Bed Bugs Under the Lining of the Baby's Car Seat

Bed bugs can infest certain places that you can never think of. Baby car seats are one of them.

In this guide, you'll learn how to get rid of bed bugs in baby car seat.

This guide goes deep into the reason for bed bugs in your baby's car seat.

You'll find out what signs to look for that confirm the presence of bed bugs in your baby's car seat and inside the car.

And we'll wrap up the post with actionable steps on getting rid of bed bugs in the car.

It's because if you don't get rid of bed bugs in your car, then bed bugs can re-infest your baby's car seat.

Keep Reading.

How Bed Bugs Infest Baby Car Seat?

Before we get into how to get rid of bed bugs in baby car seats, let's find out how bed bugs get there.

There are three ways that bed bugs can get into the baby car seat.

The first way is from your home.

The second way is that there are bed bugs in the car. From the interior of the car, bed bugs get into the baby car seat.

And the third way is from a bed bug-infested place where you and your baby might have been, like a hotel.

Let's take a deep dive into each of them.

Bed Bugs From Your Home To Your Baby's Car Seat

Let's face it. Bed bugs will hide anywhere in your home from where they can get access to human blood.

And your child's car seat is no exception.

Bed bugs can reach the car seat by latching onto your baby's clothing and fabric.

The places where you keep your child's clothing and linen, like dresser drawers, are also hiding places of bed bugs.

When bed bug infestation is severe in your home, it can spread to all the rooms where people sleep.

And that includes your child's nursery room.

Bed bugs in the nursery room can even get into your child's cribs.

Bed bugs in the crib's mattress and the crib's gaps are the reasons for the mysterious bug bites appearing on your baby's body.

So, unless you get rid of bed bugs in your entire home, the chances of bed bugs reaching your baby's car seat are high.

Bed Bugs In The Car Can Infest Your Baby's Car Seat

Yes, you've read it right. Bed bugs can be inside your car too!

In fact, bed bugs can be in any soft furnishing or on a hard surface with gaps and access to human blood.

And your car is an ideal place for bed bugs to hide.

But how do bed bugs get into the car?

There are two ways.

First, you transfer the bed bugs by putting in stuff like furniture and fabric inside your car.

As you know, if there's a bed bug infestation in your home, bed bugs can also be in pieces of wood and fabric.

The second way is someone else who has bed bugs introduces bed bugs in your car.

Bed bugs can be in that person's clothing or belongings.

And if that person sits in your car with bed bugs on the clothes or puts something like fabric, or cardboard boxes where bed bugs can be present, then that person can introduce bed bugs in your car.

In your car, bed bugs will hide in the gaps of the car's cushion, cracks and crevices in the car's interiors, and the foot mats.

From there, it's only a matter of time that bed bugs move into your baby's car seat.

The point to note here is that if there are bed bugs in your car, your baby and you both can get bed bug bites within a few minutes of being inside the car.

The reason is that bed bugs don't get their blood meals as often in the car as they get in your bed.

A starving bed bug will bite instantly as soon as it realizes there's a blood source around.

That's the reason for getting bed bug bites during the day within a few hours of moving inside a new home.

You've Been To A Bed Bug Infested Place

You go to a bed bug-infested place, bed bugs latch onto your luggage and clothing, and you bring those bed bugs home.

It's the most common way how bed bugs spread. People bring them into their homes from an infested place.

So, when you put your belongings with bed bugs latching onto them, you introduce them to your car.

And from inside of the car, bed bugs move into the baby car seat.

3 Signs Of Bed Bugs In Baby Car Seat

If bed bugs have infested your baby's car seat, then there would be three significant signs of infestation.

Bed Bug Bite Marks On Your Baby's Body

Do you see red lumps in a straightish line on the exposed areas of your baby's body?

If yes, then those are bed bug bites on your baby.

And if you observe bed bug bites after you take your baby off from the baby car seat, then it's a sure sign that there are bed bugs in your baby's car seat.

There can be bed bugs in your baby's crib mattress too.

In your baby's crib mattress, bed bugs are a severe sign of bed bug infestation gone unchecked in your home.

Blood Marks On The Baby Car Seat's Seat Pad Or Back Support

These blood marks are from bed bugs squished by your baby's body weight.

When bed bugs' belly is full of blood, then, like mosquitoes, they find it hard to move.

Your baby's body weight will squish the bed bugs causing your baby's blood to spread out on the car seat.

Bed Bug Skin On Your Baby's Car Seat

This sign is rare but becomes very evident if the infestation is significantly high.

Bed bugs shed their skin, or they molt.

So, if they're living on your baby's car seat for long, then you'll find pieces of bed bugs skin on it.

But bed bugs are also known to live in an unlikely place, your baby's diapers.

9 Steps To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In Your Baby's Car Seat

Getting rid of bed bugs in your baby's car seat isn't a complicated task.

You can easily do it.

But to make sure the blood-sucking bugs don't bite your baby again, you need to get rid of them from your car and home.

Bed bugs are tricky and resilient pests to kill.

And unfortunately, DIY ways aren't effective in killing bed bugs, especially when the infestation has crossed the danger mark.

Bed bugs in the baby car seat are a menacing indication that there are bed bugs in your home.

So, immediately contact a professional bed bug exterminator to treat your home for bed bugs.

But for now, let's look at the process of getting rid of bed bugs in your baby's car seat.

9 Steps To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In Baby Car Seat

Step#1

Take your baby's car seat out of your home, in your yard or garden, or patio. You don't want bed bugs to fall off from the car seat during the riddance process and sneak into anywhere else inside your home.

Step#2

Loosen the harness straps and remove the harness straps from the splitter plate. Pull the harness straps out from the baby's car seat. Keep the harness strap aside.

Step#3

Remove the plastic flaps from the sides of the seat. Once you remove the plastic flaps, you can pull the seat pad from the baby car seat.

Step#4

Pull the seat pad to remove it from the car seat.

Step#5

Now remove the canopy from the baby car seat. You can do it by undoing the fastening strips on the canopy's sides and pushing the release button on the canopy arm.

Step#6

Vacuum cleans the parts of the car seat that you took out and the car seat's skeleton.

Vacuuming doesn't solve the bed bug problem in the car seat, but it's useful in reducing their numbers.

Vacuuming will also remove any bed bug eggs present in the car seat pad and canopy.

Step#7

After vacuuming, you can use a home steam cleaner to clean the car seat pad, the canopy, the harness, and the car seat's skeleton.

Bed bugs can't sustain hot temperatures.

Once they're exposed to heat, they die quite fast.

Make sure you cover every corner and gap on the car seat frame during the steam cleaning.

Step#8

If you don't have a home steam cleaner, then you can use food-grade diatomaceous earth.

Spread diatomaceous earth on all the car seat parts, including the car seat frame.

Diatomaceous earth kills bed bugs, and it's safe for babies.

Step#9

Leave the car seat and its parts for 2-3 hours after applying diatomaceous earth.

Vacuum clean the baby car seat parts again before you reassemble them.

Washing the seat pad or the canopy wouldn't kill the bed bugs because bed bugs can easily survive in the cold water.

Steam cleaning your car and baby's car seat is another great way to kill bed bugs in both.

Heat kills bed bugs. And a steam cleaner produces heat, make it a quick and easy process to kill bed bugs.

As heat is an excellent weapon against bed bugs, the professional exterminator may do heat treatment if you choose to hire one.

Can Bed Bugs Live In A Car?

Yes, bed bugs can live in a car.

But how do bed bugs enter a car?

Bed bugs don't enter a car by themselves. Someone brings them inside.

The most common way bed bugs get into a car is through your or someone else's clothes.

Bed bugs can latch on to the clothes, especially when they're in drawers.

If someone sits in your car and he or she has a severe bed bug infestation at home, then it's highly likely that he or she may transfer bed bugs from his or her clothes to your car.

So, if your friend has bed bugs and sat in your car, then he or she can transfer bed bugs in your car!

You can also transfer bed bugs in a car if you put items like wooden furniture, bags, and fabrics with bed bugs.

The worst part is that, unless treated, bed bugs can easily live in your car for a year, even without blood meals.

Bed bugs can live in a car in the winters, too, because the car's temperature inside is always warmer than outside.

The likelihood of bed bug infestation in your car is relatively high.

But it depends on if the people who have been into your car have bed bugs or not, or if there's bed bug infestation in your home.

How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs In Car

This post wouldn't have been complete if you don't get to know how to get rid of bed bugs in the car.

Here are the 5 steps that you can follow right now to make your car free from bed bugs.

Step#1 – Clear The Clutter Inside Your Car

Before you begin the killing process, clear the clutter inside your car.

Bed bugs prefer a cluttered car because it gives them enough gaps to hide.

Step#2 – Remove The Seat Covers, Floor Mat And Wash Them

Bed bugs can be present in seat covers and floor mats, too, especially when they're made of leather.

So, remove them, and wash them in high heat to kill any hidden bed bugs.

If you've leather seat covers and a floor mat in your car, give it for dry cleaning as it's safe for leather.

Step#3 – Sprinkle Diatomaceous Earth To Kill The Bed Bugs In Car

Once you've removed the fabric and clutter from your car, sprinkle a generous amount of diatomaceous earth inside your car.

Don't forget to scatter diatomaceous earth on the window edges, behind the car seat, foot paddles, and in all the tight corners inside your car.

Diatomaceous earth is a natural bed bug cleaner. It penetrates the skeleton of bed bugs, ruptures them, and then kills them.

After scattering diatomaceous earth, let it rest inside the car for an hour or so. Let the diatomaceous earth sink in deep and do its thing.

Step#4 – Vacuum Clean Your Car To Remove Dead Bed Bugs

After an hour from spreading diatomaceous earth, it's time to vacuum clean your car slowly.

Vacuum clean all the corner edges and tight corners inside your car, including the car seat and upholstery.

Vacuuming will ensure that you remove all the dead and adult baby bed bugs and the diatomaceous earth.

You need to be patient during vacuum cleaning because one round of cleaning might not be enough.

Vacuum clean your car at least twice.

Once you're done vacuuming, don't dispose of the dust bag from your vacuum in your home's or yard's trash bin.

Dispose of it off far from your home.

There might be a few bed bugs alive inside the dust bag that may again infest your home or car.

Step#5 – Steam Clean Your Car To Kill Not Only Bed Bugs But Also Bed Bug Eggs

Steam cleaning lands the death blow to the bed bugs.

It's the sure shot way to kill not only adult bed bugs but also bed bugs' eggs and their nymphs.

Vacuum cleaning may not remove the bed bug eggs.

These eggs will hatch in the future and can cause the bed bugs in your car. From your car they'll quickly get inside your home.

Steam cleaner produces heat at temperatures more than 120 degrees F, that decimates any bed bugs that you might have missed in the last four steps.

While doing steam cleaning, ensure that you cover every inch inside your car.

Do not forget to steam clean the back side of the car's back seat and the car's trunk.

Caution:– Don't use pesticides or bug bombs inside your car to remove bed bugs. It's dangerous for your car and for you too.

Can Bed Bugs Live In Diapers?

Yes, bed bugs can live in diapers, especially when it's dry.

There have been many reports where parents have complained about bed bugs in their baby's diapers.

It's unlikely, though, that bed bugs can live in a sealed diaper pack.

But if bed bugs have infested your home, or there are bed bugs in your baby's car seat, then they can easily creep into your baby's diapers.

And it occurs when you keep the diapers in drawers or places that have bed bugs.

So, if you observe bed bug bite marks in your baby's groin area, then it's a clear signal that there are bed bugs in your baby's diapers.

Immediately dispose of all the diapers and deep clean the place where you keep the diapers.

Conclusion

Very few people can think that bed bugs can infest the baby car seat. But bed bugs can.

Dismantle the baby car seat and deep clean each of its parts, either by a home steam cleaner or sprinkle diatomaceous earth on them.

Cleaning the baby car seat with normal water and detergent won't work. Bed bugs can survive both. But they can't survive heat more than 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

That's why steam cleaning a baby car seat with a home steam cleaner is the best and the fastest way to kill the bed bugs infesting it.

It's not normal to have bed bugs on a baby car seat unless they're present in your baby's clothes or your car.

So, the primary source of bed bugs in your baby's car seat is either the drawers where you keep your baby's clothes or your car.

We're Mark and Jim. We were serial pest killers for almost all of our lives. Through this blog we spread pest murdering tips to people like you who want to keep their homes pest free.

Bed Bugs Under the Lining of the Baby's Car Seat

Source: https://howtomurderpests.com/bed-bugs-in-baby-car-seat/

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