Minneapolis/St. Paul Nesties
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
So Bedbugs...
Is it just me or is this a huge issue right now??? Does anyone know why that is? I mean growing up my parents always teased about "don't let the bedbugs get you" but I never really thought it was an issue at all...and now here we are, hotels are getting them, clothing stores, etc.
I guess I am overly paranoid because DH travels a lot and they are hitch hikers so I don't want him bringing any home to us!! But then I am that way with pretty much any sort of bug.
If someone knows could you please enlighten me as to why we are seeing this now and if there are steps we can take to not have an invasion of them?
Re: So Bedbugs...
The chemicals that were used to kill bed bugs have been outlawed or deemed too toxic (which ever way you want to look at it), therefore more bed bugs are reproducing. Finally there is a pretty good treatment with a lesser chemical and heat to get rid of them, but that is why we are seeing more and more.
Once your husband is home I don't know if there is much you can do. One thing he can do while staying at a hotel is to check the mattress and bed spreads for any signs of the BB's--blood or the bug it self normally found in the creases. Have him check all bedding that he will be sleeping on.
People are becoming more aware and therefore treatment is becoming easier because it is caught sooner. Just keep an eye out, you can google images of what they look like.
Nicole and Sam 10/3/09
okay, i just googled bedbugs and now i'm totally heebed out from looking at the photos. yuck!
Yep me too...and even more heebed out that we are the 15th most infected city. That is just gross, but I guess now I know what to look for when DH travels.
At least he's pretty good too about it when he travels, he always checks the beds and immediately removes the comforter because those things just aren't clean.
They first popped on my radar after reading Trip Advisor reviews about our honeymoon resort and read some stuff in the forums. I am not going to lie...I sort of have an unfounded paranoia about them now.
If we travel somewhere I am very careful about where I store my luggage in a hotel, what comes into the house when we get back, I launder everything, and stuff that can't be dried on hot gets put into the freezer. They are amazingly hard to kill and are unbelievable hitchhikers.
Yes - a week of frozen temperatures and/or 70 min or more in a hot dryer seems to kill them, but that's about it.
I know I sound like a crazy person, but I would rather be cautious then have an infestation and drop my entire savings account on getting them out of my house. (yes, horror stories like this exist)
If you want to learn more about how to be careful when traveling (hotels, flying, staying anywhere, etc) check out this site:
http://bedbugger.com/Boy/girl twins born at 37w1d and 37w2d
I'm not sure about the cold, but our exterminator at work, Plunketts, uses heat. I'm sure anything extreme would kill them. They feed off skin and blood and they are gross. We hear a lot of horror stories from our exterminator. He personally takes everything off and puts it in a bag in his garage then launders everything on a hot hot setting and very hot dryer. He has never brought one into his home. They are super expensive to get rid off. If the infestation is bad it looks like a horror movie, bloody trails and herds of bugs lining the corners of the rooms.
Disclaimer: My property that I work at has never had them, just things I've learned in meetings.
Nicole and Sam 10/3/09
I am freaked out beyond the norm right now about this. DH and I are staying in 5 hotels while on vacation in the coming weeks. And I'm freaked out that we're going to bring them home.
One website that I read said to either put everything from shoes to clothes into the dryer on hot for 20 minutes. Anything you're not able to put into the dryer should go into a black plastic garbage bag and into your car on a sunny day, all day. The heat from the car and the bag should kill off the bugs.
They said never to put luggage on the floor or for that matter any clothes.
Michelle not to fuel your fire, but I don't know if we are going to have many sunny days coming up. Just make sure to check your bedding and luggage racks and you should be ok. I hope you have a great vacation, it sounds like a blast!
Nicole and Sam 10/3/09
I'm sort of obsessed.
This handy printout is great for when traveling.
http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/bed_bugs/files/bb_travelers_online.pdf
They were in my apartment back at the U of M years ago. It was a fing nightmare! I still freak out if I feel itchy. I had to put everything in the freezer and have people come and get rid of them. It really was the apartment complex's issue as it was a VERY old place and they had them before. Wish I knew that before I moved in....
My DH travels a LOT for work so I am beyond paranoid that he will pick them up. I told him to look SUPER closely near the pillow area and beneath. Also you should look for tiny brown or red dots (blood marks). If they are present you will likely wake up in the night and feel itchy near your head. You should be able to see them if you turn the light on right away. It was so traumatizing. Maybe it is why I wash my sheets at least once a week and always check the sheets at home and every hotel I stay at.
UGHHH, this totally just creeped me out. Hotels feel grimey to me in the first place (those NAST "comforters" are NOT comforting), but I can't stop feeling itchy.....
Doing hair, we'd occasionally get a lice situation and that makes me scratch my head for days, even if I wasn't near the client....