Moth balls and pregnancy

[spunky84]

We have a flea problem. It's slowly getting better, but we really just need to knock it out at this point.

I've read how moth balls can help kill fleas. We've already bombed the house 3 times - the most recent was ineffective. So it's really going to come down to vacuuming daily. The number has been greatly reduced, but we still have to stay on top of it to get rid of them. Otherwise it'll just get worse like before.

I wasn't really thinking about it when using moth balls earlier today. I placed some in the vacuum canister (we just got this - we were swifting before which seemed ineffective). I didn't touch the moth balls to be safe. After vacuuming, the whole house reeked of moth balls for a couple of hours.

It wasn't until then that I thought about the smell during pregnancy, and apparently it's not healthy to breathe in.

However, it seems necessary to put them in there while vacuuming. I know I got at least 1 live flea. It's a preventative measure while I'm vacuuming until I can dump out the canister (outside and a little ways away from the house into a bag where we've put borax which will help in killing what's not been killed - not sure how quickly moth balls do the job).

The fleas really need to be gone by the time LO is here. It's been bad and stressful enough having DD here (who gets lathered up in lemon balm salve and lemon water in her hair to keep them off her - the only effective combination we've found for her - she's not happy with us these days, but it's better than bites - we get her out of the house as much as we possibly can, but we can't keep her out 24/7).

I cannot bring a newborn into a house with fleas. But I also don't want to hurt him by trying to get rid of the fleas.

Does anyone have any safe handling suggestions? Do you think ventilating the house while vacuuming and for a few hours afterwards would be okay? Or a mouth mask?

I can't really put salt or borax into the vacuum canister. I worry that the salt would possibly break the vacuum, and I worry about the borax getting around the house and hurting DD.

Does anyone have any safer alternatives of things I can put in the vacuum canister?

 

[oneill614]

I read an article that said to place a chopped up pet flea collar in your vacuum bag. Not sure if those chemicals would be worse, but maybe you could get someone else to do it with open windows and stay outside for an hour or so.

 

[HayleyJJ]

Get a person out to do it flea bombs are rubbish and go bets to get flea treatment for dogs x

 

[Loulabear22]

We have a flea problem too, and have tried EVERYTHING, last thing to try now is get the pest squad out, however in our area their are none so were looking at a huge fee, so just gotta save for that, dogs been with us for years and never bought fleas in, then i go buy a kitten and wham bamn fleas everywhere, luckily the two ds's (1&8) don't get bitten or the oh, its just big fat pregnant me that gets eaten alive! we are even thinking of moving, and I think we should shave the cat and dog however that's slightly cruel! Xxx

 

[spunky84]

I could try a chopped up flea collar in the canister.

Unfortunately the vacuuming is up to me. Since I'm home all day. DH works during the day and often helps his dad out for extra money in the evenings.

We've been discussing calling an exterminator. Actually our neighbor two houses down works for one. DH has been contemplating going over there and talking to him. We're trying everything we can on our own first because of the expense. We're doing considerably better. I think if we can just vacuum daily and get everything washed more frequently, we may win the war on this lol It feels like we're getting so close.


That's awful Loulabear! I'm sorry you're getting bitten up so badly DD got it the worst out of the three of us. It was absolutely awful. Bites just everywhere. They are finally gone after several applications of calamine lotion, and thankfully she's not been getting any more thanks to the lemon balm salve.

Have you tried any repelling scents from essential oils to help repel them? I've been putting eucalyptus essential oil in some water and spraying it around, especially on the furniture/bed. DH gets it pretty badly on his legs.

There are supposed to be several different scents that repel fleas such as lemon, lavender, eucalyptus, etc. There are some more, but I can't remember.

The thing that makes them so hard to get rid of is the cocoon stage as they are impenetrable. Vibrations "wake" them up or whatever you want to say, hatch maybe? I think that's the part we're battling now. We've used the bombs for the adults. We've used sprays for the eggs/larva. But it's probably the cocoon stage that's just really making this a battle. I feel like we're getting there, so I really think this new vacuum is going to help us overcome them, but I'm just worried that a flea is going to hop out lol

I even emptied the canister away from the house into a bag with borax (also used gloves) and dumped more borax on top to be safe. I also sprayed myself with eucalyptus water to prevent it jumping on me lol

Oh, and Loulabear, have you considered giving the animals a flea dip? We've dropped our cats, but it seems like they are still getting them (drops were vet stuff). I'm almost thinking we need to do a flea dip for them, as nightmarish as that will be.

 

[oneill614]

That article I mentioned has some other good tips (putting vinegar in your pets' water) that might help as well.

https://www.wikihow.com/Eliminate-a-Flea-Infestation-in-Your-Home

I've been lucky enough to avoid fleas in the house by always keeping flea treatment up to date on our dogs and keeping the cat indoors, but you never know when it will happen. Only takes one pregnant flea to come in and ruin your life. We had them in my house when I was little and I remember having to use the lice shampoo (which kills fleas as well). It was a nightmare.

 

[spunky84]

Only takes one pregnant flea to come in and ruin your life.

Isn't that the truth!

I'll have to try the vinegar! It was interesting going through the that website regarding the benefits of vinegar. It makes me wonder if we'd done that with one of our cats, he'd still be here with us (he had some bad bladder problems that he eventually passed away from).

The only infestation I've ever been through was when I was 6. I remember it being absolutely awful. I don't really remember what my parents did, but that house was awful in general (the previous owners didn't take care of it, so there was also a roach infestation which eventually caused us to move only after living there a few months).

The only other infestation DH had dealt with was in 2008. He's always been paranoid about fleas since because it was such a nightmare. Though I can see why. While ours has been bad, it's not as bad as the one I remember from when I was little. It's still bad, but I know it could have gotten a lot worse. I think the fact that we had little carpet (other than the basement) made a world of difference.

I think it'd be less stressful if I weren't pregnant either. Trying to keep away from the chemicals needed has been kind of a stressful one to. Plus it's hard to say what surfaces still have them and what we could possibly still be breathing in or accidentally ingesting. I'm sure we're all fine, but being pregnant makes me overly paranoid about it all.