Quick! How to treat bug bites?

[arivecchi]

My son has a couple of insect bites (probably mosquitoes). He must have been scratching them and now his hand and arm are swollen.

We are already applying ointment. Anything else I should be doing? Benadryl?

[crl]

I'd go ahead and give benadryl. A cool compress might help as well.

Catherine

[fortato]

If you have Witch Hazel- that works wonders to stop the itch. Just soak a cotton pad/ball and leave it on the bite for a little bit.

Caladryl/Calamine lotion is good too.

[arivecchi]

thank you!

[lil_acorn]

If you have Witch Hazel- that works wonders to stop the itch. Just soak a cotton pad/ball and leave it on the bite for a little bit.

Caladryl/Calamine lotion is good too.

this is what we do.

[dcmom2b3]

Ditto Benadryl, and maybe covering them loosely with gauze, just so that he doesn't break the skin if he continues to scratch.

FWIW, I get awful swollen welts from mosquito bites. One thing that helps me, belive it or not, is applying a vinegar and meat tenderizer (MSG) poultice. IME Accent works best. Sounds country, smells wacky (hello my little pickle!) but it works to kill the itch and reduce the swelling.

I haven't resorted to using this remedy on DD, so I can't recommend it for someone else's child, but thought I'd put it out there as an "in a pinch" possibility.

[gatorsmom]

I use Neosporin ointment+pain relief. All that scratching can cause the bite to become infected. I've also noticed that the pain reliever in the Neosporin makes the bite stop itching so they leave it alone.

[arivecchi]

Thanks all. Gave him some generic benadryl to help him sleep. Hopefully his arm will look better in the morning.

[DrSally]

Also, benadryl cream directly on the bite helps.

[crl]

I tend to really react to bug bites and benedryl helps the itching for me quite a bit. Hopefully it will have subsided by morning!

Catherine

[arivecchi]

His hand and arm still looked swollen this morning. We got some Caladryl last night and applied it on his bites this morning. Hopefully that helps. We are giving him more generic benadryl before naptime today. I did give half a tsp last night and it helped him sleep. Also ppoke to the ped's office this morning and they suggested that I up it to 1 full tsp.

Thanks for the quick help. You guys rock. :)

[Beth24]

Hope he feels better soon! My older DS is really sensitive to bug bites and bee stings and benedryl really helps him too. Just a warning, those sensitivities also seem to apply to poison oak/ivy...he has an unbelievably strong reaction to that as well. I have to send him to sleep away camp with an oral steroid medication just in case he is exposed. If he takes the medicine at the first sign of exposure it stoops his body from reacting so strongly.

[arivecchi]

Good to know Beth. Thank you.