Is ant bait safe with a baby or pets in the house?

It can be, with the right kind of product in the right place. No ant product is something a baby or a pet should get into, so safety comes down to three things: choose enclosed bait stations, put them where small hands and paws cannot reach, and follow the label. Babies crawl and put everything in their mouths. Cats climb. Dogs chew. Plan for all three.

Why bait rather than spray

A spray kills the ants you can see and leaves residue on the floor, skirting and anything nearby, which is exactly where a crawling baby goes. It also misses the nest, so the ants come back. A bait station keeps a small amount of product inside a closed case. Ants walk in, take it, and carry it home to the nest. Less product out in the room, and it reaches the source.

Where to put stations

• Behind heavy furniture or appliances that a baby cannot crawl behind and a pet cannot squeeze into.
• Inside a cupboard the ants are using, if it has a child lock and the pet cannot open it.
• On the trail, near where ants come in. That might be a gap by a window frame or under a cabinet kickboard.
• Never on a worktop if you have a cat, and never next to food or water bowls.
• Count them when you put them down, and check every day that they are all still there.

What to avoid

• Loose ant powder along floors and skirting. Pets walk through it and lick their paws. Babies crawl through it.
• Sprays in the nursery, play areas, near the cot, toys or pet bowls.
• Liquid bait in open dishes or homemade sweet bait mixtures on jar lids. They attract children and pets as well as ants.
• Stations a dog could carry off and chew.
• Strong essential oils as a natural option. They do not reach the nest, and some are harmful to cats.

Protect the food without spraying

Ants can get into a screw-top jar along the thread, especially if the rim is sticky. Wipe rims clean, and keep honey, syrup and jam in a sealed tub or the fridge while the ants are about. Wipe the trail with warm soapy water. That clears the scent they follow and is safe around a baby.

If a child or pet gets into a station: take it away and keep the packaging. Read the label for first aid. For a child, call your doctor, your local poison information line or the emergency number, and tell them the product name. For a pet, call your vet with the packaging to hand. Do not wait for symptoms, and do not try to make them sick unless you are told to.

Follow the label, check it is allowed

The label tells you what is in the product, where it can go, and what to do if it is swallowed. It wins over any advice, including ours. Rules on which products can be sold differ by country, so check the product is allowed where you live. Our safety and labels page explains how to read one.

When to leave bait out altogether

If there is nowhere you can put a station out of reach, do not use one. Keep food sealed, wipe the trail, and seal the way in with our guide to sealing gaps. If the ants keep coming, a professional can treat inside walls and voids where nobody can reach. Tell them about the baby and the pets before they start. See pest control and pets for what to ask.

For the rest of the plan, from trails to sealing, see the ant guide.