How to Sleep While Waiting for Treatment: Harrow

Why You Should Stay in Your Own Bed

Bedbugs hide close to where you sleep because that is where their food is. If you move to the sofa or the spare room, the hungry ones follow you, and some travel in the bedding, the pillow or the pyjamas you carry with you. Within a week or two you can have two affected rooms instead of one.

There is a practical reason too. Treatment works best when the bugs are where we expect them. A bed that is still in use keeps them there, and with chemical treatment a person sleeping in the room draws them across the treated surfaces between visits.

Things That Genuinely Help

• Pull the bed a little way from the wall so it does not touch the wall or other furniture.
• Keep the duvet and sheets off the floor, so the only way up is by the legs.
• Clear the space under the bed; stored boxes and bags give them more places to hide.
• Use pale bedding for now. Spotting and any bugs are easier to see, which helps us on the day.
• Wash and hot tumble the bedding more often than usual, bagging it in the room first.
• Keep a torch by the bed; if you see a bug, catch it in tape or a sealed bag and keep it for us.

None of this stops them completely. It reduces bites and keeps things tidy for treatment, and it helps you feel you are doing something useful.

Things That Make It Worse

• Moving rooms or sleeping on the sofa. It spreads them to new furniture.
• Shop-bought sprays and foggers. They tend to scatter bugs deeper into the room or into neighbouring rooms without dealing with the eggs.
• Throwing out the mattress. Carrying it through the house spreads them, and the frame still holds bugs. Do not get rid of it unless we advise it.
• Taking things out of the room to sort. Bags of clothes and boxes left in the hall become new hiding places.
• Staying with friends or family. You risk taking bedbugs into their home.

When the Children Are Involved

Children who wake up and come into your bed are one of the main ways bedbugs move around a family house. For the nights before treatment, try to keep each child in their own bed, even if it means sitting with them for a while. The Rayners Lane page deals with bed-swapping and the family bed in full.

Getting Through the Night

The worry is often worse than the bites. A few things help people sleep:

• Remember that a date is booked and the problem has a plan. The bites are unpleasant, but they are not the whole story any more.
• Ask a pharmacist about something for the itching, so you are not lying awake scratching.
• Keep the light low and avoid checking the bed repeatedly in the night; check once in the morning instead.
• Count down. Once a date is booked, you know how many nights are left.

If bites become infected or will not settle, see your GP. Call 999 if anyone has signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as swelling of the face or trouble breathing.

The Last Night Before the Visit

The preparation depends on the treatment. For heat, heat-sensitive items come out of the room and pets go elsewhere for the day; the London guide on preparing for heat treatment has the list. For chemical, you strip and hot-wash the bedding and clear the floor. Sleep in the bed that night as usual, then strip it in the morning. The Harrow bedbug control page covers which treatment suits which house.

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