Planning the Treatment Day
With heat treatment, the treated rooms are closed for most of a day and the machines and cables are in use. Children and pets need to be out of those rooms and away from them. Many families use that day for an outing or a visit to relatives, and come back once the rooms have cooled.
With chemical treatment, each visit takes one to two hours. Children stay out of the treated rooms until the surfaces are dry, and you follow the instructions given on the day. Because there are usually two, sometimes three visits about 10–14 days apart, it helps to put all of them in the diary at the start.
Whichever you choose, the preparation list arrives before the day. Older children can help with bagging their own things, which makes the morning of the visit calmer and means they know where everything has gone.
Toys, Books and the Learning Corner
Soft toys that live on the bed are the ones to deal with. Wash and tumble-dry those that can take it and bag them sealed until the treatment is finished. Hard plastic toys and books kept on shelves away from the bed are rarely a problem; wipe them and leave them where they are.
If home education happens at a desk in a bedroom, move the workbooks and the laptop out before the day rather than after, and keep lessons in the kitchen or living room while the course runs. The guide to bagging and storing belongings covers labelling so the right bag comes back to the right room.
Bedtimes During the Course
- Keep each child in their own bed. Moving a child into your bed, or two children into one room, can carry them to a new bed.
- Keep bedding stripped and washed hot, and do not pile toys on the treated bed.
- Check the seams and the bed frame every few days so you see any change early.
- Keep the bedroom floor clear so the treated edges are not covered over.
If one child seems to be bitten and another is not, that is common and does not mean only one bed is affected. The guide on whether bedbugs prefer some people explains why.
Bites on Children
Children react to bites in different ways, and some barely react at all. For itching or a skin reaction, a pharmacist or GP can advise. Call 999 for any signs of a severe allergic reaction. When you ring about a home in Chessington, tell us the ages of the children and which rooms they sleep and learn in, and we will plan around that.
Bedbug Control Chessington — Questions
Can the children stay in the house during heat treatment?
They can be elsewhere in the house, but not in or near the rooms being treated, and pets need to be away from them as well. Many families go out for the day instead.
When can my child sleep in the room again after chemical treatment?
Once the treated surfaces are dry and as told on the day. Follow the instructions the technician gives you for your home.
Do we have to wash every toy in the house?
No. Deal with soft toys that live on or near the bed. Toys stored elsewhere and hard toys rarely need more than a look and a wipe.
Is it better to wait until term starts to treat a Chessington home?
No. Waiting lets them spread. Pick a day that works for the family and get it done.
How much does treatment cost?
Treatments start at £220. The price depends on the number of rooms and on heat or chemical, and is given on the phone before booking.
Elsewhere in Kingston
The other areas in the borough, each written around a different situation.
Bedbug Advice for Chessington
Picked for this page: the guides that go further on what matters for Chessington.
How Long Does a Heat Treatment Take?
Why one London flat takes four hours and another takes ten, and what decides it.
Read more →
Preparing Your Home for Heat Treatment
What to do the week before, the night before and the morning of. A plan, not a list.
Read more →
Do Bedbugs Prefer Some People?
Why one person seems to get all the bites, why reactions mislead, and what it means for checking the bed.
Read more →
What Happens After the Treatment
Day one to week six, what you will actually see, and when to stop worrying.
Read more →Bedbug Treatments in Kingston
Every service has its own page for Kingston: heat, chemical, hotels, commercial premises and inspections.
Covering Chessington
Tell Us About the Property
Tell us which rooms the children use and which days suit, and we will fit the visits around them.