Preventing Mosquito Bites

I use a Bounce fabric sheet. I rub the sheet on the skin that is exposed and on the clothes that cover the rest of there body and seems to work. I use that on both my kids on is 3 1/2 and the other is 1 1/2 years old.

Okay, curiosoity got the best of me, so I went to the Academy of Pediatrics website. There are numerous articles about DEET, I read only the first two. The first suggested that a 10% concentration of DEET was as effective as a higher concentration, the second says a higher concentration will last longer, that there appears to be no additional benefit by going higher then 30% ever, both suggest the lower concentration was preferred. Unlike sunscreen which must be reapplied; repeated applications of DEET build up on the skin, so it should not be reapplied. (Actually, the first article says NOT to reapply DEET, but the recommendations below mention "if reapplied"; both recommend a lower concentration of DEET; both say not on children under 2 months) . The second gives ideas for other repellants. The first article, for reasons not specified, claims children are less suceptible to West Nile Virus (this does not make sense to me, but I was not in the right frame of mind to track down this research.)

These recommendations came straight from the second article:

"Both the Academy and the EPA recommend the following precautions when using insect repellents:

Apply repellents only to exposed skin and/or clothing (as directed on the product label). Do not use repellents under clothing.

Never use repellents over cuts, wounds or irritated skin.

Do not apply to eyes or mouth, and apply sparingly around ears. When using sprays, do not spray directly on face — spray on hands first and then apply to face.

Do not allow children to handle the product. When using on children, apply to your own hands first and then put it on the child. Do not apply to children's hands.

Use just enough repellent to cover exposed skin and/or clothing. Heavy application and saturation generally are unnecessary for effectiveness.

After returning indoors, wash treated skin with soap and water or bathe. This is particularly important when repellents are used repeatedly in a day or on consecutive days. Also, wash treated clothing before wearing it again. (This precaution may vary with different repellents — check the product label.)

If a child develops a rash or other apparent allergic reaction from an insect repellent, stop using the repellent, wash it off with mild soap and water and call a local poison control center for further guidance.
As indicated in the AAP handbook, repellents are not recommended for children younger than 2 months of age ( AAP Committee on Environmental Health. Pesticides. In Etzel RA, ed. Pediatric Environmental Health. 2nd edition. Elk Grove Village, IL. American Academy of Pediatrics; 2003:350).

Other than recommendations listed here, EPA does not suggest any additional precautions for using registered repellents on pregnant or lactating women, or on children."

Hmmm....I'd never heard of using a dryer sheet before--I'll have to try that! My oldest has mosquito-bite allergies or sensitivities or something. He swells up like a sausage when he gets bit (and that happened to my youngest last summer too)! I've heard not to use DEET on kids, so I use Avon's Skin So Soft Bug Guard & sunscreen (they have one that applies blue but then disappears, which is a little more fun for the kids).

Also, as soon as we notice a mosquito bite on our son, we apply Benedryl Cream (found it at Walgreens) to the bites and that REALLY helps the swelling! If he gets lots of bites we use the oral version (just don't use both at the same time!).

HI! Just wanted to mention that our family uses Bounce fabric softener sheets. Safe, not poisonous and really does work. You take a sheet and rub it all over there skin and outfit..and for some reason those pesky things don't like it. Hope this helps.
~Rebecca

I've heard that rubbing your skin with dryer sheets works as insect repellant

On my kids I do not use deet products. I do tie Bounce fabric sheets to them. Last year, even with camping, my 4 year old received 3 bites total. And the bugs were out HORRIBLE around here. Bounce also keeps bees and ants away too. That is of course, just our house...

I use Family Off which has no deet. Deet is supposed to be toxic to toddlers. For sunscreen I use Banana Boat Baby which has an spf of 50 and is waterproof. I've learned the hard way that you can still get sun burned on a cloudy or overcast day.

I've heard horrible things about Deet (though I don't know how accurate they are). My family has always used Avon's Skin So Soft, since we all have very fair/sensitive skin. It's also safe if the kids happen to get it in their mouths (ie baby puts their hands in their mouth). (I'm definitely going to try the Bounce sheets this summer though!) As far as sunscreen goes, I always get dye-free and perfume-free just to avoid reactions. Hope you and your little one have a fun summer! :)