Sometimes you need to take measures to keep pests from overrunning your home. Unfortunately, many of the most effective means to keep pests away involve contraptions and/or chemicals that can pose a threat to children who live in the home. It’s a vicious cycle. If you have young children, it’s more important to control pests; but if you have pest control in place, it’s more important than ever to ensure those preventive measures don’t harm your children. Here are some ideas on how to keep kids safe from pests—and pest control—in the home.
Insist on Natural Lawn Pesticides
If you subscribe to a commercial pesticide service that sprays your lawn, choose one that offers natural pesticides. Natural pesticides can be just as effective at controlling the ticks and mosquitos that make it hazardous for your child to play outdoors. The chemical versions of these pesticides can be dangerous to youngsters and small pets. However, it’s not enough to simply choose a commercial pesticide service that offers natural alternatives. You have to make it clear that’s what you want used on your lawn, and when the technician comes to spray, confirm that his work order states your preference for natural products.
Use Kid Friendly Mouse Traps
Mouse and rodent traps look all too interesting to curious youngsters. In fact, there is a long stage in childhood development where touching everything and putting it in the mouth is a large part of learning about the world. If you place mouse traps in the home where there are youngsters, there’s a big risk that the child will get their fingers trapped inside the apparatus. This would result in pain, injury or worse. Instead, opt for kid safe mouse traps. Kid safe mouse traps are specifically designed to be safe to use around curious children. Using these kinds of mouse and rodent traps will both keep rodents from taking over your home, and keep your children safe from becoming a victim of the trap itself.
Use Natural Alternatives for Insect Control Inside the Home
Anywhere you live can have insects inside the home. Even if you have scrupulous cleaning habits, you may find that insects somehow make it inside your pantry, along baseboards and in other living areas inside the home. This in not only a nuisance, but also unsanitary. It isn’t safe to feed your children cereal or other food items that may have been exposed to insects or microscopic insect droppings. But using spray insect repellants is almost worse as far as exposing your children to dangerous chemicals. Rather than using those, opt for natural alternatives for insect control inside the home. There are many resources for finding out what natural products repel insects. It’s worth it to invest some time in finding out what they are.
These are three good ways to keep kids safe from pests around the home. As a parent, you’ll want to implement all three methods to ensure optimal safety for the children you love.