When you have bug problems in or around the area you live, work or go on a vacation, then you need to be precautious. You can do so by applying a repellent to avoid being infected. They have harmful chemicals as they are poison for bugs. For an average person, the risks of the chemicals outweigh the risk of being bitten by these bugs causing severe diseases. However, if you are pregnant, then not all bug sprays are safe for you. A pregnancy safe bug spray would be an ideal spray to keep you safe from the bugs as well as the chemical hazards.
When you progress to your next stages of having a baby after your delivery, you might still need the bug sprays. But the one you bought during your pregnancy might not suit your baby as they were made for adults. Then it would be time to switch to safe baby sprays. You can find the best bug sprays for babies by understanding more about the bug sprays their usage and the other safety information about safe bug sprays.
Bug Spray Compositions That Are Safe To Use During Pregnancy And For Baby:
Deft
A 25% preparation of DEFT provides you the protection of up to 10 hours. If you need protection for a short period like 2 hours, then you can lower the concentration. Allowing as less as possible chemicals would be kind to your body during pregnancy, so apply accordingly.
Picaridin
A 20% preparation of picaridin protects from mosquitos and other flying insects, chiggers, and ticks.
Ir3535
A 15% IR3535 preparation is another good repellent for mosquitos, biting flies, and midges for a good 4-5 hours. It is an effective solution than the others on the list. A few studies indicated reduced protection time, but efficacy was high.
Pmd
A 30% PMD is capable of keeping away insects for approximately 6 hours. This formulation is synthesized in a lab from the oil extracts of lemon eucalyptus.
There are few natural ingredients or essential oils that are safe like citronella, rosemary, geraniol, lemongrass, etc., which keep the bugs away. However, these herbs or oils are not enough alone while dealing with bugs in risky areas. But these oils, when combined with one of the above ingredients, work well, and diffusers can be used for this purpose rather than an application on the skin.
Precautions While Using Insect Repellents:
Keeping you and your baby safe during pregnancy from both bugs and bug repellents need some caution. Below given are some precautions you should be following even while using a pregnancy-safe bug spray.
- Choose the % of preparation apt for the time you require.
- Carry some extra preparation and reapply if you need to overstay.
- Longtime outdoors should be managed by reapplication and not by increasing the safe percentage.
- Avoid applying the spray on cuts and bruises.
- Spray after you wear your clothes that way, the only little amount gets on your skin.
- Do not spray directly on your face as it gets into eyes and mouth.
- Spray it in your palms and apply to the face avoiding eyes and lips.
- If using sunscreen, then it must be applied before spraying the repellent.
Soon after you are done, wash your hands thoroughly to avoid direct ingestion. Follow the same once you are in a safe place and no longer need protection from bugs to clean your body carefully to prevent overexposure.
Even the best bug sprays for babies are not safe to be ingested as they are designed for external application, and avoiding them all together would be wise. Take care that the spray does not get accidentally ingested by keeping your hands and feeding parts clean.