HI Moms:
My sweet little munchkin seems to be getting an increasing number of mosquito bites on her arms and legs, though I never see any mosquitoes flying around. Not always, but they seem to bite her most overnight, but I can't figure out how they're biting her given that she normally has 2-3 layers of pajamas covering most areas (long sleeve onesie, footed long sleeve cotton zip up pajamas, plus a wearable blanket that zips onto her). I thought it might also be fleas but we're very careful to keep the dog's anti-flea medicine current, plus the dog only goes in the kitchen (with wood floors), never where the baby sleeps, and I thought that flea bites tend to be small, whereas my baby has welt-like larger bites that I associate with mosquitoes.
Any suggestions for how to get rid of biting bugs without using toxic chemicals she might otherwise touch and put in her mouth? She's 15 months, so she explores all crevices, great and small.
Thanks, Moms!
If it is mosquitoes, I'd use real Vanillia, not the imitation stuff, but REAL vanillia. It works very well!
It sounds like fleas to me. Even though the dog is on hardwood far away from the babies room doesn't mean the fleas don't travel. Fleas can jump up to 6 foot high so they can travel pretty far. I'd do what the previous poster suggested and have your house sprayed.
If it is fleas you can try sprinkling a mixture of 50% salt/50% baking soda on the carpet. Leave it for a couple days then vacuum up. Repeat as necessary. It's safe, natural and worked for us, especially since our toddler spends most of his time playing and rolling around on the carpet!
It does actually sound like flea bites. I thought this before you even mentioned it.
We rescued a stray cat about 6 months ago and kept it at our place for a few days, then gave it away. We didn't know (duh!) she had fleas. My daughter was also bit mostly at night (through layers of clothes) and also had huge welts. [6 moths later, she still has scars from scratching the bites so much. Poor thing, makes me so sad.]
About 2 weeks after we got rid of the cat and figured out that we HAD fleas, we had flea busters (an eco-friendly company!) come in and they guarantee one year flea-free - even if your pets bring in new fleas. Maybe you could try them...
A good way to find out if it is indeed fleas, is to take a plain white sheet of paper, put it near where you suspect your daughter is getting bit (in this case, the floor near her bed maybe) and then stomp your hands or feet beside it a few times (fleas are attracted to this type of "vibration") then just sit there for a few minutes and watch the paper, to see if you see any little black dots jump on it (sometimes you can even hear a "click" noise when they land on the paper...
If it's not fleas, I don't really have any other advice! lol. Sorry, hope this does help though and that whatever it is can be taken care of easily. I know how terrible it is to see you little in any kind of pain - and bug bites of any kind are no fun for anyone!!
Good luck!
Is your 15 month old really wearing that many layers of clothing at night? That seems like a lot. Some natural smells that repel mosquitos are citronella. There are some creams at Whole Foods that are organic that you could try.
