Home remedies for mosquito bites in babies and children - relief and prevention

the essentials in brief

• Cooling cucumber slices, ice cubes and cooling pads as well as onions, white cabbage leaves, parsley, ribwort or quark have a decongestant effect
• The following home remedies reduce itching in children: fruit vinegar, vinegar and salt, toothpaste, basil and baking powder
• Healing clay is a real miracle cure for mosquito bites: It relieves itching, reduces swelling and prevents inflammation
• Also have anti-inflammatory effects: honey, vinegar, rubbing alcohol and currants

Relieve swelling with home remedies

A slight swelling reveals a mosquito bite on a baby or toddler to attentive parents' eyes, even before the itching becomes painful. If you use a natural home remedy now, your child will be left with a small interlude. The following natural remedies from the garden and kitchen alleviate a swollen mosquito bite:

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As an immediate measure, cut a fresh onion into slices. Simply place a juicy slice of onion on the swelling and fix it with adhesive plaster. The sulfur oil contained in the onion juice quickly reduces the mosquito bite. Cucumber slices, ice cubes and cooling pads also have a decongestant effect. The juice in white cabbage leaves, parsley and ribwort is attested to have the best effectiveness against swollen mosquito bites in the little ones. Grind some leaves and let the juice drip onto the swelling.

While the first aid is working, prepare a cooling quark pack. Spread cold low-fat quark on a compress as thick as a finger. So that the pack can work for at least 20 minutes, wrap a stabilizing bandage around it. This time is important for the swelling to go down completely. Quark also has anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects as long as the compress is moist.

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Tips

In the case of small children, it has often not yet been found out whether they have an allergy to mosquito bites. Take your baby to the pediatrician immediately if symptoms such as noticeably thick mosquito bites, severe redness, unusual restlessness, fever, or shortness of breath occur. Home remedies reach the limits of their effectiveness if children or adults are allergic to mosquito bites.

Home remedies for itchy mosquito bites

Wheals after a mosquito bite on baby's skin are always accompanied by excruciating itching. With each bite, mosquitoes inject a saliva secretion under the skin to prevent the blood from clotting. As entomologists have found, this allows the beasts to drink in peace. As an immediate reaction, the body releases histamines within a few minutes, so that the swelling begins to itch. The following home remedies cure itching in young children:

• Fruit vinegar : Dip a cotton ball in vinegar and dab it on the mosquito bite
• Vinegar and salt : for toddlers from 2 years of age, stir vinegar with a pinch of salt and dab on
• Toothpaste : Apply toothpaste and let it dry (protect against licking with a plaster)
• Basil : Put 10 leaves in hot water for 3 minutes, allow to cool and apply

Some home remedies for swollen mosquito bites also have an effective anti-itch effect. These include onion slices and the juice of grated parsley. When you are out and about with the stroller, crushed ribwort not only helps against swelling, but also drives away the annoying itching.

Baking powder - an insider tip against itchy mosquito bites

In the near-natural household and garden, the uses of baking powder go far beyond the preparation of delicious cakes. Nature lovers have long since discovered its effectiveness as a natural means of combating pests and plant diseases. The effect as a home remedy for itchy mosquito bites is still largely unknown. To use it, stir baking soda with water to make a spreadable paste. Apply this to your child's itchy mosquito bite as thick as a finger. A bandage or plaster holds the product in place for about 30 minutes. After this time, the itching is history.

Digression

Healing earth - the best home remedy for mosquito bites

High priests of traditional naturopathy have been promoting healing earth as the best natural home remedy for a variety of ailments since the Middle Ages. Sebastian Kneipp, Adolf Just and Emanuel Felke belong to the illustrious circle. Applied externally, clay healing earth relieves the painful itching after mosquito bites, inhibits swelling and prevents inflammation. The proven remedy is available as a powder in drug stores, health food stores and pharmacies. Preparation and use are very easy: Mix seven teaspoons of healing earth powder with two teaspoons of water to make a pulp and apply. If the paste dries, simply rinse with water and apply again to the mosquito bite.

Home remedies for infected mosquito bites

There is an increased risk of infected mosquito bites in small children. With plenty of willpower, adults can barely control themselves with itching. Children immediately scratch the itchy pain. Once the puncture wound is scratched open, bacteria penetrate and worsen the mishap. Without countermeasures, initially mild inflammations can escalate to infections and even blood poisoning. The following lines will familiarize you with the typical symptoms of infected mosquito bites and introduce good home remedies:

Symptoms

• severe swelling
• Hardening of the puncture site
• increased, persistent itching
• hot redness
• Rash and accumulation of pus under the skin

Take action if your child's mosquito bites keep getting worse. Using home anti-inflammatory remedies, don't wait for a weeping sore to form. Many natural products have a disinfectant effect, provided they are used in good time.

Anti-inflammatory home remedies

• Vinegar : soak a clean cloth or cotton ball in vinegar and rub the mosquito bite off repeatedly
• Honey : drip onto the inflamed sting and rub in
• Onion : cut into slices and place on top
• Toothpaste : apply and allow to dry to allow essential oils to draw toxins out of the skin
• Rubbing alcohol : with cotton ball, dab (Caution: not suitable for open scratches)
• Currants : crush black currants and place on the stab wound

Before using the home remedy of your choice, carefully clean and disinfect the mosquito bite. Rub the stab wound with warm water or alcohol. In this way, bacteria sitting in wait on the skin are prevented from entering an open insect bite. A small plaster stuck on the treated wound prevents your child from scratching and keeps the clothes clean.

The best home remedies at a glance

Mosquito bites make life difficult for the youngest family members because they itch and swell at the same time. Not paying attention once and the itchy area is scratched and painfully inflamed. Often a single home remedy for mosquito bites is not enough to relieve the symptoms quickly. A good solution is to use natural remedies for itching and swelling at the same time. How good that some natural remedies are effective against several problems. The following table gives a condensed overview of the effectiveness and possible combinations:

from the garden	effective against	from the kitchen	effective against	from bathroom / medicine cabinet	effective against
Ribwort plantain	Itching, swelling	vinegar	Itching, inflammation	Healing earth	Itching, swelling, inflammation
Onion slice	Itching, swelling	honey	Swelling, inflammation	Rubbing alcohol	Itching, swelling
parsley	Pain	lowfat quark	Swelling, redness, inflammation, pain	toothpaste	Itching, inflammation
basil	itching	Ice cubes / cooling pad	Itching, swelling
Cucumber slices	Swelling, cools at the same time	baking powder	itching
White cabbage	swelling
Currants	Inflammation

Since there are no interactions to fear with home remedies, various combinations are available to treat the worst acute complaints. The rule of thumb for all home remedies for mosquito bites is: the earlier you treat your child, the better the effectiveness. Please do not waste time getting a product because it is not in the house. A slice of onion put on immediately relieves your baby from itching and works more effectively than a quark pack applied late.

Eyes, face and neck are taboo

Concerned parents can use many old home remedies for mosquito bites on young children. Before you apply the agent of your choice over a large area, a short test for possible allergic reactions is advisable. Sensitive areas such as the eyes, face and neck are generally excluded from treatment with home remedies. Caution is always required here with babies and toddlers. Large mosquito bites in connection with inflammatory symptoms in these regions should be entrusted to the expert treatment of your family doctor.

Prevent mosquito bites - this is how it works

Parents don't compromise when it comes to protecting their children. This includes the prevention of painful mosquito bites. The following table lists the best home remedies for mosquitos in the children's room:

to rub in	fragrant mosquito repellent	repellent plants
Clove oil	Citronella candles	Lemon pelargonium
Coconut oil	Lemon wedge peppered with cloves	eucalyptus
lemon oil	Orange slice peppered with cloves	rosemary
Lavender oil	essential oils in fragrance lamp	sage
almond oil		tomatoes
Tea tree oil		basil
		Lemongrass
		peppermint
		Lemon balm

Please note: insect screens and mosquito nets provide premium protection for your children against mosquitos in the children's room. The household remedies mentioned provide additional protection when brazen mosquitos do overcome the tightly knit bulwark or use the open door as access.

Correctly apply preventive rubbers

Mosquito repellent with coconut oil, clove oil or lavender oil is suitable for toddlers from three years of age. Stronger oils such as tea tree oil or eucalyptus are only recommended from the age of six. Dilute the essential oil of your choice with sunflower oil in a ratio of 1: 3. When buying, please ensure that it is an essential oil from organic farming.

Tips

Long clothes in light shades have proven to be the best mosquito protection for babies and toddlers. If an insect net is stretched over the stroller, cunning mosquitoes can no longer get through to your darling.

Use defensive scents and plants wisely

Mosquito repellent plants should always be kept out of the reach of children. So that the strategy doesn't backfire, no puddles, no matter how small, must form on the substrate or in the coaster. Standing water of any kind attracts mosquitoes so irresistibly that the essential scents are ignored.

A fragrance lamp with essential oils or the citronella candle are well placed on the wardrobe, far away from inquisitive children's hands. Light the candle an hour before bed. When the bedtime story ends, blow out the candle.

frequently asked Questions

What helps against itching if my child or I are bitten by mosquitoes while on the go?

Nature lovers and hobby gardeners who are familiar with plants can treat itchy mosquito bites immediately, even when they are on the go. Keep an eye out for ribwort. The herbaceous wild shrub is a familiar sight along many hiking trails. The lanceolate leaves contain valuable ingredients that have a cooling and pain-relieving effect after insect bites. Simply grind the leaves and drizzle the juice on the itchy mosquito bite.

What can be done preventively against mosquito bites in the nursery?

Equip the windows with insect screens so that mosquitoes do not even get into the children's room. We also recommend covering the cradle or cot with a mosquito net. If cheeky bloodsuckers sneak their way into the room, your child is well protected against mosquito bites behind the close-meshed net. A cool bedroom climate with temperatures between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius is helpful against mosquito bites, which has been proven to be health-promoting for your little ones and drives away mosquitoes.

Which home remedy for mosquito bites works immediately in children?

Affected parents agree that ice cubes are a good home remedy with immediate effects. In young children, cold relieves itching after mosquito bites before it becomes torture. The dreaded swelling will also be nipped in the bud. Much frequented advice sites, such as Frag-Mutti, expressly confirm this experience. If you don't have ready ice cubes to hand, cut an onion and place the slices on the mosquito bites.

A heated spoon is recommended in several forums as a home remedy for mosquito bites. Is the method suitable for my two year old child?

The idea of ​​the heated spoon is copied from the electronic stitch healer. A mosquito bite is briefly exposed to heat of 51 degrees Celsius. Due to the effect of heat, the toxins from the mosquito saliva decompose, so that itching and swelling are noticeably alleviated. Manufacturers expressly point out that so-called bite aways are in no way suitable for the delicate skin of infants and small children.

Does taking vitamin B as a natural home remedy help against mosquito bites in my child?

In pseudoscientific sources it can be read that the increased intake of vitamin B is supposed to be an effective repellent against mosquito bites. Behind this is the thesis that vitamin B changes the skin odor to such an extent that mosquitoes are no longer attracted. Unfortunately, this view belongs in the land of fables, because there is a lack of sound scientific knowledge as comprehensible evidence.

Is a mosquito bite dangerous for my child?

In Germany, mosquito bites are generally safe for children and adults. Usually the insect bites cause annoying itching and slight swelling in summer. An exception applies if your child is allergic to it. Severe symptoms occur, such as severe itching, massive swelling, circulatory problems up to nausea and diarrhea. In this case, a doctor should be consulted immediately. In all other cases, a natural home remedy is sufficient to alleviate the symptoms. Use a plaster or bandage to prevent your child from scratching a mosquito bite until it is bloody; you will effectively prevent inflammation.

Tips

So that your baby does not scratch the mosquito bite in the unobserved moment, cut the fingernails as short as possible. Ideally, do not wait until an emergency occurs to use the nail scissors. During the mosquito season from March to November, short fingernails help prevent scratched, infected insect bites.