Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite! As a child, you might have thought this was just a silly rhyme. You might have even thought that bed bugs weren’t real. Be assured, they are very real, if they infest your home, you are in for a miserable night. Here’s how you can handle their intrusions.
Prevention
The best time to stop a bed bug infestation is before it starts. They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The most important prevention measure is cleanliness. Bugs thrive in dirty places, so make your home as clean as possible. Regularly change your sheets, vacuum/wash the floors, and keep things tidy. Next, make it difficult for the bugs to enter. Patch holes in the wall. Even if they don’t lead outside, holes in the walls give bed bugs a great place to live. Inspect your windows for cracks in the caulking. Seal up any that you find.
Treatment
If you discover signs of bedbugs in your home, take action immediately. Bed bugs can lay hundreds of tiny eggs the size of dust specks. They reproduce three times a year. Any delay can lead to things getting out of control quickly. Your first step is to strip your bed, curtains, clothing, and wash it all. Then scrub your mattress with a dry stiff brush and then vacuum it immediately. Vacuum the floors, clean up clutter. Get tightly woven covers for your mattress and box springs.
Aftermath
Bed bugs are attracted to humans and may leave bites that require medical attention. If you are experiencing an infestation, contact your doctor. Keep him/her updated if you start developing any abnormal symptoms. Be aware that bed bugs can survive up to a year without feeding. You should keep a case on your mattress for at least that long, if not longer. You may wish to consider getting a new bed and mattress altogether. If your best efforts are failing, you may need to reach out to a professional pest control company. These professionals can lay down poisons that will kill the offending bugs.
A bed bug infestation is no laughing matter. Your sleep is very important, and you will not rest well as long as those pests are around. Fortunately, prevention is mostly a matter of regular cleaning and home maintenance. Treatment can quickly stifle the infestation if you act immediately. Do if the bugs come biting, don’t hesitate — jump into action and wipe them out.