Which Pest Control Methods Are Safe for Children? {Guest Post}
Guest Post by Dixie Somers
When you notice cockroaches or other pests in your home, your first instinct might be to buy some poison and traps, but that’s not always a good option if you have small children. A trap or some poison can be just as dangerous for a curious toddler as it is for a roach or a rat. While you certainly shouldn’t ignore a pest problem in your home, you need to take steps to take care of it in a way that won’t be dangerous for your children. Here are a few tips that might help.
Practice Prevention
The best way to take care of a pest problem is to prevent it in the first place. Even if you’ve already had a problem in the past, you can take preventive measures to avoid any future problems. Seal up cracks and other gaps that can serve as entrance points to pests, keep your food put away and secured, and clear out foliage and firewood that is too close to your house as it can serve as a nesting ground to insects and rodents.
Look for Environmentally-Friendly Pest Control Companies
Even though there are a lot of pesticides and traps that are dangerous for your children, there are still pest control companies that focus on being as environmentally-friendly as possible while still being effective. Do plenty of research into companies near you, and ask them about the kinds of pest control methods they use. They should be able to assure you that their methods will be reasonably safe for your family. If they can’t do this, then look somewhere else.
Know Your Pesticides
If you have a minor pest control problem that you can handle on your own, take some time to look for the safest products for whatever vermin is infesting your homes. Poison bait isn’t safe when it is left in the open, so make sure that you keep it in a bait trap if you go this route. There are tamper-proof bait traps that a small child won’t be able to accidentally open, so stick to those if you can. Make sure that your pesticide of choice will work on the pests in your home, and stick to something that is pre-mixed so you don’t have to do the job yourself.
Natural Pest Control Methods
Pesticides and traps are the most effective ways of dealing with a pest problem, but there are more natural methods that you might want to try instead. For example, an ant problem can be curbed by placing cucumber slices or garlic cloves near the point of entry. If you have cockroaches, catnip can be used as an effective repellent if you leave small sachets of the stuff in areas of high roach activity. Soap and water from a spray bottle will also kill a cockroach if it is sprayed directly onto it. These methods are perfectly safe for homes with children and pets, but they could help keep your home pest-free.
Pests can cause a lot of problems in your home, but so can the poisons that are used against them. If you have a pest control problem, make sure that any methods you use and any exterminator you hire will be safe for your family.
More About Dixie
Dixie Somers is a freelance writer and blogger for business, home, and family niches. Dixie lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and is the proud mother of three beautiful girls and wife to a wonderful husband.
*Photo courtesy of Dixe Somers
Cockroaches are nocturnal insects. They prefer to live and feed in the dark secluded areas, so a cockroach seen during the day is a possible sign of high level infestation. Cockroaches tend to prefer dark, moist places to hide and breed and can be found behind refrigerators, sinks and stoves, as well as under floor drains and inside of major electric appliances. Because they can flatten their bodies to fit into narrow areas, cockroaches may also be found hiding beneath rubber mats, behind wallpaper and within wall cracks.
Cockroach infestations! When you suddenly find yourself with a cockroach problem the first thing you want to know is what kills cockroaches instantly. Cockroaches are not just a nuisance; they are also known for carrying diseases and spread diseases within your households. Some of the health concerns with these diseases are typhoid, dysentery, gastroenteritis, and diarrhea which can be fatal to you.
Good article.. Thanks for sharing this informative post.
Great Article thanks!
Cockroaches are very nasty insects they carry disease and can ruin reputations of business particularly restaurants.
We tend to find the common causes of transfer and infestation are electrical items which have been taken from one premise to another such as microwaves and kitchen electrical items.
Cockroaches love electrical items and anywhere dark and warm.
Cockroaches carry salmonella, typhoid, dysentery and people effected by these can become very poorly these include particularly the young and the old.
They may start in one premises but will move rapidly to other neighbouring premises via electrical ducts and holes.