutes -I had DS beside me and he got 2 bites on his back!! So we are definitely not going onto the balcony w/o bug spray. I actually sprayed DS w the EO mix before we went out and I guess it attracted them. This is the worst year I have ever seen for mosquitos and fleas. I'm ready to move north!

Ah, sorry I made some bad assumptions about your living situation. I spent a summer with an uncle along an intracoastal.

A cedar and/or herbal spray for the balcony sounds like a necessity, and probably a fan. Cedarcide repels fleas too, I looked yesterday and there's a website that you can order online (I may have to do that for myself).

If you really have the money, a colleague of mine bought one of those electronic mosquito machines. He'd plug it in, leave it going, and empty out the dead mosquitos about once per day.

[KD's Momma]

My LO's have a very hard time with bites also, swell up horribly and if they get too many they will run fever for the night. I have not had very good results with EO - either homemade or storebought. We use the cutter family spray, it doesn't smell as bad as some others, I have also used the california baby kind but if you are infested - which it sounds like you are, I would go with something that has DEET in it to keep them off of him for sure. As far as dogs go, cause I have 3, I sprinkle garlic powder on their food every day, it gets in their system and fleas and ticks don't like the sent or taste or something because we have no issues with bugs, I also use Nature's Way on them that I bought at Target, it's an EO for bigs on dogs. It's like peppermint, clove oil - it's makes them smell so good even if it doesn't keep bugs off.

[geekmoma]

Just a word of caution: insect repellent containing DEET is probably not something you want to use on your young child every day. There are some disturbing reports on the possible effect of this substance: not very pretty to look at. I'm surprised that none has pointed it out yet.

Personally I still use it occasionally because my DDs and I react very badly on mosquito bites. But I choose one with a small percentage of DEET and only put a small amount on them, preferably on their clothing, when absolutely necessary. Citronella works, but not as efficient and doesn't last as long. But I'd say it's safer for daily usage.

So it's up to you to judge

[es1967]

Originally Posted by geekmoma

Just a word of caution: insect repellent containing DEET is probably not something you want to use on your young child every day. There are some disturbing reports on the possible effect of this substance: not very pretty to look at. I'm surprised that none has pointed it out yet.

Personally I still use it occasionally because my DDs and I react very badly on mosquito bites. But I choose one with a small percentage of DEET and only put a small amount on them, preferably on their clothing, when absolutely necessary. Citronella works, but not as efficient and doesn't last as long. But I'd say it's safer for daily usage.

So it's up to you to judge

Yes, I'm very hesitant about using repellents w deet. Putting it on clothing is a good idea. I've been using Burts Bees and it seems to work. At first the scent seems strong but after a few minutes its not bad. Any negatives about citronella? I'm just dressing him in long pants, applying burts bees to arms and ankles and limiting our time outside right now.

[es1967]

Originally Posted by KD's Momma

My LO's have a very hard time with bites also, swell up horribly and if they get too many they will run fever for the night. I have not had very good results with EO - either homemade or storebought. We use the cutter family spray, it doesn't smell as bad as some others, I have also used the california baby kind but if you are infested - which it sounds like you are, I would go with something that has DEET in it to keep them off of him for sure. As far as dogs go, cause I have 3, I sprinkle garlic powder on their food every day, it gets in their system and fleas and ticks don't like the sent or taste or something because we have no issues with bugs, I also use Nature's Way on them that I bought at Target, it's an EO for bigs on dogs. It's like peppermint, clove oil - it's makes them smell so good even if it doesn't keep bugs off.

Do you use just reg garlic powder or one made for dogs? I've tried garlic-raw but heard it can be toxic so I stopped. I do put nutritional yeast in my dogs food.

[2goingon2]

I spray my toddler's clothes with a spray that has a low percentage of DEET. I think it's got "family" somewhere in the name and is made by OFF. I also spray his socks and ankles because we have chiggers too. I try to limit his outside time when the mosquitos are out which is from 4 - 7 pm where we live. Luckily for him, the mosquitos prefer me! When he does get bites, I dab lavender oil on them to help with the itching.

[Bea]

We use THIS, the 'extreme' version and it seems to work well. So long as you don't mind him smelling like a citronella candle

I got it in the organic/healthfood part of our supermarket.

[es1967]

Originally Posted by Bea

We use THIS, the 'extreme' version and it seems to work well. So long as you don't mind him smelling like a citronella candle

I got it in the organic/healthfood part of our supermarket.

Thats what Burts Bees smells like too. I'll check that brand out.
Today we went to Target and I went into the gardening section-Big mistake.
I look at DS and he is scratching his legs. He got bitten 3 x injust a few seconds. I just cannot win these days!!

[KD's Momma]

Originally Posted by es1967

Do you use just reg garlic powder or one made for dogs? I've tried garlic-raw but heard it can be toxic so I stopped. I do put nutritional yeast in my dogs food.

I just use regular garlic powder and sprinkle a little on their food everyday.