MAJOR mosquito bite allergy in 2yo - Page 2

[ecoteat]

Originally Posted by skyastara

The only other thing that ever helped us was raw goat's milk from goats that lived within a couple of miles of us. The same gene pool of mosquitos bites the goats, they produce antibodies, and in turn the drinker of the milk benefits. That's the theory. I was skeptical, but when my then husband drank down a quart of milk that I milked into a jar, and he went from having huge welts to almost nothing so quickly that the shrinkage was very visible, I was convinced

That's awesome! I've never heard that before. Another reason to get goats, I guess (we've been talking about doing it for years.)

[Daffodil]

Originally Posted by veronicalynne

I would never have thought anyone could be allergic to mosquitoes.....

Anyone who gets any reaction to a mosquito bite at all is allergic to the bites. The itchy bump nearly everyone gets is an allergic reaction. Some people are more allergic than others. The more you're bitten, the less reactive you become. That's why kids tend to have worse reactions than adults - they haven't been bitten as many times.

[DklovesMkandJK]

Originally Posted by lindberg99

I don't know if this is true or not but someone was just telling me that if you react to mosquito bites it's quite likely you'll have a bad reaction to bee stings too.

Something to watch out for, but luckily not the case with me or Jack.

[CawMama]

Thanks for all of this wonderful information!

[oiseau]

I've had the same problem since I was really little. There are pics of me on vacation at Disney w/ my eye swollen shut from a nasty bite. I do field work in mosquito friendly places...Last summer I was in a salt marsh and there were several days the mosquito bites reduced me to tears...hundreds of bites, through heavy pants and long sleeves. I get a really bad reaction right when I get bitten...it goes away after about an hour but the next day, I have a HUGE hard bump/welt where the bite was...and that lasts ~4 days.
I've tried hydrocortisone cream, benadryl cream, benadryl pills (be careful with the cream and the pills at the same time...it really knocked me out the first few times and I imagine it'd be a lot on a kid), other antihistamine pills (Claritin, stuff like that), a few different all natural repellants (including some "Rainforest Tested" ones), a mosquito repellant shirt (one of the BuzzOff ones), a natural gel ointment, and a mix of tea tree oil/lavender oil. Most of that, I haven't had any success with, but I've found that the tea tree oil does a pretty good job soothing the bite. Another natural remedy that I've tried that actually seemed to help is the weed plantain (not the relative of the banana). It's a weed that grows in everyone's backyard and it's pretty easy to ID(do a google image search...you'll recognize it right away). I would crush up a leaf and rub it or hold it over the welts and it was pretty soothing. I'm at a point where I'm probably just going to have to give in to DEET because it's truly the only thing that will keep insects off me...and as much as I hate chemicals, I hate the mosquitos and their bites worse! I wish I wasn't allergic to dairy, or I'd give the goat milk a try!

Good luck...I totally sympathize with your son!

[Annalisa]

Aw, poor thing...

I, too, react this way to mosquito bites. I've tried the B-1, and it works great, but it really makes you smell funny. I took it one summer and never again. It's okay to smell bad when you go to the woods, but not all the time! Maybe it would work for a camping trip, though, if you can get him to take it.

I've found that if you don't scratch at all, it doesn't swell. Easier said than done, I know! But you could try bandaging a site so that he can't scratch, and so clothing doesn't rub it. The more you scratch, the worse it itches.

Ice can calm the itch, too.

There's a new post about natural bug spray and they are recommending California Baby bug spray, among other things. I think I'll go and look into that! Bath and Body works makes a perfume, Cyprus Breeze? that works okay for casual exposure, but not for the woods.

good luck!

[tommom]

Oh boy do I feel your pain! My ds currently has 24 bites, 22 of which he has gotten on two different nights during which a mosquito was shut in his room! He reacts badly to all bugs and bees, he was even bitten by a spider when he was 18 months old. I have multiple pictures of him with his eyes swollen shut and he is only 3. We have used Benedryl but it knocks him out. We are currently using a homeopathic remedy called apis mellifica, both Hylands and Boiron make it. That has been working well so far as I can tell. Baking soda in a tepid bath works well too. I am also going to be hanging mosquito netting around his bed. I made him a bug hat for outside. It's just basically a bag made out of mosquito netting with a drawstring that he wears over a baseball cap. He must wear long pants and sleeves outside in the afternoon. We live right on the marshy end of a lake so his other option would be no outdoor play. He knows this so he doesn't complain about the bug hat anymore. Good luck!

[*GreenMama*]

I get the same way, have for as long as I can remember. If I've only got a few I can usually use hydrocortizone or the benedryl cream. If I've got any more than say 5 I need to take the benedryl pills because my temp raises and I start to feel really sick. I know that is my body trying to fight the major infection.

Prevention is really key. I use bug repellant (usually Off Skintastic) and stay away from high breeding grounds. For my own body I would not go camping, but maybe your lo has less of a reaction than I do.

Good luck mama!

PS, Aloe (from the plant is best) is soothing to these bites, but will not help the swelling and is only temporary!

[Ornery]

When my oldest was young, he had horrible reactions to mosquito bites. They would swell up and then leave this giant mark for months! By the end of summer, he looked like he had been horribly abused. Benadryl helped his symptoms but nothing ever completely protected him from getting the bites. As he grew older, he grew out of it. I think around 9 or 10 is when it stopped completely.

BTW, he is not allergic to bee stings.

[hanachan]

apis is a wonderful homeopathic (tablet) remedy. also ssstingstop, which is a topical homeopathic.. ice sometimes helps the pressure or impulse to bother the affected area

garlic capsules, or lots of garlic if your child will eat it-and greenban -essential oil blend- for preventative.
also long sleeves, light colors (mosquitos are attracted to dark color)

i've recently heard about 'click, don't scratch' (yes that's the name of it)
http://www.isabellacatalog.com/prod....21306/inv/5389
it's apparently a small electrical charge delivered to the bite to break down the toxic reactions. i have no idea how a kid would take it, though.

best wishes

[CawMama]

Today is our last day of vacation, and the mosquitos came out in full force yesterday evening (fortunately, they were pretty much non existent the first 6 days of our camping trip). Anyway, just wanted to post what I've been using that has seemed to really help a lot: If I see a fresh bite, I quickly slap the benedryl cream on. Then I have been following up with the Hyland's Hives remedy that I picked up before I left town. Seems to be making ALL the difference in the world for my little guy.

He had gotten one mosquito bite earlier this week on his leg. It got huge and hot and his skin actually burst. Since we started w/the remedy, no issues that extreme.

[limette]

I thought my dh was the only one! He claims it's because he's from the U.K and they don't have mozzy problems there.

We went into the bush once and were in for about 5 minutes before he was completely covered in bites. Nobody else had any yet. That night he ran a high temp and was saying all kinds of weird stuff in his sleep. That was probably the worst reaction he's had.

Now he just gets a handful of bites and they do swell big but he's really good at not touching them and they are gone by the next day.