How to prevent insect bites this summer, without the DEET (and soothe them gently)
- Jun 26
- 8 min read
The other morning my daughter woke up covered in mosquito bites, and the strange thing was that she was the only one. The rest of us had slept in the same house, windows open, and not one of us had a single bite. She wanted to know why the mosquitoes had gone for her and left everyone else alone, and to be honest, so did I. We lived in Mallorca for 18 months not long ago, where the mosquitoes are relentless and I was forever on top of them, so I'd somehow assumed they weren't much of a bother back here in England.
First though, I had to sort out the itching, and because I'd run out of my usual bits, I ended up nipping to the local pharmacy for something over the counter to calm it down before I could reorder my usual DEET-free kit.
It's such a common summer faff, and with a family trip coming up to Lithuania, which is forested and just as full of them, it felt like the right moment to put everything I use in one place: how to prevent insect bites, the gentler options I reach for, and how to calm a bite down once it's happened.
So why do mosquitoes go for some of us and not others?
It mostly comes down to your own skin chemistry, the particular scent your skin gives off, rather than anything you’re doing right or wrong. Some people are just more of a magnet than others, and there’s not much you can eat or change to make yourself less appealing, which is why the thing that helps is what you put on your skin and how you set up the space around you. In my daughter’s case it’s almost certainly just her skin.
Why go DEET-free?
First, a fair word: DEET is effective and considered safe when it’s used as directed, so going without it is a preference rather than a warning, and there’s no good evidence it affects your hormones or strips your skin. That said, there are a few genuine reasons you might choose to skip it, and they’re why I do.
• Gentler on sensitive skin. DEET can irritate skin that flares easily, and the plant-based options tend to feel kinder, which matters if you or your child react to most things.
• Gentler for younger children. Many parents prefer a gentler repellent for little ones, and some plant-based ones are formulated for use from as young as six months.
• Kinder to your clothes and kit. DEET dissolves plastics and synthetic fabrics, so it can ruin sunglasses, watch straps, phone cases and waterproofs.
• A lighter environmental footprint. DEET is now one of the most commonly detected contaminants in rivers and waterways, persistent enough to pass through normal water treatment, so the plant-based options are the greener choice.
The trade-off is simple. You reapply a bit more often, which for everyday use is a swap I’m happy to make.
How to prevent insect bites
Two things do the heavy lifting, a good repellent on your skin and a few simple barriers around you.
A plant-based repellent (my pick)
My everyday go-to is a repellent based on oil of lemon eucalyptus, refined to its active ingredient PMD. It’s plant-based, it’s the one natural ingredient the major health bodies recommend, and it holds its own against mosquitoes, ticks and midges. If you’d rather a fragrance-free option that’s still DEET-free, picaridin is another well-tolerated choice, though it’s synthetic rather than plant-based.
The simple measures that do a lot of the work
Light, loose clothing that covers a little more skin in the evenings, a net over the pram or the bed and screens on the windows you sleep with open, and tipping out any standing water near the house, which is where they breed, will all bring the bite count down before you have even reached for a spray.
The kit I reach for preventing insect bites
What I rely on
So you are not left guessing, these are the products I personally keep on hand.
Incognito: their plant-based PMD range, the spray, roll-on and room refresher, is my real protection, DEET-free, clinically tested and suitable from six months. Their lotion is a good option to apply on a wriggly child since it is easier to control and keep it away from little eyes. So Incognito is my everyday choice and my travel one too.
Light clothing, a net and window screens: the unglamorous heroes, especially for the youngest, where a net over the pram or bed and a screen on an open window do the job.
The gentler extras I still keep
These are the ones I like having around, as long as they are not standing in for the protection above.
From The Island citronella candle I picked up in Mallorca: pleasant for the garden table, with the caveat that a candle only really works in the still air right around it.
Incognito Room Refresher: a nice touch for a still room indoors, though like any room spray it only works in the space you are in.
Amour Natural Tick Away roller: an essential-oil based roller that is gentle and handy to keep in a bag, though it is a soother to have on hand rather than your real defence against ticks, which calls for a PMD repellent, covered skin and a proper check afterwards.
Popular, but I would not rely on them alone for protection
I use both of these myself, so this is not me writing them off, it is just being transparent about what they can and cannot do. Neither reliably prevents insect bites, so I would not lean on them as your actual defence.
Repellent patches, like Cliganic Mosquito Repellent Patches: gentle, easy to stick on a pram or a sleeve, and my kids quite like them, but patches and stickers have very little evidence behind them and tend to be citronella or peppermint oil based, so I treat them as an extra rather than real cover.
Bug zappers: I have one and find the sound oddly satisfying, but less than one in a hundred of the insects they kill is a biting one, so they mostly thin out harmless insects while the mosquitoes carry on. Handy for other flying nuisances indoors, not your mosquito defence.
If you are wearing sun cream too
This is the one product pairing worth getting right. Rather than a combined sun-cream-and-repellent in a single bottle, put your sun cream on first and your repellent over the top, because sun cream needs topping up every couple of hours and a repellent does not, so an all-in-one leads you to over-apply the repellent without meaning to.
What about the kids?
Children get just as much attention from insects as we do, and their bites can look more dramatic, big firm lumps that look far worse than they are. A few simple things keep repellents safe for them. For babies under six months, skip the repellent altogether and pop a net over the pram instead. After that, check the age guidance on whatever you’re using, since some plant-based repellents are fine from six months while others say not under three.
Whatever you choose, go on sparingly, spray it onto your own hands and smooth it on rather than near their face, and a lotion or a wipe is much easier to control than a spray, and keeps it away from little eyes and mouths.
Right, you have been bitten. How to calm it down gently
That maddening itch is your body's histamine response to the proteins the insect has left behind, which is why the skin flares up, swells, and absolutely begs to be scratched.
Scratching is the one thing to try to resist, because it breaks the skin barrier, drags out the irritation and lets infection in, and yes, this is almost impossible to enforce with a child. The good news is that the gentlest options tend to be the best first move anyway, and they look after the skin rather than stripping it back.
A cool compress. A wrapped ice pack or a cold, damp flannel pressed on for a few minutes takes down the swelling and numbs the itch. It is the easiest place to start.
Pure aloe vera gel. It cools and soothes, calms the inflammation a little, and leaves a light protective layer over the bite without upsetting the skin barrier.
Colloidal oatmeal. As a paste on a few bites, or in a lukewarm bath if there are loads of them, it has been used for generations to settle itchy, irritated skin and support the barrier, which makes it lovely and gentle for sensitive or eczema-prone skin, including children's.
If a bite flares up more than usual, your pharmacist can point you to something stronger, such as an antihistamine or a mild hydrocortisone cream, and advise on how best to use it, especially for little ones. And a quick word on the essential oils that crop up in a lot of natural bite remedies, things like tea tree, lavender and peppermint: they can soothe but they can also irritate, particularly on broken skin or on little ones, so dilute them well, patch test first, and leave them off babies altogether.
What I keep at home for dealing with insect bites afterwards
Alongside the cool compress, aloe and colloidal oatmeal above, these are the bits that live in my cupboard.
Weleda Insect Bites Spray (Combudoron Lotion): a herbal arnica and nettle remedy traditionally used to soothe bites and stings, which I keep as both a spray and a lotion, the spray handy for a quick cooling spritz over a larger area and the lotion for dabbing onto individual bites.
Incognito Zap-Ease: a little click device you press onto a fresh bite, which uses a tiny mechanical pulse to take the edge off the itch instead of any cream or chemical. I find it suits adults best, since the click feels like a small sting that younger children tend not to love, and it is not one for the under-twos. It is worth not muddling this up with the plug-in bug zappers higher up the page, which are a completely different gadget.
When it is worth getting a bite, sting or tick checked
Most bites settle by themselves within a few days, but a few signs are worth acting on rather than sitting tight:
A bite that gets redder, hotter, more swollen or more painful over the following days, which can mean it has become infected.
A spreading rash, a temperature, or feeling generally unwell after a bite.
Any sign of a bigger allergic reaction, like swelling of the face, lips or throat, or trouble breathing, which needs urgent help straight away.
With a tick, it is worth getting advice from a pharmacist or GP on removing it safely, and keeping an eye on the spot afterwards, since a spreading circular rash or feeling unwell in the weeks that follow is worth getting checked.
And if you picked the bite up abroad, somewhere insects can carry disease, it is worth a lower threshold for getting it looked at.
If your skin reacts more than it used to
Some people react far more to bites than others, and it is not random. How strongly your skin flares can be bound up with your overall histamine load and how resilient your skin barrier is. If your own skin has become more reactive over time, or your family seems to suffer more than most, that is the kind of whole-picture thing I look at with clients.
If any of that sounds familiar, you are very welcome to book a free discovery call.
Disclaimer: This article is educational and informational only. It does not constitute medical advice. Please consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new supplement or making significant dietary changes, particularly if you have existing health conditions or take medications.
