Questions about bed bugs
My 3 y/o son recently (in the past couple weeks) has been getting random bites on this body. At first I thought they were just mosquito bites, but they were becoming more frequent and looking more like ant bites.
I do not have an ant problem in my house and neither does his dad. I also noticed he will wake up with these bites (sometimes he will wake up with 10+ new bites on his back, legs, arms or even his face.
Although I’ve not seem any bugs in any rooms, I’ve fogged our apartment and even fogged his room twice with Raid Foggers to try any eliminate whatever could cause this. I vacuum the house every day including inside, behind, and under the couches, mattresses, bed frames and furniture. I just have no clue what this could be!
I’m afraid it could be bed bugs, but I’ve not seen any evidence when I search the rooms. We had neighbors living below us who were recently evicted. I never saw their apartment while they lived there, but I know her children were taken away because of unsanitary living conditions and neglect. Could we have inherited bed bugs from her filthy home?
I keep my house very clean (I’m pretty OCD about it), so I’m sure it’s not from anything mess/uncleanliness in my apartment.
The bites look like mosquito bites at first, but become sores that resemble ant bites. The are not clustered together, they are scattered. Could this be bed bug bites at all?
Also, there are some nights where I sleep in his bed and I have yet to be bitten. Why would he get bites, and not me??
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
How Do You Get Rid Of Bed Bugs Related Posts:
- How do can you tell if you have a bed bugs infestation?My boyfriend lives in an apartment building. Over the past few months I notices bumps all over my body and...
- Do I Have To Let The Bed Bug Exterminator In?I received a notice from my cities health department stating that I MUST participate or Else in eliminating the bed...
- Bed Bugs – Legal Action against Roommate?Okay I will try to summarize as best I can. I live on the first floor of a three family...
Comments on Questions about bed bugs
Ms Know It All @ 5:55 am
Bedbug bites do look a lot like mosquito bites. They tend to cluster in groups of 3, and be more concentrated near the head, arms and upper body as opposed to the legs and lower body. Some people have no visible reaction to the bites.
Bedbugs can hit anyone, it is no reflection on the condition of your home. You can get it sitting in a taxi, next to someone on the bus or movie theater. They can move from apartment to apartment especially if there is shared duct work, but usually stay close to one spot. They do not jump and do not fly. It sounds to me like you are doing all the right things, but they can be really tricky to spot. I have known them to hide behind the switchplates or electrical outlets, or inside curtains.
You can look for tiny flecks of blood on the sheets, and roll back the piping of the mattress or look under any tufting, buttons etc. You may see tiny brown specks of feces, or the bugs themselves. The nymphs are usually clear and look a bit like fleas, but not so flat. The older bugs are bigger, like a flax or watermelon seed, and are brownish or red from the blood (yuck!). Squish any that you find, or keep one for the pest control guy to see.
If it is bedbugs, Raid will not help. You need a trained pest control person to come have a look, someone from a reliable company. They will inspect the house, especially the mattresses and bed frame. If they find evidence of bedbugs, they will spray and give you specific recommendations. Often you have to throw out the mattress and box spring. You will need to wash every item of clothing in the house in the hottest water you can, and dry it in the hottest dryer you can. Heat kills them. Once stuff is washed and dried, bag it in garbage bags and do not bring it back into the house untill everything is washed and dried – don’t let clean laundry touch stuff that has not been washed.
Anything that can’t be washed like leather or wool etc can be put in a freezer for no less than 72 hours – this will kill them too. Bulky or awkward items like backpacks and textbooks can be wrapped in a garbage bag with a Vapona strip (also called Home Defence Max) – leave it in the bag for at least a week.
Bed bugs are not easy to get rid of. They can live for up to a year without biting, and like I said, things like Raid are useless against them. You will need to be really aggressive to get rid of them if that is the case.
Good luck!