You're snuggled up, getting cozy, and your eyelids are getting heavy, and that's right when these bedtime stalkers plan their attack. Bed bugs may have been the childhood reminder to sleep tight, but these days, saying anything about bed bugs at night is bound to strike fear in sleepy hearts and do anything but encourage resting easy. These blood-sucking pests are showing up in droves across the country. If bed bugs in your bad have you scratching all night and waking to the nightmare of red marks and welts, it is time to get serious and get in touch with professional pest control services. In the meantime, here are a few helpful things you can do to help you catch some winks when you hit the hay.
Buy a bed-bug-proof mattress cover with a zipper.
One of your first lines of defense against bed bugs is to install an air-tight mattress cover between you and your mattress. This is because the bugs tend to hide out in and on the mattress, so by closing off the mattress, you will be trapping a ton of them so they cannot crawl out and get you while you sleep. These mattress covers are available at pretty much any retail store and online. Just make sure you get a high-quality one with a zipper and a flap that velcros in place to keep the end of the zipper sealed off as well.
Slather the legs of your bed frame in petroleum jelly.
This tip sounds a little strange, but if you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Bed bugs have these low-profile bodies that sit close to the ground (or close to your skin). Therefore, crawling through anything gunky and thick will be an impossible feat. If there are bugs in your carpet, they will definitely have a hard time climbing up the legs of the bed to get to you.
Pull your bed away from the walls.
It is a common misconception that bed bugs only live in mattresses and bedding, but these critters will hide out pretty much anywhere they can find a nook or cranny to keep them hidden. Under small edges of wallpaper, in the backs of picture frames, around the wooden frame of a window sill, in your curtains--they can be all over your walls and you may not even see them. Pull your bed away from the walls enough that the bugs will not be able to transfer from there to the bed while you sleep.
For assistance, talk to a professional like Bug Busters.
