S.J. asks from Dublin, OH on August 03, 2008
How to Treat House for Fleas with a Crawling Baby?
Hi everyone. I checked the past posts and thought that since mine is a bit different I'd post this anyway.
We left for vacation and returned two weeks later to see some fleas on one of our dogs. Not many live ones but quite a few eggs. We bathed both dogs in flea shampoo and then treated them with Frontline a few days later. Right now the dogs are covered for the rest of the month so any new fleas that got on them should die in less than a day.
That just leaves us with having to deal with what is in the house. So far, we've gotten a jump on it evidently. We haven't noticed adult fleas around the house and we haven't been bitten by them. We have however seen flea eggs. I've been vacuuming and washing all bedding and blankets that the dogs come into contact with on a daily basis. Other than that, the question I have is what else can I do to treat the house? Our youngest is 10 months old now and crawling everywhere. Of course like all babies, if his hands aren't on the floor, they are in his mouth or holding food or toys up to his mouth. Most of the treatments I've seen for the house involve chemical powders that you sprinkle onto the carpets and furniture or chemical bombs that you set off in the home (once everyone is safely outside of course). The biggest problem with these is that you have to leave the chemicals on the floors and upholstered furniture for a week. That's not a feasible option with a crawler in the house. Any help anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
More Answers
S.R. answers from Muncie on August 08, 2008
I used to use this carpet powder for fleas, ticks and lice that you can get at Wal-Mart (Im pretty sure they still sell it) and it has a nice cinnamon aroma to it also, it worked really well for me.
S.C. answers from Toledo on August 17, 2008
Hi S., you need to call a professional. Trust me. If you let it get out of control you will regret it. I did!! We had to call Terminex in the middle of winter. That wasn't fun, but they worked with us. good Luck! Fleas suck!
M.E. answers from Mansfield on August 04, 2008
no no no on the flea bombs... in one word why? TOXIC--VERY TOXIC---ok, so that was 3 words why.
When our cat infested our apartment with fleas we took 20 Mule Team BORAX and sprinkled it EVERYWHERE, under the couch, chairs, beds left it on over night and swept it up in the morning. Killed fleas dead!
Good Luck,
C.H. answers from Columbus on August 04, 2008
My suggestion would be to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum!! For some reason, vacuuming kills fleas. Since you already did the Frontline thing with the dogs, I wouldn't think you'd need to use chemicals. If it were me... I would probably vacuum twice a day - maybe it would be worth having someone come in and clean the carpets. I had a cat with fleas - I just kept him in a bathroom until he could be treated, to prevent them from spreading, and vacuumed regularly - I didn't have any trouble at all.
Good luck!
I just found this link about a study they did on how effective just vacuuming can be: http://www.livescience.com/animals/071217-vacuuming-fleas...
L.A. answers from Columbus on August 04, 2008
while vacumming i would put a activated flea coller cut up in the vac bag..
C.L. answers from Columbus on August 04, 2008
There are some flea bombs available that you don't have to leave set for a week. We had the same problem last summer when my baby was only a few months old. It's a major pain, but remove all the baby toys and items from the room you're going to bomb. Cover counters and hard surfaces with blankets. After you release the bomb, you do have to leave for a few hours, but once you get home, you can wipe down all your furniture and sweep your floors. Have you tired having your carpets cleaned or renting a steam cleaner and doing it yourself? Have you treated your lawn for them yet? That might help future infestations as well. We love summer, but we hate all the critters that come along with it :)
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