Bedbugs...I can't believe I am posting this

This feels so awful to write about...but I was looking if anyone has had any experiences with this. A few days ago my son, who is 5,  started complaining his back was itchy, when I looked there was nothing there. About two days later he had a cluster of bug bite looking bumps, then last night he had another two, two far away from each other under his arm, and another single one on his chest. Bedbugs is my first thought...so I took him to the pharmacist to show her and she thinks yes, its probably bedbugs. I followed all kinds of instructions on finding out if you had them on the internet, and nothing.  His mattress is like its brand new, his sheets have no blood on them etc...used tape on the seams, checked the headboard (its a metal bed) and nothing.

I am seriously freakeing out. I am so scared that we have them, but also worried that the mangy rug at school has them...oy vey. Has anyone been through this at all? Any advice? It always seems like whatever anyone else has, I have something more gross or much worse! lol!

Do you or a neighbor have pets? It may just be fleas..

It could be other things - don't freak yet. Like sonofasailor says, it might be fleas. My mom and cousin also got some weird case of mites this winter that went from my cousin's boyfriend's house to my cousin living here to my mother. But neither I nor my boys got it.  Itching was the primary symptom and you could see bites.

Do you or a neighbor have pets? It may just be fleas..

I have a cat, but he is flea treated and no evidence of fleas either. I am just hoping that its at the school, but my NYC based sister has already FREAKED ME OUT.

Hi Rach
I have had experience of bed bugs last year and in fact managed to catch a photograph of one during my stay in the hotel in the US

However, it wasn't until 10 days later that the bites all appeared in a row climbing up my leg and also neck. It took that long for them to show. At first I thought it was chicken pox as they appeared all at once like that and the bites were so large, painful, hot and itchy. Then when the GP said he thought it was bites...I went mad with the mattress, duvet and everything. Before that I think I was in denial but looking at the photographs of my legs now it is very clear a bug had made his way up my legs and neck 

It wasn't until I remembered the bed bug spotted in the US. I then read that it is quite common for the bites to take some time to show up, even up to as long as a couple of weeks, in some people due to their anti-bodies. It took mine 10 days from what must have been the biting incident (my last night in the US) to the bites actually showing up.

Have you been away anywhere or stayed anywhere else over the last couple of weeks or so?

Yes, I went through the paranoia and the sleeping with the light on for a few days - such a horrible thought it was as I was worried they had come back to the UK with me. But eventually I had to just realise I had done all I could, I needed to sleep! And from what everything said on the net the bugs were more psychologically damaging than physically.

Fortunately for me all my bites came up at once and I kept checking every day for fresh ones - after a month or so of no fresh bites I decided I must have been OK and no bed bugs here (thankfully) - I read about the bed bug life cycle...Yep, the things you read at times like this .

Sorry I have no solid advice Rache, I just did what you are doing and read the internet etc.. 

But it would be interesting to know if your son has been anywhere different over the last 2 weeks?

Thanks everyone for posting, we haven't been anywhere over the last two weeks really....my in laws did come to visit the end of last month, but he hasn't stayed anywhere. It was school half term, and we just pottered around our neighbourhood etc. I am going to do what you suggest, checking every day for fresh ones, seeing if any more appear etc. What a bugger this is. Thanks for everyones advice!

Its hard to admit this, but I had them.  I had gotten them on my rtw in a couple of hostels, and recognized them right away when they invaded my apartment. 

Be sure to check under the box spring mattress and around the slates holding the mattresses up.  That's where mine were.  If it it bed bugs, and you haven't found anything then you most likely have a very small infestation.  Washing everything in very hot water and then, if you like, putting plastic over the mattresses will take care of it. 

I did this along with calling an exterminator and I've been bed bug free for a year.  Of course, every time I have an inch I still think that its them. 

If it were me, I would steam everything as a precaution.  The mattress, box spring, frame, bedding, all of it.  If everything gets up to 180 or 200F, it'll kill any bugs or eggs.

It is entirely possible that they have them at the school, you should probably let them know that your son is coming home with bites and see if they'll treat the classroom.

If the bites are mostly on his back, then they might not be bedbugs. Bedbugs usually travel along veins where they are close to the skin (arms, legs, neck, etc) snacking along the way.  You would see a trail of hard red bumps almost exactly on top of veins.

Sarcoptic mites (scabies) on the other hand, are nearly invisible in bedding and clothing, and can bite anywhere.  They burrow and lay their eggs under the skin, so it takes a couple of days to a couple of weeks before the rash shows up.  It's exactly the kind of thing that one can get from a grungy rug.  (Not to mention public transit and office furniture...)

The one thing in common is that steam can kill anything, so the same advice about steaming the bedroom (and the living room, couches, chairs, etc) should take care of anything you've got once you get the people in your household treated.

Take him to a dermatologist if you can, and be sure to mention it might be something he brought home from school.

By-the-way, whether it is bedbugs or not, it has nothing to do with your moral fibre. They attack the just and unjust alike.

Could it be scabies?  The pharmacist could be wrong, and there wouldn't be any "creatures" to see with scabies either (even though they are there).

Also, do you use biological powder (or some other laundry powder)?  People with sensitive skin, even without a history of skin problems can develop contact dermatitis from soaps, especially bio powder.  This is something I discovered upon moving here.  I never used powder soaps in the States because it seemed to be the only thing that gave me skin problems, and never really saw myself as having sensitive skin.  After moving here, I ended up with hives and a rash over my entire body because of remanants of my MiL's bio powder getting onto my clothes when I washed them in our machine.

Can I make a suggestion for a really common possibility?

When my 7 month old was 5 days old he had MRSA, it was just a few tiny red dots, I never would have thought anything of them if his pediatrician didn't spot it. It cleared up immediately and hasn't re-appeared on him at all. However, my 3 year old son has been battling minor staph colonizations ever since! It looks just as you described, his appear mostly in his diaper area as we're still potty training but he gets odd bumps on his torso as well.

We use an rx antibiotic ointment in his nose and add 2 tablespoons of regular (thin) chlorine bleach to his bath. The chlorine content is far less than they'd come in contact with in a swimming pool.

Sorry to suggest something that may sound scary but it is really common and sounds like a possibility. You could try taking him swimming and see if it improves overnight.

I agree with the others that it's not necessarily bedbugs.  There are several childhood rashes, including scabies, that can look like insect bites, particularly if they've been scratched.  I would ask your doctor.

My son had a light molluscum (viral) rash when he was a child that caused him no worries, but when my daughter caught it later she scratched her 3-5 tiny (pinprick sized) bumps so much they ended up looking like mosquito bites.  It took a while before we caught sight of one before it had been scratched off, to know what it was.

Info on molluscum:

http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Molluscum-Contagiosum-in-Children.htm

Thanks again to everyone for an your input! Made me feel so much better. As an update, he still only has the original bites mentioned and they are pretty much gone. He hasn't got anymore, so I am guessing they were an isolated incident! I will update again if there is one! Thanks again everyone!