Fleas!!

[PizzaAndChips]

Help me! I found this little blighter on my 2yr old this morning (see pic). I crushed it in my hands and it was bloody!

So I guess we have fleas - no idea how. We don't have any pets and live in a reasonably urban area. We have a 2yo and a baby. How can we make sure - safely - we don't have an infestation?

It's making me itch just looking at it.

That does look like a flea. Have you had any second hand furniture or are you recently moved in? Fleas can live without a host for several months I think, and tend to hang out at the edges of the room, where the carpet meets the skirting, or around the bottom edges of soft furnishings.

Dog and cat fleas are the most likely. It could just be a one off and it jumped onto your toddler somewhere but I wouldn't expect them to hang around on a person so an infestation's more likely.

You can buy good spray stuff from a vet (Indorex) but personally I'd be inclined to call in the council if you find more evidence. I don't think any flea spray is great for breathing in. I'd rather get them to sort it in one go while you take the children out, than do the DIY spray which you might end up repeating.

The only second hand furniture we have is a wooden cabinet but we bought that back in February. I hope it is a one-off but I've been thoroughly hoovering this morning!

Thank you for the advice.

We had this problem, no pets but a lot of fleas! Hoovering actually hatches the eggs causing more fleas . We got RIP fleas extra from the vet, was about £28 but it seems to have done the job so far...horrible things. Our house is always getting cleaned so I wondered where they had come from but they can even come in with your shoes from outside. Hope you get it sorted

Yes it looks lile a flea, you can pick them up on shoes & clothing just from walking about or on a grass verge though, or as Ashen on 2nd hand items. Have you had your heating on recently? They can lie dormant in carpets etc for years (I seem to remember reading). Make sure you empty your hoover bin in a bag then put it straight outside. Hopefully it's just the one.

You can tell if it's a flea - it'll jump! Also, if you catch one between your fingers and try to kill it, it'll jump. They wear armour - if you catch one, drown it in a jug of water.

As said, you need to vacuum. More than you think could possibly be necessary. If you don't have pets, you'll probably get rid of them quite quickly by just vacuuming.

@BernardsarenotalwaysSaints - had the heating on this week!

@Cynderella - I crushed the back end of it with my nail (revealing the blood!) and thought that would've done it. Then I put it on the paper with it's severed abdomen and it was still trying to escape so I crushed its head. Disgusting creature, how dare it survive!!

Oh and @weelis02, is that toddler friendly stuff?

I use Indorex. Does seem to.work but it does smell so I woukd spray the whole house and then go out for the day.

I don't think any of them are very good to inhale but I had a 4 yo when I first used it and I spayed the whole house and just went out for a few hours, came back and hoovered the whole house and it's fine. It says to ventilate the house too so I just opened the windows. It's a strong smell when you first spray it but when we got back home you couldn't smell it.
Makes sense why it's appeared after putting the heating on, they can hide in the radiators then hatch when they're turned on.
It was the pets at home vet I got the stuff and it worked good for us

Sprayed not spayed

Thanks everyone x

I wouldn't go for chemicals if you don't have pets - it's unlikely they'll bother you much if you keep vacuuming up. I'm pretty sure that cat and dog fleas can't breed without animals in the house.

I'm going to keep up with the hoovering before I go for chemicals. I do hope it was a one off, though!