Keeping your kids safe from harm can sometimes feel like a full-time job. Especially when your children are young, it can often feel like they seek out things that could potentially cause them to get hurt or sick, including playing with bugs.
If you have a lot of dangerous bugs where you live, it’s important that you not only teach your kids how to interact with them, but that you also do your best to keep these bugs at bay.
To help you with this, here are three ways to keep your young kids safe from bugs.
Make Your House A Safe Haven
When you’re in your home, the last thing you want to have to worry about is your kids getting bitten or stung by bugs. To keep this from happening, it’s wise to do whatever you can to make your home a safe haven against the bugs in your area.
To help you with this, Dr. Dan Brennan, a contributor to WebMD.com, recommends that you ensure that you have screens on all your windows and doors so that bugs can’t easily gain access to your house. Additionally, you ensure that your home and the surrounding property isn’t an area where bugs will want to be. You can do this by removing any standing water or food sources. And when all else fails, you can also spray for the most common bugs and pests that you have to deal with around your home.
Wear The Right Clothes When Outside
While there are steps you can take to keep most of the bugs in your area out of your home, once your kids venture outside, they’re now in the bugs’ domain. But luckily, there are still plenty of things you can do to keep the bugs off your kids.
According to Andrea Cooley, a contributor to Parents.com, one of the best things you can do to keep bugs away from your kids is to make sure they’re dressed appropriately before spending time outside. Ideally, you should try to keep their skin as covered as possible so there’s little flesh exposed to be bitten or stung. And by dressing your kids in muted colors, they’re less likely to attract some bugs to them in the first place.
Know When Bugs Will Be Most Active
In addition to preparing your kids when they’ll be spending time outside, you should also try to plan for them to avoid being outside when the bugs in your area are most active and likely to be pests to your kids.
Wendy Haaf, a contributor to Today’s Parent, shares that bugs like mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk. But if there are black flies in your area, you’ll want to avoid being outside in the late afternoon and early evening. The timing will vary based on where you live and what bugs you’re trying to avoid.
If you’re worried about your kids being around bugs, consider using the tips mentioned above to help keep them safe.
