Fleas and Spiders

My sister when she had the same problem vacuumed every 3 days, washed all linens and beddings. It was a lot of work, but it was non toxic.

Hi A.,.
you have so many great suggestions..
If you live in an Apt. as It does not say but I saw other references to it...
Your Apt. guidelines may have rules for you to bring up to the other tenants (via the manager) about flea control. Every apt I ever lived in.. the management was aggressive to get these problems in control before it was unmanageable.

good luck.

When our cat picked up fleas, we got the Advantage, the vet said it would take a week or two for the fleas to all succumb (I think the description in the literature was something about the cat acting like a vacuum as they wander around the house, picking up fleas) ... but they did.

I'll be interested to see what people say ... living in an apartment is hard, since the families around you might very easily be the source of the problem or cause it to keep up after you vanquish it ...

In my family growing up and my family now, certain people were more susceptible to the biting (we had dog fleas -- a lot) ... I should ask those people if they are all (as I know one is) blood type O ... maybe back in the caveman days dog fleas imprinted on the earliest blood type! As I recall, the susceptible ones took to wearing thick socks, pajamas, laundering their bedding frequently, and sleeping with a sheet over their head, whenever the situation got bad (eg. late summer).

The other thing is to make sure no easy contact is made between the floor and the bed. Based on watching spiders (over many years of catching them!), I actually pulled all my kids' beds 3 inches away from the walls--wandering and jumping spiders seem not to cross three inches of open air, and web weavers find the bedrooms a little too noisy and active for their habits. (Now my kids have stuffed the gaps full of stuffed animals--it's turning cold and I need to clear those gaps because the spiders will start migrating inside soon!!) And I never had many fleas in my bed growing up ... possibly partly because I tended to pile all my blankets up instead of draping them nicely near the floor?

Anyhow, all that was pretty unpleasant ... I hope you get your problem solved soon!

Spiders are unlikely – living most of my 62 years in areas where all kinds of spiders thrive, I've been bitten exactly once. I knew it was a spider because I saw and felt it biting - it really hurt! Also, most spider bites develop into large, serious sores, with oozing and skin loss, and multiple bites would probably cause other symptoms that would be hard to ignore.

Cat fleas reportedly don't bite people, though dog fleas love us. Usually small, hard bumps appear many hours after the actual bite, and allergy can make them worse/bigger/itchier (the same is true of mosquito bites, which are more likely to occur in early morning or around dusk).

I'm glad you want to avoid bombing your house. So toxic. There's no guarantee that dog fleas don't infest your house or a playmate's lawn, so try NEEM OIL, available in many garden centers or online. This extremely safe extract from a tree has been used for centuries in India for toothbrushing, cosmetics, and insect control. Mix a little into some skin lotion and rub in on your son's legs and other areas that get bitten. It repels bugs (and in my garden completely protects a couple of plants that are very susceptible to caterpillar attack).

Another trick that I've heard is very effective is to place shallow pans or bowls of soapy water directly under nightlights or a small lamp placed on the floor at night. The light attracts them, they hop into the water and drown. Good luck.

First, check his bed to make sure they are not bite from bed bugs. If you quickly rip back the blankets you may see them scurry away. Check the trim on the side of the mattress, down in the crack. If there are tiny black dots (their droppings), then you likely have bed bugs instead.

We have been battling this problem, as well. At the beginning of the summer, I was the one bringing in the grass fleas. They would hitch-hike on my socks and shoes and I didn't notice them. I would then put my son to bed for nap and the transfer was made.

We sprayed our yard for fleas and that helped tremendously. You might spray in front of your apt. where fleas might track in on you. Also, I found that lavender essential oil dabbed on the forhead, wrists and ankles seemed to help quite a bit. Also, tea tree oil helps with warding off and a relief after. There are other essential oils and herbs that are supposed to help with fleas.

My daughter has to take an antihistimine when she gets bit because she gets about 9 or more bites at a time. She just got a bunch at school from the bark dust area in front. I don't know if they were flea or spider bites. They were around her arm pit and shoulder area.

And to the poster about spider bites. Spiders tend to bite multiple times and what happens after that depends on the type of spider. Sometimes a more poisonous spider can cause the skin around the bite to deteriorate, but others might just leave a little bitty blister spot in the center of the bite. Now, my husband, little to no reaction to bug bites of any kind. My daughter and I, looks like a battle zone and my daughter can't keep herself from scratching, which only makes the venom spread.

There are some herbal remedies for fleas that you can put on your carpet. One had something to do with tea bags and then vaccuming them up. You might check online for natural ways to get rid of fleas in the home, maybe for spiders, as well. I have had more luck getting rid of fleas than spiders.

I will keep watching this post for more information that I can use, too.
D.

If he is getting them at night only, in bed, then it may be bedbugs, which can be quite common. You can find many natural cures for this on the internet, along with cures for fleas.

My son was also prone to bug bites. Fleas would find him days before any of the rest of the family would get a single bite. He would also attract mosquitoes and anything that liked to feed on humans/blood. Avon Skin-so-soft worked wonders. We would put it on him before bed. It can be oily feeling and when he was little he would sometimes complain about it. So I'd used a spray bottle and mist his bedding. That also seemed to help. I'd also vacuum his mattress just in case it was something living in the fibers of the mattress. For some reason fleas seem to be attracted to white things, so if he wears white socks or has white sheets that could complicate things.

Hi A.,
You've already received lots of great advice.
Just one more thing to throw out there (and please, this is not to scare you) - it is possible that your kiddo has a staphylococcus skin infection. The lesions are often described as "spider bites," sometimes even by physicians who are unaccustomed to seeing such infections.
If it were my child, I would take her in and ask the doc if she thinks it could be a staph infection, and also specifically request she do a culture to test for it.
If it is staph, your child will need to have it appropriately treated.

Good luck!
T.

I know garlic works with fleas, not sure about other bugs. gaWhen you eat garlic it makes you taste funny to the fleas and they stop biting. We used to give my dogs garlic pills for flea control. Another thing that wI found works is Avon Skin So Soft body oil (possibly the lotions too). I used to spray my daughter down with this for a skin condition and it stopped the bites.
Some have suggested bed bugs, I think the best forthat is look it up on the internet. I have heard vacuming the mattress, floor, washing bedding and pillows help get rid of them. Also putting plastic cover on the mattress.

I disagree that with the previous poster that "cat fleas" (are there really different types?) don't bite people. We had a summer where we had an investation and those suckers went to town all over us.

As for the waking up with bites situation, the same thing used to happen to my daughter when she was in her crib. When we moved her out of the crib into a bed with a new mattress, it all ceased. My guess is it is bugs living in the bed. Good luck!

If is really is fleas, then vaccuum, vaccuum, vaccuum and wash wash wash all carpet and bedding as much as possible. Sounds like possibly bed bugs though. Don't know what to do with those!