For many parents globally, keeping their children safe is a paramount factor for them. Parents keenly observe medical appointments to ensure the health and safety of their children are not compromised.
One thing that has, however, caught many parents off guard when observing the health and safety of their kids is bug bites. Most bug bites tend to just be annoying and cause mild irritation on the skin. However, some bug bites can cause adverse reactions, infections, and allergic reactions.
With such huge risks, parents must keep their children safe from bug bites. When keeping kids safe from bug bites, there are two general measures that parents can use. For most parents, pest control is their first idea when looking to protect their kids from bug bites.
Pest control entails seeking professional extermination services to get rid of the pests that pose a health risk to the kids. Other than pest control, there are other numerous ways to protect children from bug bites or stings.
This article highlights some ways parents can use to keep their children safe from bug bites.
- Bug Repelling
The use of bug repellants is among the most popular methods of avoiding bug bites. As a parent looking to keep your children safe from bug bites, there are several child-friendly bug repellents that you can buy for your kids.
When buying bug repellant for your children, you should, however, be careful regarding the products you buy and what is in them. To be on the safe side, you should use products that have been recommended for children by pediatric agencies and doctors.
The Canadian Pediatric Society listed two ingredients found in bug repellents that are safe for use by children and are effective at repelling bugs. The ingredients are icaridin and DEET. The ingredients are especially effective at repelling ticks and mosquitoes. These two ingredients have also been approved by pediatric agencies in the USA.
When buying bug repellants for your children, check the ingredients to ascertain that the aforementioned ingredients are there. Another factor that parents should consider when buying bug repellents for their children is skin reactions.
If your child starts complaining of itchiness or gets a rash when you start using a bug repellant on them, stop the use of the repellant. Some children can have adverse reactions to bug repellants due to the chemicals in the product. In such cases, you can consult a pediatrician to recommend a product for your child.
- Bug Eradication
The most effective way to protect your children from bug bites is by eradicating pests. In cases where there are numerous bugs in the child’s bed, house compound, etc., it is better to bring in an exterminator.
Before relying on an exterminator, there are some steps you can take to keep your children safe from bugs. The most common reason for having bugs in the house compound is either dirt or dirty stagnant water.
As a first step, you can start cleaning your backyard. Trim the bushes and fences and get rid of any litter that has accumulated anywhere. Once that is done, you should drain all stagnant water.
If the stagnant water is due to excessive rain, which has formed water puddles, you can use chemicals to prevent the water from harboring bugs. These tips can help reduce or eliminate bugs in your home and compound.
However, if the bug infestation is severe and poses a significant threat to children, you should go ahead and call an exterminator. While many exterminators often have one specialization in terms of the bugs they clear, others can help with different bugs. Such exterminators can significantly help with pest control in your home, thereby keeping your children safe from bug bites.
- House Sealing
In most cases, a house that has too many bugs inside is often due to poor sealing that prevents the entry of the bugs. When looking to protect your children from bug bites, especially flying bugs, you ought to improve the various house seals.
When improving house seals, the first area to check should be the windows. Check whether the house windows close all the way and if they require window replacement. There are several factors that you should consider to check whether a window requires a replacement. The factors include leakages, poor window frames, squeaking window slides, etc.
Replacing the windows that are in poor condition is a great step towards ensuring your house stays bug-free. Once all windows are sorted, you should check the door gaps of the house.
For this, you can request the services of construction professionals. Explain to the professional that you seek to ensure the house is perfectly sealed to prevent the entry of bugs into the house. They will work towards ensuring your home stays clear of bugs.
Another way that you can prevent the entry of bugs into your house is by using bug-repellent chemicals around house openings. This will help ensure that the bugs do not easily get into your house since their entry points have bug-repellent products.
- Clothing
Most of the above-discussed factors are applicable at home only. So how does a parent keep their children safe from bug bites when outside the house? During hikes or long-distance travel, children can be exposed to many bugs.
In such cases, parents should dress their children appropriately. Clothing children with attire that covers most of the child’s skin is quite effective at preventing bug bites. The clothing covers all exposed skin to prevent children from getting bug bites and stings.
However, a hindrance to this is that most bug bites and stings happen during the summer season. With this in mind, dressing up your child in clothes that completely cover will cause them to experience discomfort due to high temperatures.
But, covering your children with clothes doesn’t have to be uncomfortable for them. You can opt for clothes that have a comfortable cloth so even when they’re completely covered they can still feel the breeze.
On the other hand, during the summer season, one can opt to use bug repellants on your children then during other seasons, you dress them appropriately.
Conclusion
Keeping your children safe from bug bites should be paramount because the preventive measures taken can be the thing that keeps your child alive and well. If your child still gets a bug bite and you observe some reactions to it, it is advisable to seek help from a nearby medical professional.