Help! Mouse in the nursery

[OneLittleHopper]

Just went upstairs to check on my 7mo DS asleep in his cot in his nursery and watched in horror as a mouse shot across the floor! Almost managed to catch it after a stake-out but the little b*gger evaded us. I had seen what I can only assume was the same mouse in the dining room (directly below the nursery) earlier in the week but was hoping my cleaning efforts had paid off. The house is fairly clean but DS is still at the throwing everything on the floor stage of weaning, so I suspect additional bits of food waste might have attracted the mouse in the first place. But I'm not sure why it would have gone into the nursery in that case? Haven't seen any droppings or anything...

So, what to do? I think it must have got into DS's room through the air vent in the chimney breast that connects the two rooms. Is it possible it will just go if I make sure there is no food waste left around/we block holes up etc? Or do we need to be putting traps down? Obviously having it in DS's room is hideous, but it wouldn't actually climb into his cot would it?

Sorry about all the questions - I feel ick just thinking about it.

Sorry but it is unlikely to be the same mouse in both places. I had a mouse in our utility room. Tried humane traps - useless. I blocked every hole I could find. I think the cats brought it in and left it to survive. Never saw any sign in any other room though.

Mice are fantastic climbers and can squeeze through tiny gaps.
If you don't have a cat, you'll need to get some traps. The nasty thing with mice is that they constantly dribble wee, so you really don't want them in the house. Have a go with the humane ones if it bothers you to kill them, but failing that, you might need something a bit more lethal.

I'd block up the holes and put down traps myself. The Big Cheese traps are really good IME - clean, quick and easy to dispose of the dead mouse without having to touch it.

ordinary Mouse trap and a big dollop of peanut butter - irresistable!

Then! Dettox your carpets!!! especially the edges! good luck!

we got some sonic things which seemed to have worked (after the second night) also poison to actually get rid of them.

I feel your horror. Good luck

Raisins & chocolate are irresistable to mice too. I used to leave a raisin on the floor to check that we'd got rid of all the mice.

They breed prolifically. There will be loads in your house of course you wont see them partying together eating your crumbs but they are there.

I recommend these baited with peanut butter.

www.amazon.co.uk/Procter-Bros-Ltd-Electronic-Killer/dp/B000FII3YM/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&qid=1305499254&sr=8-27

When it catches one it lets you know and can be reused. It is expensive but it is mess free. Worked quickly on a mouse that was so clever it evaded our killer cat.

Good luck. I hope that you get it. We also have the plug in sonic things. Not sure how good they are but can't hurt to try.

Thanks everyone - I am off out to buy some traps today. Came down this morning to find droppings in the kitchen. I feel like the worst housewife ever. And today is DS's first day at nursery. It's all a bit much. Still, he's probably better there than in my vermin-infested house .

OLH, don't fell bad, shit happens! It doesn't mean you are crap, its life! Most people don't wander around admitting to all and sundry that they have mice, but it is common!! Hope your Ds had a good day at nursery.

Thanks KickArseQueen - I feel much better now! And DS had a very good day at nursery. Just hope all the mousetraps in his room don't wake him up when they decapitate all the mice

Last night I hung a couple of bits of cloth soaked with peppermint oil in and sprayed a water and peppermint oil mixture around the undersink cupboard ( which is where our mouse gets in) and this morning no sign of mouse activity.
So far so good.

OneLittleHopper Same here, mice and weaning baby. It is horrible .

Put the traps against the walls as they rung along the edge of a room. I hate bringing ds down in the morning and having to quickly whisk away the traps, thinking about him going near them gives me pains. But we've caught a few.

Apparently they have a population boom after a snowy winter.

I am feeling tentatively a bit more optimistic now as haven't seen any further signs of mice since Monday - maybe they were just holidaying on their way to somewhere more far flung?! We have put traps down but haven't caught any yet. Further inspection did reveal mouse droppings in the corners of DS's room though and, even worse, in the pile on his deep-pile rug that he plays on every day. I can't believe I hadn't noticed them

Don't feel bad about this - we have had similar issue on/off, live in an old house - leave the traps down and hang in there. I felt revolted when we first found droppings etc, but our house IS clean and it is unfortunately one of those things. We had the pro poison down too but it didn't seem to do the trick. Seem to have got rid of the visible signs for now but I am still paranoid they will return! I have a 7 mth old baby too, thankfully she isn't on the move yet!

I got some really good rentokil poison traps which are like a tunnel the mouse runs into to get the bait (poison obv) but because it's a tunnel, little fingers can't get to it so it's fairly safe in houses with kids (don't put in toybox obv.).

You need to keep treating for a week after you have seen the last sign of mice because there is never just the one with mice and they breed like umm mice.

But yes you do have to kill the buggers.

I don't like traps as I got a finger in a rat trap when I was tiny.

I use poison. You have to have lots of little dishes round the edges of rooms, under kitchen cabinets etc. as mioce cruise around and have a nibble here, a nibble there. I use red flowerpot dishes as they are very easy to see. You keep toppng them up every day until they stay full.

I have always previously used the Rentokil Rat and Mouse blue grains which come in a big plastic bottle like a washing-up-liquid bottle (the little packets work out more expensive) but a gardener friend recommended the cubes or blocks. These look like wax, and the mouse gnaws it to get at the poison inside. Advantage is it is proof against damp, and not likely to be eaten by birds or pets. As you have small children in the house I think I would go for under the kitchen units and at the back of cupboards where it is out of the way. Having numerous small sets of bait reduces the risk that anything will eat much.

If you use bright red saucers like me you will easily see where they are so you can remove if you see any risk. Do not clean round the dishes as they will be attracted by the scent of other mice.

They may be in any room in the house but will prefer kitchen cupboards and anywhere food is spilled or dripped, including behind the cooker, and round the pet's bowl.

In my case they get into the garage when open, and then climb into the house. They can climb stairs.

Put all your dry goods (flour, cornflakes, chocolate biscuits, rice, dried fruit) in biscuit tins or glass jars. You will have to throw away any food they have got at as they dribble wee constantly.

We used these which are very safe around small people but very effective.