Any bedbug experts out there???

[goofy4tink]

Here's the story.....dd went off to camp a week ago, on Sunday, June 28. On Tuesday, she called me to tell me that they were being moved to a different dorm because there had been bedbugs in her bldg and in her room. The counselors took a change of clothes, pj's and bedding for each kid and washed it. Then, gave it back to the kids to sleep in, once they moved them to the new bldg. Then, they washed everything else..including my dd's Corduroy plush who have been very well loved for 13 years..that freaked the kid out a bit. Also the decorative pillows she brought to brighten her bed were taken to be washed. Okay....she didn't get any bites, but the girl in the bunk above her did...saw them on Friday night and that poor girl was a mess...lots of bites on her neck and face.
So...the girls are in a new bldg, new room now...have been since last Tuesday night. Well....dd calls me last night, tells me to ignore the texts she sent me telling me that she had poison ivy (not sure where she would have gotten it in any case). She was told that she had bedbug bites, but they were from the original room..not this new one!!! She was told, by the nurse, that bedbug bites can not show up or react for up to 90 days after the bite happens!!! I just have a hard time believing this!!! My dd is very fair skinned and reacts to everything...in a big way! I can't believe that she got bitten on Monday night and she didn't react to the bites, on her arms, for 6 days!!

Anyone heard of this kind of thing happening??? I don't have a huge issue with the whole bedbug issue..it happens. But if they moved them once, and then bedbugs found their way into that new room, they may be hesitant to move them yet again. And that concerns me. She has almost two weeks more there. Any thoughts as to that whole '90 day' thing??

 

[momof1princess]

it sounds like there are bedbugs in the new room. i'm no expert, but the way i understand it, if you get bitten, which usually occurs overnight during sleep, you wake up the next morning with small, red, painful bites. also, the bites may follow a vein or artery along the skin, b/c the bugs are looking for blood. don't recall where i read that. the rooms will have to be carefully inspected for bedbugs and exterminated. removing the girls from the room and washing their belongings isn't enough.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yep, that has been my understanding as well. It would seem that they missed something and a bug or two was brought in with them.

 

[momof1princess]

your poor daughter i hope she and her roommates are receiving good medical care-i hear those bites can be very painful.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[RadioNate]

They can show up several hours later but I've never heard of DAYS later. The longest I've heard is about 24 hours. 6 days seems extreme. But only about 50% of the population is actually allergic to bed bugs. Does anyone else have any new bites?

I unfortunately have a sever bed bug paranoia and therefore have know too much about it.

They most likely moved from one dorm to the other. They are notorious for hiding into bags etc. EVERYTHING needs to be washed and the entire place needs to be treated. It only takes 1 egg laying bug to start an infestation.

I'd also take HUGE precautions when she comes home. Pack everything into trash bags and take it directly to your washer. HOT water and HOT dryer. If it were me, I'd throw it all away and not even bring it home but I get how that isn't practical. I'd also hose or completely vacuum out any suitcases. Insecticide will NOT kill bed bug eggs!

Make she she isn't leaving suitcases on the bed, piles of clothes on the floor.

Also bugs don't feed nightly. The can go several MONTHS between feedings. Now normally there are a lot of bugs so it seems like they are biting nightly but it is usually different bugs.

Do they know what to look for? Mattress stains. Blood spots on the sheets. Shed casings from bugs and the actual bugs themselves.

 

[NotUrsula]

I'd also take HUGE precautions when she comes home. Pack everything into trash bags and take it directly to your washer. HOT water and HOT dryer. If it were me, I'd throw it all away and not even bring it home but I get how that isn't practical. I'd also hose or completely vacuum out any suitcases. Insecticide will NOT kill bed bug eggs!

Make she she isn't leaving suitcases on the bed, piles of clothes on the floor.

OP, if your washer is indoors, this being summer, you might want to take another step first.

When you pick her up from camp, meet her with big black trash bags, and seal all her stuff inside them before you put it in your car. (Everything, INCLUDING the suitcases.) When you get home, park your car in direct sunlight with all of the windows closed, and leave it there for at least one full day. The object of this game is to get everything inside the car up to a consistent 120 degrees Fahrenheit for at least about 7 hours if you can.

Insecticide doesn't kill bedbugs, but HEAT does kill them, very effectively.
If you turn your car into an oven and bake her stuff before bringing it in, you very greatly reduce the chances of anything surviving long enough to infest your home. The average car will get to 140F pretty quickly in a few hours parked in summer sun with the windows closed.

 

[momof1princess]

personally, i would transfer her clothes and other items from her suitcases to trash bags OUTSIDE the house, take the clothes straight to the washer and throw the luggage away (nowhere near the house). i guess i'm paranoid too, lol

 

[RadioNate]

OP, if your washer is indoors, this being summer, you might want to take another step first.

When you pick her up from camp, meet her with big black trash bags, and seal all her stuff inside them before you put it in your car. (Everything, INCLUDING the suitcases.) When you get home, park your car in direct sunlight with all of the windows closed, and leave it there for at least one full day. The object of this game is to get everything inside the car up to a consistent 120 degrees Fahrenheit for at least about 7 hours if you can.

Insecticide doesn't kill bedbugs, but HEAT does kill them, very effectively.
If you turn your car into an oven and bake her stuff before bringing it in, you very greatly reduce the chances of anything surviving long enough to infest your home. The average car will get to 140F pretty quickly in a few hours parked in summer sun with the windows closed.

GREAT IDEA! I hadn't thought about using the car to raise the temperature.

I think I'm actually going to do this when DH travels. His constant work travel is source of my paranoia.

 

[natnelliesmom]

If I were you I would pick my daughter up at camp asap and demand my money back! 2 more weeks is a long time to be exposed to bedbugs. It's just ridiculous to expect her to stay when the camp is obviously not handling this in the correct way.

As for her things- I would toss whatever is not irreplaceable and bake the rest in a commercial clothes dryer!

Bedbugs gross the heck out of me and I wouldn't be taking any chances!

-Sarah

 

[goofy4tink]

We had this issue a few years ago, but she wasn't really affected....bugs found in a different area of her dorm, but they got moved out anyway. When she got home, the clothes were dumped on the garage floor, and then directly into the washer with hot water/hot dryer. And that seemed to solve any possible issues.
This time around, I'm thinking that someone's luggage brought some passengers along as well. Dd didn't say anything about luggage being taken away and treated. If she has any new bites today, we'll have to see what we can do....perhaps it was a one time thing, or not even bedbugs in the new room/bldg. If she got bites last night, then I guess we'll know why, won't we!!
Take her out of camp and ask for a refund? No, I doubt that will happen. She would be devastated as this is her last year there. Bedbugs can happen any time, anywhere. It's how they are dealt with that gets me.

My issue is with the statement that 'bites can continue to show up for up to90 days after being bitten'...I think not. So, I have communicated my 'issue' with the camp director via an email. I want to have everything in writing, just in case.

I have heard about leaving stuff in the car, to get really heated, before. We'll be doing that with her luggage, stuffed animals. Her pillows are history!!!
Thanks guys...I knew there would be some info out there, from those more experienced than I.

 

[dicar123]

I'm currently dealing with bed bugs.

The car thing is too iffy, IMO, for anything you want to be useable within a few days. The problem is with getting a consistently high temperature to the core of the item for a long enough time. The stuffed animals can be much more easily dealt with in the dryer.

The luggage is trickier because typical luggage has so many nooks and crannies. Sprays will only kill live bugs and not eggs. It would be easiest to place the luggage in a plastic garbage sack, tape it closed and not use the luggage for a year. Leave the bag in the garage or somewhere outside your living space.

If you will need it sooner, you could pack your clothes in large zip bags and then not bring the actual luggage into the home or hotel you are visiting (leaving them in the car or garage).

If you live in a typically hot place, and want to use your luggage soon, I'd try the car for as many days as you can, but also use the zip bags when you travel.

Absolutely take the clothes out of the luggage and place into a garbage bag before bringing them inside the house to wash. I would also recommend daughter leave her shoes (purse?) outside until they can be run through the dryer or washed. Have her change into clean "home clothes" immediately, making sure those dirty clothes never hit the carpet and are placed into a bag for transporting to the laundry area. Probably not a bad idea for her to grab a shower before changing into fresh clothes, just in case.

I agree with you on the pillows, easy to replace.

I assume in camp that all of her things were very near her bed. Wash, heat, freeze or dump all that you can. Bed bugs prefer cloth and wood. We haven't treated any of our electrical items (tvs, computers, IPODs) because we simply don't know what to do with them and they are too expensive to just throw out.

I'd recommend ANYONE who travels anywhere, as quickly as you can manage, start containing your mattresses and boxsprings in cloth, zippered cases. They are pricey, but better than throwing out an expensive bed set or trying to dis-infect one.

Good luck!

 

[Imzadi]

I'm sorry about your DD.

This thread is making me really itchy!