Possible Flea Bites

Hi C.,

Could be dust mites. I am a customer of a company in which there is a product that you spray on mattresses, etc. which is chemical free and GETS RID of bugs/dust mites, etc. ALL products are awesome!! I've been a satisfied customer for a year. Let me know if you'd like to know more.

K.:)
____@____.com

Hi C.:

I presume flea clean-up is similar to lice. When my 5 year old recently got lice we had to either wash or bag all of her stuff .... dolls, stuffed animals and the like ... that was on her bed. As a safety precaution, I also did the stuff around her bed. And vaccum as much as you can ... since they are tiny, we did it several times.

Good luck, J.

I use a product called Sol-u mel.It gets rid of bed bugs and keep them away. I spray it in my children's rooms and on their sheets everyday. It is so non toxic that I can spray the bed with them in it. double bonus is it also kills dust mites which is great for my sons allergies. I also use this spray on my little ones to keep the mosquitoes away. Contact me if you want to know where I get it from.

Here's a site with some info on bed bugs. http://deadbedbugs.com/
Good Luck getting rid of them!

C.

Hello...we had the same problem...never had it before but we do have 2 cats...anyway we purchased a few of a thing called The Flea trap because I didnt want to use any sprays or anything like that because I also have a baby girl in the house and my almost 4 year old son. anyway we put one under each bed and under the couch in the living room and all the fleas were eventually gone and dead on this thing. the website is www.biconet.com...It works!!

D. <let me know how u make out :-)>

Do you have pets? Fleas are hard to get rid of...you'll have to treat your pets and bomb the area.

Did you consider bed bugs? Look up some info on them. If you don't have pets and it is bed bugs, you'll need to call an exterminator.

Do you have a pet? Then the fleas would be a possibility or if he is outdoors most of the time. I think it would be best to assume, you have bedbugs. Fleas are visible to the eye and jump all about. They would also be on his person...in his hair, behind his ears, the nape of his neck. Flea bites generally result in the formation of a slightly-raised swollen itching spot with a single puncture point at the center. The bites often appear in clusters or lines, and can remain itchy and inflamed for up to several weeks. If he is going to bed and waking up bitten, it may be bedbugs.
Bedbugs are nocturnal and are attracted by exhaled carbon dioxide and body heat,and they feed on blood. Bedbug bites will usually affect only the surface of your skin, revealing themselves as small itchy red bumps known as papules or wheals. You can try trapping them by placing double-sided carpet tape in long strips near or around the bed and check the strips after a day or more. Whether it is fleas or bedbugs, you may also have to get a new mattress altogether. If he has carpeting you may need to steam clean. Make sure to wash everything in hot water. Frequent vacuuming is also helpful, but you must immediately dispose of the vacuum bag for both fleas and bedbugs. Good Luck!

Mom,

If you have a pet, you need to CLEAN your Pet,
then spray the rugs, and bedding, to KILL the fleas or they will just multiply,

As for the yard
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/fleas.htm

AFter treating the home you need to then CLEAN up the poison.

NOTHING else will do.

and plastic bedding will NOT get rid of your infestation,

If you do not treat the problem it will only get worse.

M

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu95_HfpHMEgAGohXN...

Hi there hun,
Your doing the right thing changing his linens,and to wrap the matteress but first vacuum the mattress and surrounding area. If you have carpet take household borax and sprinkle it all over the carpet, everywhere there is carpet: leave it over night. Put a flea collar in the vacuum and vacuum it all up the next morning; throw it away after you finish vacuuming making sure it is out of the house and wrapped tightly in a plastic bag. Be vigilant with the borax for at least a week. Make sure you clean the walls as well, it could be a multitude of things from fleas to bed bugs to dust mites, they can all leave the same bite pattern. The flea thing happened to me when I was pet sitting, I had no idea the dog was infested which then infested my house and I had carpet eveywhere. This process also worked for my friend who had dust mites.

PS. if you were wondering what the borax was for, it dries out the ares and fleas can't live there so they search for other places.

I hope this works for you so good luck.

Go to http://www.diatect.com/bed-bug-killer-ppc.php for a natural solution that is kid-safe (Diatech Results). It is based on diatomaceous earth, which dries out the bugs. I ordered it but have not used it yet, but it gets good reviews. Bed bugs seem to be everywhere now and I'm expecting them in my home soon...my babysitter AND my housekeeper have experienced serious infestations in their apartments in recent months. It's just a matter of time before they arrive on their clothes, in their bags, etc. My son and I were bitten a month ago and never since and we realized our problem is fleas brought in by our 2 outdoor cats that sleep on my bed!! (or perhaps a rogue bedbug visitor that we vacuumed up) I treated the cats with Revolution and just ordered the flea trap mentioned in another post - I hope it works! I am vaccuuming alot. Changing bedding frequently and washing and drying on HOT. Good luck! You are not alone. BTW, to report or view bedbug infestations near you, go to www.bedbugregistry.com

it is quite possible that the bites are not flea bites but bed bug butes, no offense. my family and i travelled to spain in 2003 and each morning my husband and 3 yrs old woke up with red marks on different parts of their respective bodies. i did not get these marks until the end of the 2 week. our two older children who slept in a different room also woke with red marks as well. we only found out they were bed bug bites through the travel company when they called us at our hotel the night we were leaving. they do appear to look like flea bites and on my husband who must have been alergic to them, his hands swelled, his foreamrms and hands were the only areas bitten. the pediatrician gave us all a precription for a body lotion wash and i cleaned all of the clothes with hot water. do some research on them since it is not really necessary to throw out your bed since they really do not live in the bed but in the seam where you can vacuum and in the wood which i believe must be cleaned with a bleach.

hi! i'm probably wrong, but because you said that he woke up with the bites on, have your mattress checked. are you sure they aren't bed bugs. if he's getting flees, you would have to come in contact daily with an animal. if you have pets , have them checked.

I would definitely suggest looking for bedbugs. The symptoms you describe are much more consistent with bedbugs. I also recommend an exterminator. These suckers are hard to get rid of, we went through several treatments, with one recurrence a year later. Best of luck!!
(PS if you rent, or are in multiple unit bldg, make SURE your landlord treats the other units too. The bugs can travel. The landlord should also pay for the treatments)

Sorry for this being late, but we discovered we had bed bugs the night we came home from the hospital (happy welcome home!); apparently the landlord sprayed all the other apartments while I was in the hospital since the bugs moved in from across the street (from a set of condemned buildings).

So, a couple of things we've been told:

1. Get a spray bottle of rubbing alcohol. When its safe and you happen to see a bug, spray it down with the alcohol. Should kill it on the spot.

2. To keep it from spreading, get put sturdy plastic bowls (like Gladware) under each leg of the bed and posts. Fill the bowls with mineral oil. They won't go near it.

3. Even though they are killed by heat, they are attracted to it (thinking there's a body nearby). Don't freeze yourselves, but keep your home cool - this includes keeping computers, TV's, etc., turned off when not in use.

4. When you make your beds make sure nothing is touching the floor or walls. Make sure your curtains are touching nothing as well.

I realize this is an old post, but there seems to be a lot of interest. We finally got rid of our fleas using fleabusters (1-800-666-3532) or fleabusters.com. Some places will apply the stuff, but I did it myself. It took about 6 weeks for the fleas to disappear, but now they've been gone over a year. The flea bombs didn't work for us.

C.,
I was wondering how things are going with your son and his bed bug bites. My kids used to have mysterious bites, and I always would say that they are bed bugs :-) I have been using some really great "Green" cleaning products and have seen a tremendous difference...not as many bites! If you are interested in finding out more about them please let me know!

R.

Hi. One thing you can do after the bug guy comes out and gets rid of your bugs is go down to your health food store... I go to Sunshine Natural Foods on Fair Oaks and Madison in Fair Oaks. They are very knowledgeable. Anyway, what I do every time we change the sheets is put drops of 100% lavender oil and eucalyptus oil on the matress pad and after about 10 minutes or so, I cover it with the comforter until the sheets are out of the dryer... if you make the bed right away, I would wait maybe 15 minutes or so and then make the bed. My late husband told me that for some reason the bugs do not like the oils. I went to a party one time, mid-summer, shaved legs and afterwards put the mixture of grapeseed oil and lavender on my legs and everyone else but me got bug bites. Anyway, you can get the smaller bottles of each (1 oz) and it has a built-in dropper. I would say though you need to be sure the mattress pad is dry before you make the bed because you do not want to get these oils in the eyes... on the fingertips and rubbing the eyes scenario.

C.

Hi,
We just had bedbugs back in December (actually got them at the London Heathrow airport -- we slept on cloth seats in one of the terminals inbetween a 6 hour layover) I caught them quickly because I'm allergic to the bites -- they give me huge welts -- which I discovered once we were on the plane -- I've lived in Africa and India -- and had them there -- but NEVER brought them home before! Apparently a few of them hid in our daughter's clothing and a few weeks later we noticed huge bites on her too - she had developed an allergy to them as well. It totally sucks, and I freaked out. I washed and/or put through the dryer everything in our house -- all the toys, all the clothes, all the bedding. Then I put them in sealed plastic bags and kept everything we didn't immediately need in the garage. We threw out her mattress, had her sleep in the livingroom for a couple of weeks after they fumigated her room -- then after no sign of more bugs we bought a new mattress and immediately put a zippered up cover over it -- one that keeps out dust mites would work for bedbugs too. I made sure that I kept all of our cleaned clothes in sealed plastic bags that we dressed out of before we went to school and work respectively. It was extremely time consuming and expensive -- cost $1500. Luckily it paid off -- we got the suckers -- never had another bite after the fumigators came. I just couldn't deal with the idea of having them come back over and over -- there are tons of nightmare stories on the web. I'm really truly sorry you are having to deal with this. Bedbugs are pervasive and so annoying. The only good thing is that besides making you itch they can't really hurt you -- they do not spread any diseases. This has become more and more of a problem in the past decade -- most Americans don't even know they exist-- but there are huge problems in NYC and San Fran. with them -- mostly because people are uneducated.
Do you have a guess as to where they came from? My exterminator told me that he knows of an apartment complex in Concord where the tenants have had problems with them, if it gets bad enought the landlord has to go in and remove all the carpets and replace the flooring -- we'll there are actually some people who want the new carpets so bad that they bring discarded bedbug ridden mattresses into their apartments so they can get a remodel too! Unfortunately, if there are enough of them bedbugs can travel in apartment buildings...
Okay, sorry to be such downer. Just had to get the facts out there.
Good luck. I will be thinking of you.
~S.

OH MY GOSH! I have not read my mamasource in awhile, and
coincidentally I looked at it this morning. My 15 month
old has been waking up the last 3 to 4 days with red spots
all over his body, more each night. At first I thought
they were chiggers (we went to the lake this last weekend)
but now I think we have bedbugs because he had more spots
this morning. I am going to call an exterminator, but
I don't know what is recommended for his bedding...I've
taken his crib apart (all the bedding & mattress) but
I do not see any bugs anywhere. Maybe they are in the
carpet and crevices? Do I wash all his linens in hot
water...what all are you doing? Thanks for any help you
can give me C.! D.

You need to get a flea spray or a flea bomb at the pet shop. You can do this yourself or hire an exterminator to spray for you. After you spray you need to vacuum often. Also remember to change the vac bag. Another trick is to cut up a flea collar and put it in the vacuum bag to kill any live fleas in there. You don't want them getting out after you have vacuumed. Then wash everything again.(bedding)....They are attracted to white and light clothing, and body heat. If you have a pet you need to get the animal treated too. They also leave behind what they call "flea dirt" it looks like little black specs.I hope this helps, as you can tell we had a problem not that long ago, sometimes you need to spray a few times before you can get rid of them.

Hello everyone

i just learned from one of friends recently... She spread regular salt over the rugs , the floor and sofa or recliner etc for overnight. Be sure to not let dogs or cat walking walking over salted rug or floors etc.. Next morning she vacuumed all everything etc then throw (vacuum) bag out she was very curious to see inside of the bag and was shocked to see thousands of flea etc cant see eggs but repeat few nights till anybody stop itch or no more red bites... Then do it once two weeks .. I do not try yet because i dont have any problem but i will try sometimes this month to prevent from fleas visiting our house due to the summertime..
I have no idea about bed bedding but should try as salt can burn fleas... Of course no one sleep on it till it vacuums very well.
Please let me know if u have sucess with salt solution
so i can report to my friend.. Have great day

Ooh, we had bed bugs when we moved into our apartment four years ago. We had an exterminator in several times, but to no avail-apparently they would just move to other parts of the building and come back. What finally worked for us was the Raid flea bomb-it put out a really fine mist that got in everywhere and was residual for something like 4 months. Good luck!

Hi C.,

If you are ever interested in getting to meet so new people, I would love to meet new people as well. I am a stay at home mom with a 1 year old boy & a 9-year old girl. I am originally from up north & moved down to Florida about 12 yrs ago...All of my family is up north & it is really hard to meet people down here, especially when you are tied up with kids. So, trust me, I know what you are going threw with being alone down here. If you ever need any guidance or help, suggestions or ideas, please feel free to contact me...My husband & I own a local business here in Sarasota & we have alot of contacts.My son & I also belong to a mommy & me playgroup which is alot of fun...If you are interested in finding out more about it, please contact me...Oh & as far as your
your sons bites, funny that you should say that, the same thing, same exact thing has happened to my daughter...
I stripped her bed, cleaned it really good, washed everything & hopefully it will solve the problem...Thanks,

A.

He may in fact have flea bites but we had a similar issue. My daughters had painful mildly itchy red bumps that seemed to spread. I originally thought they were measles or chicken pox (though they're vaccinated) or some other type of rash, then I started to think maybe bites. When they began to spread to my other daughter we wen to the doctor; it took four doctors to figure out that they had foliculitis. Hot tub foliculitis from our own backyard. They had to take a strong antibiotic for several days and they came back when they went in the jacuzzi again a few weeks later (we treated them with phisohex - which worked way better than the oral antibiotics). I always like to compare the doctor's diagnosis to online images and symptoms to make sure I can agree. You might check out pictures of flea bites and make sure it's consistent.

I am glad that you were able to determine what they were from and are taking the steps to get rid of them.

Just an FYI. Just because you do not own pets does not mean you can not get a flea infestation. If you come into contact with fleas whether it was from a friend, neighbor or another family members dog/cat or any other pet you can bring them into your house and have a huge problem if they stay. Also, they can come in from your yard if they are heavily populated in your area.

Best of luck.

I see that you are also getting an exterminator. Two things, consider the toxicity of the chemicals and make sure it is a non toxic exterminator. If not, have your child not sleep near the area for a few days. Also look for a birds nest near any windows. We had bird mites and they come in once the birds are gone from the nest. They bite. They die after about three weeks because they need birds to live off of and not humans.

There is a lot to do to really get rid of bed bugs. They do not live in the mattress but rather in wood. Make sure that you have an exterminator who specialized in bed bugs coming to your house. My friends just went through this and it took about 2 months to get everything done. They will just keep coming back.