For many of us, laying down in bed at night to get a goods nights rest is bliss after a long hard day working, taking care of the kids, and dealing with life's daily challenges.
But for many, laying down to go to sleep at night is the beginning of a real life nightmare. Many lie down, but cannot sleep, knowing that while they sleep they will be food for hundreds of bed bugs.
Think we're over exaggerating? We're not.
Bed Bugs and the problems caused by them are a harsh reality for millions of people all around the world, as bed bugs make a worldwide comeback.
Fortunately, by following some basic steps, treatment strategies, and lots of persistence, you can once again get a good nights rest, and not wake up covered in new bed bug bites.
How to Stop Bedbugs from Biting You - Immediately
The obvious answer to this question is to get rid of bed bugs in your home. If there are not bed bugs, there are no bed bug bites. But removing bed bugs from your home takes time, sometimes months and even years for some.
Fortunately, there are two very quick and easy steps you can take to almost immediately stop the nightly bed bug bites. While these steps won't get rid of the bed bugs in your home, they will help you sleep and avoid getting bitten:
- Install Bed Bug Mattress and Box Spring Covers - Many of the bed bugs in your home live inside your bed's box spring and mattress (if it has holes or is old). Installing Bed Bug Mattress and Box Spring Encasements will immediately seal all of those bed bugs and their eggs inside your mattress. When they can't feed, they will die. Be sure to fully inspect your bed rails and frame, and spray any bed bugs or bed bug eggs you find as well.
- Install Bed Bug Traps under your bed posts and furniture (especially furniture holding your clothing). Bed Bug Traps keep bed bugs that are hiding in your room from crawling up your bed to feed on you. The bed bugs will get trapped, where you can not only see them but dispose of them as well.
These two steps alone should eliminate a very large portion off bed bugs from reaching you while you're sleeping. In fact, it may even completely eliminate your bites altogether. You'll still want to continue treating your home for bed bugs, but at least you can sleep!
How to Stop Bedbugs from Biting You - Long Term
Now that you can at least sleep in your bed without fear of being bed bug food, you can now focus your efforts on getting rid of bed bugs in your home.
We have a full page dedicated to bed bug treatment, but we'll highlight the most effective strategies here. Be sure to visit our full treatment guide for a more in-depth guide.
1 - Engage A Professional
A professional and experienced Bed Bug Exterminator is going to be the number one most effective option for you. Professionals have experience, knowledge, time, and tools to most effectively combat your bed bug infestation.
We strongly recommend hiring a local exterminator, as bed bug infestations, and even bed bugs themselves can vary based on area and region. A local exterminator will be more familiar with how to best treat bed bugs in your area.
Need a Bed Bug Exterminator?
Get price quotes from qualified local bed bug exterminators near you!
2 - Treat bed bugs yourself
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Gustavo Castillo/Released)
While not as effective as using a professional, many people have been very successful at getting rid their bed bug infestation themselves, using over the counter products. The trick is not really in the products themselves, but the process that you follow.
See bed bugs are very difficult to find. Generally, most people won't actually see bed bugs, but will only see signs of bed bugs. Bed bugs are also very resilient and are excellent travelers both inside of your home and to other areas.
As a result, when treating a bed bug infestation, you must be very careful to not further spread them in your home, or to other areas of your home that you have previously treated.
Our Bed Bug Treatment page and linked articles will walk you through this process, regardless of the treatment options you select. Please note that we said "treatment optionS" not "treatment option". We highly recommend using multiple bed bug treatment strategies together to increase your effectiveness.
Self-treatment options include:
All of these are easy to implement, fairly low cost, and highly effective. The trick is to continue frequent treatment for more than 30 days and to put bed bug detection strategies in place so you can confirm that you no longer have a bed bug problem.
>> Read more on getting rid of bed bugs, on our Bed Bug Treatment Page
Wrapping Up
The most effective step you can take to stop being bedbugs from biting you is to immediately install Bed Bug Traps and Bed Bug Mattress and Box Spring Covers. These simple products will provide immediate relief.
Next, hire a professional exterminator if you can. If you can't, begin treating the problem yourself as quickly as possible. Be sure to continue treatment for more than 30 days, and continuously check for bed bugs to be sure you're making progress.
If you currently have bites, be sure to treat them properly to avoid infection, which can be life-threatening.
Now, go get some bed bug bite free sleep, you earned it!
