Is DEET safe for kids?

It’s easy to forget as it gets easier than ever to hop on a plane to the tropics, that it’s not just exotic destinations which await. Call me a wet blanket but there’s often also tropical diseases, malaria and dengue fever to contend with.

Malaria has certainly curtailed the places I’ve visited over the past couple of years – the side effects from the tablets are almost as nasty as the disease itself when you’re pregnant and I wouldn’t fancy giving them to a baby (even if it was recommended).

But as Minnie gets older, I think we’ll start to look further afield. So that also means trying to repel the mosquitoes in the first place – and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine launched its Bug Off campaign to raise awareness of just that. Because their recommendation is a repellent containing 20-50% DEET onto your skin – but is DEET safe for kids?

Now I’ve used repellents with DEET in before on myself – and after one stripped some of the coating off my watch, I’ve tried to stick to more natural repellents where possible.

I’d certainly never have considered putting DEET onto a child, considering it far too extreme.

But the new review of safety studies they’ve carried out for the catchily named Insect Repellent Awareness Day suggests there isn’t enough evidence to show DEET is unsafe. And there’s plenty of evidence to show the real risks of not protecting against insects – dengue fever for starters, which you can catch in Brazil and which has no vaccination or cure.

And unlike vampires, there’s no evidence showing that garlic (or marmite) will stop you being bitten. (OK, there’s not much actual evidence about the vampires either).

DEET, on the other hand, can be used to protect children over two months old, according to Dr James Logan, the school’s Senior Lecturer in Medical Entomology, and a recent trial found it was safe during pregnancy as well.

First… read the instructions. ‘Research has shown that between a third to half of parents do not read the label, do not remove repellent before putting children to bed or apply repellents incorrectly to children, which can lead to unsafe use,’ he says.

‘An adult should apply the repellent so it is applied evenly and so that it does not go onto the child’s hands and potentially therefore into their mouths.’

And doublecheck any repellents designed for children as they may contain a lower concentration, which may simply not be as effective.

So what do you think? Would you use DEET on your kids?

And if you’re pregnant? To deet or not to deet?

In the battle of the bugs, it’s not only the malarial mozzies which are a pain when you’re pregnant. Even if they don’t wipe whole countries of the travelling with bump map, the ordinary ones (which just leave you so itchy you’d pay to scratch hard enough to draw blood) are bad enough.

So travelling without repellent is a shortcut to misery. But when everything from essential oils to medicines are restricted and ill-advised, do I really want to be spraying Deet all over myself?

Although the NHS and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) say that products containing 50% Deet are safe to use in pregnancy, there’s only been limited research on the side effects, with one study showing links to birth defects if used during the first trimester.

So I tracked down one natural alternative with some impressive credentials – incognito insect repellent has been tested by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on African mosquitoes and found to be as effective in the short-term as the world’s most deadly insecticide. It’s also stronger than any Deet-based product but is still 100% natural.

Now natural doesn’t equal safe when you’re pregnant (let’s face it, arsenic is natural…) but this can be used throughout and on babies from six months – ideal if you’re still wondering, is Deet safe for kids?

It certainly smells as vile as practically every mosquito repellent out there, although the mozzies themselves didn’t seem to be completely put off by the scent, as I still ended up with a few nibbles on my legs when I used it while pregnant. But for someone who’s normally fatally attractive to any biting insects, I’d definitely use it again.

Check out my first aid kit for travelling with kids for more family travel essentials.

Image courtesy of Depositphotos