Tallowl

My husband and I are due to move to JB for Aug 1st when he starts working at one of the international schools.

I have done a lot of reading about mosquitoes but would like to hear from people living in JB about how they keep their children protected. For example, I have read that long sleeves and trousers are best to avoid bites but I wonder how practical this is in the heat and whether most people usually dress like this day to day? I will be staying at home with my 2yrs and 6mths old children so I'm also interested in how to keep them protected when we spend afternoons playing by the swimming pool? I expect my baby son will be sitting in his buggy under a mosquito net!

I plan to buy a range of insect repellents to do our best avoiding bites. Do most buildings have insect screens on windows and doors? We will be choosing our apartment once we're in Malaysia.

Any related advice or experiences would be much appreciated.

Thank you

IAmNotABritishExpat

Your baby son under a mosquito net? It wont be comfortable for him. Long sleeves / pants is practical enough for rubber tappers, but not for other Malaysians. A rubber tapper would typically wrap his neck with towels or use head scarf to avoid attack and carry mosquito coils. Not so for the others.

Insect screens installation is not considered practical in humid Malaysia. The air will not be fresh, and good air circulation is important for health.

Of course there are houses that put insect screens on windows & doors, but it makes the house very uncomfortable place to stay. The air in the house will feel stale.

The easier way to control mosquitoes other than mosquito nets is to disallow it from entering your house. Close all your windows and doors during the time mosquitoes travel, which is usually from 5am-8am, and 5pm-8pm. Install ventilation fans, it helps.

Mosquitoes as far as I know do not feed in the middle of afternoon, they hate dry weather and hot sun, unless they are very hungry. There are many mosquito repellants in the market. I would recommend baby oil by Johnson and Johnson, which I could only get in Singapore. If not mistaken I got it from Metrojaya/Parkson at Woodlands CausepointPoint plaza, at baby section. The label says "Mosquito repellant". I no longer have this anymore as I do not need it nowadays.

I am not from JB, but mosquito problem is not just a JB problem. I use fans to stop mosquitoes from biting me, including sleeping time. Mosquitoes could not fly properly when there is strong wind blowing. That means it couldn't feed on you/others, and to me, that's the key.

Lemongrass is said to be a natural mosquito repellant, but I think it is not practical to have such plant near your house. It might attract small size snakes, as well as bees which you would want to avoid.

In rubber plantations where mosquito is a real menace, owners breed guppies (a type of small fish) in water storage tanks that also serve as place for washing/irrigation. Guppies do feed on mosquito larvae. I would not recommend breeding guppies in your house. It is better to remove any water storage. By observation, I learnt that mosquitoes seem to be attracted to water and also dark objects where they love to hide. So it is better if your house and furniture is not dark in colour.

Hope that helps somehow.

SushiFan

Keep doors and windows closed around sunrise and sunset. Keep them open and let air flow (use fans!) during all other times as mosquitoes don't like wind.

shessojag

I used Johnson's baby clear lotion anti-mosquito when my baby was 2 years old.