Mosquitoes | Imamother

amother

Coffee

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 4:42 am

My 2 year old dd has been covered in mosquito bites for weeks! We are in Israel. She shares a room with her brother, and although she seems to get them in there at night, he has none. I check her room every night, but usually don't see anything. She started sleeping with long sleeves and pants, and that has helped, but last night she got 3 on her hand and I think 1 or 2 on her head! My poor baby is so uncomfortable! Sad

They have a ceiling fan which I think I will try leaving on. Do you think that will help? What else? We have a plug-in Raid thing from Succos, but I'm nervous to use it in a babies' room. I think it says if the window is open it's fine, but I'm still nervous. Would a roll-on thing for her be better/worse? The bites are uncomfortable but don't seem dangerous for her. Although we are all lacking a good chunk of sleep as a result... I read this morning about West Nile found in Israel, but not in my area. What do you wise ladies think???

FranticFrummie

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 6:46 am

Mosquitoes prefer certain blood types. O is the most tasty, apparently.

Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide from our breath, and that gets concentrated in the room when we sleep. A fan would definitely help.

Don't bother with a bug zapper. I found out that in order to work, it has to attract the bugs first, and you end up with even more than you did before! shock

Mosquito netting over the bed at night works really well. If you have Deet based bug spray, put it on the net, not the kids or their clothes.

Do all of your windows have screens with very small holes? If not, and the bugs are really bad, you need to invest in that. When the days are nice enough to turn off the AC/heat, you'll appreciate being able to have all your windows open without worry.

Teomima

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 7:58 am

I don't find a ceiling fan to help at all.

I put a kid-safe, low deet or deet-free mosquito repellant on myself and my toddler at night. The rest of the family doesn't seem to get too bothered by them, other than my infant but there's not much to do about that.

As for easing the discomfort, fenestil gel works really well. It takes 5-10 minutes to take effect, but it gets rid of all the itching I find.

FF, your comment about blood type makes so much sense! It explains why dh and I can be right next to each other but I get eaten alive and he's totally comfortable. Thank you for teaching me something new today!

yo'ma

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 8:04 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

Mosquitoes prefer certain blood types. O is the most tasty, apparently.

Teomima wrote:

FF, your comment about blood type makes so much sense! It explains why dh and I can be right next to each other but I get eaten alive and he's totally comfortable. Thank you for teaching me something new today!

I have 3 kids that I know have O blood type (I don't know all of theirs). Only one of them gets bitten up like crazy. and I who does not have O also gets bitten, but not as bad as this kid. It also gets really bad for him after he scratches it. The doctor gave me an oral medicine for him to help with the itching.

amother

Coffee

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 4:47 pm

Baruch Hashem we do have screens on all our windows. I'm afraid to think about where we'd be without them! And we try to be careful about opening doors and windows in the evening. I'm going to leave the ceiling fan on tonight. If it's still bad, I'll see what the store has that doesn't look too scary for a 2 year old. Thanks everyone for all the advice!

amother

Lime

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 5:49 pm

I'm in israel as well. And my 2 yr old is also all bitten up. Her toes. Ankles. Soles. Sad

she's miserable. I do use fenestil gel on the bites...
Got a deet free spray at the pharmacy. Smells awful. But doesn't seem to be helping much. The roll on also wasn't effective.
Got deet free insect repelent bracelets from Amazon today. Hoping itll work!

About the West Nile virus- scared me as well. But seems like those cases are not from Jerusalem...
Be safe! And be well!

amother

Beige

Thu, Aug 23 2018, 6:28 pm

Thiamine (vit b1) can act as a mosquito repellant. Ppl that seem to attract mosquito bites are most likely deficient. You can also use thiamine patches.