Mosquitoes, I hate 'em!

I have been dealing a lot lately about mosquito bites and its sore effect to my kid's delicate skin. (Sigh). When Gab goes to the play ground, or parks or just by simply going outside the house, he sure will have reddish bumps when he goes home.

I learned from one source that it's the female mosquitoes which have blood-sucking habits. Most mosquitoes feed o n plant nectars but the female ones depend on a blood meal to get the protein they need to mature their eggs, which they then lay on the surface of still water.

I did a lot of reading today. There are a lot of tips, I'll decide which ones I will try.
1. use insect repellent on exposed areas of skin (off lotion maybe? this lotion contains N,N-diethyl meta-toluamide, 7.5% which is within the range advised for pediatric repellents).
2. use permethrin, an insect repellent licensed for use on clothing (i don't know of a product, maybe a fabric conditioner, with such content.. does the downy antibac contain that?)
3. in the same source that I mentioned above, they wrote "some studies suggest that taking thiamine (vitamin B1) 25mg to 50 mg three times per day is effective in reducing mosquito bites. This safe vitamin apparently produces a skin odor that is not detectable by humans, but is disagreeable to pregnant mosquitoes (Pediatric Clinics of North America, 16:191, 1969). It seems to be especially effective for those people with large allergic reactions. Thiamine takes about 2 weeks before the odor fully saturates the skin. Garlic may work in the same way (except, of course, the odor is detectable by humans), but I have seen no scientific studies supporting this. One recent study was unable to demonstrate that garlic was an effective mosquito repellant (Med Vet Entomol, 2005, 19(1)84-9.)"

I already bought Off lotion and will start using it today. Maybe I'll take a look at option 2 as well. I might not consider those written on number 3. I'm using another option... it is very effective and free. We simply stay at home.. ;-)

I also found a lot of resources giving treatment suggestions for mosquito bites. For now, I am using Calmoseptine ointment. It's cheap and effective. It contains Calamine which is one of the recommended anti-itching treatments.

It bothers me to see my baby scratching those red sores. :-( That's why I read. I don't wanna end up having to worry about something more. I'm sure, you parents feel the same.