Experts (and expert mothers) weigh in on the best way to tackle allergies, bug bites, and the not-so-nice parts of nice weather

Water as Weapon

When trying to catch mosquitoes, one helpful trick is to use water. Wet a towel or get your hands wet — mosquitoes can bounce off a dry hand but stick to a wet hand.

—Dvora Henner is a home organizer and life coach who helps women with time management and concerns related to home organization.

Bite Proof

The best prevention I’ve found for mosquito bites is citronella drops or products. At night, I put the drops on my kids’ bedsheets. It stinks, but it works every single time.

Aloe vera gel is a soothing treatment for bites. It takes the itch away in minutes, it’s natural, and it’s clear. It does dry a little sticky, though.

—L.F.

Taking on Allergies

Local honey (meaning honey made from bees in that area, as opposed to commercial honey from the supermarket) works wonders for allergies. The bees carry pollen from local flowers to make honey, so giving kids a teaspoon of local honey throughout allergy season helps them build up immunity and have less hay fever. Please make sure your children are over one year old before giving them honey, or there is a risk of botulism.

It’s a good idea to get rid of carpeting for those with allergies. Also, keep stuffed animals out of their beds, as they carry around dust and other allergens.

If your child needs medication for allergies, it is important to switch up the antihistamines every season as the child can get used to them. For allergies that don’t change by the season, you can switch yearly.

—Shoshana Kassorla is a family nurse practitioner in Boca Raton, Florida specializing in bioidentical hormone replacement therapy and weight loss.

Sticker Shock

One of my kids is overly sensitive to bee and mosquito bites. We were in the ER once because his eyelids blew up so much, he looked like an alien! I bought stickers from the pharmacy that have a smell that mosquitos don’t like. We stuck them on his bed, because mosquitos are hungrier at night.

—T.G.

Dermoplast

Dermoplast helps provide relief for mosquito bites.

—S.M.L.

Allergy Aids

The best defense against seasonal allergies is a good offense. Consult with your allergist before the season starts for prescriptions for a daily antihistamine, eye drops, inhaler and/or nose spray.

Keep windows closed and the air conditioner on throughout the high-pollen season, and only hang laundry indoors.

Use an air purifier in bedrooms of children that suffer from seasonal or dust mite allergies. (Ikea sells a relatively inexpensive but pretty effective one.)

—Miriam Spitz is the project manager at Dr. Natalie Daniel’s Jerusalem Allergy Clinic, a full-service allergy clinic in central Yerushalayim offering diagnosis and treatment of most allergies, including immunotherapy and OIT.

Practical Advice

One of my students went off gluten and said it made a huge difference for her allergies.

For bug bites, put something very cold or wet on it, because the stimulus distracts the nerves that are telling your brain that it’s itchy.

Changing linen more often can help for dust allergies.

—Sheva Rand has served as eim bayit at Tomer Devorah Seminary in Jerusalem for almost a decade.

Mindel’s tips:

Mosquitoes are weak fliers — a fan in a room or on the porch can help keep them away.

Band-Aids also go a long way for those very sensory-sensitive kids who need to feel like the area is protected, and it keeps them from scratching!

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 945)