"bug bites" on my 8yo

[Anonymous]

DD came in this morning telling me she had 4-5 bites on her feet and they were itchy. I assumed maybe there had been a spider in her bed or something. It seems now that there are a few on her legs, about 6 bites on her shoulder and one on her face. They are tiny bumps, like a bite, but I'm doubting now that it is from a bug. They are not on the soles of her feet or hands and she isn't ill in any other way (so unlikely to be HFM). It doesn't look like a rash. Any ideas? We have not been in a hotel or anywhere where we could have bed bugs.

[Anonymous]

Have you brought into the home any gifted or second-hand linens, clothes, furniture, etc.?

Any pets in the house?

[Anonymous]

Any travel? Any travelers visit recently?

This sounds like bed bugs.

[Anonymous]

If the spots are a few in a line it’s probably bed bugs.

[Anonymous]

Molluscum?

[Anonymous]

Flea bites?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Molluscum?

Usually not significantly itchy.

[Anonymous]

Tell us more. What do they look like? size? color? Are they flatish bumps or pointy with a head?

[Anonymous]

Hand footh and mouth? My kid had it in his ears only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you brought into the home any gifted or second-hand linens, clothes, furniture, etc.?

Any pets in the house?

Or used books? Bed bugs burrow into old books and then can transfer into beds when people leave the books on their beds.

[Anonymous]

I’d throw her mattress out in the trash asap. Well if you see more bites tomorrow. You don’t want them to spread to the rest of your house.

If it is bed bugs and you do throw out her mattresses, please take a sharpie and write bed bugs on it so students don’t try to take it off the curb

[Anonymous]

We had something like this years ago. Lasted for months. It turned out that our next door neighbors (row house) had a major rat infestation that had crossed into our attic. Super gross. I guess rodents have fleas or something similar. They were slow to act, but once that resolved the kids cleared up.

I cannot tell you the hell we went through when we thought it might be bed bugs or scabies. We were nightly hand steaming all furniture, carpeting, changing bedding daily.

[Anonymous]

We also went through this a few years ago, and like the PP went nuclear on bedding, mattress inspections, brought in pest inspectors, etc. The only pest we found evidence of was carpet beetles, which some people are allergic to and cause itchy red bumps.

[Anonymous]

Hives?

[Anonymous]

We had this happen with my DD, who was 3 at the time, a couple years ago. Similarly went crazy trying to figure out what it was- her pediatrician said it was potentially an allergic reaction to something. We never did find out- got some steroid cream and that cleared it up.

Then this summer I got some really weird clusters of bites on my legs after staying in an Airbnb, but no one else got them. I'd go through times of the day where they were super itch and then other times where I'd barely notice them. I assumed it was fleas although the carpet beetles possibility is interesting. It took a few weeks for them to go away but they did eventually.