If we have bedbugs...?

[Anonymous]

Would an exterminator be able to easily tell? Would it be counterintuitive to clean before the exterminator arrives (i.e. destroying evidence)?

I haven't seen anything that struck me as solid evidence, but I have been itchy with no signs of bites for quite a while. My DS just started getting huge bug bites. They look like mosquito bites which our neighborhood has a lot of mosquitos, but he's not outside a whole lot...

Exterminator is doing an inspection tomorrow.

Also, if we have them, who do we need to alert? Daycare center? Anyone who has stepped foot in our house, or just the ones that stayed overnight? (We get a fair number of overnight visitors).

Uggh, I am so nervous about this.

[Anonymous]

Seriously - does everyone on this board have bedbugs?

[Anonymous]

I did have bedbugs. The exterminator may or may not be able to find them -- they are tricky to find. Unless you are planning on vacuuming the crevasses of your mattress, I doubt your cleaning job will take away all the evidence. If the exterminator doesn't find evidence and you still itch in 2 weeks, call him back. Meanwhile, hopefully this is just a mosquito.

[Anonymous]

could also be fleas. Also, some people are REALLY allergic to mosquito bites, so it wouldn't take much in terms of being outdoors in order to be covered in welts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did have bedbugs. The exterminator may or may not be able to find them -- they are tricky to find. Unless you are planning on vacuuming the crevasses of your mattress, I doubt your cleaning job will take away all the evidence. If the exterminator doesn't find evidence and you still itch in 2 weeks, call him back. Meanwhile, hopefully this is just a mosquito.

This is good advice. Our bedbugs only turned up on second inspection a few weeks later, also.

You should get this checked out. I agree that basic cleaning won't change much evidence-wise.

Also, the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes are really active right now and very aggressive, so bedbugs aren't the only possible culprits.

[Anonymous]

There is a lot in the news about bedbugs these days and you cannot even google 'itchy skin' without getting bedbug results... while it is possible that you have them, you should also consider other options. This mosquito season has been the worst on record - they are out during the day and can come inside through your screens!

Not every itchy bump is an insect bite - a dermatologist could help shed some light on your child's symptoms.

If you do have bedbugs, while certainly anxiety inducing, it is not the end of the world.

I say this as someone who has never had them but has definitely fallen victim to the bedbug hysteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a lot in the news about bedbugs these days and you cannot even google 'itchy skin' without getting bedbug results... while it is possible that you have them, you should also consider other options. This mosquito season has been the worst on record - they are out during the day and can come inside through your screens!

Not every itchy bump is an insect bite - a dermatologist could help shed some light on your child's symptoms.

If you do have bedbugs, while certainly anxiety inducing, it is not the end of the world.

I say this as someone who has never had them but has definitely fallen victim to the bedbug hysteria.

Ok, I'm a PP who has had bedbugs. While it shouldn't be said to be the end of the world, it's really pretty bad.

I very much appreciate that recent publicity is inspiring some incredibly belated efforts at infestation control. Please don't push back against "bedbug hysteria" because from where I sit it's almost too little, too late... unless it prevents someone from giving them to my family again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Also, if we have them, who do we need to alert? Daycare center? Anyone who has stepped foot in our house, or just the ones that stayed overnight? (We get a fair number of overnight visitors).

Uggh, I am so nervous about this.

I see no one has answered this part of your question OP, but I think it's a relevant one. When we had bedbugs, we didn't tell anyone mostly out of embarassment, although we didn't have a child in daycare and hadn't had guests in awhile. (We did however avoid visiting anyone until our problem was under control) Now I'm curious what others have done in this situation.

[Anonymous]

This is an important part of OP's question. I told friends/ guests (all of them, though we hadn't had overnight guests recently) but not kid's school. In retrospect, I should have informed school and offices so all the businesses and households potentially affected could have increased vigilance.

Certainly, if OP's inspection does uncover an infestation, daycare *should* take some precautions to isolate her child's bag from home.

[Anonymous]

I'm 15:24 who had bedbugs. And I agree that while bedbugs aren't the end of the world, they are awful. The treatment is overwhelming and expensive. We lived out of plastic bags for 4 weeks -- and that was for a mild infestation.

To answer your question about who to tell: Our daughter wasn't in daycare at the time, but if she had been I probably would have told them. I did tell both of my next door neighbors (I'm in a row house, so my bedbugs were potentially relevant to them.) I told family members we visited and I definitely would have told anyone who was coming to spend the night at our house. I also told our babysitter and various friends.

At first I didn't want to tell anyone. I felt gross and awful about having bedbugs. BUT I was also determined that whatever family of bedbugs that wandered into my house was not going to wander into someone else's house -- not if I could help it. Also, the treatment was so intensive I had to talk about it or I would go crazy. And once you talk about it, you find other people who are dealing with the same thing -- knowledge is power.

Good luck to you. Seriously, knock on wood this is just mosquitoes!

[Anonymous]

OP here. The exterminator found no evidence of bed bugs and said what some pps have about it being an awful year for mosquitoes. I'm relieved, but still cautious. DH took the day off today and he's going to steam clean the carpets and wash the bedding (both needed to be done anyhow) while DS and I are out of the house just to be extra cautious. I'm very relieved.

I know we shouldn't get really into the hysteria, but as a pp said, if you do have them it's worth it to buy into it to save others from the same torture. Plus, DS' daycare had raised questions with me about how many bites he had, so I felt like I had to be proactive in some way.

We're in a townhouse style condo and our association actually pays for any and all extermination, so it was free to us to have the exterminator come check it out. I'm very happy our condo association does this!

[Anonymous]

OP, this is 15:24 again. Glad you got a good report from the exterminator. If you find more mystery bites, have him back, but meanwhile, breathe a sigh of relief!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is 15:24 again. Glad you got a good report from the exterminator. If you find more mystery bites, have him back, but meanwhile, breathe a sigh of relief!

Good advice once again!

OP, soon the female(?) mosquitoes are going to be looking for place to spend the winter, so check your screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 15:24 who had bedbugs. And I agree that while bedbugs aren't the end of the world, they are awful. The treatment is overwhelming and expensive. We lived out of plastic bags for 4 weeks -- and that was for a mild infestation.

I know dh thinks I worry too much about bedbugs -- but this is the reality. It's not like setting a mousetrap for a stray mouse. It's a huge investment to get rid of them.

[Anonymous]

True. An ounce of prevention is so worth it in this case. A metric ton of prevention is quite reasonable!