The best way to keep mosquitoes off your baby depends on age. If your baby is under 2 months old, insect repellent is off the table entirely, and you’ll need to rely on physical barriers like netting and clothing. Once your baby reaches 2 months, you can start using EPA-registered repellents, but with specific rules about concentration, application, and which ingredients to avoid.
Babies Under 2 Months: No Repellent
No insect repellent of any kind should be used on a baby younger than 2 months. At this age, your options are entirely physical. Drape mosquito netting over strollers, car seats, carriers, and cribs whenever your baby is outdoors or in an unscreened space. Make sure the netting is tucked in securely so mosquitoes can’t get underneath, and check that the fabric doesn’t press against your baby’s face.
Dress your baby in lightweight long sleeves and long pants. Loose-fitting clothes with a tight weave work best since mosquitoes can bite through thin, snug fabric. Stick to shaded or screened areas when possible, and avoid being outside during peak mosquito hours around dawn and dusk.
Which Repellents Are Safe After 2 Months
Once your baby is 2 months or older, you can use repellents containing DEET, picaridin, or IR3535. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that products used on children contain no more than 30% DEET. Picaridin at 10 to 20% and IR3535 at 10 to 20% are also considered safe and effective for this age group.
One popular “natural” option that is not safe for young children: oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE) and its synthetic form, PMD. Product labels generally restrict these ingredients for children under 3 years old. Despite sounding gentler because they’re plant-derived, they haven’t been tested enough in young children to confirm safety. Stick with the EPA-registered options above for babies and toddlers.
How to Apply Repellent on a Baby
The application method matters as much as the product you choose. Spray or rub the repellent onto your own hands first, then spread it onto your baby’s exposed skin. This gives you control over exactly where it goes and how much you use. Apply a light, even layer. You don’t need to saturate the skin for the product to work.
Avoid your baby’s hands, the area around their eyes and mouth, and go sparingly around the ears. Babies put their hands in their mouths constantly, so keeping repellent off their fingers prevents them from ingesting it. Don’t apply repellent under clothing, only on exposed skin or directly onto the clothing itself.
If you’re also using sunscreen, apply the sunscreen first and the repellent second. Avoid combination sunscreen-repellent products because sunscreen needs reapplying every two hours while repellent typically doesn’t. When you come back indoors, wash the repellent off with soap and water.
Clothing That Helps
What your baby wears can meaningfully reduce bites. Light-colored clothing is less attractive to mosquitoes. Research testing mosquito behavior in field conditions found that common species were significantly more drawn to black fabric than to white. This held true for both nighttime-biting and daytime-biting mosquito species. Dressing your baby in white, light gray, or pale pastels gives you a small but real edge.
Long sleeves and pants remain your best clothing-based defense. Choose loose fits so mosquitoes can’t reach skin through the fabric. You can also treat clothing with permethrin, an insecticide that bonds to fabric and remains effective through multiple washes. Permethrin should never go directly on skin, only on clothing, blankets, or gear. Pre-treated clothing is available commercially if you’d rather not apply it yourself.
Setting Up Your Outdoor Space
A simple box fan or oscillating fan near your baby’s play area makes it harder for mosquitoes to fly and land. Mosquitoes are weak fliers, and even a moderate breeze disrupts their ability to navigate toward your baby. This is one of the easiest and most underused strategies.
Eliminate standing water around your home. Mosquitoes breed in as little as a bottle cap’s worth of stagnant water, so empty saucers under plant pots, kiddie pools, birdbaths, and anything else that collects rain. Keep window and door screens in good repair. If your baby sleeps in a room with open windows, make sure the screens are intact and tight-fitting.
Products That Don’t Work
Ultrasonic repellent devices, including plug-in units and wearable versions marketed for clipping onto strollers, do not provide meaningful protection. Studies testing commercial ultrasonic devices found less than 20% repellency against biting insects, a level researchers called insufficient for protection. Earlier research specifically on mosquitoes found similar failure. These devices are not a substitute for repellent or netting.
Citronella candles and repellent wristbands also fall short. Citronella candles may reduce bites slightly in the immediate area around the flame, but the effect dissipates within a few feet and doesn’t create a reliable zone of protection around a baby. Wristbands infused with repellent compounds protect only a tiny area of skin near the band itself.
Treating Bites When They Happen
Even with the best prevention, some bites are inevitable. For itchy bites on a baby, a small amount of 1% hydrocortisone cream applied up to three times a day is safe and effective at reducing itch and swelling. This is available over the counter without a prescription. If you don’t have hydrocortisone on hand, a paste of baking soda and water works as a temporary substitute.
For immediate relief, press a cool, damp washcloth or a cloth-wrapped ice pack against the bite for up to 20 minutes. Firm, steady pressure directly on the bite with a fingertip for about 10 seconds can also temporarily interrupt the itch signal. The main goal with babies is to reduce itching enough that they don’t scratch the bite open, which can lead to infection. Keep your baby’s nails trimmed short, and watch any bite that becomes increasingly red, warm, or swollen over the following days.