My poor DD has been bitten five times on her face by an EVIL mosquito

[castille]

Her skin reacts loads to bites - they are all red and swollen, particularly her eyelid.

She's really fed up because she's got her ballet show tomorrow and thinks she looks awful - she just cut one eyehole in a paper bag and put it over her head

We've put antihistamine cream on them, but does anyone know any way to calm the swelling and redness?

They are getting bigger, it's quite gruesome. Poor thing, she thinks she's going to look a fright tomorrow and this presentation is so important to her

I've just given her an ice cube in a bag and have sent the H out for aloe vera. Thanks Tarka

DS was terrible bitten on his face recently - about 20 times - after playing outside late in the evening. Once I had picked myself up off the floor, I gave him an Anthisan face-mask and sent him to bed.
There was not a sign the next day. Absolutely, amazingly clear.
However, Anthisan might not be a good idea on an eyelid (until, perhaps, your dd is asleep..)

I react horribly to bites and piriton tends to take the swelling down. If she doesn't touch them they should go down a bit by tomorrow and if she is dancing on stage they won't be as noticable as she thinks for the audience. Will she be wearing stage make-up? If not perhaps a little bit of concealer would help her feel better.

I hope the ballet show goes well for her. My dd is a performer and usually seems to manage to walk into a door or fall on her nose and get a black eye or scrape on her face just before important photos or performances!

Another vote for oral antihistamine.

Piriton if she's only a little one, or, if she's over 12, Zirtec. I was bitten on my eyelid by one of those critters one evening on holiday, and could hardly open my eye within about 30 mins. Took them before bed, and by morning it was just a bit red.

Can get them at the pharmacy at your nearest late-night supermarket.

Right, she's in bed now. BOTH her eyelids are all red and swollen I've smothered her face in aloe vera gel and given her an oral antihistamine - the only one we had, which isn't specifically for insect bites (she's 8, not old enough for Zirtec) but maybe better than nothing? No late-night pharmacies here sadly (France).

And I've got the essential oils diffuser on with some mozzie-repelling mix to get the b*gger and any lurking mates out of her room.

Very for her - she was so excited before and has worked so hard for this. I've reassured her no one in the audience will notice but I'm not sure she believes me

Poor chick. Once she's in her costume/dancing gear, with her hair done, hopefully she'll feel better.

Cactus juice is a great repellent - google it! They also do a post bite bottle of stuff aswell.

I'm sure she will missblythe, she'll be concentrating so hard I hope she forgets the nasties.

Octo - have googled and it looks great. She really needs a reliable non-chemical repellant, given how badly she reacts to bites. They charge over £18 to ship to France though so will have to wait til our next visit, but thanks for the tip, very helpful

tea tree oil.

How'd the show go? Has she done it yet?

It went really well, she danced beautifully. DH was very impressed, he missed her last show and had never seen her dance on stage.

Her eyelid is still swollen, but less so, and she has a whopping saucer-sized swelling on her thigh around another mozzie bite (hidden under her ballet tights!) though. So I'll ask the doc next time for something stronger and better when she gets bitten because it's so miserable for her.

Thanks for asking, she's much happier now