Now that the summer appears to be here, we start to think of the bugs. An urbanMama recently emailed:
We're heading over to La Pine for the 4th of July and my relatives have warned me of the monstrous mosquitos that are waiting to devour my 2 year old and me (I'm pregnant). Does anyone have any good recommendations for non-DEET bug repellent that actually works?
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Post to the Forums
Childcare Forum
Exchange Forum
Sponsor us
Email Us: urbanmamas@gmail.com
..loading tweets
Sponsor urbanMamas. Be seen by over 75,000 uniqure visitors monthly. Complete details here!
burt's bees is the way to go
Posted by: rachel | June 29, 2009 at 12:43 PM
I'm going to watch this one, the bugs have been bad this year, my kids as well as my neighbors are being munched on daily.
Posted by: Amber | June 29, 2009 at 12:45 PM
Ive heard great things about lemon-eucalyptus essential oil, i believe its a specific kind of eucalyptus. I think Food Front has it.
Posted by: bee | June 29, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Burt Bee's makes a repellent or is it one of their lotions?
Posted by: Genoa | June 29, 2009 at 12:57 PM
The one step ahead website has great wipes to keep the mosquitos away. I was being eaten alive in a wildlife sanctuary with stagnant water and after we all used the wipes, no more bugs. It was quite amazing. Here is the link: http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=6810&parentCategoryId=85195&categoryId=85244&subCategoryId=86228
Posted by: suz | June 29, 2009 at 01:11 PM
I just wrote this review for Buzz Away:
http://www.thetranquilparent.com/detail/a-lakeside-camping-trip-without-the-mosquitoes/
We went to Timothy Lake and it was swarming with skeeters. We only got a couple of bites!
Savannah
Posted by: Savannah Mayfield | June 29, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Vitamin B makes you smell bad to bugs. :) I just bring my husband... he's my bait! :) :) :) Seriously, they always go for him and leave me alone. Oh, well...
Posted by: alpidarkomama | June 29, 2009 at 01:28 PM
I've made my own blends in the past and have found a company that makes one similar to my own...Happy Trails made by V'TAE. I found it at New Seasons before a camping trip and it worked wonders the whole weekend.
By the way, this is not my company.
The B12 idea sounds like it will work too.
Posted by: Km | June 29, 2009 at 02:24 PM
My honey (an epidemiologist and pediatrician) did some looking into the research on safer insect repellents a couple years ago during our son's first summer. Here's what he learned: Lemon eucalyptus has strong evidence showing its effectiveness (though it's possible it can cause skin irritation in some--but we have used repellents w/ lemon eucalyptus without any trouble). Soybean oil and geranium oil haven't been studied as much, but also appear to be quite effective. There are a lot of plant-based/herbal repellents available now that have one or more of those three ingredients and so should work well (we've had good luck trying various ones that fit that bill). All that fits with some of the specific brand recommendations you've received above. Good luck--hope you stay relatively bite-free!
Posted by: qsmama | June 29, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Hello Mama's
I've never tried it, but I've heard many times that a dryer sheet in your pocket will keep the bugs away.
I hope it works-
Rebecca
Rebecca Magby
Parent Coach
Everything Baby
www.everythingbabyllc.com
Posted by: Rebecca Magby | June 29, 2009 at 10:07 PM
I have tried the Burt's Bees insect repellant and found it very oily and not effective at all. I have a lemon/eucalyptus repellant lotion that I got at the travel clinic in NW PDX that works very well, at least as well as Off, or another spray with DEET.
Posted by: j | June 29, 2009 at 10:11 PM
zrecs.com always has the lowdown on everything from sunscreen to sippy cups. They have a toxicity chart that rates all the products, lets you know whats in them, and how harmful it might be.
Also, I have found that the pharm dept at New Seasons is always really helpful. They'll be able to tell you what product is safest and works best.
Posted by: lea | June 29, 2009 at 11:19 PM
I used SKIN SO SOFT Bug Guard Plus SPF 30 while I was prego. I took it to my Dr. and she was preggo and said good find and bought some herself.
Posted by: Native_Momma | June 29, 2009 at 11:36 PM
I don't know how pregnant you are, but I would check anything used with essential oils against a list of oils to avoid during pregnancy. Here's an example:
http://www.essentialoils.co.za/pregnancy.htm
Best wishes! Hope you find something good.
Posted by: keenbeen | June 30, 2009 at 07:55 AM
don't forget to check your products w/ skin deep, esp if pregnant or using them on children. here are their safest rated bug repellents:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/wordsearch.php?query=bug+repellant
the first time we used burt's bees insect repellent, i also did not like how oily it was. i didn't have to use it again for a few years, but we used it several times when we were on the east coast recently, and it worked well. i think it helped that i was expecting it to be oily this time around. really, it's not much different than a lotion (spray it into your hands and rub it where you need it vs. spraying it onto the child), and it definitely kept the bugs off of us.
Posted by: rachel | June 30, 2009 at 10:56 AM
I second "Happy Trails", we took it with to Mexico and it worked great...any night I forgot to use it I got bitten. I also got mine at New Seasons for about $5. It contains essential oils of catnip, lemongrass, citronella, patchouli and clove. It says safe for children and pets but Im not sure about pregnant chicks.
Posted by: happy trails | June 30, 2009 at 08:07 PM
I'm 5 months preggo right now and with a 14 month old, and we just used the Burt's Bees insect repellent on our vacation. It was a bit oily, but once rubbed in seemed fine to me. The smell is rather strong and it was moderately effective at keeping bites away. I usually get eaten alive and only came home with 5 or 6 bites. My son got none (I think he inherited being not tasty to skeeters from my husband.) Anyway, my one worry about the Burt's Bees was that I would get stomach cramps a little bit after using it. I eventually started putting it on a cloth and tying that around my arm or leg or something, which is when I got the 5 or 6 bites, but wasn't sure what might be leaching into my skin giving me the cramps. I'm going to check out the links above for recommendations about what is safe while preggo.
Posted by: Secret Mommy | July 06, 2009 at 02:39 PM
Consumer Reports testing recommended 6 tick/mosquito repellents...'Repel Plant Based Lemon Eucalyptus' was the only non-deet repellent recommended.
Also, I had an outside magazine that had an article/test on mosquito repellents. Article had a picture of an arm in a cage of mosquito's. One of the repellents with the best results was a non-deet formula. Of course, I can not find the magazine! If anyone has this Outside Magazine, please post the date of it!
Thanks,
Jerry
Posted by: Jerry Dawson | July 10, 2011 at 01:11 PM
It is important for us to protect ourselves from harm, so as to mosquito that may potentially cause us to death. Thank you for sharing these helpful ideas that may save me from harm as well as my family. Keep posting.
Posted by: mosquito control Florida | March 09, 2012 at 06:31 PM