We’re leaving for our annual trip to the Philippines next week to visit Mr. Bee’s parents, so I’ll be writing a lot of travel related posts over the next week!
I always stock up on mosquito repellents and bite treatments before we go since it’s a tropical island, and Charlie and I are unfortunately delicious to them. Everyone knows how much mosquito bites suck, and since I’m a particularly itchy person, they drive me crazy! Apparently it’s mostly genetics whether you attract mosquitoes, and studies have shown that people with O type blood like me and Charlie tend to get more bites than people with A or B blood types. Mr. Bee and Olive (B blood type) get far fewer bites than us, even when we sleep in the same tent! This year I discovered a couple new products to add to our mosquito combating arsenal though, and hopefully they help me and Charlie escape the dreaded bites we get every year.
1) Buglet Reusable Repellent Bracelet – This bracelet for kids has an absorbent pad where you pour in bug repellent that never touches their skin. The bracelet comes with a DEET-free, nontoxic, essential oil based, bug repellent, but I’m assuming you can use any repellent you want. It’s not really feasible for us to apply bug repellent on the kids from head to toe throughout the entire day, so I love that this keeps bug repellent on them at all times. Plus it’s a slap bracelet! I got the bunny for Olive and the monkey for Charlie.
2) iCooker Mosquito Repellent Bracelet – This is the adult version of the bracelet repellent that I got for myself. Instead of pouring repellent into it however, it comes with 2 repellent pads that last 15 days each. Perfect for our trip!
3) Therapik Mosquito Bite Reliever – This might sound a little wacky, but I had to give it a try. It uses directed heat to eliminate mosquito bites immediately because “most insect venom is thermolabile (sensitive to heat).” I was a little skeptical at first, but it got a positive review on Gizmodo, and this blogger achieved similar results by blasting his mosquito bites with his hair dryer. I hope this works! I also wanted to try this Click Mosquito Bite Relief Device which uses an electrical pulse to eliminate itchiness, but it wouldn’t arrive in time for our trip.
4) Cutter BiteMD Insect Bite Relief Stick – Since the reviews say the Therapik stings a little, I wanted to bring something different for the kids. While these analgesic products don’t get rid of mosquito bites, they do help with the itching.
5) Emu Bliss On the Go First Response Stick – I really wanted to try this all natural product made of emu oil that’s supposed to be a natural remedy for inflammation and pain, but unfortunately it wouldn’t arrive before we left for our trip.
6) Pa Paw Ointment – I am obsessed with this multi-purpose cult product from Australia! I have ridiculously chapped lips and this helps so much. On a recent camping trip I burned my finger badly and it hurt so much; when I applied this I felt better almost instantly. When I get a big pimple before my period, I put this on (it’s a drawing salve) and it shrinks considerably by the next morning. It is a miracle product! But a lot of people don’t like products with petroleum, so I looked for something similar containing the main ingredient pawpaw. I came across another Australian product called Suvana Paw Paw and Honey Balm which looks like a great alternative.
7) Sweetly Citron Natural Bug Repellent spray – I tend to lean towards more natural products since we have to spray this all over their bodies multiple times a day. I haven’t tried this bug repellent before, but it has great reviews so I hope it works in conjunction with the bracelets! The ingredients include: Lavender Oil, Lemon Essential Oil, Vanilla Extract, Citronella Oil, and Water.
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How do you prevent mosquito bites and combat itchiness?
kiwi / 511 posts
I had read that rubbing alchol is good for bites, and one morning I woke up with a bit on my wrist and it itched like crazy, so I put some rubbing alcohol on a qtip and swabbed the area and it was great no itching (don’t remember if it stung any because I was so focused on the fact that it didn’t itch any longer.) It was good all day but this morning it was itchy again and I dabbed more rubbing alcohol and it was fantastic again.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Mrs.Maven: that’s what I usually use at home and it helps, but the tropical mosquito bites seem to be bigger and itchier!
pomelo / 5257 posts
I never heard about the blood type thing, that’s so interesting! Seems to hold true for me anyway, mosquitoes looooove me. I just went to Belize with some friends, and I got eaten alive while my friend who slept in the same bed as me didn’t get a single bite! So not fair, haha. My favorite itch-easing things are the After Bite itch eraser (http://www.amazon.com/After-Bite-The-Eraser-Relief-Insect/dp/B0027I20NI) and Waldryl cream which is Walgreens’ generic benadryl cream I also take Benadryl in pill form if I get a bunch of bites because I have a tendency to develop Skeeter Syndrome (basically an allergic reaction).
guest
Try rubbing ammonia on a bite ASAP after you get it. It also works to stop the “venom”.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@alisonvg – i’ve heard that… reminds me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding!
blogger / clementine / 998 posts
wow this is an amazing round up, i’ve never heard of any of these!
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
I believe in the heat thing! For kids you can also use a hot washcloth. For myself, I use the side of a hot coffee mug held against the bite!
pomegranate / 3053 posts
I found a natural local brand that works pretty well for my oldest. It smells good and not greasy at all. Mosquitos are year-round here in Taiwan. For a while when I kept forgetting to put some repellent on him he would come home with huge welts that it would hurt in the shower when water got on it. The key to any spray repellent is to rub it into the skin a bit which is why I’d rather use a more natural spray. As for preventing itchiness, I often use my hand sanitizer on myself b/c it’s the only thing that I have on me. Otherwise, I do carry natural itch relievers or also use hand sanitizer on my kids bites. If it’s REALLY bad, I have to put some hydrocortizone to help with the welts. My oldest gets some pretty nasty welts when he gets a bite. I think it’s hereditary. His cousins have similar welts after a bite. Enjoy your trip!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I have A type blood type and holy moly! Mosquitoes love me. I always get eaten alive! DS is a delicious buffet also, and he’s a crazy scratcher.
I have to be diligent about spraying him down and putting a bug band on. Otherwise, I know he’ll suffer later if he gets bitten.
cherry / 108 posts
I use sweetly citron and my daughter hasn’t had any bug bites. It smells so good too which was the selling point for me! I don’t like the potent citronella smell most of these natural big sprays have. And thanks for the link to O blood type and mosquito bites! I knew I had read that somewhere before. I’m also type O and get mauled by mosquitoes. So frustrating!
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
So timely as I need this bad! We are getting eaten alive daily especially Juliet.