Natural Mosquito Repellents for Babies: What Works

You would rather not put DEET on a two-month-old, and the shelf is full of things promising the same protection from a plant.

Some of them work. Most work for far less time than the label implies, and a few of the more effective ones are also the more irritating.

The age limits come first

Before any ingredient, the rule that governs all of them.

Under 2 months: no repellent of any kind on her skin, natural or otherwise. Protection is a net over the cot, pram and carrier, plus covering clothes.

From 2 months: repellents can be used according to their instructions.

Under 3 years: no oil of lemon eucalyptus, or PMD. Plant-derived, and its age limit is stricter than DEET's.

Essential oils always diluted. Undiluted essential oil never goes on a baby.

The five usual candidates

Lavender. Pleasant, calming, and among the gentler options for young skin when properly diluted. Its repellent effect is modest and short, so it needs reapplying far more often than anyone does.

Cinnamon oil. Has shown repellent activity in the laboratory. It is also a common skin irritant, particularly at higher concentrations, which makes it a poor choice for a baby specifically.

Thyme oil. One of the better performers in testing, and one of the more irritating. Better in a diffuser than on skin.

Catnip oil. Nepetalactone, the compound in catnip, has performed well against DEET in laboratory comparisons. Products containing it are much harder to find, and protection is shorter.

Citronella oil. The best known of the group. In the right formulation it works, and its weakness is duration: tens of minutes rather than hours.

Where natural repellents fall down

Duration. Almost all of them wear off far faster than DEET or picaridin. Reapplying every hour is the practical reality, and it rarely happens.

Variability. Effectiveness and safety cannot be generalised across essential oils. Two products with the same headline ingredient behave completely differently.

Irritation. "Natural" says nothing about how something behaves on thin skin. Several of the more effective oils are among the more irritating.

The CDC's line is to use repellents with demonstrated effectiveness, applied as directed. That does not rule out natural options. The question to ask is whether this specific product has been tested, and most have not.

What works without touching her at all

The most reliable protection involves no product.

A net over the cot, pram and carrier, particularly for daytime naps.

Screens on windows and doors.

Empty standing water weekly. Flower pots, buckets, gutters, pet bowls. Dengue mosquitoes breed in clean standing water, often indoors.

A fan. They struggle against moving air. Point it away from her rather than at her.

Light-coloured covering clothes, since dark colours attract more attention.

Never put these on her

Undiluted essential oils.

Crushed cloves, lime or garlic. None has been shown to work and several irritate. Lime juice in particular causes phytophotodermatitis, a reaction to sunlight that leaves dark patches lasting months.

Your own repellent, at adult concentrations.

Combined sunscreen-and-repellent products, because sunscreen needs reapplying every two hours and repellent does not.

After a bite

Cold compress, and stop her scratching. Scratching that breaks the skin is what causes infection and the dark marks that hang around for weeks.

Mama's Choice Baby Skin Vitamin Lotion keeps skin moisturised while a bite settles, with avocado, olive, niacinamide and vitamins C, E, B3 and B5.

When a bite needs a doctor

Go promptly if a fever appears within two weeks of a bite, particularly with lethargy, a red rash, nosebleeds or bleeding gums.

Also if a bite swells widely, feels hot, oozes, or she is very unsettled and hard to rouse.

Dengue and malaria are both mosquito-borne, and in babies both can turn quickly.