Bugspray

[awilynt]

My sister called wanting advice on baby-safe natural bug repellant and sunscreens. I don't use sunscreen personally, and have no idea on that front. With regards to bug spray, I've been using the Burts Bees bug repellant, which I like, but wasn't sure if it was considered safe for babies on account of the essential oils. I didn't want to make a

Comments

[exquisitecorpus]

Don't take my word for it because I do not have children, but eating garlic keeps the mosquitoes away for me when were camping. now the question is how old is the baby and can their stomach handle garlic?

[awilynt]

Good question! The baby is 9months - I know nothing about babies (nothing!), but I'm guessing she can't handle garlic, or really anything that requires chewing (9mo. olds aren't eating solids, right?) I would guess that the solution has to be topical....

[athinker]

They are eating solids, but its doubtful you could get enough garlic in them to be helpful. My son was eating pretty much anything by 9 months, but not a huge quantity of anything.

[athinker]

California Baby makes one that can be used on kids older than 6 months.

http://www.amazon.com/California-Baby-Repellant-Spray-Ounce/dp/B001ATGBNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1306974809&sr=1-1-catcorr

[velvetechos]

Seconding this (And anything by them really!).

[dakotakym]

Lavender EO is the most gentle insect repellant that I know of, though it should be diluted (I like using aloe vera gel, as it's not as icky as oil on the skin if one sweats). It should be spot-tested on a small area of skin first, to make sure there's no allergic reaction. If that works out, it may need to be re-applied every half hour or so when one is outside (the same is true of all natural repellants).

That said, I would be careful about using it on a newborn (or any other bug repellant or sunscreen for that matter.. it's best to just keep the wee ones under shade of some sort and protected by mosquito netting or bring them inside if bugs are particularly vicious).

[misspaigeb]

I just bought the California Baby sunscreen stick for my best friend for her baby shower. She hasn't used it yet but I've heard nothing but good things about the company.

[ext_638134]

I'm not sure about bug sprays, I haven't bought any for my daughter yet. But as far as sunscreens go, you have to be very careful. There are many harmful toxins in sunscreens! Here's the website I used to find the sunscreen for my 13 month old http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/best-sunscreens/best-beach-sport-sunscreens/ hope that helps!