FLEAS. And ANTS. Help!

[mormontreehugger]

My house has been taken over. I'm not a super messy person, and we're not hoarders or anything, but our indoor/outdoor cats went too long without flea control and we've got a 9.5 month old who brings crumbs with him everywhere. I'm working on deep cleaning the house and trying to get the food residue out of cracks and crannies, and the cats have been treated.
BUT.
The whole upstairs has fleas and I want to fog up there. I really hate the idea of using poisons that could harm my kid though. That's what we did before we had children (and before I was crunchy...) so now I'm trying to find something a little more earth/child/pet-friendly to use. But it has to WORK. The fleas MUST die or I'm going to do something drastic. My baby has flea bites all over him and it is the most horrifying thing in the world to me right now.
So far I've been vacuuming like a fiend, washing and rewashing linens and curtains on the sanitize cycle and not allowing the cats in the upstairs bedrooms.
Any more ideas?

For the ants, I need something I can do inside to get rid of them while DH treats the outside of the house because if we don't do both at once, they don't go ANYWHERE.

I'm at my wits end. I'm thisclose to moving into a tent so I can stop freaking out about bugs (bugs belong in a tent, right?) I don't know. Help!

[Beauchamp]

Maybe some peppermint Dr. Bronner's (diluted) and sprayed around would deter them? Especially baseboards. It would be non toxic for the babe.

I hate to say this because I know how easy it is to attach to pets...but I'd find a new home for the cats if it is this bad. Then you could really treat your house, clean, sanitize, and know there is no possibility of it continuing.

We had a (messy) bird when DD was born, and the bird now has a new home with an older lady who has lots of other birds. My house is so much cleaner without feathers and bird food (and potentially the mites birds get) all over.

Other thoughts...steam cleaners? Sage? I've heard about certain herbs being yucky to bugs, but not sure which ones. Thyme, maybe?

There is also some white substance you can use around the perimeter of your house, and inside, too, I believe....arrghh! I forget what it's called. It was recommended to me once on the family safety board when I posted about bugs. I will try to find that old post.

[tinybutterfly]

I've used this before to get rid of ants, BUT you have to be careful. Follow the safety directions. Scroll all the way down where it tells you how to keep your children and pets safe if you choose to use this. It's boric acid and sugar in water. Does the job.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2105462_make-ant-killer.html

[mormontreehugger]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them. I've been struggling with the idea of getting rid of the cats. It's really hard because before I was able to have a baby, they WERE my babies. Both DH and I really love them. Of course, our son is more important, so maybe we should talk about it...

[IntuitiveJamie]

I used ACV (apple cider vinegar). I would wash my dog with Dr. Bronners soap. Then I sprayed her down thoroughly with ACV in a spray bottle and let her air dry. I washed her bedding of course and then I continued to spray her and her bedding often throughout the day. You have to stay on top of it. The usual vaccuming like crazy and washing things like blankets and such. I also read that if you can get them to eat some ACV like by sprinkling it on their food that helps. Apparently fleas don't like the acidity of ACV. It took a couple of weeks, but worked for me. Like I said though, you have to stay diligent about it. And spray the animal a lot. I don't know how wonderful for a cat that would be. Just a suggestion.

[Jaxinator]

We got ants pretty bad in our kitchen one morning. I found where they were coming in from (a small crack in my window molding) and put baking soda all over in the crack and around it. I promise you, not one more ant. Perhaps if you can find where they are coming in from, you could try that. It's easy, cheap and safe.
I've got no suggestions for the fleas though

[love4bob]

Sorry, but NOTHING gets rid of fleas except poisons! We had them BAD last year, and we tried everything imaginable and lost a lot of money to it. We even tried spraying and fogging ourselves. What finally worked was us moving out for a while with the cats and hiring an exterminator. We paid him once, and he kept coming out until they were gone.

[love4bob]

Originally Posted by mormontreehugger

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll try them. I've been struggling with the idea of getting rid of the cats. It's really hard because before I was able to have a baby, they WERE my babies. Both DH and I really love them. Of course, our son is more important, so maybe we should talk about it...

You don't need to get rid of them if you treated them.

[mamadelbosque]

I don't think you need/have to get rid of your cats. I think thats *way* overkill. We have dogs & cats and always have, and have blessedly (knock on wood!) never had flea problems. But, I've dealt with roaches and for those we had the hous professionally bombed... Bugs like roaches/fleas/etc are the one time where I'm OK w/ using nasty chemicals. Cause' they are (IMO) way worse than the chemicals. By all means, try natural methods first, but if they don't work, I'd bomb it.

[mum4vr]

poison is NOT needed!

poison is NOT needed!We JUST got rid of fleas in the carpet with zero poisons.

We have done so once before a few years ago. Your vaccuum is your new best friend! Vaccum 5-4-3-2-1-1-1-1 etc. The first day you vaccuum 5 times throughout the day- go over every mm of carpet, floor, soft furniture, everywhere 5x, next day 4x, next 3x, etc. Keep up the daily intensive vaccuuming at least once or twice a day for 2 weeks to break the cycle.

During this time, use standard blood-sucking parasite practices, like wash everywhere they may be w peppermint soap (I like Dr Bronner's) daily. NEVER wear the same clothes twice-- not even jeans, not even pjs- and they go straight to the washer asap after removal, esp if you are itching or have welty flea bites. You can kill the fleas on already clean clothes in a few minutes on high heat in the dryer, if say, you put on a clean shirt, then see a flea jump on or off of it-- take it to the dryer for a few min to be sure. When vaccuuming (I hope you have or can borrow an empty the canister type or you'll spend $ on bags!) empty into a trash bag outside immediately, tie and take the bag to the dumpster, burn pile etc-- get it as far away as possible as quickly as possible. Sprinkle borax everywhere every evening-- anything with an exoskeleton (fleas, roaches, ants) will lacerate themselves to death when they crawl thru it.

If you must spray, please try orange guard (available online at orangeguard. com and at some hardware stores-- if you already have a problem, do not bother w the small bottles-- have them order you a gallon-- more frugal in the long run). It works GREAT and is safer for children and pets, and parents, too. The cats will hate the citrus smell, but they'll forgive you since you'll keep them, of course

The fleas here are already gone. While we are waiting on a botched orange guard order, I improvised a spray w about 1 part citra-solve (either orange or lavendar scent-- both work great) to 15 parts water (about a squirt of citra solve in a squirty bottle) and sprayed around base boards and a fine mist over the just- vaccuumed carpet and couch in am, borax in pm-- the fleas are no more-- keeping it up for another week to make sure they're not hatching out anew of course.

blessings

[lonegirl]

Have you used Advantage or Revolution for the flea issue? They are both once a month, very safe, topical treatments.
Remember that flea eggs can lie dormant for 6m-1y until the conditions are right.