Insect safety

Insect safety

  • Do not put scented soaps, lotions, perfumes or hair spray on your child.
  • Keep your child away from areas that attract insects, such as ponding water (birdbaths or old tires), uncovered foods or a flower garden.
  • Dress your child in dark clothing. Avoid brightly colored clothing or floral prints.
  • Remove a stinger from your child's skin by scraping it off with a credit card or your fingernail. You can also take the stinger out with tweezers or your fingernail.
  • Be sure to do a tick check every night at bedtime and remove the tick right away.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the use of insect repellent with a DEET concentration up to 30 percent for children who are 2 months old and older. Apply the repellent to your child's clothing. Be sure to wash the clothing and your child's exposed skin as soon as they come indoors.

You can keep liquid Benadryl® on hand for bee stings, bug bites, poison ivy or a food allergy.

Do not use lotions with Benadryl®.

Source: Allina Health's Patient Education, Guide for the Care of Children: Ages Birth to 5, sixth edition, ped-ah-91554
First Published: 02/01/2010
Last Reviewed: 11/16/2022