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Need advice on getting on the right track...
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duediligence
newbite
Joined: Jul '12
Posts: 1offline
Posted 10 months ago
Sun Jul 22 2012 19:52:51
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Hi, I have learned so much from this site and also have gotten a lot of emotional support from reading it! In dealing with BBs, we've made some mistakes and our PCO has recommended some things I'm not happy with, so I'd like some advice from you knowledgeable people on where to go from here to optimize our chances of success.
We are 2 parents & 6 kids living in a 3-bedroom apartment (i.e., crowded) and are in the midst of treatment. We tried obsessive cleaning, DE, and bug spray for a few months, and did lots of things wrong: moved everyone out of the infested room because 1 child was having horrible reactions and on prednisone/singulair/benadryl and I could not take seeing my kid getting bitten, waiting too long for treatment, stirring them up. Then we finally called our landlord (shame, humiliation) and he chose the exterminator (maybe not the best). The exterminator sprayed 1.5 weeks ago and refuses to come back til the 3-week mark. Here is where we stand now:
-1 room had 2 bunkbeds that were originally clean looking, 2 months in totally infested-we disposed of them.
-we disposed of our couches
-we have laundered everything that can be laundered and they are in XXL zippered bags. Everyone is living out of bags. Linens are washed 1-2x/wk. All dry cleanables were dry cleaned.
-non washable clothes/amplifiers/shoes/trinkets are on a porch, sealed in bags with Nuvan strips in them and covered with tarps that say danger- we plan to open them after 3 weeks.
-our NUMEROUS books were checked by hand, wiped down with damp cloth, and put in garbage bags. The exterminator insisted on this even though we questioned it. We are about to carefully transition these books to zipper bags and place the bags, dated, back on shelves. Some may have to sit that way 18 mos., or we may slowly and gradually treat in bags with Nuvan (1 strip lasts 4 mos, so I think with proper precautions and outside we could move books in and out of bags at 3-week intervals and treat them all eventually).
-we have laminate floors and I went around bedrooms and sealed all floorboards with silicone caulk/foal sealant. I sealed dresser drawers too. I will eventually get to the whole house.
-we bought new, metal bunkbeds and I sealed those with silicone and duct tape. They are sitting in IKEA bowls filled with baby oil. I'm toying with buying Climbup interceptors.
-all mattresses were sprayed and now have covers on them. We are using cheap vinyl shored up with duct tape and gradually transitioning each mattress to Protect-a-Bed as $$ allows. The mattresses actually were already covered before with vinyl and all look good.
-a few things (our 2 desktops, our tv) we didn't treat.1 baby oil interceptor on an old bed has caught 2 small, brown BBs since spraying- and that bed has some questionable droppings on cover. We have also found about 5 total DEAD bugs around the house since spraying. We have avoided mopping and are instead vacuuming (changing bags a lot) and spraying the 1 hotspot bed with diluted alcohol spray every few days. No one has gotten any bites (that we know of) since the spraying.
So, what should we do now? I am particularly concerned about those books that weren't treated. I read about NOT bagging everything, but we were told to and honestly I got quite bag-happy. What is the best way to deal with this problem we've created now from an infection control standpoint?
If I don't buy official interceptors, should I stick with baby oil or can I go with DE in the bowls? Will DE keep them from climbing out? OR will will it just scrape them and kill them later?
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