# Bugs and Babies! ACK!



## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

How do you moms deal with bugs and your baby. 
My son is almost a year old and we're going to spending our summer in St Croix. 
Im concerned about him getting eaten alive. What do you do for bug prevention. Preferably something that can be used on a daily basis.
Bugs love him - were in North Florida currently and the mosquitos are out to get him!

Any ideas and suggestions are WELCOME!!


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## INTP (Nov 11, 2010)

My post count won't allow for links, so do a Google for "bed canopy". You should be able to find one locally. Just hang it over your crib or whatever. No chemicals, and takes up very little space.

Good luck.


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## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

Awesome. But what about out and about and when he isnt in the crib?


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## INTP (Nov 11, 2010)

To be honest, my youngest is 27....so not real up to date on the technology.  But I have seen similar things for strollers. 
I half remember one that went on a backpack baby carrier. My best advice is to "Google" with differing search terms for baby netting and even look at the search results for "images". Something will present itself.

Again, good luck.


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## elvishessler (Mar 20, 2011)

PsychedChicken said:


> Awesome. But what about out and about and when he isnt in the crib?


Wind traveler has 3 toddlers. She would probably reply on twitter to any question you have.
Windtraveler


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## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

Avon Skin So Soft lotion is gentle and repels bugs without DEET. It worked when our kids were little but I could not stand the icky sweet smell of it.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

We use Odomos, which can be used on children, but I've only found it in the British West Indian islands. Perhaps it is available in the BVI? Non toxic to humans, kids or pets and has no Deet.


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## seaner97 (May 15, 2011)

DEET or permethrin on clothing (especially hats). Spray before you put them on. It envelops you in a cloud of the stuff without any appreciable skin absorption. Take hats off, reapply 2-3 times a day and it'll cut way down on bugs. No badness as long as you're not applying directly to skin and you pay attention to keep the little one from eating the hat.
Permethrin probably better/less toxic for the age group.


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## Lake Superior Sailor (Aug 23, 2011)

They make electronic bug repellers ,battery operated...Dale


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## VickiLee (Jan 21, 2017)

I use home remedies, apply creams that fight from bugs, you get them at many stores.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

when i was in caribbean i didnt notice many skeeters-- and i am their favorite flavor. 
mosquito netting. lots of skeeter netting. 
oh yeah i am allergic to deet..hahaha and other methods of repelling the damnable things--i use a racket style bug popper and i use skeeter nettings and screens on ports and hatches. 
use citronella oil on your cockpit woods. it works 4 days then repeat. but i cheat-i have a formosa with lots of cockpit wood and screens i bought at home depot and use as cockpit enclosure and boat cover and sun protection and skeeter netting and......


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## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

Years ago, you would occasionally see references in natural remedy websites claiming that garlic oil capsules repel biting insects. I have taken garlic oil capsules for years and do not use bug repellent and I am never bothered by mosquitoes, black biting flies, fleas or even the various breeds of ticks that inhabit Missouri during our hot humid spring and summer months. We have lots of ticks in Missouri and I am an avid hiker. I almost always find some ticks crawling on me after a hike but haven't had a tick attach to me in years, since I started taking garlic oil capsules.

I've read in some legitimate medical sites like WebMD, that there have actually been scientific studies testing the use of systemic garlic oil as an insect repellent and that it has been proven to be ineffective. But I swear it works. My baby (now 25) is like lasagna for mosquitoes. The first mosquito that hatches every year, in our state, seeks him out and bites him. He is allergic and will develop an eraser or sometimes dime dime sized welt at the bite. 

I used to have trouble convincing him to take his garlic oil capsules, but he has learned, through numerous episodes of denial, getting horribly eaten up, and then trying the garlic oil capsules, that it works. He is now a believer. 

One August I took the whole family on a day float in the Okefenokee Swamp Wilderness. The rangers and the concessionaires at the park tried to talk us out of going in, saying that it was the absolute worst week for Georgia Black Biting Flies. During the drive down to Georgia, I had a bottle of garlic oil capsules sitting in the center console and I handed out two or three to everybody in the van twice each day, to get their garlic/blood level up. I'm the only one in the family who takes one or two each day in my daily complement of vitamins and minerals. 

We spent 6 hours in the Okefenokee, hiked Billy's Island, explored peat bogs, and no one in our party reported having any problem with the black biting flies, though we saw many swarms of them, often buzzing around us.

People worry about the odor, but they make odorless capsules (or some more accurately called "odor controlled"). In researching this, I thought, "That is counterproductive. The odor is probably what repels the insects. Odorless can't possibly work". But, I found out that they way they control odor, is to seal the garlic oil in a capsule that takes a long time to dissolve so it doesn't dissolve until it is in the lower intestine. You never taste it and it doesn't make your breath smell. My wife has a very sensitive sense of smell and has no problem telling me when I smell in some way. She says that I do not smell of garlic.


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## wrwakefield (Nov 18, 2015)

Kasey,

I don't know about babies specifically, but I can share several methods we have found successful over the years living and playing outdoors in Alaska, most of which apply to anyone.

If you are interested, here is our page describing what methods and items we have had success with over the years.

Wishing you a great time on your impending adventures.

Cheers! Bill


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I solved the bug problem years ago by purchasing a replacement screen for a gazebo at Walmart for $30. It covers the entire cockpit bugs stay outside and it's rare to have a bug in the cockpit or cabin, yet you get great ventilation.

Gary


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

midwesterner said:


> Avon Skin So Soft lotion is gentle and repels bugs without DEET. It worked when our kids were little but I could not stand the icky sweet smell of it.


Avon Skin So Soft did not make it to the recommended list at Consumer Reports.

Non-DEET products that you might consider use Picaridin or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus (OLE). The Picaridin ( a synthetic repellent ) is supposed to be safe for infants, just be careful around the eyes.


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## Terrapin (Nov 12, 2016)

midwesterner said:


> Avon Skin So Soft lotion is gentle and repels bugs without DEET. It worked when our kids were little but I could not stand the icky sweet smell of it.


I suspect they've changed the formula. It doesn't work nearly as well anymore and it still smells icky.


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## Kailey Willis (Jun 2, 2017)

Jojoba oil is a natural insect repellant, I made a body lotion that's both moisturizing as well as infused with jojoba


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## dixiedawg (Sep 22, 2013)

We use a Coleman Thermacell to keep skeeters out of the cabin. Works astonishingly well.

Skin So Soft works 100% on no see 'ums, not at all on skeeters.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

I mix Skin So Soft 50/50 with water and put it in a spray bottle. I spray my dock lines and the ants from the nearby lawns no longer come on my boat. I also spray the boat screens and no see ums never get near the screens. I spray it around the perimeter of my home and no longer get invaded by carpenter ants each spring. The carpenter ants walk up to the sprayed area, take one whiff, turn around and leave. Apparently, and from what I have read, the fumes from Skin So Soft oils block the thorax airways of ALL insects and they cannot breathe - that's what repels them.

All the best,

Gary


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