Bedbug Control Camberwell

Bedbugs Follow the Sleeper, Not the Night

The common picture of bedbugs is something that bites in the dark. In practice they respond to a warm, still body in the bed. If your bed is occupied from nine in the morning until the afternoon, that is when they feed.

That has two practical effects. The first is that checking the bed in the evening, when you get up, is the best time to catch them close to the surface. The second is that if someone else in the home sleeps at night, the bed may be in use for much of the day and night between you. Say so when you ring, because it changes which rooms we look at.

Fitting Treatment Around Your Rota

The two treatments ask very different things of your time, and for a shift worker that often decides it.

• Chemical takes one to two hours a visit, and you can use the room again once the treated surfaces are dry. It needs two visits, sometimes three, about 10–14 days apart, so you need two or three gaps in your rota rather than one.
• Heat takes most of a day and nobody can be in the room while it is running. It is usually one visit, and it kills the eggs as well, so there is no follow-up to fit in. You get the room back once it has cooled.

For heat, most night workers book the day after their last shift in a run, or the first of their days off, so they are not trying to sleep straight after work with the bedroom out of use. Tell us your pattern when you ring and we will look for dates that suit it. The heat treatment page sets out what happens during the day itself.

Do Not Move Your Sleep to Another Room

It is tempting, after a bad week, to take a duvet to the sofa and sleep there instead. It rarely helps. They follow you, and you end up with two rooms to treat instead of one. Keep sleeping in your own bed until it is treated. That keeps them in one place, where the treatment can reach them.

The same goes for work bags and uniforms. Keep them off the bed and off the bedroom floor, and hot-wash what can be washed.

Bites, Tiredness and When to Get Advice

Broken daytime sleep is hard enough without being bitten. Reactions vary a great deal and some people do not react at all. If the bites are itching badly or look infected, a pharmacist or GP is the person to see. If anyone has signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as difficulty breathing or swelling of the face or throat, ring 999. Our bites guide covers what helps.

If you share a house with others on different hours, getting a flat share ready explains how to split the preparation.

Nothing about this is special to Camberwell; it applies to anyone who sleeps when others are awake. Our Southwark page covers the flats, shares and blocks of the wider area.

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