1. Every family has a mozzie magnet.

You could stand them in a crowd of twenty and the mozzies would find them first. And it isn't a few bites. They come up in welts. Massive welts. They swell up and react badly, and you watch them suffer through every one.

"my daughter is being eaten alive at school and it's making her very upset"

"She must have had a hundred bites over her from head to toe. It really was heartbreaking to see"

Fix it tonight: do a five-minute backyard sweep before dusk. Tip out anything holding still water: pot-plant saucers, buckets, toys left on the lawn, and refill the dog's bowl. Mozzies breed in still water, so fewer puddles means fewer mozzies hanging around.

2. The real damage happens at 2am.

The bites they got at the park at 6pm are the ones that wake them at 2am. They scratch in their sleep. They scratch until it bleeds. Then nobody sleeps, and everybody's ratty the next day.

Then it's off to daycare or school, where they get hammered at daycare and eaten alive at school, and come home with a fresh set.

Fix it tonight: trim their fingernails short. It won't stop the itch, but short nails do a lot less damage when they scratch in their sleep.

3. Now you dread dusk, camping and Christmas.

Summer is supposed to be the good bit. Backyard cricket. Fish and chips on the beach. Camping in January. But when your kid is the one who always gets bitten, every one of those becomes a calculation.

"their bite is so painful my grandchildren refuse to go outside and play"

"Even having a family Christmas is fraught with drama - little grandchildren being bit!"

4. You've read the back of the can.

So you reach for the spray. Then you turn the can over. Most big-brand repellents carry a warning that goes something like this: DEET may be dangerous, particularly to children, if used in large amounts on the skin, clothes or bedding, or on large areas of the body, especially if you keep using it for a long time.

DEET is also a strong chemical solvent. Many labels warn it can damage paint, varnish and some plastics. It was developed in the 1940s as a repellent for soldiers, and for the next 50-odd years everyone just accepted it as the only option.

"It's a spray and it stinks and makes my child choke. It doesn't feel safe using it."

That's the guilt nobody talks about. You're protecting them from the bites, and the whole time you're wondering what you're putting on their skin.

Fix it tonight: grab the can from the cupboard and read the small print on the back. Then ask yourself if that's what you want on a toddler's skin every evening.

5. You tried "natural". They still got bitten.

The health-food-shop sprays. The home-made potions. The wristbands. They smelled nice and did very little.

"we have tried so much and wasted so much money"

And that's the trap. First you're scared of hurting them with chemicals. Then you're scared of failing them with something that doesn't work. You end up stuck, choosing between the bites and the chemicals.

"I have a very young baby so I'm choosing which battle to fight."

6. Getting it on them is a nightly fight.

The hissing can. The cloud near their face. The sticky, heavy feel. Kids hate it, and some kids really hate it. If they won't wear it, it doesn't matter what's in it.

"She would put the other stuff on but it was so heavy and overpowering for a little kid"

So you're left negotiating with a five-year-old at the back door every single evening, while the mozzies line up.

7. A Darwin mum had the same problem.

Jeannie was raising her two boys in Darwin, where the mozzies, midges and sandflies never take a day off. Repellent was part of every single day.

"I hated spraying heavy duty insect repellent all over myself and my kids every day."

She'd read the warning on the can. She'd tried the natural options, and none of them worked in the tropics. So she did something most parents never get the chance to do: she studied cosmetic chemistry for two years, so she'd know exactly what was safe to put on skin.

Then she spent another two years testing her formulas with Kakadu fishermen in some of Australia's toughest conditions. It took 37 formulas before she had two natural repellent creams that actually worked.

8. The secret is hiding them from mozzies.

Mozzies find your kids by smell. Jeannie's formulas use pure essential oils, encapsulated in a nourishing cream, so they mask your scent on the skin. To the mozzies, your kids become hard to find. To you, they just smell lovely.

And because it's a cream, not a spray, it's rubbed in like moisturiser. No cloud near little faces, no sticky, greasy film.

Then came the part most natural repellents never attempt. Two years of lab and field trials with the APVMA, Australia's repellent regulator. Both formulas earned full approval to repel mosquitoes, midges and sandflies, for up to 4 hours per application.

100% natural essential oil actives. As effective as DEET. Both were also tested against mosquito species that carry Ross River and Dengue viruses.

Fix it tonight: whatever you use, don't miss the gaps. Ankles, the backs of knees, behind the ears and the back of the neck are where mozzies find a way in. Cover every bit of exposed skin and reapply as the label directs.

9. One cream for the kids. One for you.

She called it Good Riddance. Good Riddance Sensitive (lavender, geranium & sweet vanilla) is the kids' tube. It's made for babies from 3 months, children, pregnancy and sensitive skin, with a gentler scent and a slightly thicker cream. And Sensitive is more effective than 80% DEET at repelling midges and sandflies.

Good Riddance Tropical (citronella & lemon-scented tea tree) is for ages 2 and up. It has a zingier citrus scent and is slightly more effective against mozzies, so it's usually the grown-ups' favourite.

Citronella & Lemon-Scented Tea TreeFresh, citrusy aroma
Tropical

Lavender, Geranium & Sweet VanillaSweet, subtle, musky
Sensitive

Organic Shea ButterMoisturising & softening
Both

Organic Cocoa ButterHelps lock the oils on skin
Both

Kids who fought the spray put this on themselves. Parents of kids with sensory issues tell us their kids have finally stopped complaining.

Pregnant? Many expecting mums use Sensitive, but check with your GP first. For anyone new to it, do a 24-hour patch test before first use.

10. Your kids get their summers back.

Backyard cricket after dinner. Camping in January. A family Christmas without little ones scratching and crying. Daycare pick-up without a fresh set of bites.

"Has allowed us to take back outdoors living close to Sandflats with young kids. One less thing to worry about not putting the chemicals on our little ones skin everyday."

"My son doesn't get eaten alive anymore"

For 10+ years, Good Riddance has been trusted by hundreds of thousands of Aussies, and it's stocked in more than 1,200 stores around Australia. It's still Jeannie's family business, Australian made and owned.

Fix it tonight: stash a tube by the front door, one in the car and one in the handbag, so you're never caught out at dusk. Grandparents: keep one at your place too, so the grandkids are covered when they visit.