HELP! Both dog & cat have fleas!

ShannersLA

My dog was scratching a lot lately, so this morning, I combed through her hair and found a FLEA!  I then saw around her bum area the flea debris.  My husband then checked our cat (indoor only) and did not find any fleas but saw a lot of bites and debri.  I immediately called our vet.  Since we had our daughter 4 months ago, I know I haven't been consistent with applying the dog's front line and we've never treated our cat since she is indoor only.  We administered a topical that we had leftover on our dog and then went to the vet tonight to pick up flea collars for both of them.  My husband combed through our cat with a flea comb and wasn't able to find any fleas and when he combed through our dog, he found a few more and they were dead.  I am freaking out.  This has never happened to us before! Please, I need some good tips and advice so I don't go crazy!  How do I know if our house is infested?? Will we/should we be able to see them jumping around?? If I vacuum and clean like crazy, will that rid of them?? I am terrified that they will jump on or bite our 4 month old daughter. I am currently washing our bedding and then will do the curtains, pet beds, etc.  My husband read that fleas hate the smell of vinegar, so he sprayed all of our carpets and upholstery with that. I have also read that another natural rememdy is table salt + baking soda sprinkled over the carpets, let settle over night and then vacuum,  Repeat several times. I am totally fine with vacuuming every day for as long as it takes but will that solve it?? I don't want to waste money on fad products that won't work or worse, ones that are toxic to our baby. 

Thank you for any advice!!!

Xstatic3333

I haven't dealt with a flea infestation before, but look into a Soresto collar for the dog so you don't have to worry about applying anything. They don't smell, are affordable, and work great. I'd set some sort of alarm for the heartworm preventative, though, because that you really don't want to skip.

I've heard of people using diatomaceous earth as a natural flea removal for the home, but I'm not sure of the details. GL!

short+sassy

It sounds like you caught things fairly early on, so I think you should be fine.  We use flea medicine...I think Advantix....on both our dog and cat, even though the cat is indoors.  Our dog is mostly indoors.  Every once in awhile, we will get lax and see a flea here or there.  Usually on the dog.  That is just our reminder to get her back on her meds ASAP.  We've never had a flea infestation.