Where to sleep if you have bed bugs?

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There's nothing like waking up in the middle of the night and realizing bed bug biting you. If you've ever had the tragedy of dealing with these tiny, blood-sucking pests, you know how much of a nightmare they can be.

Traditionally to stop these pests from spreading, you will need to confine yourself to the same bed for sleeping. Once these crawlers have invaded your bed, there is not much you can do but wait. You can apply specific home remedies, but eventually, you will acquire professional help.

How to Sleep Knowing You Have Bed Bugs

It may not be convenient once you find out that your bed is infested. You might want to look for alternatives until the creepy crawlers are out of the house. But going for a choice is not an option for some.

Even if your bed is infested, you might have to sleep on it while the issues are resolved. In that case, there are several tips and hacks that you can apply to improve your sleep, even with bed bugs causing trouble. It may not completely resolve the situation, but it will make a difference.

Tips & Tricks for How to Sleep with Bed Bugs

Vacuum

Get rid of all the covers and vacuum your mattress thoroughly. Make sure you get the corners and the seams of the mattress carefully to suck out any bed bug eggs. Before vacuuming, you can try to brush off the mattress edges overall.

Include the foundation as well in this cleaning procedure. Use a hard brush to sweep off any bugs and eggs from the edges of the bed, under the mattress, under the bed, and anywhere you can reach. The bugs usually hide off in dark, hard-to-reach angles.

After brushing off, vacuum around the box spring, the bed frame, the headboard, and the mattress.

Encase both the Mattress and Box Spring

A protective mattress cover is an excellent option for preventing bug bites. Generally, they keep your mattress clean and prolong its life. Similarly, a protective cover, especially one with a zipper, will keep the bugs from reaching you. Once the cover is on, it will keep the bugs inside, and you can sleep peacefully even while your mattress is swarming with bed bugs.

If your bed has a separate box spring, that, too, should be encased to keep the bed bugs at bay. Unless you find a solution to your insect problem, it is to have your mattress and the box spring enveloped.

The covers don't need to be of a particular material, but for the time being, a waterproof one will be better. We need one less porous so that even the tiniest bugs cannot find a way out.

As for keeping everything hygienic, it's better to wash, steam, and sun-dry the covers at least twice or thrice a week. Encasing your mattress will protect it from the bed bugs trying to infest it again. It is a defense mechanism to keep the bugs from entering or leaving.

Steam Clean

Kill them with the steam! Steaming is a great way to decontaminate or disinfect anything that is not damaged by heat and water (check the top-rated steam cleaners for mattress).

The intense heating in steam cleaners can reach temperatures over 200 degrees Fahrenheit. Whereas the hot steam can get up to 248 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is enough to eradicate the bugs. They cannot survive at temperatures above 113 degrees Fahrenheit. Even Medline Plus states that high temperatures help.

Make sure you get the steam to hard-to-reach places along the foundation and the headboard. You should certainly not miss the corners and the edges. This is one of the most effective ways to kill bed bugs so you can sleep soundly in your bed again.

Similarly, washing the bedding in hot water will positively impact the extermination. Repeating the procedure twice or thrice a week is necessary. You can continue steaming until your house is entirely free of these critters.

You must consider the whole house, even if you spot these bugs on a particular bed. They tend to infest other areas like sofas, couches, etc., so be thorough as much as possible.

The more frequently you steam the bedding and mattress, the faster you can refrain from the bugs.

Use Essential Oils

Waking up to itchy welts is never fun, primarily when you know the bed bug bites. Fortunately, essential oils will fix your problem to some extent.

A few essential oils are detested by bed bugs and work as excellent bug repellents. These include lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus. Even neem, tea tree, and cinnamon are good choices. The bugs loath the smell and the taste, so you have many options for its use. You can directly rub some on your hands, feet, and neck.

You can add some to the diffuser to incorporate the smell throughout the room. Since the scent of these essential oils is offensive to the bugs, it will work productively. You may add it to a spray bottle and spatter it around the bed, especially near the seams and the edges.

Overall you can use these oils as you want but make sure they are not used in abundance or directly on the bedding. The essential oils are capable of leaving oily stains.

Wear Full Clothes to Bed

Until you don't get rid of the bugs, try to keep yourself covered as much as possible. The bugs won't be able to reach your bare skin and thus won't bite to suck blood. Switching to full sleeves instead of half and pajamas instead of shorts will make a difference.

Moreover, make sure your clothes are loose and not skin-tight. The bugs might be able to get their needle-like mouthparts through tight clothes.

Wear clean clothes daily, and ensure you wash the clothes in hot water until your house is free of bugs.

Place Bedding and Pajamas into the Dryer Everyday

The bed bugs are dirty insects, so change your clothes and sheets every night. Ensure they are thoroughly washed and dried at high temperatures so any bugs hidden in the fabric are removed. You can even consider just dumping the bedding in the dryer.

Exposing them to high temperatures in the drier might be enough to wipe out the bugs. If you do not practice these routines, they might quickly spread to other furniture in the house.

You might soon be dealing with the whole house being infested with bed bugs. Hence it is vital to go through a careful cleaning exercise every day till the bugs are completely taken care of.

Call Pest Solutions to Eliminate Bed Bugs

Remember when you were told – don't let the bed bugs bite! Now is the time to implement it. Even though you can repeat the cleaning action or steam and vacuum regularly, you need to get to the source of the problem.

The traditional ways of keeping the bed bugs from biting might work, but you need a long-term solution. Something that will not only clear your home of these pests but stop them from bed bug infestation again. You will certainly need the experts for that – the pest controllers.

They have certain chemicals and bed bug repellents that guarantee the eradication and their return. They look and spray under every nook and corner and try to get to the initial source of the bed bug problem. Overall be wise when choosing the people for your pest solution.

Make sure the chemicals are harmless to humans. Some substances can have a dangerous impact on human health, according to PubMed. Only choose to get your house pest controlled when it is extremely necessary.

Do Bed Bugs Pose Any Harmful Effects

As mentioned by CDC, bed bugs are not dangerous. Their bites might sometimes not even leave any marks. A severe rash is rare, but people usually get red spots. The only daunting factor is sleeping with these insects crawling under you.

What Is The Main Cause Of Bed Bugs?

Bed bugs can remain alive without sucking blood for a long. Their slender, thin bodies camouflage them well while they are being transported.

Bed bugs often travel in the seams and folds of sleeping bags, luggage, fabric, bedding, second-hand furniture, and anywhere else they can hide. Most people transport bed bugs to various locations without knowing they are doing so.

How to Choose the Right Mattress

With thousands of mattress options available, cutting through the noise requires focusing on what actually matters for your sleep quality and budget.

The Three Things That Matter Most

1. Support and alignment. Your mattress should keep your spine in a neutral position regardless of sleep position. If you wake up with aches or stiffness, your mattress is failing at its primary job.
2. Temperature regulation. Sleeping hot disrupts deep sleep cycles. Innerspring and hybrid mattresses with coil systems promote airflow far better than all-foam designs.
3. Purchase protection. A generous trial period (100+ nights), strong warranty, and hassle-free returns protect you from an expensive mistake. Never buy a mattress you cannot return.

A Strong Benchmark

The Saatva Classic ($1,779 Queen) scores well on all three factors: coil-on-coil construction for support and airflow, a 365-night home trial for risk-free evaluation, and a lifetime warranty for long-term protection. Free white-glove delivery and old mattress removal are included with every order.

Where to Sleep When You Have Bed Bugs: Safe Options

When your bed is infested with bed bugs, you face a dilemma: sleeping elsewhere spreads bugs via hitchhiking, but sleeping in the infested bed is uncomfortable.

The Counter-Intuitive Advice

Continue sleeping in your bed. Pest professionals recommend staying in the infested bed because:

• Bed bugs follow their food source (you). Moving to another room invites them to follow, spreading the infestation.
• Treatment effectiveness depends on bugs remaining near their harborage sites (your bed area).
• Moving to a couch or spare room creates a second infestation zone.

How to Sleep More Comfortably During Treatment

1. Install bed bug interceptor cups under all four bed legs ($15–$25)
2. Encase your mattress and box spring in bed bug proof covers ($30–$60 each)
3. Pull the bed away from walls (2–3 feet minimum)
4. Tuck sheets tightly so nothing touches the floor
5. Wash all bedding on hot (130°F+) before each use

Treatment guides: detection guide | DIY treatment | do zappers work.

If replacing your mattress after treatment, the Saatva Classic includes free old mattress removal with delivery.