a new bassinett infected our home and the whole apartment building

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a new bassinett infected our home and the whole apartment building

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MaddiesMom

newbite
Joined: Feb '09
Posts: 1

Posted 9 months ago
Sun Feb 8 2009 10:08:07
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Hi my name is Cassi. I have a 4 month old daughter also. Her name is Madelynne, we have been living in the same apartment for over 5 years now. Before my daughter was born we purchased a bassinett from Wal-Mart. After my daughter was about 2 months old I started seeing red bumps, friends and physicians said it was her getting used to her new skin or something like that. Then I started noticing bugs in the bassinett. When I showed my husband he said they were beetles from leaving the windows open. We took the bassinett back to Wal-Mart, they didnt want to take it back, but I still didnt know it was bed bugs. About 6 weeks ago I started getting bit. I went to the Dr. she said it was impentigo, I took the antibiotics they didnt work. I went back to the Dr. she gave me more antibiotics, It was my daughters peditrician who told me it might be scabies. Then we started researching and found out its bed bugs. When I contacted the realtor that we rent off of she then told me that our neighorbor complained about bedbugs about4 months ago. He said that the guy that lived above him had them first, he said he could see them crawling down the wall. The upstairs guy is changing apartments and he did the diy treatment and sent the bedbugs to the rest of our neighbors. When I read ur story it hit home I am also a stay at home mom and with a new baby times are really hard. The landlord told us we might have to pay for the extermination but I will fight her on that. She told me they wouldnt mind exterminating roaches but that bed bugs were our responsibility. I dont know what the difference is. But I am so agitated with this. Im embarrassed and scared what if one of our friends got them while visiting us.....I hear about people suing all the time I am not one to jump into a lawsuit but I am considering suing Wal-Mart, I am so angry that my daughter slept with bedbugs for the first 4 months of her life. I am so paronid about it being on her toys pacifers, clothes, crawling in her ears....I'm not fortunate enough to be able to stay with family members, we cant afford a hotel, so just know it could be worse. You could still be living with the bugs, but its so much worse when u know.
KillerQueen

senior member
Joined: Mar '08
Posts: 596

Posted 9 months ago
Sun Feb 8 2009 10:21:40
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I'm sorry to hear about your situation. It sounds as though you were trying to reply in a thread already posted. But I just wanted to note that it does not sound like you brought the bed bugs into the home from Wal-Mart .. But rather the problem was in the building, people were doing self treatment, and the bugs worked their way into your place. The details are not that important.... I'm sorry for you and your little one.
search for security

junior member
Joined: Jan '09
Posts: 36

Posted 9 months ago
Sun Feb 8 2009 10:46:38
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Yes, I agree with KQ, I dont think you got them from WM. It may be a coincidence that you notice bites around the same time you bought the bassinet. Also, because new born babies sleep so much, it is likely that the bugs seeked her because of all the sleeping opportunities.

I want you to know that I understand the agony you are going through. My baby is 5 months old and I feel that the bugs have robbed me of some of my opportunities to really enjoy his infancy. I also felt that they took my home away from me. Those hideous creatures!!!!!!!

Notice I use past tense. I just had my second treatment and I feel that my problem is lessening and I am finally winning my war. So it did get better for me and will for you too. You may have to go through a little something first...anger, feelings of betrayal from loved ones who think you are bonkers and taking this bedbug thing too seriously, depression, rage (I yelled "get out of here, you don't belong here!" to my empty bedroom - maybe I did go a little bonkers) and a myriad of other feelings. The good news is that this site is always here and you can read stories of others who are going through or went through what you are going through now.

Here's to winning the war
-Search
loubugs

newbite
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 29

Posted 3 months ago
Fri Aug 21 2009 6:10:19
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After reading your story, it definitely sounds like the building had the problem, you didn't bring them in. Your neighbor treated which caused the bugs to harbor deeper in walls, floors, ceilings and they crawled on those surfaces and pipes and wires to other places such as your apt. I wonder where or why the infestation first began. If your neighbor had informed others, you wouldn't be in this predicament. Your neighbor probably didn't treat with correct materials and first treat within areas in which harborage would occur post treatment. No sealing, either. Also, as what had been previously noted, your baby sleeps a lot and became a good, omnipresent food source for them. Bed bugs are not invisible just not reddish brown when born and not 1/4 inch long yet, but 1/32 inch long (thickness of a credit card) and pale unless recently fed and in that case will be plump and red. She didn't cry or feel the bites and the lesions that the doctors examined didn't bother her? Unfortunately, many doctors don't know the many manifestations of bed bug feeding. It's interesting that sometimes parasitic infestations actually help the immune system of the host.
buggyinsocal

oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,130

Posted 3 months ago
Fri Aug 21 2009 10:59:23
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First of all, I wanted to give you some sympathy. Bed bugs are horribly traumatic. New babies are highly stressful even while they're wonderful. That's a really stressful combination, and we get that.

Now, what to do.

First up, even though I'm sure you're frustrated, remember that no matter what people say, bed bugs are not the result of being dirty. Having a lot of clutter can make the problem harder to treat, but bed bugs actually prefer clean places to dirty ones. So while I'm sure you are embarrassed, you don't need to be. (Mind you, I was too, and it took me a long time to emotionally accept that I wasn't dirty and hadn't done anything wrong.).

Secondly, the next thing you might want to do is find out what the laws in the city that you live in are about landlords paying for treatment. In many cities, the law is that landlords have to pay. If that's the case, you need to know that so that you don't give in to a landlord who is trying to squirm out of his or her responsibility.

Thirdly, I also don't think they came from the bassinet from Wal-Mart. It sounds like they migrated from the neighbor with the DIY program. If that's the case, it's 99.8% certain that you didn't bring the bugs into the building.

Fourth, the next step after you've found out what local laws are is to push for the legally required person (which might be you, but is likely your landlord) to get a pest control pro who knows bed bugs in to treat all affected units in the building (and if your local law requires tenants to pay, you can't possible be responsible for paying for other units.)

Here's where it gets tricky. In a multi-unit building, you're going to see faster and better results if not only the definitely affected apartments but the apartments adjacent to them are inspected, and if bed bug signs are found, treated. As your story shows, bed bugs can and do migrate from one apartment to another. If the apartments that are affected are treated but adjacent ones aren't, it is possible that the bugs will just move.

If you're in NYC, the landlord is required to pay. Other cities vary. Look for posts with your city on the forum here. If you don't find any, call your local health department and/or tenants' rights organization to see if they can tell you.

And, because kind people told me this when I first arrived here while I was completely freaked out, it doesn't seem like it now, but it absolutely, positively will get better. Hang in there.
cantstandbedbugs

junior member
Joined: May '09
Posts: 80

Posted 3 months ago
Fri Aug 21 2009 16:06:11
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When you took the bassinett back to Walmart did you let them know it was infested with bedbugs? I sure hope you did because I hate to think that they might've just put it back out on the shelf and someone else bought it and took the thing home and possibily infested their car if they took it home that way or their home or if they put it back on the shelf and infest items near by that people will buy and take home. I'm sorry and sympathize with you this is complete nightmare to deal with but I hope that you took it back because you didn't know any better. You do know bedbugs spread though used furniture right??