Ants, ants, ants! Most households face the ant problem every now and then. It’s always at its worse when the weather is transitioning from cold to hot or hot to cold. It’s no wonder then, that ants love kids. Rather, ants love all the food kids like to drop around the house.
Whether it’s the little crumb from some Goldfish crackers or fallen pieces off a granola bar your kids are providing a buffet for ants. Ants might be trying to infiltrate your house to reach all those food scraps.
Moms, especially those that cloth diaper little ones usually worry about the presence of ants during ant season. And while there are a lot of insecticides and spray solutions that can address this concern, not all are safe to be used in the home, especially when there are babies around.
Here is a round-up of some of the baby safe and natural ways to get rid of ants. Some use a DIY solution, or homemade sprays, whereas some are meant to prevent ants from inside the home – especially on a baby.
Natural and Baby Safe Ways to Kill Ants
The first thing you’ll want to do is do a thorough clean up to remove all crumbs that attract insects. Granted you cannot follow your little one around every minute with a vacuum. The next step is to eliminate your little invaders.
Most commonly people will get those little ant bait traps that work well but seem to attract little hands that you don't want your kids messing with the pesticides and chemicals inside.
Here are some of the natural ways of making kid-safe ant killers at home:
1. White Vinegar Spray Solution
This could be the best and most kid-safe ant killer solution there is. Just pour some white vinegar in a spray bottle, and spray where the ants are. Spray on them and watch them leave the trail and get dizzy.
Do not worry about the sour smell as well, because it will dissipate, and in fact help deodorize a room. If the smell is too strong for you, you may want to add in 10-12 drops of either lemon, tea tree, eucalyptus or peppermint essential oil, and then dilute the solution a bit with water, then shake before spraying.
2. Use Baby Powder
While inhaling baby powder is definitely not sage for your little one, you can carry out this ant-killing experiment when your little one isn’t in the same room. Just sprinkle some powder on the ant trails, and watch the pesky creatures get disoriented.
3. Sprinkles of Cinnamon Powder
Ants love sugar, but they hate other spices, especially Cinnamon and Pepper. Since pepper should be out of the question when babies are around as it may trigger allergies, and can even be ingested, cinnamon should be a great solution. Sprinkle in the ant trail, and you will soon see the ants disappear.
4. Bay Leaf Plug
Bay leaf can be used to prevent ant infestation the natural way. Ants hate the scent of Bay Leaves, Cloves and Cayenne Pepper (which you may just have in your kitchen already). Just put some fresh or dried bay leaves in areas where you see ants converging, or in areas where they seem to come from.
5. Coffee Grounds
If you are a parent, it’s highly likely that you have some of this on hand. Put out coffee grounds at the point of entry of the ants or directly on any ant hills you might see outside in the vicinity of the entry point. This method may take up to a week.
6. Soapy Water
Soapy water is also a kid-safe ant killer. It will also kill on contact and kill the trail scent of ants. Use a single teaspoon of liquid dish soap mixed with water in a spray bottle to get rid of pesky ants in your home.
7. Render Them Infertile
If all else fails, and you really want a strong and effective ant infestation solution without using really heavy chemicals then you might want to give Borax a try. An equal mix of sugar and borax produces a kid-safe ant killer that won’t endanger your pets and children. While borax has some toxicity and shouldn’t be ingested, it’s less toxic than commercial ant killer, and you don’t spray it around the house.
Best Ant Killers That Are Safe to Use
If the above natural kid-safe ant killer methods fail, you may want to bring in the big guns. Getting yourself a high-quality ant killer insecticide can stop them in their tracks and also eliminate the queen and the colony.
Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait
This highly effective ant killer uses a dual approach to ant extermination. As well as targeting ants inside your home, Advance targets them in their nest, where their attack on your property begins. It offers a quick and effective way of eliminating Carpenter ants and other ant species. It’s also biodegradable making it safe for the environment.
TERRO Ant Killer Liquid Ant Baits
This highly effective liquid ant killer will strike fear into the hearts of all common household ants. The active ingredient is liquid borax consumed by the ants, which is specifically designed to kill the worker ant within two or three days.
Combat Max Ant Killing Gel
This gel-filled syringe is the ideal choice for killing indoor ant activity. It’s easy to sue and is childproof with a safety mechanism to stop children tampering with the device and squeezing the gel. You can also eliminate ants at their source with this kid-safe ant killer.
Conclusion
Ants are one of the most common insect invaders of our homes, especially in the summer and dry weather. While they may be small and insignificant, we may not take too much notice of them until they become a source of contention when they invade our space. Using one of the above kid-safe ant killer methods or products will hopefully free your house of ants in no time.
