Any Suggestions For Natural Ant Control?

[FatherArn]

Every summer we have ants take over the house ... I remember opening the cubard last summer and having ants rain down on my head .... remember to wash the outside of your honey jar!!!!!

anyways we did the whole Raid posion ant traps thing and it took care of the problem pretty well ... I was wondering though ... they are starting to come back now this year and was looking for an alternative to the posion ant trap thing ...

Laying in bed yesterday morning with ds and dw and she nearly slapped me in the face trying to get an ant off of our ds ....LOL!!!!!

I have no idea where they are coming from ... just that we see them all over. But with a baby going to be crawling through the house within the year ... I not sure I want little plastic posion houses on the floor for him to find or pick up and play with.

Any suggestions?????

[anotherKatrina]

Peppermint oil is an ant repellant. But I'm not sure of the best way to use it--like what to mix it with or using it full strength. But it's a place to start researching. Good luck!

[dkenagy]

I was coming here to post this exact question!!

Ants have come up in the kids' closet, our bathroom, and now the kitchen cabinets. I have fought DH tooth and nail against spraying poison all over the house. I finally gave in a let him scatter the dust around on the anthills (the kids don't play outside here) and when my 1 and 2 yo DDs starting showing up with bites all over, I let him put the stupid ant motels out. The ants are dying all over now and I am don't want my children playing around the poisoned ants or the poison motels; but I can't find a good NATURAL solution anywhere.

Doesn't anyone have a good solution that's compatible with toddlers?? I have a crawler and a walker/climber.

Darci

[Judegirl]

I use peppermint oil every spring and it does the trick. As long as you won't have a baby crawling around in the same crevices, just sprinkle several drops at the access points. Peppermint is strong, and can bother (and stimulate!) a young child, so I would make sure the area is well-ventilated.

If you can't keep a baby away, you can try lavender, which is much more mild, and is supposed to work, though I've not tried it myself.

Good luck!
Jude