Bedbugs are very quickly becoming an epidemic -- one of the worst-hit areas, from the reports I've read, is southern Ohio.

I fully blame the EPA and political correctness. Over the past decades, the EPA has systematically banned every chemical shown to be effective against bedbugs. They keep redefining standards such that perfectly safe (if used properly) things are retroactively declared unsafe because of some parts-per-quadrillion residue. It's a perverse result of the precautionary principle: as the detection equipment gets better, more things are declared unsafe, even though they are no more or less safe than they always were.

And now us taxpayers are supposed to ante up for a "public education" campaign. Yeah, like the bugs are going to listen to PBS infomercials. And I've got news for them: this isn't the Third World. I should not have to sleep on a wood floor and put my bedding in the freezer every day. I will happily give up a few weeks off of my anticipated life expectancy for being able to sleep soundly every night.

I know people who went through this, and it's awful. Encasing in plastic does help. They sell special mattress bags for the purpose. Supposedly they are not the crinkly, uncomfortable plastic, and are okay for sleeping on.

We travel to exotic places a lot. We've learned to store our luggage in the hotel bathtub at night. The bedbugs have fewer places to hide there and the tub is far from their prey.

And if we're traveling in winter, we don't unpack our suitcases. We leave them outside for a couple of nights. A few good Minnesota -10F nights will kill any stowaways.

We were tormented by bedbugs in Istanbul. "Once bitten..."

Toward the bottom of the comment thread on this Megan McCardle post on bedbugs is some sensible advice from commenter David Vandagriff telling how he dealt with a couple of infestations after traveling abroad.

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/07/eek-bedbugs/59108/

Ugh. Can't stand these things. I had them in my bed for a few years in high school. One of my worst memories ever.

I tried to tell my Mom I was being eaten alive but she didn't do anything. I'd only had one mattress - a used one - from the age of 3 to 18. It wasn't about money either. My Mom was so pissed I had wet the bed at three years old that she wouldn't buy me another mattress and it was one of those topics that sent her into a rage for even asking (craaaa-zyyy).

Anyway - it had the bugs and she wouldn't believe me (or just didn't want to buy a new bed) even after our house cleaner told her they were in my bed and I needed a new one - (so she got fired). But as soon as I left (as soon as all of her daughters left) - she would replace each of them with brand new fluffy beds. Evil.

These things are absolutely nasty. I don't stay at hotels very often but I could tell you right now that if I got an infestation in my house I would have my bed (and ANY infected furniture) removed and burned.

I'd rather be sleeping or sitting on the floor for months on end then spend ONE night with those nasty bugs ever again.

Bug bombs don't work on bed bugs. There's a good roundup of info here:

http://pestcontrolcanada.com/INSECTS/get_rid_of_bed_bugs.htm

Freezing takes a long time to work. Doing your laundry in really hot water followed bu drying on high heat kills bugs dead at all stages of their life-cycle (eggs, nymphs, adults). Hotels that use eco-friendly cold-water washing for their linens & such have probably contributed to the spread of these things.

Jeez Feebie, that's a horrible story, and I am so sorry you and your sisters went through that. I hope it doesn't leave you embittered about women or mothers.

Bedbugs hurt and ick me out, but the good thing is they are one of the few pests that don't spread disease! Cousin Dave, my understanding of the pesticide issue is that they are toxic to babies and toddlers, and that's why they are banned.

Certain pesticides are banned, along with many other things, because the nanny state doesn't trust the peasants.

Fortunately for the nanny state, the peasants don't know that they are peasants.

There's 'bedbug registry:' http://bedbugregistry.com/ U. S. only.

Bedbugs can't jump, so the bathtub idea is ingnious. (I imagine they can't crawl up the sides to well either). Another tactic is to use the luggage stands and wrap double sided sticky tape on the legs. (This will also keep the bugs out of your bed if they aren't there yet. As long as you don't let the bedclothes or your jammies touch the floor or other laundry)

OTOH bedbugs can live for up to 2.5 years without eating. So if you encase them with your mattress they're gonna spend 2 years waiting for a rip so they can reinfect your house.

I've told my fiance if we ever get bedbugs I am burning the place down and starting over. I'm mostly joking.

American hotels have them. When you rent a room, be sure to pull the mattress off and look. Simple discoloration along seams - it looks like mold - will do to tell you they are present.

I've been bit. I'm amazed they aren't disease vectors. I guess I should say, "yet".

Rad, I suspect you're right about the "yet" bit... the main reason they aren't vectors is because, traditionally, they don't get around that much. However, with travel such as it is today, and with hotels being infected and the bugs biting multiple guests, I'm guessing that will change.

I wonder if there's some animal, maybe a lizard or something, that eats bedbugs.

Yes, bed bugs do have some natural predators, but a bed full of fire ants or centipedes is not a very practical solution. Then there's their distant relatives in the assassin bug family, like the Masked Hunter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_hunter

a big ugly thing with a venomous beak that will give you a very painful stab & swelling that lasts a week if you get it angry. I don't think a pet lizard would help, because bed bugs spend all day hiding in nooks & crannies that no vertebrate can reach.

Can you tell me which hotel this was? Because I live 45 minutes from Estes Park and I am flabbergasted that this happened. This is a major tourist area.

Please, PLEASE tell me it wasn't the Stanley Hotel.

You're in luck, Ann:

http://bedbugregistry.com/hotel/CO/Estes-Park/Stanley-hotel

Stanley Hotel
333 E Wonderview Avenue
Estes Park CO 80517-9665

"There are no bedbug encounters on record for this address"

Always happy to read anyting from you

Have an oppurtunity to have a few kids (w/ sponsers) up to our home on coast of Maine to understand rural life. If there is any interest, we would charge ONLY our cost, (food etc-) and make a " bunk room, or 'weather-permitting' tenting. Trying to find out if anyones really interested in knowing what "picking wrinkles' (snails) and other local area rural area things we do. We have a canoe, kayak, and more. Just curious..

'bedbugs' I call it 'ghost louse’ because I have a painful occurrence with bedbugs.