Mice are resilient, and while they may look cute from a distance, no one wants them close to their bed. Even mice in a room is too much for most people to handle. If you have seen mice in your home, you’ll want to know how to keep mice away from your bed.
Can mice climb?
Yes, the mouse on your floor can climb into your bed, and they can jump, too. But the good news is that mice will only climb into bed with you in the most serious of infestations.
If you’re still afraid that the mice may get into your bed, you can keep them away in a few quick steps.
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How to Keep Mice Away from Your Bed in 3 Steps
These few steps can help you keep mice away from your bed so that you can sleep well at night. If you follow these steps, you’ll keep mice away for good.
1. Start With Mouse Repellents
Mouse repellents are a great place to start because you do not want to keep traps or poison around your bed if there’s no need. Repellents are a great start because they’ll keep mice away naturally.
There are a lot of mouse repellents, but the best are those that are natural and won’t get you sick. A few options that work are:
Peppermint
Mice hate peppermint, and it smells great, so it will make your room smell good. You’ll want to use peppermint oil, and I recommend mixing the oil in a water bottle. You want to add 10 drops of oil and smell the spray to see how potent the smell is before spraying.
Add more peppermint oil as needed.
Now, spray all of the borders of the room, or if you know where mice are walking, you can spray these areas, too. Spraying these areas will help mask the scent mice leave behind and follow for food.
If you don’t mind the smell of the direct peppermint oil, you can dip a cotton ball directly into the peppermint oil. Smear the oil across all of the borders in the room so that the mice have no other option but to smell the oil.
By doing this, you’ll stop mice from being able to follow each other into the room.
Ammonia
The smell of ammonia is not a smell that everyone likes, but it’s a smell that mice do not like to smell. What you’ll want to do is fill bowls with ammonia and place them in areas where you’ve been seeing mice.
I recommend putting this in your closet or away from your bed.
You can put peppermint directly under your bed or along the base of your bed. Not only will you be able to smell peppermint all night, but you’ll also be sure that you keep mice away.
It’s the perfect duo.
I recommend using both of these natural deterrents to keep mice away from your home.
Mint Toothpaste
I love mint toothpaste, and it also works as a great mouse repellent. You’ll want to keep this toothpaste away from animals due to other ingredients in the toothpaste that may be toxic to animals.
But you can also use this toothpaste in ways that the other two repellents we mentioned cannot offer.
You can apply the toothpaste all along the base of the bed. Smear the toothpaste all around the baseboards in your room, too. The mint will work as a deterrent for the mice and applies nicely to the walls in paste form.
You can also make your own peppermint toothpaste with peppermint oil, baking soda and a tad bit of water.
There are also commercial repellents that will keep mice out of your room, but you may be putting your pets at risk if you use these repellents. It’s always best to try the all-natural options before choosing commercial repellents.
If you don’t mind using these commercial repellents, they do work much better at keeping mice away than most all-natural options.
2. Close Off Any Entryways Into the Room
Mice have to gain entry into your room, and if they’re not able to enter your room, they cannot get near your bed. There’s a lot that you can do to keep mice out of the room, but it’s going to take a lot of work.
I suggest starting with the following:
- Check for gaps. Mice can squeeze through a gap as wide as 1/4-inch. Since mice have angled collarbones, it’s easy for them to squeeze through these tiny spaces. Seal off these gaps as best you can. Even the baseboard in the room may require replacement.
- Fill in holes. Holes in the foundation, walls or floors need to also be sealed. Make repairs to correct these holes so that mice cannot enter. Metal or cement are the ideal choice.
- Windows. An improperly sealed window may allow mice or other pests into the space. You’ll want to make sure that all of the windows in the room close tightly so that there’s no option for a mouse to enter the room.
If mice are coming in the room from other rooms in your home, a simple solution aside from the above tips is to install a door sweep. You can install snug-fitting door sweep that will close the small gap under the door.
And you need to make sure that the door is very tight fitting.
Of course, you will need to repair any gaps or holes in the space, too. Mice may also be coming from the vents in the home, and you can install traps on these vents so that the mice cannot leave the vent.
Vent guards are a good option if you think that the mice are coming in through vents in the room.
You can tell if mice are getting in through vents by checking to see if there are gnaw or bite marks on the vent.
3. Place Traps or Baits in Key Areas
You might not want to put poison in your room, but mouse traps can definitely help. You may have sealed an exit for mice, so they may be trapped in the room or walls. Placing the best mouse trap and best mouse bait in key areas in the room is recommended.
And while not ideal for a room, you need to kill off mice before they skitter across your bed.
Place traps in key areas:
- Closets where mice may be running through or roaming in the middle of the night.
- Under the bed if you’re afraid that mice may climb up your bed. Strong bait will attract the mice before they have a chance to climb on the bed.
- Near vents if you suspect that mice are getting inside through vents.
If you’ve found mouse droppings, you should place traps in these key areas. Droppings are often a sign of where the mouse was going before or after they’ve found food. Since mice leave droppings while they walk, you can use this as a way to know where mice are going in the room.
You have to remember that mice are after shelter, warmth and food. If there is no food available, there’s no means for the mice to live. It’s as simple as removing the food source in the room to put an end to the infestation.
If you’re the type of person that leaves plates on a dresser or cups out, you need to change your habits.
Clean the room thoroughly, never eating in the room in the first place. By removing food sources, mice are less likely to enter the space than if food is available for them to eat.
I recommend that you clean the room of all food, boxes or small spaces where mice may hide. Mice will use boxes and anything that they can find to make a nest in the room. Once they’ve built their nest, it will be much harder to get rid of the mice.
Cleaning Up After a Mouse Infestation
You will need to clean up in the room after and during the infestation. Since mice can transmit disease, you’ll want to be very cautious of how you handle the dead mice and any droppings that are found.
Wear gloves to remove the dead mice and droppings.
Touching the dead mouse is not recommended. You should handle the body with the utmost care so that you don’t contract a disease or parasite from the mice. If you choose to use poison or mice die inside of the walls, you may smell a foul smell in the room.
Try and locate the smell.
Mice can die inside of the walls, and if this happens, you may want to cut open the wall to remove the dead mice. Not only is the smell putrid, rotting carcass can lead to other pests growing inside of your walls.
Remove of all dead mice properly and responsibly.
If you make sure that all of the entry ways into the room are sealed, use repellents and place traps, you’ll be able to put an end to your mice infestation.