School is out for the summer months, which brings with it the risk of insect bites. If you and your family plan to go hiking, camping, picnicking or do any other outdoor activity, you should be aware of the best methods for insect bite prevention for your young children. Through enforcing a few of these suggestions, you can boost your playtime safety through lowering the risk of bites, which could lead to West Nile fever, while still having plenty of outdoor fun.
- Wear protective clothing: Despite the heat, when hiking or playing in densely forested or grassy areas, it is advised to wear protective clothing such as long-sleeved shirts or pants. For further protection, try tucking your children's pants into their socks to keep insects from getting to their legs.
- Child-friendly bug repellant: When deciding on what bug spray is the safest and best option for your children, always look at the labels for the active ingredients list and FDA warnings. Products containing oil of lemon eucalyptus sport cautionary labels stating the possible danger the oil may pose to children and should not be applied to those under 3 years old. For more natural options, soybean oil has been shown to work as a natural insect repellent.
- Applying a repellant: Always use small amounts of repellant on children, and never let it come in contact with their hands to avoid getting it in their eyes. Furthermore, in particularly sunny areas, it is important to apply it after the application of sunscreens or lotions to keep the scent on top. Lastly, after returning indoors, wash all the spray or oils off the exposed skin areas.
For those professionals in the field of early childhood education or child care, ProSolutions Training offers child care training online and online CDA classes.