Question

My baby is due any day now, and we are having a problem with spiders in our home. At what age is it safe for us to have our home treated by a professional?

Answer

I hate sharing my home with creatures that have more legs than I have. I'm glad you're going to use professional exterminators. Most of the problems with toxic effects of insecticides come from lay people using them incorrectly. You're also right to worry about the baby. Children are more sensitive to chemicals and inhale more of them relative to their body size than adults do. Whenever you need to get rid of critters is the time to do that. Spider bites are not necessarily deadly, depending on where you live, but can be annoying and, in a newborn, may lead to infections. I'm sure the exterminator will tell you to leave the house after the treatment for several hours. (I just had my house treated and it was four hours.) Ask about washing the crib thoroughly to remove any traces of chemicals and put freshly washed sheets on the baby's bed. Usually, after the chemical dries, there are little if any fumes in the air and it should not be a problem for the baby.