[Emmama]

The mosquitoes are TERRIBLE here--to the point that I have not left the house in three days, will not let the kids go out to play, and will not go for walks

:

: !!! I need to LIVE again. I WANT my kids to play outside again! I just don't want to load them and my yard up on DEET.

So here is waht I need you to do: Please give me a natural repellent/spray that I can use on the kiddos and the yard. IMPORTANT: It *must* be effective!

Thank you mamas!!!!!

 

[momto l&a]

I gave up on natural repellents and use some stuff that last 12 hours and WORKS.

We love to go up in the high country and with all the water the mosquitoes are huge and feirce so we needs something that really works and lasts.

I only put the repellent on clothes.

Sorry I am no help whatsoever to you

: but I do understand where you are coming from!

 

[BAU3]

I've been using a product called Kids Herbal Armor made by All Trerrain. I've found it works great on black flies, which are fierce right now.. and it seems to be working well on the mosquitos for the kids.. moderatly for me (mosquitos love me..) I think they have a website www.allterrain.com

I think that different things work for different people, though. It seems that this herbal armor works for most kids I put it on.. but the boy next door seems to get chewed up by the black flies no matter what. poor kid.

 

[mother_sunshine]

We have lots of fierce little mosquitos here and All-Terrain Herbal Armor works great for us. A product called Buzz Away also works great. If you have a local healthfood store then you should find these or other equivalent products there. I think the main ingredient they use is citronella oil and/or lemongrass. Burt's Bees also has something but I've never tried it. You might want to check out drugstore.com or mothernature.com if you don't have a store nearby.

 

[Colorful~Mama]

I use Gails all natural bug repellant with really good results

www.gessence.com = tell her Barb from supersilks sent you

 

[pammysue]

THe day care center I work at is going to try spraying a garlic repellent on the plants and buildings around our playyard for the mosquitoes. Not sure if it works or not since we haven't tried it yet, but worth looking into.
Garlic Barrier

 

[ishtarmaia]

I use a combination of essential oils in a carrier oil base. I think I used sunflower last time, with a strong blend of citronella, lemongrass, a bit of clary sage and tea tree. It smells great and works well; the only drawback is that you have to reapply every few hours. I've been thinking about melting a little beeswax into the mix to give it more staying power on the skin. Good luck!

 

[arthead]

try searching this site on "repellants" i don't remember the names, but they're have been a few that have good products & info. best of luck

Natrapel is good & we live in a tropic region = huge biitng bugs. It has a website, just do a search.

 

[Emmama]

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions!!! You have NO idea how much this means to me.

 

[PikkuMyy]

The New England Journal of Medecine did a study of all non-deet related bug repellants. The ingredient that worked better than any other (about 96 minutes compared to about 200 for DEET) was soybean oil! So look for a natural bug repellant who's main ingredient is soy oil.

 

[amnesiac]

The repellant in that NEJM study was soybean oil based, but it also contains other "smelly stuff" like geranium oil & vanillin so it's likely that the repellant properties aren't just the soy. It's called Bite Blocker.

http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/Q&A/20046nh.htm
http://www.biteblocker.com/

 

[HokieMum]

We're in the Tennessee Mtns and Burt's Bees Repellant works for us. The main "effective" ingredients are lemongrass and citronella (in carrier oil)

I used to be a Deep Woods Off kinda girl, but this has been working just as well...thus far.

 

[jessemoon]

Try Green Ban (for people) ...they make one for pets too. It works pretty well on our Oregon mosquitos.

 

[julesinottawa]

I just bought some Baby's Bug Off from www.chumbas.com. It's made by MoonDance soaps and has Witch Hazel, Lemongrass, Eucalyptus, lavender and more. It smells divine but we haven't used it yet (we're going camping next week!).