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Original poster

What do I do?! BEDBUGS

70 replies

housedramas · 03/06/2023 08:32

Morning everyone - need some advice please as I don't know how far I go in gutting my house!

Early hours of Friday morning and DD walks into my room complaining that she is itching everywhere, especially in her hair. I look and can see several crawlies, almost white in colour crawling through her hair. Straight in the shower and hair washed plus blasted dry with the hairdryer - definitely NOT head lice. Popped her into my bed to sleep. In the morning then I stripped her bed to find several pinpricks of black, smaller than the white things, burrowing into her mattress. Chucked mattress straight out, opened windows and sprayed room. Yesterday afternoon then I decided that I needed to check my bed as thought they were dust mites maybe. Several really tiny dead bugs on my mattress - really freaked out now so sprayed mine. Went up to make bed a few hours later and saw a black crawly on my pillow, squished it and blood came out - this is bedbugs right?! Spoke to pest control last night who thinks they may be young ones but says the blood is a sign, they are coming out Monday. Other two beds in house (2x DS's) completely clear.

Background - we've never had bedbugs or anything remotely similar before. Moved house three weeks ago into a house which needs a good refurb - think 20 plus year old carpets. We've had to move in as no where else to go and as a single, full time working mum I've been literally rushed off my feet so our stuff is everywhere - think clean washing over lounge floor as I am literally so pushed for time. I've started hot washing everything from DD's room like sheets and teddies and pillows. She had a clothes rail - do I need to wash all this too? I'm thinking of hiring a skip and literally just ripping all the carpets etc out to try some damage limitation - not that I know how far they have gone! House is just covered in 'stuff'. I could cry, I've worked really hard to get us here and I knew we had lots of work to do but the thought that I have brought my children into a potentially bedbug infested house feels soul destroying - I'm well aware of how dramatic this sounds! Should a just get a skip? What should I do?!

OP posts:

Thread gallery

LipService · 03/06/2023 23:10

I suppose theirs is some guess work involved unless you clearly see them or have them under a microscope. It’s like kind of forensic police work - circumstantial evidence sort of.

Kinds of bites and where they bite are another clue. They say usually bed bugs bite in a line (or cluster) of three.

But all the stuff you’re doing should eventually eliminate whatever they are.

The video might make you feel better - when you see one man’s mattress infestation (and he slept on it every night no bother) your own situation might seem a bit easier to deal with …

Original poster

housedramas · 03/06/2023 23:10

Mum of three, eldest 16 - been there, done that - definitely not head lice, unfortunately! I would be positively embracing them if they were 😆 It was the early hours of the morning that DD came into me and I saw them. We've sprayed them with bed bug stuff, mattress protectors on and sheets on top of that... starting to think they may not be BB, what else could they be though?

OP posts:

StillMedusa · 03/06/2023 23:12

My sympathies OP... we had them 18m ago, after Dh (we think) brought them home from a stay in another driver's lorry !
I stripped out our carpet, threw away the bed, mattress and all the furniture (we needed new stuff anyway)! They were confined to our room luckily, but the pest control people sprayed evry room.. had to move all the furniture into the middle, removed all books from all book cases, empty every drawer.. it was like moving house! Spent £££ boiling all clothes, fabrics etc.

Once done, and before we put new flooring down (hard floor.. not having carpet again!) we put diatomaceous earth into the floor boards just in case... brilliant stuff!

Original poster

housedramas · 03/06/2023 23:13

This evenings bites!

OP posts:

Original poster

housedramas · 03/06/2023 23:15

StillMedusa · 03/06/2023 23:12

Once done, and before we put new flooring down (hard floor.. not having carpet again!) we put diatomaceous earth into the floor boards just in case... brilliant stuff!

It's awful how they can spread! My DT is coming tomorrow, I will try putting it under the floorboards too... luckily we are getting rid of our carpets too

OP posts:

LipService · 03/06/2023 23:24

I think bloodstains on the bed sheets are best tell tale signs (if you have white sheets). And some fleas apparently can bite in lines and clusters. You could ask the insecticide people to find evidence first? It’s very difficult unless you see them/catch them or have very strong evidence of infestation and of course I guess you don’t want to wait for that. It’s a toughie.

BackT · 04/06/2023 09:04

In a lot of ways that doesn't sound like typical bed bugs.

You can usually tell by looking in the edges and piping of the mattresses. It looks like tiny pin prick black dots in clusters. Those don't move though...

The bugs themselves aren't likely to be in hair.

Quite hard to eradicate completely but stripping the room will help. If they are in the carpet you probably will have seen the black dots in the corners of the floorboards etc.

Fleas? Did the previous owner have pets?

BackT · 04/06/2023 09:06

I used to work for a holiday keys company and we had them in a number of our properties and never really got rid of them.

Spread in bags of clothes or even teddies etc.

Owner didn't really care and just denied the problem.

BackT · 04/06/2023 09:07

holiday lets

Original poster

housedramas · 04/06/2023 11:24

House was empty for about six months before we moved in as it was previously rented out by the owner. I'm not sure if this would have any effect on anything living still? This is why I'm more inclined to think we've picked something up from removals/storage unit... It is weird though, it doesn't seem typical of bedbugs like some of you are saying though. I'm super confused now though as we can't find anything else. Little did I know when changing my user name a few months ago that we really would have house dramas going on!

OP posts:

LipService · 04/06/2023 12:15

Lots of bugs can live up to a year without hosts I believe, including bed bugs. Let’s hope you haven’t got bed bugs. But your cleaning etc will have been necessary to get rid of whatever it was. Do you still think you need your insecticide professional?

@BackT thats pretty awful them not caring. Instead they’re next new holiday lets taking it home and spreading it around the country. Are you saying new people kept bringing new infestations or old one not cleared up properly?

BackT · 04/06/2023 12:20

The original one didn't clear up properly. In fairness it wasn't through lack of trying but they kept coming back.

Original poster

housedramas · 04/06/2023 12:43

Arghhhh!!!! Just found a tiny black bug and squished it and bright red blood again. Definitely keeping my pest control appointment!

OP posts:

LipService · 04/06/2023 12:46

Oh right. Hotels, even hostels, manage to clear infestations though. I imagine it’s a regular part of their training. Otherwise we’d all have bed bugs. Presumably the holiday lets company didn’t do what they were meant to do, professionally I mean. Not a criticism of you, just a bit puzzled as to why they couldn’t deal with it.

Turmerictolly · 04/06/2023 13:10

Try not to squish the next one. Collect it in a jar for identification.

Hairbrushhandle · 04/06/2023 13:18

You need to bag up all clothes and soft toys and hot wash each one and put it all in the dryer. The dryer kills them much better than the wash apparently. Then once it's all dry you put them in a new bag and sealed until you've had the pest control people round.

All books need to be wrapped in several layers of cling film.

Original poster

housedramas · 04/06/2023 13:21

Hairbrushhandle · 04/06/2023 13:18

All books need to be wrapped in several layers of cling film.

Thanks for the book tip! I wouldn't have thought of that. Soft toys already done and realised the dog is due his flea treatment in a few days so we're going to flea him today instead and with a different treatment than normal. Searched through his fur and can't see anything, though he is black...

OP posts:

lemmein · 04/06/2023 14:45

Have you got any pics of live ones OP? From what you've said it really doesn't sound like bedbugs to me - not that it matters really, I'm sure you want rid no matter what they're called!

Bk110 · 04/06/2023 14:52

I had them once in my daughters room I threw the bed as it was upholstered even though it was only a few months old as well as the mattress! Take every bit of soft fabric, curtains clothes ect to the laundrette and do it all in one hit. Luckily we didn't have carpets but I would get them out ASAP. New bedding and pillows and get the house sprayed.

Valour · 04/06/2023 15:02

Are you sure it's not fleas? This is the time of year for the little fuckers them. We have fleas at the moment- no idea how, no pets, no contact with animals. The bits look similar to me and they can be tiny black dots.

CovetedAsFuck · 04/06/2023 15:13

Mum of three, eldest 16 - been there, done that - definitely not head lice, unfortunately!

But can I ask why not, specifically?

I’m not necessarily saying you’re wrong, but I’m puzzled as to why you are so certain! What you described in your op was exactly how my eldest’s first headlice infestation presented: crawlers moving around in his hair, and they were kind of translucent/whitish when viewed by the light of my phone torch at night.

And bedbugs wouldn’t normally be found running through a child’s hair so there’s that as well…

Elbo7 · 04/06/2023 17:19

My thought was fleas op as we had them when we moved into a house that had previously had cats. We didn't have any pets so the fleas bit us instead. They were everywhere and their eggs lay dormant for up to a year, waiting for a new host. They were very small and bled when squished iirc.

Remotecontrolatmyside · 04/06/2023 17:27

Hoover every few hours and empty your hoover after each time. The hoover vibrations help with hatching and hoover up the eggs and live ones. Needs to be done often to work. Spray too.

Thistlelass · 04/06/2023 19:08

Do you have or a dog? This sounds like fleas to me and she would catch if the animals have been left untreated and they sleep on her bed at times. Been there, had the t shirt although I might expect her to have bites in her shins etc

Saisong · 04/06/2023 19:20

Does sound like fleas tbh. These tiny black things that you squish - do they actually move? Because they could be flea poop. When you squish the poop it makes a red smear on the sheet (been there, done that)

The things in your daughters hair could be flea larvae (gross I know). One of our cats once came home having (we assume) slept somewhere that flea eggs were hatching, there was a gross mass of tiny 'things' wriggling in her fur.

Flea treating your dog may actually be your best weapon in killing these things off.

Good luck x

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