Help me figure out how to safely treat my home with a 1 year old

(Eastern Pennsylvania)

I need help treating for bedbugs with a young toddler in the home. So I thought we successfully eradicated bedbugs from what little we kept when we moved, as we had no bites or sightings in over 6 months but they were either dormant or came back from an adjoining neighbors house.

Now I have a problem, and dealing with it is harder now because I have a 1 year old. What would be the most effective way to kill them without the risk of poisoning my daughter because she puts everything in her mouth! I've got hot shot with an egg killing formula but I use that sparingly for fear that you will find a spot that's still damp and will get it in her mouth. I got a non-toxic cedar based spray that works wonders if you spray it on a live bug but I can't seem to find all of them... I think I've taken care of it and then I wind up bit to hell again..

I'm thinking maybe having an exterminator do a heat treatment might be our best bet but not sure how much that's going to cost and if we can afford it or how long I have to be out of the house and what I need to remove from the house to prevent it being damaged by the Heat. We don't have anywhere else to stay if I have to leave for a whole day. Any thoughts any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Editor Comment:

Hi, sorry to hear about your bed bug problem. As you point out the safest treatment are non-chemical approaches such heat or via the use of a freezing spray. Heat involves super heating a house to the required temperature. This takes one day so you should be able to enter the home when the treatment is completed.

A freezing spray can be applied to all surfaces and will kill any insects or eggs. The process works by by freezing the insects with carbon dioxide snow which is dry ice. There is no need to leave the home. The process is completely safe, chemical free and non-toxic and is safe on furniture, and electronics. Like insecticide based sprays, you may require more than one treatment. If you go with the freezing spray approach, make sure you get a guarantee before starting.

Some companies only apply spot treatments with a system called Cryonite or other freezing method. Others such as InstantFreeze treat the entire home with carbon dioxide. Both are acceptable approaches.

With a toddler in the house we would recommend the freezing spray treatment if you can find an exterminator in your area that uses this approach.