# MAJOR mosquito bite allergy in 2yo



## CawMama

Does anyone elses child have this affliction? Every time ds is bitten by a mosquito, he gets a welt the size of an egg (almost literally) over the bite.

He got a bite on his forehead 2 days ago, and this morning when he woke up, his eye was almost swollen shut.

We're getting ready to go camping for a week, and I'm mortified to think we might be battling biting blood suckers the entire time in fear of him swelling up like this.


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## Lolagirl

I couldn't read and not respond, even though I'm the one in our family who seems to have that kind of reaction to mosquito bites. Generally speaking, I try to avoid exposure to mosquitos as much as possible so as to prevent getting bitten in the first place. When I do get bites I seem to find that liberal application of benadryl cream followed up with oral Zyrtec seems to help quite a bit. Unfortunately, I have yet to find any kind of homeopathic type remedy that works very well to deal with the mosquito induced hives.

Hope that helps, and good luck.


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## veronicalynne

That happened to a friend of mines ds and his face welled up. She took him to the dr and was told it was an allergy to the bite. So maybe the reply about benedryl is right....I would never have thought anyone could be allergic to mosquitoes.....


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## Collinsky

My 3.5 yo has an extreme reaction to mosquito bites, I'm kind of dreading this summer because of it. And she's already said some things that lead me to believe she remembers last summer and is worried about it too. I guess we'll give the Benadryl cream a shot, baking soda paste didn't do the trick at all for her. (First thing that good old baking soda didn't take care of!)

I didn't use any bug repellants on them last year, since I've just been opposed to slathering chemicals on my children... but this summer I might, at least on her. I haven't looked into the more natural brands yet.

Carrin, hope the camping goes well and that your Ds is able to enjoy it! Have fun!


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## frogautumn

My DS has gotten these as well. The Dr. called them "hyperreactive" mosquito bites and said that some people, and especially children, are more prone to them. Our ped recommended putting hydrocortizone on them, I opt for calendula ointment instead.
It is possible that he won't react as strongly as he ages.


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## DklovesMkandJK

I get them too! For me it's not every mosquito bite, just certain ones and when they do swell they get golfball sized and they last a while. FWIW - for me at least - they are no more uncomfortable than any other bite (not more itchy or painful) the swelling is just annoying. I use either the benadryl or hydrocort. cream. Like the PP's I just try really hard to avoid bites.

They make a bunch of different all natural bug sprays. I can't remember the name of the one we used last year but they do work well. They just smell really, really bad. I also put dryer sheets in the cup holders of my strollers when we go for walks. (my grandmother swears this keeps them at bay.)

Edited to add: Oddly enough I only started getted the crazy reactions in adulthood, but Jack has had a similar reaction, again only to certain bites.


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## lindberg99

I don't know if this is true or not but someone was just telling me that if you react to mosquito bites it's quite likely you'll have a bad reaction to bee stings too.


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## ecoteat

I've always gotten really large welts from mosquito bites, too. They aren't so bad now as I get older, but I've found that Afterbite Kids cream helps me a lot. I just found it last year, though, so I don't know how effective it would be on huge welts.

DD just got a bug baffler shirt for her birthday. (We joke that the mosquito is the state bird of Maine!) She had a similar bunting thing when she was an infant. I also hate using bug sprays on her, so the protective clothing is nice.

Just thinking about this is making me itchy! Big mosquito reactions are a pain, but they can be both prevented (or at least decrease the opportunities for them) and treated easily.


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## mamak05

White vinegar wiped onto the skin is supposed to help keep you from being bitten - we haven't tried it yet.

I hope you have a great time!


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## lyterae

My sister reacts that way to most bug bites... She is not allergic to bees though but if she is stung or bit by anything it generally swells up. We had a lot of hydrocoritozne cream at our house to help stop her from scratching things and I remember nights where she slept with mittens on to keep her from making things worse.


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## ChristyMarie

Same thing happens to me and I am fine with bee stings. Well they hurt but other than that...









Benedryl. It is the only thing that works for me. Keep some handy and use lots of mosquito repellant when camping. Once I got bit so many times my throat started swelling up so I would be extra cautious in a camping/woodsy environment until you know how he'll react to multiple bites.


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## prairiemommy

Yup, here too. Ds#2 is like that - huge welts that swell the eyes shut. He has gotten horrible horse fly bites too but we've never found out what happens with bee stings as he's never been stung. Benadryl is the only thing that works for him as well - Afterbite for Kids works okay as a stop-gap measure but not practical when he's got hundreds - kid you not - bites. We go camping lots and I just give benadryl as needed.


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## balancedmama

I was that way through my early 20s. If I got a bite in a joint, particularly elbow or wrist, I actually would be unable to bend that joint at all for at least a week. Benadryl was the only thing that worked for them. I also seem to be *that* person who attracts all mosquitos within a 20 mile radius.







That got me a nice case of West Nile Virus 4 years ago. Strangely enough my bites have not been nearly as bad after giving birth to DD - I don't know if something in my body chemistry changed or what. Now they're usually only the size of a half dollar and last about a week. Much better. Incidentally I am also allergic to bees.

I use Wishgarden Herbs catnip oil bugspray on myself and it has been working pretty well.


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## Tilia

Ouch!

They make citronella essential oil. I am going to try it this year around the yard, swingset and deck.


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## smartair

Burt's Bee's makes a bug repellent that works really well, as long as you don't mind smelling of citronella.


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## trebleme

Those welts happen to me, and have been happening for as long as I can remember. Here's a very offbeat thing I was told when I was a grade-schooler heading to sleepaway camp. I had suffered (seriously suffered) the prior year with mosquito bites and my - very non-holistic ped - recommended...

thiamine pills.









This was a LONG time ago, we're talking like 26 years ago, so I have no idea what the current research would say about taking a thiamine pill everyday and its affect on your overall health, but I can tell you that I was bitten a lot less that summer. Something about the smell. For some reason, the thiamine gets into your system and makes you smell bad to insects (not to people!)









That being said, I do very clearly remember that these were very large pills. I doubt your young'un could handle them, but perhaps you could crush one and add it to his food???

I don't know, I don't know why it worked, I don't know if it would still work. I'm only telling you what worked that summer for me.

Best, momma!
Sharon


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## flapjack

I use garlic capsules for the same reason. Mosquitos aren't a problem here, but for whatever reason I am midgie chocolate








I'd never leave a child vulnerable to bites, though- you need to do something.


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## SevenVeils

My 19 year old daughter is this way (inherited from her father). I highly recommend Green Ban as an all natural repellent. It smells strongly, but not objectionable, and does an amazing job. I get it at the health food store.

The only other thing that ever helped us was raw goat's milk from goats that lived within a couple of miles of us. The same gene pool of mosquitos bites the goats, they produce antibodies, and in turn the drinker of the milk benefits. That's the theory. I was skeptical, but when my then husband drank down a quart of milk that I milked into a jar, and he went from having huge welts to almost nothing so quickly that the shrinkage was very visible, I was convinced


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## pcasylum

My dd has this problem, only with black fly bites. Our dr at the time told us that at some point she could develop a much worse - anaphylactic - response. Or she could grow out of it. However, I don't ever want to risk anaphylaxis, so when the black flies are out she is kept in more. To be honest, I wouldn't take a child allergic to mosquito bites camping - those buggers are *terrible* in the woods and the child will receive tons of bites.


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## pandora665

My parents always insisted we take a B1 (thiamine) pill every evening about 1 hour before dusk whenever we went camping. It worked a little better and less stinky than Off. My parents were completely non-crunchy, so it must have been a common recommendation in that era. I was the mosquito attractor in our family. I usually had mild over-reaction to mosquitos, but there was one time in Washington DC that I had baseball sized welts all over! It was awful.

Both Burt's Bees and Badger Anti-Bug Balm are rated very safe by the EWG commission.
Insect Repellent Ratings
I haven't used either, but maybe someone else can comment.

My DD and DH both don't get bitten much, and don't react to the few bites they do get. I feel blessed. However, she gets cold-induced hives, and we live in Wisconsin (so they are almost daily). We use Claritin for those when it gets too bad. Maybe that would work for her with less drowsiness.

Take care,
Erin


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## ecoteat

Quote:


Originally Posted by *skyastara* 
The only other thing that ever helped us was raw goat's milk from goats that lived within a couple of miles of us. The same gene pool of mosquitos bites the goats, they produce antibodies, and in turn the drinker of the milk benefits. That's the theory. I was skeptical, but when my then husband drank down a quart of milk that I milked into a jar, and he went from having huge welts to almost nothing so quickly that the shrinkage was very visible, I was convinced









That's awesome! I've never heard that before. Another reason to get goats, I guess (we've been talking about doing it for years.)


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## Daffodil

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veronicalynne* 
I would never have thought anyone could be allergic to mosquitoes.....

Anyone who gets any reaction to a mosquito bite at all is allergic to the bites. The itchy bump nearly everyone gets is an allergic reaction. Some people are more allergic than others. The more you're bitten, the less reactive you become. That's why kids tend to have worse reactions than adults - they haven't been bitten as many times.


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## DklovesMkandJK

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lindberg99* 
I don't know if this is true or not but someone was just telling me that if you react to mosquito bites it's quite likely you'll have a bad reaction to bee stings too.


Something to watch out for, but luckily not the case with me or Jack.


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## CawMama

Thanks for all of this wonderful information!


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## oiseau

.


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## Annalisa

I, too, react this way to mosquito bites. I've tried the B-1, and it works great, but it really makes you smell funny. I took it one summer and never again. It's okay to smell bad when you go to the woods, but not all the time! Maybe it would work for a camping trip, though, if you can get him to take it.

I've found that if you don't scratch at all, it doesn't swell. Easier said than done, I know! But you could try bandaging a site so that he can't scratch, and so clothing doesn't rub it. The more you scratch, the worse it itches.

Ice can calm the itch, too.

There's a new post about natural bug spray and they are recommending California Baby bug spray, among other things. I think I'll go and look into that! Bath and Body works makes a perfume, Cyprus Breeze? that works okay for casual exposure, but not for the woods.

good luck!


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## tommom

Oh boy do I feel your pain! My ds currently has 24 bites, 22 of which he has gotten on two different nights during which a mosquito was shut in his room! He reacts badly to all bugs and bees, he was even bitten by a spider when he was 18 months old. I have multiple pictures of him with his eyes swollen shut and he is only 3. We have used Benedryl but it knocks him out. We are currently using a homeopathic remedy called apis mellifica, both Hylands and Boiron make it. That has been working well so far as I can tell. Baking soda in a tepid bath works well too. I am also going to be hanging mosquito netting around his bed. I made him a bug hat for outside. It's just basically a bag made out of mosquito netting with a drawstring that he wears over a baseball cap. He must wear long pants and sleeves outside in the afternoon. We live right on the marshy end of a lake so his other option would be no outdoor play. He knows this so he doesn't complain about the bug hat anymore. Good luck!


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## *GreenMama*

I get the same way, have for as long as I can remember. If I've only got a few I can usually use hydrocortizone or the benedryl cream. If I've got any more than say 5 I need to take the benedryl pills because my temp raises and I start to feel really sick. I know that is my body trying to fight the major infection.

Prevention is really key. I use bug repellant (usually Off Skintastic) and stay away from high breeding grounds. For my own body I would not go camping, but maybe your lo has less of a reaction than I do.

Good luck mama!

PS, Aloe (from the plant is best) is soothing to these bites, but will not help the swelling and is only temporary!


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## Ornery

When my oldest was young, he had horrible reactions to mosquito bites. They would swell up and then leave this giant mark for months! By the end of summer, he looked like he had been horribly abused. Benadryl helped his symptoms but nothing ever completely protected him from getting the bites. As he grew older, he grew out of it. I think around 9 or 10 is when it stopped completely.

BTW, he is not allergic to bee stings.


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## hanachan

apis is a wonderful homeopathic (tablet) remedy. also ssstingstop, which is a topical homeopathic.. ice sometimes helps the pressure or impulse to bother the affected area

garlic capsules, or lots of garlic if your child will eat it-and greenban -essential oil blend- for preventative.
also long sleeves, light colors (mosquitos are attracted to dark color)

i've recently heard about 'click, don't scratch' (yes that's the name of it)
http://www.isabellacatalog.com/prod....21306/inv/5389
it's apparently a small electrical charge delivered to the bite to break down the toxic reactions. i have no idea how a kid would take it, though.

best wishes


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## CawMama

Today is our last day of vacation, and the mosquitos came out in full force yesterday evening (fortunately, they were pretty much non existent the first 6 days of our camping trip). Anyway, just wanted to post what I've been using that has seemed to really help a lot: If I see a fresh bite, I quickly slap the benedryl cream on. Then I have been following up with the Hyland's Hives remedy that I picked up before I left town. Seems to be making ALL the difference in the world for my little guy.

He had gotten one mosquito bite earlier this week on his leg. It got huge and hot and his skin actually burst. Since we started w/the remedy, no issues that extreme.


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## limette

I thought my dh was the only one! He claims it's because he's from the U.K and they don't have mozzy problems there.

We went into the bush once and were in for about 5 minutes before he was completely covered in bites. Nobody else had any yet. That night he ran a high temp and was saying all kinds of weird stuff in his sleep. That was probably the worst reaction he's had.

Now he just gets a handful of bites and they do swell big but he's really good at not touching them and they are gone by the next day.


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