Like a lot of families, we much prefer firing up the grill to turning on the oven during these miserably hot days. But the mosquitoes can be tough to bear. We use bug spray when we’re out in the evenings, but I often wonder if the bug spray is worse than the bite.
I talked with Jerry Paulson, MD, a pediatrician at Children’s with a special expertise in environmental health about this. He leads the Mid-Atlantic Center for Health and the Environment. His recommendation is that heavy duty bug spray probably isn’t necessary for everyday use.
“DEET certainly has a use for kids who are camping in a marshy, swampy area with a lot of insects or otherwise exposed to many biting insects,” says Dr. Paulson. “But I don’t think that kids need DEET for the everyday, backyard picnic or barbeque.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics has some recommendations for using bug spray, which are listed below.
AAP recommendations:
- For children ages 2 – 12: Use products with DEET concentrations of 30 percent or less (Some experts suggest that it is acceptable to apply repellent with low concentrations of DEET to infants older than two months.)
- When using repellent on a child, apply it to your own hands and then rub them on your child.
- Avoid children's eyes and mouth and use the repellent sparingly around their ears.
- Do not apply repellent to children's hands, because children tend to put their hands in their mouths.
- Do not allow a young child to apply his or her own insect repellent.
- Do not use combination sunscreen-insect repellent products because reapplying frequently enough to prevent sunburn will expose your child to too much DEET.
- Do not apply repellent to skin under clothing. If repellent is applied to clothing, wash treated clothing before wearing again.
Dr. Paulson says one of the most important things for parents to remember is NOT to use a combination product with sunscreen and DEET.
These seem reasonable. In the meantime, I’m checking for standing water and praying the mosquitoes go easy on me.
