<p>S found a bed bug (we’re pretty sure that’s what it is) tonight just before retiring for the night. It was crawling on his mattress. A search of his bedding under magnification didn’t reveal any others, but I’m assuming that where’s there’s one, there are others. Has anyone had any experience dealing with these critters? How long did it take to get rid of them, and how hard was it? </p>
<p>I did a little web research, and it appears that there’s a world-wide resurgence of this pest, and that many of them are immune to common pesticides, and even DDT. I will be shopping for zippered mattress covers tomorrow in an attempt to smother the little bastards. We’ll also be washing all S’s clothing and bedding in hot water and drying them on high heat. Most sites said steam cleaning carpets is a good idea, as bed bugs are killed at temperatures above 120F.</p>
<p>I am so p#@^$&! I know there are worse hassles, but I’m really creeped out by bugs, especially biting ones, and just the thought of them now has me scratching like a hound.:(</p>
<p>If you still have the bug, put it in a container so it can be definitively ID’d before you stress out. There should be someone that can positively ID it as a bedbug or not–maybe a dermatologist or a bug person at the U or an exterminator. </p>
<p>I know someone who had bedbugs but only on her side of the mattress, not her H’s. They were able to get by with only exterminating THEIR bedroom rather than the entire house, which surprised me. Once they ID’d the problem as bedbugs (via the dermatologist who saw the bites) the exterminator helped them eliminate them in fairly short order. I never got the details as she refused to discuss the matter with me.</p>
<p>I’ve been battling them for 9 months, but I think I’m almost finished. HImom’s suggestion of getting a positive ID is the first step. I bet 80% of people who think they have them end up being incorrect, so I hope you’re wrong. I hang out on [bed</a> bug news, information, activism, and support ? Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com](<a href=“http://www.bedbugger.com%5Dbed”>http://www.bedbugger.com) for information. Feel free to P.M. me.</p>
<p>I think we may have had them, but I never saw one. BUt I was getting bit every night. It was time for a new mattress so we bought one and I haven’t been bit since.</p>
<p>Omigosh I hope you don’t have them! I travel a lot and I am such a freak about following all of the bed bug avoidance rules. So far I have had no problems, but it can happen to anyone. HImom gave fantastic advice - make sure you actually found one. But if you found even one, I would take some action fast. </p>
<p>Orkin claims to have good success with bed bug infestation, although I hate using chemicals. I only know this because I used them for sugar ants recently, and got into a discussion about it. I would get one of those LadyBug steamers and go to town (anything in proximity to the bed, and the whole bed itself), and have the carpet steam cleaned as well. High heat drying for all linens, that sort of thing. </p>
<p>Good luck! Where is a bed bug emoticon when you need it?</p>
<p>D ended up with bedbugs after a trip outside the country. She’s got extremely sensitive skin and lucky for her reacted to the bites very quickly. She contacted a pest control company who confirmed them but because she caught them VERY early, only her room (and not her entire apartment or roommate’s bedroom) needed to be treated. Still it cost me over $450 just for that. She had to put everything she owned into the dryer, toss it, or steam it. She lost some things in the process. Surprisingly, they even treated her dresser, hanging mirror and prints, literally EVERYTHING. Luggage, shoes, books, papers etc. It’s a major hassle but she was successful in getting rid of them. </p>
<p>(FYI although I had purchased and sent her a mattress and box encasements designed for this, the pest control company provided it as part of the treatment and said that using theirs was the only way they’d honor their guarantee for followup treatments, etc. So we just returned the one I’d purchased.)</p>
<p>Best advice–as mentioned, make sure to get a confirmation that’s what you have.</p>
<p>Lice are way easier to get rid of; I should know! (Teach kinder in very low-income neighborhood, and have lots of kids with chronic lice.) :eek:</p>
<p>Bedbugs are a real increasing problem and more so every day. Unfortunately one of my daughters has had three experiences-once in her college apartment and twice now in her apartment in NYC. You have to been pro-active- steam everything, call for exterminator, throw away mattress pad, wash.dry all sheets and pillowcase in hot water. This time around she threw away her old carry-laundry bag from college and replaced that…one of her roommates has the steamer and my daughter has two kinds of sprays. You can get a mattress protector and the sprays at Bed, Bath and Beyond.</p>
<p>My sister had bed bugs - she kept getting bit and one of them got infected. her whole leg was swollen. The funny thing was (well not exactly funny but in retrospect) she had a water bed! She washed all of her bedding and was still getting bit. What she wound up doing was putting some kind of spray similar like this [Amazon.com:</a> Hot Shot Indoor Insect Fogger: Patio, Lawn & Garden](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shot-Indoor-Insect-Fogger/dp/B0035H7V1Q]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Shot-Indoor-Insect-Fogger/dp/B0035H7V1Q) You close it off in the room for x amount of time and it supposedly kills them all. She had no more issues after that.</p>
<p>I wish it were as simple as spraying, but it’s not. Early on, we used one of those foggers, but the bugs only spread to other rooms. I really wouldn’t recommend tackling this problem on your own. Specially made mattress (and don’t forget the boxspring) covers do help, but bed bugs hide in bed frames, too. That’s how someone with a waterbed could even have bed bugs. My daughter even found them in the hem of her window curtain, at the foot of her bed. Bed bugs also like to hide in electrical outlets and laptop computers.</p>
<p>It’s a horrible problem! Daughter had them this past summer in her apartment. Exterminator came three times (standard operating procedure to be certain they are gone) and it seemed to work. She was so flipped out that she considered quitting her job, dropping her summer course and coming back home to live. They were gone, though, after the first treatment. I tell you, it was a real pain to bag up EVERYTHING she owned, put all of the clothes through a hot dryer ($130 worth) and help her and the roomies deal with it. Luckily the landlord lived in the building and was terrific. He was as upset as the girls were and he really was proactive. They are bed bug free since the summer.</p>
<p>In NYC it’s a really big problem (apartments, hospitals, movie theaters, schools, everywhere) because the apartments are usually in large buildings. The bugs just move from one apartment to another. I think this summer is going to be awful. </p>
<p>@poetsheart-- I agree with toledo. You need to call a professional exterminator and let them do their work. I don’t think everyday people can deal with this alone.</p>
<p>agreed. My brother and his wife are trying to deal with it on their own, which has made it a chronic, unending problem. This then became a Christmas crisis, because since they weren’t taking basic travel precuations, family (catalysted by my D who’s had multiple friends’ lives turned upside down by the critters) were dreading the Christmas get-together at mom’s house. We asked them to not bring stuff, but of course they did anyway, and to keep coats out of house, dress directly from the dryer, etc. ,since eggs and nits can be carried on anything–bad enough if we brought them home, worse if mom got them at her house. We ended up bagging all presents and leaving them in the cold for two months out back, carried no bags, left shoes in car, headed right down to basement to throw clothes in washer/dryer, etc. Brother thought we were crazy. But he’s the one picking up furniture from the curb. And still has bugs, as far as I know.</p>
<p>Well, we still don’t have an independent confirmation as to the exact Identity of the critter in question. We’ve trapped it in a zip-lock freezer bag, where it will remain until I can consult an exterminator. It sure looks like all the photos of bed bugs I’ve seen online, though. Today we spent 150 dollars at Bed, Bath and Beyond on mattress and box spring bed bug and dust mite containment covers for S’s twin size bed, and also purchased a “Bedbug Early Detection System” (a kit in a box) and something called “Rest Easy” (a spray) which claims to “kill and repel bed bugs.” S’s room (which he keeps as “casually” as any normal teen aged boy keeps his room) received a thorough vacuuming and cleaning. We disposed of the vacuum bag in our outside trash tote. I’m reading on other sites that what we’ve done so far is probably not enough. All his bedding and clothing is being washed in hot water, and dried on high heat. Son was not bitten last night, nor within the past four. So far, over the course of about a month, he’s received a few bites (four or five) approximately every five nights. Neither his dad nor I have been bitten, so thus far, it seems to be restricted to S’s room. I am not looking forward to this fight.:(</p>
<p>You also need to put all of his clothing in the dryer on high heat for about 1/2 hour or 20 minutes. Then put them in large plastic bags which you can seal with tape. We also bagged all of daughter’s shoes and books after spraying the inside of the plastic bags with insecticide we got from the exterminator. Then the exterminator came and sprayed the house. We bought her a bed (the mattress was on the floor-- OMG) and put the legs of the bed on paper plates that had Vaseline on them. We spent the same $150 at BB&B. We told daughter that after the exterminator came, if she saw dead critters that was a good sign. They have to tramp trough the dust the extermination leaves in order to die. In fact, she did see a couple of legs-up bodies. None got trapped in the Vaseline though. She probably still has that Vaseline there. Another OMG. It’s probably dusty and disgusting by now. I can’t stand it… :(</p>
<p>OK so we all are flipped out about these creatures–since they are so hard to get rid of.</p>
<p>How do colleges battle this issue? My DS will head off to dorm living this fall. Anything we should do to try and keep the little devils away? My son thinks straightening up his room is rearranging the piles on the floor or shoving them in the closet. Arghhh.</p>
<p>My son’s college dealt with this in the fall. It was never on his hall but other halls. They treat it by heating the room really hot or something like that. My son has allergies so I bought an “allergy” mattress cover that also said it protects against bed bugs.</p>