Can You Sleep Peacefully With a Cockroach in Your Room?

Spotting a roach in your room is disgusting, and it can make your mind race with thoughts like, can I actually get any true sleep with this thing in here?

Yes, you can sleep peacefully with a cockroach in your room, but not always. Since you are pretty still while you’re sleeping, the roach may decide to crawl on you. Also, many people become stressed out when they know a roach is in their room, which can keep them up. 

Will a Cockroach Bother Me When I’m Sleeping?

Most of the time, roaches will not disturb you while you’re sleeping. 

Humans are dangerous to cockroaches because, of course, most people will kill them if they get the chance, so roaches usually don’t like to get close to us. 

But, they can and sometimes will bother sleeping people. 

You see, roaches can eat a wide array of items. 

They can consume almost all organic matter, which means that even if you don’t have crumbs in your bed, they could come to snack on the dead skin cells and hair in your bedclothes. 

However, although the thought of a roach in the bed is quite disgusting, they typically won’t bother you, especially if you snore or move around a lot in your sleep. 

Yet, they may crawl on you if they wish. 

Additionally, even though it isn’t that common, roaches do sometimes bite people. 

Generally, a roach will only bite you if it has nothing else to eat and is extremely hungry. 

So, if they see you sleeping and not moving too much, they may see this as the perfect time to grab a bite. 

Do Roaches Cause Stress?

Yes, cockroaches can cause stress, just like any other pest. 

One reason you may be stressed if you have a roach near you has to do with our natural disgust for creepy crawlies. 

Since roaches and certain other bugs can carry disease, they give us an instinctual feeling of repulsion. 

Thus, many of us fill with anxiety when we know that one is in our room. 

In fact, some people have even had panic attacks from insects, showing how much bugs can upset our mental health. 

Furthermore, spotting a roach in the house is stressful because we understand it means we could have an infestation. 

And many people know that roaches are one of the hardest insects to eradicate. 

Therefore, the thoughts associated with a possible infestation can keep you up at night as you worry about things like the potential cost of extermination. 

So, having roaches in your home can make you feel pretty stressed, which can lead to sleepless nights. 

Can a Cockroach Hurt Me?

As I said above, cockroaches do occasionally bite. 

However, biting is not part of typical roach behavior. 

Yet, there are other ways that roaches can harm people besides biting. 

Cockroaches can also transmit diseases, such as typhoid, when they crawl over any food we later eat. 

Additionally, there is the possibility that you have a cockroach allergy, and you may not even know you have one until you get roaches in your home. 

Roach allergies occur when the enzymes from roach body parts, eggs, excrement, or saliva get into the air. 

And once they’re floating around you, you will breathe them in, which could trigger an allergic reaction. 

Symptoms of a Cockroach Allergy 

The following are possible symptoms associated with cockroach allergies: 

• Sneezing 
• Red, painful, itchy, or watery eyes 
• Wheezing 
• A red and itchy rash 
• Swollen face or tongue 
• Stomach pain 
• Runny nose 
• Chest tightness 
• Vomiting 
• Nausea 
• Cough 
• Diarrhea 

If you believe you have a roach allergy, you should see your doctor as soon as possible to confirm that you are allergic to roaches and that the issue isn’t stemming from something else. 

How Can I Keep the Cockroaches Away When I’m Sleeping?

In the following sections, I’ll detail ways that can help keep roaches away when you’re sleeping. 

Don’t Keep Food in Your Bedroom 

Roaches primarily like to live with people because we have a ready and accessible food supply in our homes. 

So, if you want to keep cockroaches out of your bedroom, you should remove all food from your room. 

And keep in mind that roaches are small, meaning they don’t need much food. 

Thus, you will need to eliminate all crumbs in your room by vacuuming the carpet, washing your bedclothes, and wiping down surfaces. 

Empty and Wash Your Bedroom Trash Can Often 

You may think that keeping food out of your bedroom trash can is enough to keep the roaches away. 

However, cockroaches eat just about anything that was once living, which gives them a broad diet. 

In fact, roaches can and will consume the following items: 

• Cardboard 
• Paper 
• Fingernail clippings 
• Leather 
• Hair 
• Feces 
• Soap 
• Toothpaste 
• Glue 
• Dead insects, including other roaches 

So, as you can see, roaches will snack on pretty much everything in your trash can. 

Therefore, you should be sure to clean and wash your garbage can as often as possible. 

Get Rid of Clutter 

Roaches like to live, breed, and lay their eggs in dark and secluded areas. 

Thus, if you have a lot of clutter in your bedroom, you are giving them plenty of places to live. 

And if they live in your room, they are more likely to bother you when you sleep. 

So, if you want to see the silver lining in this tough time, you should think of having roaches as a chance to declutter. 

Eliminate Moisture Sources 

Roaches need moisture to survive, meaning they will seek it out if they are in your home. 

The most common place that roaches find moisture in homes is around leaky pipes. 

Therefore, if there are any leaks in your bedroom, now is the perfect time to fix them to keep roaches away from you when you sleep. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, you can definitely have a peaceful night of sleep if there is a roach in your bedroom. 

Yet, it is just as likely that the stress of the roach will keep you up.