Last summer, we found out the hard way that Lil’ CB is allergic to mosquito bites. They are not at all life-threatening to him, but they do cause discomfort and relatively alarming localized swelling for a few days. Unfortunately, we discovered this allergy after Lil’ CB took a ‘squito (as he calls them) bite to the face, on his cheek.  Which means he spent a few days last June looking like this:

(This was snapped after the swelling went down a bit — when he first woke up in the morning, he was barely recognizable on one side! And…we may or may not have jokingly called him the Phantom of the Opera throughout the day…you can say it, we’re horrible!)

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At first, like any good momma, I totally freaked out. I called the on-call doctor (because, as luck would have it, this happened over the weekend), and she told me to give Lil’ CB some Benadryl and to keep an eye on it. And that if it got worse, I was to take him to Urgent Care for some steroid shots. On his face.

And of course, like most situations, after the unnecessary freak-out, things got better on their own, albeit slowly. Within 3-4 days, Lil’ CB’s face was back to normal and all that was left was a little scar from the initial bite. I scheduled an appointment with the allergist and she gave us a prescription for a topical steroid cream (fluticasone propionate — the same steroid in Flonase) to reduce the swelling should another bite happen.

Like most allergies, the way to avoid another reaction is prevention. And since there was absolutely no way of keeping my little guy indoors all summer long (unless I wanted a riot on my hands), I had to find a way to keep mosquitoes away from Lil’ CB, and preferably a way that was relatively free of harsh chemicals directly on his skin.

So, like any good momma, I took to Instagram and posted a snap of Lil’ CB’s swollen face. And of course, my awesome momma friends came to the rescue! In fact, it was Mrs. Paintbrush who first shared that she also has similar reactions to mosquitoes (I had never heard of it before!) and clued us in to insect repelling bands that can be worn around wrists or ankles or attached to belt loops. A few days later, I opened my mailbox and found a package from that sweet Mrs. Paintbrush containing a few of these bad boys:

(Bug Band)

That afternoon, I looped one around Lil’ CB’s ankle and headed to the park. He came back bite free! But the real test came when we went out for dinner and sat outside to eat. Mr. Cowboy and I ended up with bites all over our legs, but Lil’ CB did not have a single mosquito bite anywhere — those blood suckers really did stay away!

After that, I was sold and Lil’ CB wore these Bug Bands on his ankles all summer long, and the one time he did get bitten again was the one time I sent him outside sans Bug Band. I’m a believer! As an extra measure of protection, I do spray his clothes with bug repellent if I know we’re going to be outside for an extended period or if I know we’ll be somewhere that is mosquito heavy — I spray his clothes before he puts them on and let them air dry outside for bit as well. But, for the most part, we have been extremely pleased with the Bug Band and we’re thankful to have a quick and painless way to keep those ‘squitoes away from Lil’ CB. And, because they seem to work so well, I think I’ll be snatching up a few more for me and Mr. Cowboy so we don’t have to use bug repellent on ourselves!

How do you stay ‘squito free?