Baby Safe Ant Control—kill ants, not your kids
It’s been over a month since our second annual ant infestation began. Last year, we tried to live with it. This year, I couldn’t stand it.
Can I tell you why I hate having ants? It makes me feel dirty. No matter how clean my house is, there are germ-bearing vermin infesting my carpet. To make matters worse, this year we had three different points of entry and possibly three different colonies: the fireplace, the side door and the back door. And to top it all off, it was apparent that the largest colony wasn’t invading from outside they were coming . . . from . . . inside . . . our . . . house! Just like the phone call in that campfire story! (You know the one, right?) To be technical, they lived underneath the house, in a rather inaccessible place, so there wasn’t really a way to go to the source to poison them
So I searched all over the Internet for a baby-safe way to kill ants. I got suggestions from my friends and readers (thanks!) and family. I tried several before finding one that worked for me. Note: some methods don’t kill ants, they just try to keep them from coming into your house (here I’ve marked them as a “deterrent”).
- Windex (didn’t work for me this time around, but it worked for MommyZabs, who indicated it was a deterrent)
- Bay leaves. Didn’t work for me. (deterrent)
- Vinegar. Didn’t work for me, but it worked for my aunt. (Well, okay, if I drowned them in it, then it worked. I think it’s mostly a deterrent.)
- Raid (“RAID?!”), cordoning off the area from baby.
- Grits (oh, that’s what they’re for! Yeah, I’m Southern but . . . yuck.) or cornmeal
- Borax syrup, though I can’t imagine that’s good for your child.
- Talcum powder (including baby powder) or chalk (mentioned by Millennium Mommy; deterrent)
- Honey or water traps (scroll down on the page)
- Soapy water in a spray bottle (deterrent, unless you drown them)
- Cucumber peels (deterrent)
- Cloves or mint leaves/tea (deterrent)
- Cayenne pepper (deterrent)
- Citrus oil (deterrent)
- Lemon juice (deterrent)
- Cinnamon (deterrent)
- Coffee grounds (deterrent)
- Garlic (deterrent) (#9-17 source)
- Yeast, mixed with sugar to form pellets
- Mint (even in toothpaste; deterrent)
- I was once told that a big pile of sugar will kill ants for some reason, too. Definitely didn’t try that one. WikiHow says that you can kill them with a mixture of salt and sugar.
- Finally, our method: buy poisonous ant bait (the kind they carry back to the nest) and set it out at night. Put the ant bait out of reach during the day and keep baby, cat, etc. away from the area for a day or two afterwards. For us, this killed the ants after one night!
Suggestions I didn’t try:
What else have you tried that helped get rid of your ant problem?
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I can vouch for talcum powder, but only really as a short-term solution as they do get used to it.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:41 amWe tried pretty much your entire list minus the ant baits before hiring a professional pesticide company to kill them. I didn’t want to go that route with the expense and all but my next door neighbor was and I was worried that would leave me with even more ants. I’m glad we did because it took care of the problem.
July 19th, 2007 at 5:27 amI’ve tried a lot of your suggestions, and the only thing that’s worked for me is Terro (one of the products that the ants bring back to their nest). I keep mine in the corners behind the refrigerator and stove, and in the bathroom at the back of the under-the-sink cabinet. My kids are a little older than your son, though, and they know not to touch the stuff.
July 19th, 2007 at 6:40 amWe had ants this spring and ended up going the professional route too – even with the cost it was just the easiest way for us to get rid of them quickly and since they were in my kitchen around the sink (no matter how clean I kept it – yuck!), I wanted them gone ASAP!
July 19th, 2007 at 7:00 amWe were really lucky not to have them in the kitchen—I’d definitely be a bit more proactive with ants in there.
I gotta learn not to mention the ants; I posted this last night and this morning, the back door ants had returned! More poison tonight, I guess.
July 19th, 2007 at 8:35 amWe’ve tried most of what’s on your list. We end up using chemicals in the yard, even though i would rather we didn’t. The bacvkyard is a giant anthill every year, meaning we can’t play out in it and they invade.
July 19th, 2007 at 11:49 amI have absolutely no advice for you, mama. Just wanted to say I loathe and detest ants with the same white-hot intensity you do!
July 19th, 2007 at 8:08 pmWow! So I’ve got an ant infestation, and I’m pretty passionate about finding a “natural” route. I thought baby’s mamas!!! The must be pretty hard core about this topic!
I was super surprised to find that I didn’t find the answer here. So I kept looking.
What I found, I thought might be appreciated here.
It’s called Diatomaceous Earth. It’s uber tiny (though I’d still keep it out of reach), microscopic in fact, shells of organisms called diatoms. They live at the bottom of the ocean and when they out grow their shell, the shed it. Well these magical little shells are like razors to an ants hard exterior. It pierces their shells in multiple places and makes em ‘bleed to death’ (or what ever seeps out of their shell). It sound harsh… but all of killing is harsh.
Here’s a few linx for you to check out yourself. It’s not expensive either! Which is rad.
This stuff kills FLEAS too!!!
I’ll blog again once I try it and let you lovely ladies (and men, I’m sure) know how it worked.
http://www2.yardiac.com/long.asp?item_id=1301&promo=google&gclid=CMLa1qqjt40CFRVlYQoda0YHEw
July 20th, 2007 at 5:30 pmSo glad that something worked. I haven’t had this problem yet, but I will make sure I come back here if I ever do.
July 22nd, 2007 at 4:23 pmIts that time of the year again.. and like many of you I have tried almost everything on the list.. even the grits which supposedly if they eat them and drink water will make their stomachs expand and they die. only thing i found that works in Terro.. its a pain because you still see ants for a few days but it is the only thing that works if they are coming in under the house. They carry the stuff back and it kills the ants in the nest..I have 3 kids 5 and under so i have to watch what i use..
May 15th, 2008 at 11:17 amI’ve heard good stuff about Terro, but like you said, you can’t use it where kids can get it. I can’t remember what brand of poison we ended up using (#21 on the list), but we actually used the left over traps again this year and so far, they haven’t been around for a couple days… Knock on wood.
May 15th, 2008 at 1:27 pmI’ve tried EcoSMART and they’re giving away free samples if you give them feedback on your experience.
September 27th, 2008 at 1:37 pmthis site is great perfect advice but everything doesent
November 4th, 2008 at 10:48 amWe are just getting invaded again. Diatomaceous earth does keep them away – they really don’t like it. However, be careful about breathing it in (it is an inhalation hazard). We tend to use it on the outside of the house. Last time it worked, hoping to repeat the success again today.
September 5th, 2009 at 1:35 pmmy husband insists on spraying ant poison in the house. now i don’t like ants either but this is kind of scary – esp since we have a 17 month old who plays around the house. my question: is ant poison only dangerous if you actively drink a bunch of it? or is it bad to breath, have it on your hands, etc? i can’t find any info on this. thanks in advance!
September 15th, 2009 at 4:30 pmYou know, I’d recommend asking poison control (800-222-1222).
September 15th, 2009 at 4:50 pm