# Flea control - desperate for help!



## TXmommy2be (Dec 1, 2008)

I apologize if this is not the correct place to post this, but I'm desperate for help. We've been struggling to rid our home of fleas for several weeks, but NOTHING is working! My DH is spraying chemicals even though I've begged him to stop - but the chemicals are not working! I have a 3 week old and 23 month old so I need some absolutely safe alternatives. Can anyone share what has worked for them? Also, the fleas are attracted to my 23month old DS - he has so many bites on his legs and torso. Is there a way to make him less desireable to the fleas? I feel bad, they don't bite me at all. If it wasn't for the bites and seeing fleas on him I probably wouldn't even know we had a problem.

Thanks so much for any and all suggestions.


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## rcr (Jul 29, 2008)

We have a constant flea problem. Are you in the south? They are something so common here that you just have to learn to control them and you will probably never get rid of them.

This is what we do (yes, it involves chemicals - if anybody has any other methods - I would also be very interested).

There is a pill that you can give to your pets that will kill every bug on them for 24 hours. You can get it at a vet. We take them to the vet for the day, have the vet give them the pill, and then keep them there all day (ours does this for free). Then I go home, wash everything (EVERYTHING), dry on hot cycle in the dryer, shampoo the carpet, and spray the chemicals (you could probably skip this step if you wanted to?).

Then we get the dogs and cats, and we are usually flea free for a while. Problem is, the fleas are all over the yard and neighborhood. Although they are strictly inside pets, they pick up fleas going out for a walk and to poop, and then the dogs bring them in to the cats.

As for biting your child, it would help to keep the pets away from the bedding and where your LO plays the most.

We have also found fleas to be resistant to Advantax and the commonly-used topical flea treatments, so we don't waste our money with it anymore.

Please don't flame me for using chemicals.


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## Ann-Marita (Sep 20, 2003)

Diatomaceous Earth is effective against crawling (or jumping) insects. We buy a bag from a natural-oriented garden nursery in a 10 pound bag. Then we put some in a recycled spice shaker jar.

Vacuum. Thoroughly. Daily if possible. Then sprinkle the DE on the carpet. Sprinkle some on the pets. Put some around pet bowls. We even put it around the outside of our foundation to help with all the ants.

DE is non-toxic, and can even be eaten (to help control intestinal worms). It's not great to breath it, but otherwise, it's harmless to humans and pets.

It becomes ineffective if it gets wet, so anything you sprinkle outside will have to be re-applied after rain.

It works by scratching or poking holes in the exoskeletin (hard outer shell) of the insect. Then they basically dry out and die.

Be sure to get "food grade", not "pool grade" (used in pool filtering).


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## marimara (Jan 31, 2008)

I read an article that vaccuming was almost more effective than chemicals. They said to vacuum 2 a day for 2 weeks (the life cycle of the flea), but that's under beds too. Also wash pet bedding at least once a week.


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## farmkids42morrow (Apr 12, 2009)

If you live in an area where this is possible, get a few chickens. Not for in the house of course.







But they will destroy the flea population before your animals can even get fleas and bring them in the house. I know that doesn't help for the ones already there, but once they're gone from the inside it will keep them from returning.

I don't know if your kiddos are old enough for this, but we give our kids a garlic supplement to help keep down the bug bites during summertime. They don't smell like garlic or anything, but they must not taste good to the bugs.


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## beanma (Jan 6, 2002)

Do you have pets or just fleas as pets?

If you have pets it's important to treat them. I would start them on Program (or I believe it's Revolution for cats) to disrupt the breeding cycle. These are oral medications which contain an IGR (I think that stands for Insect Growth Regulator, but not sure). Anyway it's basically birth control for fleas. It does not kill the ones on your pet or in your home, but any flea that bites your pet gets a dose of birth control so they can't reproduce. Obviously it's also important to kill the ones that haven't bitten the animals. You can use Frontline or Advantage (top spot flea treatments) if you're not opposed. They expose your family to some chemicals since they're a topical treatment, but supposedly they're not too bad and if your DH is using chemicals anyway they're probably better than those and at least no worse. They will kill the fleas that bite your animals.

As for the rest of the house, I would recommend also trying Boric Acid in addition to the diatomeceous earth. It's fairly harmless to people, but you might not want to breathe it or put it where the babies will be crawling. Google "boric acid" and "fleas" for more info.


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## capsgirl08 (Feb 29, 2008)

I was in my 1st trimester with DS when fleas erupted in our home. I REFUSED to use any chemicals, and DH was with me on that. We live in TX and I know how bad it can be.

It took a while (like 3 weeks) but this is what we did:

Bought night lights. Filled a shallow dish with vinegar and dish soap underneath each light. The fleas are attracted to light, jump toward it at night, and drown in the soapy vinegar. Green lights are supposedly even more attractive to fleas, but we used regular night lights everywhere.

Vacuumed thoroughly like crazy. Sprinkled carpets with table salt and baking soda. Salt to dry out the eggs if any. Baking soda helps to suffocate them.

Washed clothes in hot water daily.

Essential oils spray: tea tree oil, lemongrass, and one other I can't remember mixed with vinegar to spray areas where I thought fleas were breeding. You can also grind epsom salts and shake them up with the oils and sprinkle the salts along sliding door tracks or in front of your home. Some oils are dangerous to little ones, like Pennyroyal, so avoid those.

Cedar chips are said to be good at repelling fleas. You could also use cedar oil and rub it along the floorboards.

I refused to even use Borax or DE because both of those can still have side effects. The fleas went away after about 3 weeks and lots of bites, but it was worth it to me to avoid chemicals.

Another thing is that fleas like damp, warm, areas. So keep everything dry and cool! Bathroom floors are where I'd find a lot of the little bloodsuckers.

Good luck. It is more horrible than people know!


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## animallover (Nov 20, 2007)

Hi there, but a product called de-flea by natural chemistry. It's non toxic and it works! My s/o and kids brought home a kitten that had thousands of fleas on him and within seconds they were all dead! I put some in a spray bottle and spray the house. I live in Canada and it is no longer aval. here but believe it can still be purchased in the US. If you can't find it, try dissolving regular table salt in warm water and spray around the house. The salt dries the flea out. And treat any animals you have with a topical form the vet, we use advantage. Good luck, but you won't need it with this product.


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## klackj (Jun 7, 2002)

Hi..I know this is going to sound wierd, but...I had a friend once who had problems with fleas and they used banana peels to rid of fleas. She said just to throw black peels under the couches and in the dark damp areas where they like and that it helps to repel them. Another gal fed her animals a raw food diet and that helped the animals be flea free too.

So there you go...black banana peels and raw food. Hope it helps. I have no animals so I don't know for sure

good luck


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## SunshineJ (Mar 26, 2008)

You will probably continue to have a problem unless you thoroughly treat your yard. Otherwise, no matter what you do to your house they will still be coming in - especially if you have pets. Even if the pets are treated, they can still hitch a ride inside then jump off. Once the yard is treated, you need to make sure the pets are treated and address the house. As mentioned, fleas have a 2 week lifecycle, so it's going to be 2 weeks of work. I've always used Borax as I've found it to be effective and relatively safe in comparison with other methods (cheap as well). Whatever you use, use it EVERYWHERE. Lift up the couch cushions and sprinkle the cushions, vaccuum the curtains, get under the beds and between the mattresses. Vaccuum all of it. It's a real pain in the patootie. Repeat about every 3 days for 2 1/2 weeks. Wait 2 weeks and if you've had them really bad or want to make sure you got them, do it all again for one more cycle. In complete desperation, we've resorted to the bug bombs once and even they weren't 100% effective. We set them off all over the house before we went on vacation for 8 days and had mom come over and air out the house, but you know, we had a twisted vine wreath as a centerpiece on the dining table and a few of them actually managed to hide in there and survive!


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## avendesora (Sep 23, 2004)

Vacuum EVERY DAY and THROW OUT THE BAG EVERY DAY. This is what got rid of the fleas for us. We kept the cats in the basement for a while to contain the flea infestation while we worked to de-flea our first and second floors.

We tried chemicals too, but it didn't work. Vacuuming extensively and repeatedly is what did it for us. Throw out the bag - this is very important - as the fleas will jump right back out.

Aven


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## ScarletBegonias (Aug 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ann-Marita* 
Diatomaceous Earth is effective against crawling (or jumping) insects. We buy a bag from a natural-oriented garden nursery in a 10 pound bag. Then we put some in a recycled spice shaker jar.

Vacuum. Thoroughly. Daily if possible. Then sprinkle the DE on the carpet. Sprinkle some on the pets. Put some around pet bowls. We even put it around the outside of our foundation to help with all the ants.

DE is non-toxic, and can even be eaten (to help control intestinal worms). It's not great to breath it, but otherwise, it's harmless to humans and pets.

It becomes ineffective if it gets wet, so anything you sprinkle outside will have to be re-applied after rain.

It works by scratching or poking holes in the exoskeletin (hard outer shell) of the insect. Then they basically dry out and die.

Be sure to get "food grade", not "pool grade" (used in pool filtering).









:

we also make hemp collars for our cats (indoor/outdoor) and put a homemade flea-free oil on the collar.

flea-free oil:

equal parts each of the following essential oils:

eucalyptus
citronella
peppermint
lavender
cedar
rosemary

also, combing your pet with a flea comb everyday (outside) helps *a lot!*









i echo all the pp's who said vacuuming was key. we never had a flea problem until my vacuum broke a couple weeks ago. i vacuum at least everyday and sometimes 2-3 times per day usually and we never have a flea issue.

we have 3 indoor/outdoor cats, we live on 2 acres of forest and we have carpet (boo!). hope that info helps.

and make sure you keep the laundry train going, along with keeping all the linens fresh, especially where pets are.


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