Yep! DH travels a LOT and I ALWAYS check his suitcase for little red dots. So far so good. Never ever put a suitcase on the bed at home after traveling- the bedbugs just hop right onto it. Another indication of bedbugs is a line of dots on any part of your skin. They line up to drink your blood then off they go. And check the creases of your mattresses and seams. These spots are where they roost and like to lay their eggs. (All this from one of DH's co-workers who had an infestation after traveling).

::Shiver!::

Blessings,
Haley

I have heard how bad they are getting. Creeps me out to think about it.

I really looked at the bedding and between the mattress and under the box springs last time I stayed at a hotel.

From what I have read - Lysol wouldn't even begin to kill the bugs. I would keep checking your bed if I were you!

Now I just get itchy thinking about it....

Was it New York that they got really bad a few years ago? Something about the spray they made them take something out and the bed bugs weren't being affected? I don't really remember but I know it was bedbugs...I haven't had that problem but I do travel alot and even though we use the 5th wheel sometimes we do hotels....so not putting on the bed anymore to pack or unpack thanks for the heads up.....Stacy

iowagirl, you're right, I've heard that Lysol disinfectant isn't appropriate to get rid of bedbugs. I think we just got lucky that we apparently found the one live adult and her unhatched eggs, which made it easy to eradicate.

This happened a little over 2 years ago, and thankfully we've never had further problems! But when I read another post about dealing with lice, it reminded me of our close call with a probable infestation and I wanted to alert everyone to be extra careful when traveling, even in posh hotels.

Stacy, I'm not certain about a past problem with New York hotels, but DH brought them home from Texas.

Yuck, what an awful problem.

Stacy - you are so right. New York has had a real problem with bed bugs and at some of the most elegant hotels. There was a segment on one of the evening news shows about 2 years ago about it.

But here's a warning for parents of college students. My daughter had a bedbug infestation in her dorm room (in New York City). The school was very slow to react- until I threatened to call in the Health Department. Apparently that threat was finally enough to prompt her Ivy League university into fumigating her room, thoroughly vacuuming all the crevices and giving her a new mattress.

Holy cow- I thought they were just a myth!

Trish

oh gawd...ewwwwwwwww

It was DDT that was used to control bed bugs in the old days and that cannot be used anymore.

Bed bugs are a big problem for hotels once again and people are getting them in their homes too.

Fleas and lice are making a come back in hotels and the critters are building up a resistance to what has been used.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bed Bugs

Oh yes, we've had several outbreaks at different buildings at my work (housing formerly homeless folks). We have strict policies now about bringing in furniture, and we are on it very fast if anyone gets them. It's so gross!!! I've heard other housing agencies in Seattle have been having outbreaks of them also.

The RID lice spray says it also kills bedbugs, FYI in case anyone wants to run spray their suitcases.

I for one will probably always spray hotel rooms now that I've been thru the lice experience.

I am stuck with a phobia that will never go away!

Denny gets so mad at me because I won't stay in a motel/hotel anymore....But I just can't bring myself to lay down on those beds or sit in the chairs...I've never been a germ freak...but I can't stand the though of those little bugs crawling on me.

I was taking a king size quilt with me covering the entire bed because I know without a shadow of doubt the bedspreads are NOT clean.

Just makes me want to puke.

I've been watching Craigs list for a small "CHEAP" camper we can pull...I can spray (for bugs) and paint and fix up the inside of one of those. Then I'll just be towing my own bed with me.

pattico- I travel quite frequently also- and have read/watched on tv about the increase in 'bugs'.
If it isn't too much of a problem, take your own sheets/blanket/pillows when you go to a motel/hotel. I can because I travel by car, but if you fly that just isn't an option.
Pretty scary that we seem to be going backwards in this world...

I thought we had bedbugs about five years ago. It was during the summer, and at first I thought the bites on my skin were from mosquitos. But then I realized they were all under my clothes. And they itched even more than mosquito bites. They were wildly itchy. It was really intense. And they kept coming.

I heard around the same time about outbreaks of bedbugs in NYC, and thought I must have been infested. But I hadn't been traveling. I called our state university extension office for advice, and the agent asked if I lived in an old house (yes) and if we'd ever had bats. I told him we used to have a large colony of bats, but they'd left a year or so earlier. He said we most likely had batbugs.

Batbugs look a lot like bedbugs, he said, but they live off bats. After the bats left they eventually went looking for another source of food: me! He said they were coming down from the attic at night into my bedroom. This was very easy for them to do because my ceiling is the attic floor, with nothing over or under it.

On his advice, I set off insecticide bombs in the attic. That took care of the problem, thank heavens. Boy, did those bites itch! I can barely write about it without scratching . . .

I did hear of the trouble they were having in motel/hotel rooms with bed bugs.

They are awful, I went to visit a friend and she told me that she had bought this pull out couch from the native lady friend upstairs. I slept and my legs, I was clawing them and I told her she had bed bugs and didn't believe me. I said look at my legs, still didn't believe me until almost the 3rd night and then she believed me.

I've never thought to check the bed in a hotel. Hope I never have to deal with them. Makes me itch just thinking about it.
Lulie

Yep, After TG came home from a long trip and I got one one me while putting clothing from the luggage into the washer, we instituted a new set of rules: When either of us comes home from a business trip, the luggage does not go in the bedroom. And no suitcase ever, ever goes onto the bed - not at home or in a hotel.

After our short episode, I read up a lot about bedbugs. I forgot to mention...if you go to a hotel and try to scan the bed and bedding, you would have a hard time finding a live bug, because they come out only at night. However, you might possibly find some eggs attached to the underside of the bed frame or under the fitted sheet or mattress cover on the side seam of the mattress where there's often a rolled rim. Apparently they only come out to feed for about 2 hours during the very early a.m. hours, then retreat back to their hiding places, such as behind the baseboards. It's said that the best chance of catching any possible intruders would be to try waking up twice (about an hour and half apart) during the night, and throw back the covers as you jump out of bed, then quickly switch on the lights.

I've also read that hotels are legally liable to disclose a bedbug problem if specifically questioned about it. There is a bedbug 'hotel registry' that provides a list of hotels that have had bedbug complaints reported against them, but I don't recall the name of the website.