questions about mosquitoes

[lmh2402]

1. is there safe repellent to use on a 16 month old?

2. can you use bug spray (assuming there is a safe one) and sun screen at the same time?

3. do you know if there is a way to reduce the presence of mosquitoes not just from a person, but from a property - like can you treat it (safely) with something?

we are moving this week to a house in the 'burbs. one of the big draws for us was that we would finally have our own backyard/outdoor space

DH and i were at the house this past weekend and in the five minutes were out back, we got eaten alive. totally covered in mosquito bites

i'm bummed. i was so excited, i had already bought a sand & water table. and a few other things for DS to play out back. but there is no way i'm going to do that now, unless i can find a way to keep the bugs away

thanks

[DrSally]

I try to avoid it when possible, but I think using repellant is better than getting a lot of mosquito bites (which can carry disease). I use a lower concentration deet spray, although I think there are ones with lemon of eucptalyptus or picardin? I think it's ok to use both sunscreen and bug spray at the same time, although they say not to use a 2-1 product, b/c you'll end up putting on more bug spray than needed. Our town sprays large wetland type areas for mosquitos (we have one behind our yard).

[tmahanes]

I like the new Off Fan thing... You don't but anything on you, it clips to your belt.

http://www.off.com/clip-on-mosquito-repellent/

Also really like these http://www.off.com/mosquito-control/

ETA - I have used the eucalyptus (sp?) kind before in South GA and I thought it worked pretty well but that was more with sand gnats not mosquitoes.

[Rainbows&Roses]

We have a backyard like that. My DH covers himself in DEET spray just to mow the lawn (mid-day) and still gets a few bites so there is no way I am putting that toxic stuff on my kids if they are still going to get bitten (and West Nile was just found here last week which makes it even more of an issue.)

Sadly we just don't use the backyard in the summer. It really stinks. Right now just going out to the car in the front yard is ridiculous (again in full sun-light mid-day) as they are just swarming. It is like living in the jungles of the tropics or something. And they just sprayed the neighborhood a few days ago, confirming what I have always heard, that spraying the adults late at night with malathion, really doesn't do much good.

I did buy some of that garlic stuff that you mix with oil and spray all over your property, but my DH never used it. And there are some expensive electric systems that apparently work fairly well to keep them off your property, but my DH won't buy one. My dad uses those Off lamps that you light and says they work well if you put them out a half hour before. We have not tried them here though.

Good luck. I hope you figure something out. This issue just angers me to no end regarding how bad the bugs are here and that we have to go somewhere else to play outside.

[lmh2402]

r&r, your answer doesn't give me much hope!! that really stinks

if we end up not being able to use the yard, i'm going to be extremely upset

it's one of the MAJOR reasons why we opted to move out of the city

i will look into a eucalyptus option b/c i don't think there's a chance DS will actually keep a fan attached to him

any other details about the electrical system for the property would be greatly appreciated!

[egoldber]

You can get the propane powered mosquito "traps". They are supposed to work, but they take time. You set them up away from your house and they really only work well if you have a very large yard.

Make sure to empty any standing water on the property. Is there a pond or drainage runoff nearby?

But unfortunately, at least for us, I think it is too hot and too buggy to spend a lot of time outside in our yard in the late summer. We spend a lot of time outside in spring and fall and early summer before it gets too hot. We mainly play on our driveway, in part because it is less buggy.

[wendibird22]

Consumer reports tested the new personal fan and found it didn't work very well. They actually had to suspend the test because their testers were getting eaten alive.

I use bug spray w/ deet on the girls if we are out in the early evening (we are far less buggy during the daytime). We bathe them after.

[Roni]

We've been using the Off fans this summer with a lot of luck. We also have two bug zappers in our yard. People say they don't work, but we find that they do. Also, there's a company that makes "bug suits" called "Bug Bafflers". I have just the pants. They are a kind of netting. They sell them locally here, but you could try googling them and seeing if you could order them on-line. You could also consider getting a screen-house. Bugs could still get in, but not as many, and you could use some of the other methods people have mentioned to keep them away.

There are some bug sprays that don't have deet. At one point I had seen an article that listed other ingredients that work well, but of course I don't know where it is at the moment. Lemon eucalyptis rings a bell, but I could be crazy. There's also citronella, but that smells bad.

Were you eaten alive during the day or just at night? For us, it's just at night, although if we walk down the road, where there are more trees, bugs are out during the day, too.

Good luck!