Best Insect Repellents for Kids

Bug bites can wreak havoc on summer fun, especially in places where mosquitoes and other biters are plentiful (like… the entire east coast, midwest and great lakes).

At best, itchy bug bites can make kids miserable. At worst, mosquito and tick bites can transmit terrible infectious diseases like West Nile Virus, St. Louis encephalitis, Lyme disease, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

We’ve broken down all of the different ways to keep bugs at bay, featuring our favorite bug repellent options for these common culprits:

Mosquitos

The Zika virus was a concern for a while, but didn’t materialize in the United States the way it was originally feared (phew!). That said, it continues to be a concern in the tropics, so take note if you’re planning travels for a Babymoon.

You’re probably more concerned about the misery of mosquito bites rather than contracting a mosquito-borne illness, which is fairly rare in the US.

Ticks!

Ticks are nasty little suckers that can cause fun diseases like Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme is transmitted through the bite of infected deer ticks (aka blacklegged ticks).

A couple of years ago, Zika was at the top of our worry list when it came to insects — but now, it’s Lyme disease.

The condition, which has been around for thousands of years, was recognized in the United States in the 60s and 70s, and it’s been on the rise.

Goudarz Molaei, the director of the Connecticut’s CAES tick testing program, said about 40 percent of the more than 2,600 ticks checked in 2018 carried Lyme disease. “This is roughly 10 percent higher than what we have typically seen over the last five years,” Molaei said.

Continue reading the full article written by Meg Collins and Brittay Clair here.