Bed bugs 😫 pic

[Roozy123]

AIBU to burn my flat down 😐😑

Both kids come up on spots Monday. Assumed chicken pox, didn't itch and redness went down the next day.

I wash all bedding etc the same day.
Today I thought I would double check the beds.
The kids have racing car beds that are low to the floor, slates are around 3 inches for the floor.
Pulled the mattress up, saw one teenie tiny bug.. killed it.
Then saw a couple on the carpet, under the slates. I placed a white baby wipe down and a couple travelled onto it.

I'm assuming bed bugs, baby bed bugs in the pic... I've called for fumigation for Friday midday and the kids can sleep in with me tonight, I've attached a pic.

They're bedbugs aren't they? 😑😑

[Roozy123]

Okay.. no clue why the pic is blurry once uploaded. That's annoying 😒

[Roozy123]

I'm very tired... I apologise for every mistake in this post 🥴

[Guavaf1sh]

Do you have a cat? Could be cat fleas

[BelieveInRainbows]

Hmm I don't think they're bed bugs. Not sure what else they could be though, I may be wrong. Bed bugs are sort of flat and oval shaped and even baby ones are bigger than that ime though. We had a terrible infestation years ago. They leave a sweet musty smell when squished, have you noticed that at all? They're awful things to get rid of.

[Roozy123]

No cat, no pets at all. They move really quickly. Some were see through and tiny. I haven't seen any signs of bed bugs- black splodges etc on the bedding. Nothing on mattresses.
The kids have been bitten and these little things are under the bed 😫 £320 for a bloody fumigation service, council won't come out because of covid. They said its the only service they aren't doing. Of course.. just my luck as would have been half the price for me.

I don't want to risk leaving them, hoovering etc trying to get rid and they are bed bugs and get out of control 😩 bloody things. No idea why the pic is SO blurry either once uploaded. 🧐

[Roozy123]

I'll try another pic. If blurry again then I give up lol. This were two attached bum to bum... for what ever reason.

[Myusernameisnotmyusernameno]

I've just found this if it helps

[Myusernameisnotmyusernameno]

@Roozy123

I'll try another pic. If blurry again then I give up lol. This were two attached bum to bum... for what ever reason.

Maybe they're making baby ones . Hope you get it sorted OP

[Braverysalute]

Yeah that looks like a bed bug. Have you been holiday or bought secondhand furniture or soft furnishings?

[Roozy123]

I'm burning my home....

The audacity they have to mate right in front of me 😐😑
I'm booking fumigation and right now boil washing everything!!!!

I don't own a tumble drier as it exploded on me (2021 has been wonderful 😐) do you think boil washing everything and hanging it out will keep them away from the clothes , once dried i will bag the clothes up u til fumigation happens.

[curiouscatgotkilled]

We had BB once, it was horrendous! But we got rid of them. Council fumigation came but I think what really got rid of them was chucking out all the beds and bedding. Which was an expensive decision at the time.

It's shite! But you'll get rid of them in the end.

[Roozy123]

No, nothing. I'm so confused as to how they've got here!?
Im trying to exchange my flat and had 2 new people come and view and they sat down and stayed a while.. other than that grandparents visited the kids.

I know these things can travel on anyone at any time so god knows. But, no new furniture and no holidays.

[Roozy123]

@curiouscatgotkilled shall I throw the kids beds away and mattress and then get it fumigated? Or keep them and get it fumigated? I dunno what to do for the best 😩 I would run away but I think at 34 with 3 kids it's frowned upon.

I've been SO stressed today I was sick, not eaten yet.. just a wreck. So glad you were able to get rid!!

[BelieveInRainbows]

Ah okay, that looks more bed bug like!

We also ended up having to ditch our beds/bedding and any wooden furniture. It was awful but fumigation just didn't work for us (3 bloody times!) and they ended up out of control. They were living on everything. Makes me feel ill remembering it!
We got cheap metal framed beds to do us in the meantime and those plastic tower drawers, boil washed everything and sealed it immediately in vacuum bags. We put these trap things under the bed legs, the bugs can climb in but not out, and they worked amazingly well at catching the majority of them. I rented a carpet washer and used that every other day, hoovered every day, wiped and sprayed all the furniture every single day. It all worked in the end but it was a NIGHTMARE.

I hope the fumigation is successful for you OP.

[Wallywobbles]

Diatomaceous earth is you non toxic friend. Buy a big tub. It desiccates them.

[curiouscatgotkilled]

[quote Roozy123]@curiouscatgotkilled shall I throw the kids beds away and mattress and then get it fumigated? Or keep them and get it fumigated? I dunno what to do for the best 😩 I would run away but I think at 34 with 3 kids it's frowned upon.

I've been SO stressed today I was sick, not eaten yet.. just a wreck. So glad you were able to get rid!![/quote]
It's mega stressful! And no one talks about it but loads of people have the same problem. If you can afford to get rid of the beds I would and as a poster above said any wooden furniture. The little blood spots on the sheets are the easiest was to tell if they are in a bed. Try not to let the kids go in the rooms as they may transfer them from room to room.
I had them when my DD was a newborn and we slept on a cot mattress on the floor of my eldest DC room for weeks. It was miserable but they went in the end.

[curiouscatgotkilled]

If it were me I'd Chuck the beds out today and get the room fumigated. That's quite extreme!

[leakymcleakleak]

Don't throw the beds away! And don't have the kids come into your room.

I had, and successfully got rid of, bedbugs about ten years ago. it was super stressful. I also had a bedbug 'scare' after returning from holiday in NYC a few years later and implemented my 'bed bug protocol.'

Thinks to know: they don't usually actually live in the bed, so throwing out the bed won't help. usually they're v close by the bed in tiny little gaps. They will follow carbon dioxide when you breath out to track humans (I know how gross this is) so if you move rooms, you're just guaranteeing the infestation will move to the second room.

What we did: every single item of clothing bagged up, hot washed and put in the dryer for 20 minutes past dry. Anything that couldn't be hot washed, dry cleaned.

Fumigators, twice - the stuff they use doesn't usually kill the eggs. You have to work the timing to perfection to make sure their repeat visit is enough time for any eggs that were there at the first visit to have hatched, but not long enough the bugs are mature enough to mate and leave new eggs.

Wipe things like the bed frame, and put on bed bug proof mattress protectors.

In the first instance, if you think its contained to your kids rooms, I would look to hot wash all the bedding. I'd make sure the fumigators are experienced and will agree to come back. I'd be v v careful about things spreading. There are a few helpful forums, many in the US - I think bedbugger is good? Its achievable, you'll get there, but the main thing is acting as quick as you can.

[leakymcleakleak]

Oh also: big yes to diatomaceous earth to 'supplement' the fumigation. Have found it really helpful.

[BahHumbygge]

Declutter any low value things in your rooms if you like, but don't go replacing expensive things like beds & furniture till you know you're 100% in the clear... you could just end up in a very expensive cycle of replacing mattresses and re-infestations. Best to leave and treat things in situ.

Wash bedding and clothes at 60C + plus tumble dry if possible on hot.

Things that can't be washed, put in the deep freeze for several days (don't open the freezer if poss).

Tidy up and give your rooms a DEEP hoover on full power, including the furniture. Also use a steamer if you have access to one.

Get some Cimexa (it's like diatomaceous earth, but better). It's not poisonous in a toxicological sense, but it is a nasty respiratory irritant, so you must use a respiratory dust mask (not just a light decorating mask). Once it's settled after several hours, it's perfectly safe around kids and pets. You'll want to dust around all the skirting boards, cracks, crevices and joins around your floorboards and furniture. Take the bed frame apart and dust in the holes and joins. The key thing is to put a dusting down between their nests and their food source (YOU! 🤢 ) It works by desiccating their shells, they walk across it, the electric charge on their exoskeleton changes and they dry out. It also means they carry the dust particles back to the nest, so their mates dry out too 😁

Don't use things like bug bombs, as they cause the bed bugs to scatter deeper into the fabric of the walls, and you have a far more deeply entrenched problem on your hands.

[IncessantNameChanger]

Do yours have a smooth thorax? They look to smooth to be bed bugs to me but it's hard to tell from the photo.

Our council used to have a entomologist so you could scoop a few up and see if the council environmental health would still identify them.

[Tal45]

I'd phone the council pest control, ours were brilliant when we had mice.

[Roozy123]

I called the council they said because of covid they aren't offering that service 😒

Well, I've moved the beds, the floor is covered in TEENIE bugs. None on the bed or covers from what I can see. So.... I'm confused. Either way, fumigation is booked for Friday morning and everything is either being binned or boiled!!!!

[user64325]

We had an infestation a few years ago. Fumigators said they couldn't guarantee they would get rid of them and they usually had to come back several times. So we tried doing it ourselves with various bombs, steamers etc and it took a long time but eventually got rid of them with Zero In spray after a friend advised us that is how they got rid of their infestation.

My advise is remove and wash the curtains.
If possible bag up everything in the room and put it outside and wash/spray/freeze/heat treat everything before bringing it back in.
Get bed bug sheets for the mattresses.
Spray bed throroughly or remove if there are any cracks you can't get to.
The tumble dryer will kill them, washing machine only will at 60 degrees. The freezer should kill them but items will need to be left for a few days.

Spray the carpet, curtains, under furniture. Check cracks in wallpaper, check the backs of doors, under toy boxes etc, especially fabric boxes. If there is any spot they can hide in they will just come back. Spray weekly until they are gone.
A high powered steamer can be used instead of or in addition to the spray but we found the spray more effective.

[Elzbells]

They could be bird mites? Any sign of a nest in the roof or anything?

I would be burning the house down too, hope you get rid quickly!