Do rats bite sleeping babies?

A wild rat is a commensal animal and it has a natural habitat around human buildings like garbage dumps, sewers, cities and farms. In the cities, the wild animals are found in large numbers as they seek out easy food sources and helter. The bites of wild rats are typically low in number, but the exact number cannot be determined. People regardless of age may be bitten by wild rats, but the majority of those bitten are children. Most of the time, these bites take place when the person is sleeping, and many of the bites happen on the parts of the body like fingers and hands that have been exposed. The rat bites may not be that severe. Often it can be washed out and then the patient will be sent home. The infection rate caused by rat bites is at 2 percent.

The babies may be a target of the rats when they throw up or drool. A rat looking for food may end up eating the food that the baby has thrown up, and when startled the rat may end up biting the baby.

To avoid cases of your baby being bitten, you should keep the baby in a clean crib and make the crib safe and proof it from outside intruders. In order to protect the baby, take the bottle away when you have finished and then wash the baby’s face and hands well. Don’t let the baby sleep with food on their mouth or with unwashed hands.

Keeping your baby covered also can reduce the cases of bites since most of the time the bites take place on the extremities and parts which are not covered. The common victims of rat bites are children regardless of sex who are under 5 years old.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Rats page or email us if you have any other questions about Do rats bite sleeping babies?