How to guard your children against mosquitoes
Living in hot and humid Singapore, we are no strangers to mosquitoes. Many of us will remember the Zika virus scare in 2016, during which practically all the mosquito repellent flew off the shelves as people started panic buying, leaving most supermarkets and pharmacies out of stock. We also heard about people who bought repellent in bulk to make a quick buck by selling them online for twice the retail cost. Disappointingly, some of these sellers were parents themselves.
Thankfully, the bulk buying is behind us (for now) and repellent is once again readily available. In our household, we always keep a few bottles of mosquito repellent handy, as our four-year-old (nicknamed Barnacles) is a mosquito super magnet. We diligently apply repellent on him every morning at home before we take him to school, but one morning we forgot to apply repellent on his face. He came home from school with five mosquito bites on his face – which swelled to more than twice their size by the following day.
On another occasion, we parked our car in town near several trees and bushes, and meant to apply repellent on him once we got out of the car. Alas, he got a bite on his forehead soon after we opened the car door, which started to swell just several minutes after.
Due to Barnacles’ propensity to be bitten by mosquitoes, we have tried several different repellents to see which worked best. While we were keen on going the natural route, many of the “all natural” repellents we tried were not effective, as he still got bitten even with the repellent on.
We also read about the effectiveness of repellents with 20 per cent Deet or Picaridin, but were reluctant to apply these chemicals on him daily. We used to spray a repellent with 20 per cent Deet on his clothes before we discovered that repellents with Deet and Picaridin work by blocking a mosquito’s carbon dioxide receptors, hence are most effective only when applied on the skin and not on clothes. Furthermore, Barnacles has sensitive airways, so several of the repellents we tried also made him sneeze and cough.
After trying many different brands, we finally found an ideal combination that works – when applied properly, he is completely protected from bites. The Para’kito spray (which is safe for babies from six months and for pregnant women), as well as the roll-on (for kids aged three and up) are very effective. We apply the repellent on his arms, legs, cheeks, forehead, and behind the ears. It has a pleasant smell that does not irritate our son’s nose, and is non-sticky.
Barnacles also wears a Para’kito mosquito repellent band daily to school. Even though this repellent is quite pricey, the cheaper “natural” alternatives we tried all did not work well enough, so this repellent is our go to for now.
On occasions where the repellent has worn off and Barnacles happens to get a bite, left untreated, it will swell to more than double its size and often blister. After trying several creams, we have found two that are quite effective at reducing the itch and swelling.
While the Para’kito bite relief roll on works to stop the itch, one drawback is that it can only be used on children aged three and above. Theo10 is 100 per cent safe to use, even on the lips, for bites, minor cuts or ulcers. We always keep both handy in our diaper bag.
We thought we’d end off with an interesting tip we recently learnt – if you are visiting a place in the day that is likely to have mosquitoes, do dress in light-coloured clothing, as mosquitoes use their vision to search for food in the day. This means that a person wearing dark-coloured clothes may stand out more on a bright day, making mosquitoes more likely to attack. Mosquitoes are also most active at dusk, so if you are prone to mosquito bites, make sure you cover every inch of exposed skin with repellent!
Mummy and Daddy Daycare are the pseudonyms of a Singaporean husband and wife who are raising two young boys aged four and one, nicknamed Barnacles and Kwazii from the children’s Octonauts series. Get into the minds of this couple who describe parenthood as a lifetime adventure – you are always learning something new! Whoever said parenting was a walk in the park?
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When should your toddler start potty training?
