23 answers

How to reduce discomfort from ants sting in toddler?

My 3 and a half year old daughter made the mistake of running through a fire ant hill while wearing flip flops yesterday and she sustained a few nasty stings on her ankles. Thank goodness, she's not allergic to the bites, but the discomfort kept her up last night and they're still hurting her today. (She does have a low pain threshold, but I'd still like to make her comfortable.) I tried putting just a little bit of over the counter cortizone on them, but it hasn't seemed to help and it's not a terribly safe drug to use anyway. Does anyone have any other suggestions for reducing discomfort from ant stings?

What can I do next?

Summary

Some moms found that making a paste of baking soda and water, and applying it to the skin works. While some suggest to put ice on the wounds, if symptoms persists, consult with your pediatrician.

So What Happened?™

Wow! Thank you all so much for your very helpful advice! I had forgotten all about the use of Witch Hazel on bug bites. I'll be picking up many of the products you've all recommended today. Thanks again!

Featured Answers

J.,

Hi there. One thing I would suggest is to keep Benadryll with you all the time so if this happens again you can immediately give her a dose. My daughter is very allergic to mosquitos and has had to go on oral steroids for it before. The dr. had suggested that if she gets bit to immediately give her a dose of Benadryll and it's such a life saver. She never ends up swelling up and it goes away faster. Benadryll has a histamine in it so it stops the reaction from happening. I keep chewables with me and it works. I hope she's feeling better now. My son and niece both have peanut alleriges also so we carry epi pens, benadryll and albuterol inhalers (for their asthma) 24/7 with us. Good luck.

We use Aveeno oatmeal bath as a soak, some of the "powder" doesn't desolve and forms oatmeal balls in the bath, we play a game to see how many she can catch and rub on her itchy spots as a paste. After the bath cover itches in Calmine lotion.
Good Luck
J.

More Answers

Family of 5 and we've all been through it. My advice is ice. Ice numbs the burning pain of ant bites, helps with swelling. Either put ice in a baggie, cause kids love that or fill a bucket of ice and water and let her soak her feet. And then there is the anti-itch cream from walgreens, not sure if it actually helps physically, but mentally kids respond well to it. hope this helps.

Try pouring Listerine(mouth wash) on the bites it really works! I always have some around and when someone gets bit I just pour it on. I also use Ivy-Dry Super, its a spray that relieves itching, its in a brown bottle. I believe I bought it at CVS or Walgreens. Good Luck! I hope it helps.

Try putting sunscreen on it. I don't know why it helps but it does. I have only tried it right after it happened to ease the immediate pain but i might still work now. It is worth a try.
Good Luck

Try rhuli gel. It's at most drug stores and it's a little pricey, but it works wonders for ant bites!

My father was a Beekeeper and was stung quite often. Fire ants have the same poisen just in smaller doses. He found that making a paste of baking soda and water, and applying it to the skin where the sting occured was a great help in reducing the pain. I don't know how it would work the next day, but it is safe and worth a try.
Also if the area is raised and has a little infection that may be the cause of the pain & itching. It is when i get an ant sting. After i get the infection out, i put Neosporin on the area and a band-aide for 24 hours.

Hope this helps.
T.

I always use rubbing alcohol on them when first bitten and then several times a day. Works great.

Hi, my son is 2 and I have had the same problem. Have you tried witchazel? It is an old wives tale but it really seemed to dry up the bites, as a matter of fact, I use it for all bites, scrapes etc. It doen't burn and you can find it by the rubbing alcohol in Publix, Walgreens or Target. Good luck! I hope this helps!
J.

You may want to try spray solarcaine...it has a numbing agent in it that might make the bites feel better for a while.

Good luck!

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