Hey guys, just wonering if anyone ever tried Aubrey Organics Bug Deterrent/SPF 10 product. I saw it from a here ad, the site is and it seems resonably priced. If you've tried it or know someone who has, please comment (I'm more concerned with the bug deterrent properties than the spf). If not, what can you suggest???
I've tried feeding him garlic till he stunk, and that did very little. In one evening outside, he'll often get about 5-10 bites while I have 3-5 and his dad is a lucky sob and gets maybe one. Pediatrician recommends DEET, but I'd really rather not coat my son with chemicals daily KWIM? So he jokes (and I wasn't insulted cuz me and the doc have been friends for years) "Well, you know, if you cover him with animal urine, the mosquitos won't be attracted to him and you'll be set for the summer!"
Reason I'm asking, is because ds (5yo) is ALLERGIC to mosquito bites--we get lots of mosquitos here on Long Island, NY. By allergic, I don't mean itchy pink bumps like we all get, I mean HUGE (up to 3 inches across) red bumpy sore that itches for a day, then after 1-3 days becomes painful and erupts and oozes clear serous fluid for about a week. The thing doesn't heal for about 2 weeks and scabs over really nasty (people have been very rude and said something like "What the hell is wrong with his skin??"--it gets bad mostly on his legs)....And this is from regular run of the mill mosquitos!! I'm afraid he's gonna scar, not to mention the discomfort and pain the poor little guy is in! :( (does this happen to any of your children?) Plus, our area has one of the highest West Nile occurences in the nation.... :eek
But I hate the idea of rubbing poison on him as much as I hate the idea of keeping him inside from late spring-early fall! He should be able to run around and play like the other kids without being covered in bandaids and sores the next day! I don't know what to do anymore, and that season is fast approaching.
:scratch
Thank you all very much,
Kelly
PS-Please don't post about wearing long sleeves and pants etc...my son gets VERY hot VERY easily, and that's not really an option when you get into the 90's with high humidity. PLUS--all that seems to do is make the mosquitos more attracted to his head and face. :shake

we've used it and it worked for us. No mosquito bite allergies here and not such a huge mosquito problem in arizona, but with evaporative coolers sometimes we get standing water...and then mosquitos. we were getting really badly bit up till we bought the tablets you put in the cooler itself (they're all natural) and we were using the spray on the kids at night and it worked.
smelled kinda funky. but it worked. lol
good luck.

CMM - My son has the same issue, only his gargantuan red, swollen areas erupt into a huge, fluid filled blister. :(
I've had some good luck with Buzz Away, but it takes very frequent application. I also just found a mosquito repellent hat and line of clothing at REI made by Ex Officio (I think that's right anyway :scratch) and am going to try that.
Besides that, I've read that substantial doses of vitamin B-1 taken daily from a month or so before the mosquito begins and all through is helpful for people who have severe reactions. The reviews are mixed, but the latest I've read is that it doesn't work for people who don't have severe reactions, but does work for those who do. We're going to try it out and hope for the best. :shrug

Dragon, yes! This is what happens to my son! Within a day, the blister...then a day or two later, it erupts/bursts and the liquid gets out, sometimes becoming mildly infected. :Puke Do either you or your ds's dad have this? Or anyone in your family?? My son's the only one that I know that gets like this! (He's pretty bad with fleas too)
Poor boys!
Thank you both for the info....I'm buying that stuff on friday (they also have a bonus, so that's cool) and we'll see how it is. Dragon-is buzz away organic or at least low on chemicals??
Thanks Again,
Kelly

sorry to hear that. i am in new england, mosquito/black fly country and have friends who are allergic to the bites.. no fun.
"natrapel" makes a deet free mosquito lotion that really stinks, and works with repeated application. it SMELLS. we call it people repellant.
during evening hours or heavy black flies i do use the "skintastic" deet stuff. we spray it on bandanas and tie it on our heads, and/or i spray it on the kid's clothes and not their bodies. with west nile, lyme, and just annoying bites (or in your case, painful ones) it is sometimes worth it.
good luck!

New England Journal of Medicine published an insect repellent review a year or two ago, and BiteBlocker was the only non DEET repellent they found effective...we have used citronella based repellents, and burt's bees and we tried Bite Blocker after reading the review...I think it is more effective.

Dragon, yes! This is what happens to my son! Within a day, the blister...then a day or two later, it erupts/bursts and the liquid gets out, sometimes becoming mildly infected. :Puke Do either you or your ds's dad have this? Or anyone in your family?? My son's the only one that I know that gets like this! (He's pretty bad with fleas too)[/b] Ds' dad almost never gets bitten. Darn him. :LOL
I have a bad reaction in that my bites swell up about twice as much as a normal person's and seem to stick around longer, but it's nowhere near as ferocious as my son's. :(
It's so good that you've figured out what caused your little boy's. I didn't know for the longest time (well over a year), primarily, I think, because our mosquito season suddenly seemed to get much longer. Ds was getting bites all the way into December! So, I ended up taking him to 3 different pediatricians who diagnosed him with everything from coxsackie virus to scabies :scratch to systemic impetigo. Then we went to 2 different pediatric dermatologists one of which told me it was a reaction to bug bites (which just didn't seem possible - I couldn't fathom that anything we had around us could be biting him that badly and we were doing everything we possibly could to keep him from getting bitten) and the other thought he had some rare autoimmune disorder. It wasn't until I actually saw a mosquito bite him on the forehead and literally watched his entire forehead swell and his eye swell shut that I realized what was going on.
As far as I remember (it's been a while since I've looked at the bottle), the Buzz Away doesn't contain any chemicals. I think it works fairly well because it has such a high concentration. I don't think it's organic, though.
I'm going to try the B-1, though, and I think I might try the Aubrey Organic and the mosquito repellent hat/clothing.
And I'm also going to try to find a place to move that doesn't have mosquitos. Do you happen to know of one? :LOL

My 6 yo ds also gets eaten up. I don't think he's allergic, but they do get redder and bigger than what seems to be the average. Last summer he came home from playing in a kiddie pool in a friend's shady backyard with more than 20 bites on his back alone. I'm going to try thr bite blocker. I've seen something made with catnip, too. Has anyone tried it?
We have found that the Hyland's bug bite ointment stick works really well at relieving the itch, so that's something at least!

Kelly, I don't have experience with that specific product, but we have used a product called Green Ban with very good results. It's herbal, and it's meant for heavy-duty mosquito protection (it says on the bottle you can use it in the rainforest). It even smells good (in a very herb-y way).
For bite relief (while i'm at it) two products that work well for us are Desert Essence Relief Spray, and Quantum Sting Soothe. I prefer the Desert Essence product for mosquito bites, because I think it works better. But the Sting Soothe is excellent for bee stings.
Pennyroyal is great for protection from mosquitos; you can pick the fresh herb, tear it up, and rub the juices on your skin. Not as handy as a lotion, but it works.

i went to the hylands site and can't find a stick for bug bites...
do you mean the bumps & bruises that has arnica? or is it somethign else??

We have found that the Hyland's bug bite ointment stick works really well at relieving the itch, so that's something at least!

My ds 18 months developed a mosquito allergy after getting his first (and only) dtap vax at 6 mos. We have to deal with the mosquitoes nearly all year long here in south Louisiana. We get comments too, like: Does he have chicken pox?
I haven't found a natural repellant that works more than 20 minutes. Usually, that's all we need, but I have been wanting to try Bite Blocker. I can't really recommend a repellant, but I can recommend StingStop made by Boericke & Tafel for after bite care. It is the ONLY thing I have used that actually stops or minimizes the swelling before it starts. You have to apply it at the first sign of a mosquito bite though. It doesn't help at all once the rxn is full blown.