Should I stop sleeping in my bed if I have bed bugs?

Do continue to sleep in your bedroom after identifying a bed bug infestation. If you move rooms or start sleeping on the couch you run the risk of contaminating these other areas of your home. Similarly, avoid taking your bedding from the location of the infestation to other rooms of your home.

Sleeping in the room with bed bugs is the best choice to keep them from spreading.

No. You should not throw out your mattress after a bed bug attack. Besides that being one of the easiest ways to spread the infestation even further, it also won't solve the problem. Unfortunately, bed bugs are not limited to mattresses.

Don't try to kill bed bugs with room foggers or “bug bombs.” The mist released by these items just does not reach the places where bed bugs hide. Don't place mothballs or Boric acid dust between the mattress and box spring or under and around the bed.

Bed bugs are not known to spread disease. Bed bugs can be an annoyance because their presence may cause itching and loss of sleep.

Wash everything on a high temperature or sanitary cycle for at least 30 minutes. Placing everything in the dryer on the hottest setting for 30 minutes will also kill bed bugs and larvae. Immediately after you're finished putting clothing in the washer, tie up and throw out the empty garbage bag in an outdoor trash bin.

Bed bugs feed at night

Bed bugs live in areas where humans and animals sleep. This is not exclusive to mattresses. It can be a couch, chair, carpeting, or even materials that are near these areas. They come out at night and feed, and that food source is you.

Most times, clothing, bedding and furniture from a home with a bed bug problem can be treated and do not need to be thrown away. If you decide to dispose of items, they should be carefully sealed in a plastic bag or container first so the bed bugs don't spread.

It can be difficult to eliminate bed bugs, but it's not impossible. Don't throw out all of your things because most of them can be treated and saved. Throwing stuff out is expensive, may spread the bed bugs to other people's homes and could cause more stress.

How can bed bugs get into my home? They can come from other infested areas or from used furniture. They can hitch a ride in luggage, purses, backpacks, or other items placed on soft or upholstered surfaces. They can travel between rooms in multi-unit buildings, such as apartment complexes and hotels.

It is not normal to see bed bugs after treatment especially the same ones. If you still have bed bugs after 3 treatments it is most likely because they are coming into your home again from you frequently visiting a place that has a bed bug infestation.

Tell a few people if you can, and make sure they know you don't want this information passed around. Ask for a hug, if you feel so inclined; physical touch can be comforting. Lastly, do everything in your power to get rid of the bugs. Call an exterminator and follow all advice they give.

Bed bugs can have a specific preference of blood type while some may only be present on the side or part of the bed. These bugs might be present in another bed and not yours. A different bed bug type might also bite you or ward them off without realizing what they are doing.

Inspect the bed in detail including the headboard, frame, and box springs. If you have a metal bed frame using a flashlight to illuminate the interior of the metal tubing. Closely inspect the grooves in hardwood flooring, especially beneath or around the bed. Look along the bottom and top of the baseboards.

Mattresses and pillows make potential habitats for bed bugs. Pillows may also be host to bed bug eggs, making them a potential point of bed bug infestations. A possible sign that bed bugs have infested pillows may be the appearance of bites.

Staying in close contact with these scents will make it difficult for you to breathe and even cause nausea. Essential oils like cinnamon, lavender, peppermint, and tea tree are fantastic for preventing bed bug infestation! Make your spray bottle of these natural repellents.

While it's possible just a few hitchhikers found their way into your home after scuttling onto a piece of luggage after a hotel stay, or clinging to an overnight guest's clothing, if you find any, there are probably more. Bed bugs are not solitary creatures, and they live in large groups.

Bed bugs are generally considered to be nocturnal and prefer to forage for a host and take a blood meal during the night. They also will come out in the daytime or at night when lights are on, in order to take a blood meal, especially if there were no human hosts in the structure for a while and they are hungry.

If you're awake, they will usually latch onto your clothing or hide in your back or any belongings, then wait for the right moment when they can bite and feed on you. They might stay on your clothes or belongings or move to nearby items and hide until they are ready to come out and eat.

Heat is one of the best ways to kill bed bugs. Pest experts use professional heating elements to kill bedbugs. You can also use a steam cleaner with a diffuser to kill bed bugs hiding in fabrics and baseboards.

Ultimately, it can take mere minutes to travel from room-to-room, with infestations growing in a matter of weeks or months. Every day, bed bugs can lay between one and 12 eggs, and anywhere from 200 to 500 eggs in a lifetime.

A bed bug cannot fly, they can only crawl, so chemical treatment makes the most sense. The University of A&M has shown that chemical vs. heat when properly prepared for and carried out by a proficient certified applicator both have a 97% kill rate leaving 3% behind to proliferate.

The life span of a bed bug most commonly ranges from four to six months. However, some bed bugs may live up to a year under cool conditions and with no food.

Bed bugs are not a sign of a dirty home or poor personal hygiene. Bed bugs are hitchhikers - they travel to new places by hiding in furniture, suitcases, or other objects that get moved around.

Other studies have shown that peak season for bed bugs runs from June through October. Bed bugs appear more prevalent in warmer months likely due to an increase in travel and hotel visits during spring break and summer vacation, as well as college students moving into dorms at the beginning of the school year.