Bed Bugs in Our Hotel Room!

[momhappy]

^Yes, I had a similar situation to monarch. I was a chaperone for one of my children's overnight school field trips and I was forced to stay at the hotel the school chose. I did my usual bed bug inspection upon arrival and did see a couple of bed bug warning signs. I was freaked out, but did the best I could with the situation I had and I didn't want to make a big scene. I kept all of our belongings in the bathroom and upon leaving the next day, I bagged up all of our things. When I got home, we immediately changed clothes and I kept everything outside sealed in bags for days until I washed everything in a sanitary laundry cycle and then dried them on high heat setting. It's creepy and gross, but if handled properly, you should be okay.

 

[Gypsy]

Okay so this is a personal fear of mine as well. So I hope I haven't fueled the flames of your anxiety too much. My husband worked very hard to eliminate the bed bug problem is a property he managed and I still have nightmares about it. Especially since one of my coworkers also went through a bad infestation at a similar time and it was a year long process for her to get rid of it (she didn't check the room in Vegas she stayed in, didn't find the bed bugs until they had already had a firm foothold in her place).

The best thing you can do is take all the precautions you can and control what you can, which is your stuff and your home. Make sure you are safe and that your stuff is contained in a double bag away from the house. And start there. Find out about treatments and start treating what you can, and throwing out what you can't.

It is manageable at this point. So just put one foot in front of the other and do it until you feel safe. The rest--dealing with this place etc. can come after you are safe and secure.

 

[House Cat]

Thanks everyone. I actually appreciate the level-headed perspective more than you know. I have an extreme aversion to bugs that can take over the home. To give you the tiniest of clues, my mattresses are already in bed bug proof encasements and have been since the first reports in 2010.

I am going to just keep my thinking very, very compartmentalized. There are the many ifs. There IS what I am doing to address the ifs. I can probably hold back the catastrophizing if I stay in the logic.


If not, I will just throw everything away! That really IS an option.

 

[HopeDream]

A home freezer for 7 days is definitely enough to kill bedbugs. I know because I've killed them that way. (4 years ago We rented a cheap apartment, and 5 bugs came in from another unit. The landlord had the place sprayed, all the bugs died and everything was fine.)

You just have to go a little below freezing and the water in the bug expands as it freezes it pops the innards and and kills the bug.
Just put all your soft belongings in a bag and stick them in the freezer for a week.

A garment steamer will cook them really well too, so use a garment steamer to steam your suitcase clean. Just be thorough.

Bed bugs are quite easy to get rid of as long as you don't have a full blown invasion. (Which you don't)

You can handle this, and everything will be fine!

 

[missy]

Sorry you are going through this House Cat. I hope you are finding reassurance and peace in this good advice from PSers. Seems like you have this under control thankfully and wishing you bed bug free days and nights from hereon in!

Just want to say this is a personal fear of mine and I am glad this is being resolved easily for you. We have 2 couple friends who went through a nightmare with bed bug infestation (which thankfully you do not have!) and it was very challenging becoming bed bug free. It was a long process and they had to wrap up all their books (of which they had many) to suffocate the bed bugs and it took a very long time.

Sending you bed bug free (((HUGS))).

And wishing for all PSers,
Sweet dreams and sleep tight
Stay away bed bugs
may never you bite