Up to 21 million homes in North America have mice infestations. Mice often dwell in kitchens to access food, but bedrooms can provide a warm, quiet place to hide and nest.
Mice are shy and afraid of humans, especially human males, which means they’re unlikely to approach while in bed. If a mouse is hungry, it may crawl on you while you sleep, even biting if startled or afraid.
Keep mice out of the bedroom by making the room unhospitable. Mice like warm, quiet, and dry places where they can hide. You can keep mice away by keeping the room cool, tidy, and food debris-free.
If you have mice in your home, protect the bed so you can sleep safely. Mice hate ultrasonic sounds, so get an electronic pest deterrent and use cinnamon or peppermint smells to keep rodents away.
Do Mice Usually Go Upstairs?
Mice are found on the basement and ground levels of homes. This doesn’t mean you’ll never find mice in the bedroom or on a higher level of an apartment block because they can climb when motivated.
The simplest method for mice to reach a bedroom is by climbing stairs.
Mice can clamber up to 13 inches without slipping if they have something to grip. Carpeted stairs are easy to climb, and mice can scale a chimney or other connections between floors.
Mice can climb down as easily as they climb up. Listen for the warning sounds of mice skittering around an attic. They’ll head to the bedroom if this storage space is connected.
As explained by Developmental Psychobiology, mice are good jumpers. This means mice can leap up slippery stairwells that don’t make climbing easy, hopping from one location to another.
Mice could also access a bedroom through a window or other small holes. A mouse’s body can squeeze through if a hole is large enough to accommodate its head.
A mouse can access a bedroom by scaling a drainpipe, cladding, ivy, or anything easy to get a foothold.
What Attracts Mice to Bedrooms?
Mice are attracted to food, especially if it can be obtained easily and with minimal risk.
Mice are at the bottom of nature’s food chain and look for opportunities to scavenge food from abandoned areas. This means mice are often found in kitchens and pantries.
If you eat in a bedroom and leave crumbs, mice may enter. Mice also enjoy quiet, warm, and dark locations. A bedroom may suit a mouse’s needs as you won’t be in the room for most of the day.
Closets and other concealed spaces are popular with mice as a place to hide and sleep.
Do I Have Mice in My Bedroom?
Look for the following signs that mice have moved in where you sleep:
- A strong, distinct scent like ammonia suggests mice urinate in the bedroom.
- Droppings have a musky smell and will be more visible. Mouse droppings are small and dark, around the size of a grain of rice.
- Damage to wooden furniture or electrical cables that have been bitten through.
- Scratching noises in the wall or on the ground.
- Shredded paper or drywall, especially in a dark corner of a bedroom.
- Uncharacteristic interest in the bedroom from a pet, especially a cat or a dog, seemingly staring into space or sniffing the ground.
Of course, the most unmistakable sign is the sight of a mouse running across the floor.
What Time Do Mice Come Out At Night?
Mice are nocturnal and stay out of sight during the day, finding a warm and dry place to sleep.
Mice awaken at dusk and spend the evening foraging for food. If you have mice in your bedroom, they are likeliest to be active while you’re sleeping.
Bright lights deter mice, so even if you have unwelcome guests in your bedroom, you may not see them while you take advantage of overhead illumination.
Equally, leaving windows open and chilling a room may keep mice out of sight.
According to PLoS One, some mice will start scavenging during the day if food sources are scarce.
If a mouse can only find food during daylight hours – perhaps because this is when you vacate your bedroom, making it a safe time to forage – its circadian rhythms will adjust.
Will Mice Approach You in Bed?
Mice are prey animals, which makes them shy by nature.
Most mice prefer to avoid contact with humans, whether awake or asleep. Alas, mice are guided by their stomachs. Mice can grow emboldened and approach if you’re surrounded by food in bed.
Nature Methods claims that laboratory mice are more afraid of male humans than females. This sex-specific fear response is found in all animals, including other mice.
Mice are territorial, so a male mouse will fear that a fellow male will fight over the terrain.
This means that mice are unlikely to get close to humans, but a male is likelier to deter their presence. All the same, there will be a risk of a mouse approaching you while you’re sleeping.
Mice are excellent jumpers and climbers, so they won’t struggle to access your bed if motivated. Crumbs and other food sources will attract attention, as will small insects or spiders that make easy prey.
Will Mice Run on You While Sleeping?
As mice prefer to stay out of your way, they’re unlikely to crawl over you while sleeping.
The exception to this rule is when your bedcovers offer a food source. If you snack in bed and leave crumbs, mice may crawl over you, seeking nourishment.
Mice won’t run on your body for recreation or as an act of aggression, as they’ll only spend as much time as they need near humans, taking their food and running for cover.
Mice may run over your sleeping body if they sense a threat and need to flee quickly.
If you have a cat, a mouse will look for the fastest, safest route to cross a room and find a small hole it can squeeze into without being followed. If that means running over you, so be it.
Will Mice Bite You in Your Sleep?
If you have mice in your bedroom, you’ll be concerned that they may bite you while you sleep, possibly even choosing to attack in numbers.
The likeliest reason a mouse will bite you while sleeping is that it feels threatened. If a mouse crawls on your bed and you roll over in your sleep or look to swipe the mouse away, it may bite in self-defense.
Mice are also afraid of loud noises, so snoring will likely frighten a mouse and may spook it into biting. However, sonic and ultrasonic sound waves are more concerning.
How to Keep Mice Out of Your Bedroom
Mice should never be allowed to grow comfortable in a home, especially not in a bedroom. If you believe your home has an infestation, take these steps to keep mice out of your bedroom:
- Empty wastebins and vacuum the floor, ensuring no trace of food or crumbs.
- Seal holes around windows or cracks in the wall, no matter how small and innocuous.
- Lay traps if you can safely negotiate the bedroom in the dark without triggering them.
- Keep the bedroom tidy and minimalist, failing to create welcoming hiding or nesting places.
Call an exterminator who’ll resolve the problem at the first sign of mice in a bedroom.
How To Stop Mice Approaching Your Bed
Take these steps to keep mice away from your bed:
- Change bed sheets to remove food traces, and avoid bringing snacks into the bedroom.
- Sleep in cold conditions to deter mice.
- Get an ultrasonic noise machine and plug this in next to your bed.
- Apply peppermint or cinnamon essential oils to your bedsheets and pillows.
- Sleep with a cat or dog on your bed. These hunting animals will terrify mice and keep them away.
These are temporary measures to help you sleep in the short term.
Will Sleeping with Lights On Keep Mice Away?
If all else fails, sleep in a well-lit room until a mice infestation has been removed.
A mouse in a bedroom will remain in hiding until the room is plunged into darkness. If this never happens, it’ll never feel safe emerging from its hiding place.
Somnologie explains that circadian rhythms rely on darkness to release melatonin. If you plan to sleep in a well-lit room, ensure you wear an eye mask.
Mice are unlikely to attack or crawl on you while you sleep, but it can occasionally happen.
