To freak out about possible bed bug infestation

[fadingfast]

Ds is covered in small red itchy bites. Lots on his feet/ankles and also on his face. Thought they were gnat bites at first but there are loads of them now .

We have no pets but he did have the class teddy over the Easter holiday residing in his bed.

Yuckety yuk. Now what??

Are the bites in a row? I think that is a tell-tale sign of bed bugs but may be wrong.

Not very obviously in a row but there are so many of them, it's hard to tell. I'm at a loss to think what else they might be.

I am itching just thinking about it. I thought nits were bad enough

We have has mozzies in the house overnight due to the doors being open all day because the sun is out.
My dd got bitten on her arms overnight.
When we had bed bugs a few years ago they did look like mozzie bits but were more uniform (lined up) than random bites.
It's hard to tell the difference.
We ended up throwing the mattress away and cleaned my dds room including every crevice around the skirting boards within an inch of it's life.

I just posted on another thread about bedbugs! The bites are usually in rows or clusters.
Could it be fleas? Maybe the class bear has visited a house with pets recently. I seem to recall there's a test for fleas involving a glass of warm water? Or you can just wear white (to make them stand out) and stand/sit where you think they are. If it's fleas you should see them, bedbugs you are unlikely to see although you could investigate the mattress.

After watching that programme on BBC2 about female pest controllers, I would disagree that you can't see bed bugs. They find plenty on there when they examine the beds and frames, the bugs like hiding down and around the seams of the mattress. Or if you can see lots of black 'dots' on the mattress edges, that is usually bed bug poo.

Bed bug poop leaves a red smear behind it if you squash it. You would be likely to find it under the mattress where the slats join the frame. Have you seen anything like that?
In any case you might want to have a quiet word with DC's teacher about Mr Bear's possible infestation.
I stayed in lots of hostels in my travelling days and have been bitten by these horrible beasts far too many times. The bites can be really sore and itchy, I found Eurax cream to be the best thing to relieve them.