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Home › Articles › Illnesses, Diseases & Disorders › Safely Keeping Bugs Away from Baby

Safely Keeping Bugs Away from Baby

Are Insect Repellents Safe for Babies?

By Shannon McKelden

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Another newer product on the market is picaridin, found in products such as Cutter Advanced. "DEET and picaridin are labeled for use on infants as young as 2 months of age," Conlon says. "[The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommends that for children in the age range of 6 to 24 months only one application per day be made. For children aged 2 to 12 years of age, repellents can be applied up to three times per day."

To be effective, repellents must be applied to all exposed skin (avoiding hands, eyes and mouth on infants). Another important thing to keep in mind with repellents is that more is not better. Following the package instructions for application is very important. "[While] DEET will keep the mosquitoes from landing on your skin they may still fly around you," Levine says. "So if you see mosquitoes around your baby, that does not mean you should apply more DEET. As long as they don't land on baby and bite, the DEET is working."

Products containing DEET come in different concentrations offering protection for varying lengths of time. For example, products containing 10 percent DEET are proven effective for two hours, while products containing 30 percent DEET may continue to be effective up to five hours.

Applying the lowest concentration necessary for the amount of time spent exposed to mosquitoes will help limit the amount of chemical your baby is exposed to. Additionally, Conlon recommends avoidance of the times that mosquitoes are most active, reducing the need for repellents. These times include an hour before and after dawn and dusk, though at least one species of mosquitoes is active throughout the day.

It is also advised that roducts containing both sunscreen and repellent should be avoided. "If applying with sunscreen, apply DEET first and sunscreen on top, [and you] do not need to reapply DEET when you reapply sunscreen," Levine says. "Sunscreen needs to be reapplied much more frequently and reapplying DEET too often can cause increased, dangerous levels of the product in your body." It is important not to over-apply these products.


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