I took my 4 year-old daughter up to Mirror Lake for some swimming last week. The bugs weren't too bad but a few were buzzing about. That evening back at home she had some bites that were swelling but I didn't think much of it. In the morning she woke up with her foot swollen like a balloon and we called the nurse line at UW where she gets care. They suggested bringing her in to check it out in case it was some kind of infection.
As it turns out she has a strong allergic reaction to mosquito bites. They said it's fairly common and should be OK with some antihistamine and ibuprofen for swelling.
The allergic reaction increases with exposure so the recommendation is to avoid further bites. I asked if she would outgrow this and the response was "maybe."
Have any of you experienced such a reaction to mosquitos and did the allergic reaction decrease later in life?
I was hoping to spend a week camping with her later in the month but now will wait until later in the season when the bugs are gone.
One of my daughters has that problem, discovered the same way you did when she was a little girl, with massive swelling from minor mosquito bites. She is in her 30's now and still has the problem, but is just better about using bug repellent.
No easy work around to it that I know. No one else in the family has the problem.
Have any of you experienced such a reaction to mosquitos and did the allergic reaction decrease later in life?
I am highly allergic but it seems that exposure had helped me over the past 15 years. I don't seem to suffer as much now that I am older.
Maybe that's something she can look forward to later in life, but then I am much older than 4. I suggest sunscreen lotions that have some insecticide in them.
There are oils and natural remedies available, but they wear off fast.
If you can give her lightweight clothing that won't make her hot and is loose enough to repel bugs, that is a good strategy too.
We had the same exact experience with our young kids camping and hiking over Memorial Day weekend this year. We had been camping with them previous years but the bugs had never been as bad as that weekend. One morning, after a particularly buggy day, my son woke up with his eye almost swollen shut. My younger daughter looked pretty bad too. It was scary looking, but we looked it up and called the doctor and got the same answer -- it's a common reaction in kids, not a big deal, put cortisone on it and take allergy meds. Their reaction will probably subside over time as they get used to it. In fact their reactions to bites have already gotten milder over subsequent trips this summer.
RichP, some of my kids have big reactions to misquito bites. My college age son's hand just swelled up recently. Maybe it's because the kids have so little exposure to these hazards now a-days that the reactions are stronger?
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