How To Keep Mice Away From Your Bed

Nobody wants to see wild mice in their home. You don’t want to see them crawling through your pantry, and you certainly do not want to see them around your bed. Yet, if you hear scurrying in your bedroom at night or find mouse droppings and urine, you need to take proactive measures. The last thing you want is to catch a disease from a mouse or have it start ruining your bedding. That’s why we’re going to look at how to keep mice away from your bed.

We’ll break down approaches you can take to ensure that mice aren’t spending time in and around your bed.

Do Mice Nest in Bedrooms?

Yes, mice will nest in bedrooms if they can find a place that is not often disturbed. However, bedrooms are rarely conducive to a nest. Still, they are often a place where mice can seek food and nesting materials. Even if mice aren’t living in a bedroom, they’ll still go into them for supplies.

A lot of people bring food into their bedrooms. They leave behind a wealth of crumbs and leftover dishes caked with their meals. Mice have no qualms about sharing a plate of food with you. Also, mice need to borrow some materials to make their own nests. That includes cotton, fabric, and paper goods.

All of these items are easily found in a bedroom. That being said, mice are more likely to be found on the lower levels of a home than on the upper levels. Not only is it easier for mice to get in on lower areas, but they’re also less likely to be disturbed.

If your bedroom is on the ground floor of a home, it’s probably a little more likely to attract mice than an upstairs bedroom. Make no mistake, though, mice can climb stairs and walls very easily in pursuit of food and comfort.

How to Keep Mice Away from Your Bed

You can keep mice away from your bed by not eating in your room, removing clutter in your bedroom, using barrier methods to keep them at bay, inviting your pets into your room, and sealing up holes and cracks leading to your bedroom.

Some of these methods are easier than others, and they require a fair amount of explanation. Let’s break down these different methods of keeping your bed area mouse-free. That way, you can get the comfortable rest you deserve.

5. Look for Mouse Access Points

First off, you need to look for how mice could be getting into your room. Mice can squeeze their bodies into impossibly small spaces. That means you have to consider looking for holes the size of a dime or smaller. Patch them up with caulk or fill them in with steel wool before patching them up with drywall spackle.

If you had holes drilled into your closet for cable access, some mice can get through them, too. You should also poke around above your bed if you have a drop ceiling. Find the holes and make them inaccessible. Get creative and see any way that mice can be getting into your room, including under your door. A bristle door sweep should be enough to prevent them from climbing in that way.

4. Let Your Pets Have Access to Your Room

Nothing scares mice away from an area faster than the presence of a predator. Pet cats are notoriously effective predators that kill mice for sport as well as for a quick meal. So, let your cat sleep in your room or make sure you bring their bed into your room at night. The smell alone should be enough to make a mouse think twice about seeing what’s in your bedroom.  

3. Try Using Barrier Methods to Make Mice Avoid Your Room

Another option you have is to put smells around your bed that mice do not like. For example, a lot of people use cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil extract to keep mice away. The intense smell of the peppermint is enough to drive away mice.

Another less smelly option for your bedroom is dryer sheets. Mice do not like the smell of dryer sheets, especially Bounce ones. You can easily place a box of these beneath your bed and help keep mice away. Be warned, though. This is not a dead-set way to keep mice away. Some mice hate the smell of dryer sheets and others are less bothered by them.  

2. Remove Clutter in Your Room

Mice need places to hide. These tiny mammals understand that if anything sees them, they’ll be in a world of hurt. That’s why they tend to stay close to the baseboards when they do travel. More importantly, they stay under the cover of furniture or clutter.

If you cut down on the piles of clothes, stacks of blankets, garbage, and other clutter in your room, you’ll take away the things that mice need to feel safe and travel in an area. Keep your room clean and squared away while also making sure that you properly pack your bedding. That way, you don’t have to worry about what’s in those piles of clothes under the bed.

1. Stop Eating in Your Room, Or Clean Meticulously After

Lastly, you need to stop eating food in your bedroom. Any time that you bring food into your bedroom, you’re rolling out the welcome mat for mice. When you leave behind crumbs in your house or leave a bowl of half-empty cereal, you may think nothing of it.

However, as soon as you leave the room for a while, mice will come out and snack on the food. If you consistently leave food in your rood, then you can expect that mice will set up shop nearby. After all, they like to live within less than 30 feet of their food source. They could hide in a wall halfway between you and your kitchen and feast like kings!

Now that you know how to keep mice away from your bed, it’s time to put the plans into action. You need to secure the holes in your walls, remove clutter, and make sure to stop eating in your room. By following these simple solutions, you can prevent a mouse outbreak.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/Flore Sakowski