If bed bugs appear in your home, it is comparable to a real disaster. This is especially true if the apartment has little children. After all, it is children under 12 years of age who suffer from bedbug bites in the first place. Instinctively, the bug chooses a victim with thinner skin, so first the symptoms of bites appear in children and women, and only then in men and adolescents (if they all live in an infested room at the same time).
This article is about exactly what bedbug bites look like on a child, what they look like, and how to identify them (instructions for examining body parts). What can a bedbug bite be confused with and its symptoms on the skin of children. How such bites can be dangerous for a baby, how to treat them, what to apply and how to protect them. Additionally, we will talk about what modern medicine believes on this matter.
30 most effective bed bug remedies for 2022
Diagnosis of bite marks
Among the main problems is the difficulty in determining the presence of parasites in your home until they begin to attack the child. The bug is very small in size, so it is not so easy to detect. The insect bug shows maximum activity only in the dark period of the day and is quite secretive. During the day it is almost impossible to meet, as individuals hide in various secret places. Even when rashes appear on a child’s body, parents do not immediately realize that the cause is a bug, and “ordinary pimples” on children’s bodies are their bites. Finding a bedbug nest in a child's room is a rather complicated process.
Of particular difficulty is the similarity of these bites with other lesions from other insects. It is quite difficult to distinguish a bug bite from an ant or mosquito bite.
The photo below shows puncture marks and the allergic reaction of the baby’s skin to the bites of other possible insects.
The baby may develop an allergy to these bites, but its symptoms resemble a number of other diseases. Even a visit to your doctor does not always allow you to find out right away what exactly caused the rash to appear on the baby’s body.
Lifestyle
Bed bugs are usually active at night - from 3 to 6 o'clock. During the daytime, they begin to move only when there is a clear threat to life. These insects are very mobile, so they can reach the bed from any corner of the room in a few minutes. It takes them about half an hour to eat, after which the bedbugs can hide in shelter again. They usually feed once a week, so daily bites on the body indicate many individuals living in the apartment. On average, insects live 10–12 months. They reproduce at an astonishing rate: a female can lay 500 eggs in her lifetime. This suggests that you need to approach the timely destruction of bedbugs with great responsibility.
What do bedbug bites look like and how to identify them
You can replace several red dots on your child’s body (there can be from two to seven or even more). They are located in a row, at a short distance from each other. A distinctive feature is the presence of small tubercles with swelling, which later begin to turn red and cause itching. Most often, bedbug bites are very similar to mosquito bites.
The main difference is that if you are infected by a mosquito, there will be several blisters on your body that are not connected to each other. For example, one blister on the shoulder, another on the neck, a third on the back. Bedbugs prefer to make a whole chain of punctures. Draw lines connecting the points of the tracks, as shown in the figure; if they are in the form of a track, then these are 100% bedbugs.
The itching from such a bite will be much stronger than from a mosquito bite, and in its place you may notice swelling. It is important to be aware when you notice similar signs in your child. If this happened during the winter months, when contact with other insects is practically impossible, then the search circle narrows.
When and who do bedbugs bite first?
The traditional hunting time for ectoparasites is between 3 and 6 am. This is due to the fact that bedbugs are afraid of daylight. In addition, it is much easier for them to attack a sleeping defenseless person. During the day, only individuals experiencing severe hunger attack people.
First of all, they try to attack children and women. Their skin is much thinner than that of men, which allows pests to easily reach the circulatory system. By the way bedbug bites look, you can understand that their favorite places are the arms, legs, stomach and cheek areas. They also often prefer the lips and eyelids, where the skin is thinnest.
What can bites be confused with?
In the first years of life, when diagnosing an allergy in an infant, it will most often be related to food. At the beginning of his life, the baby begins to gradually learn about all the new dishes that are introduced into his diet. For example, when starting complementary feeding for a child, in 5 out of 10 cases parents experience allergic reactions. Feeding supplements other than breast milk is the most common cause of allergies and itching, so insects may not be to blame.
Reactions can also occur to various personal hygiene products, including lotions, soap, shampoo and much more. Even components contained in washing powder or a new toy purchased can cause inflammation.
Using hypoallergenic clothing and bedding for children does not guarantee the absence of allergic reactions. Malaise can be caused by various reasons, since at this age the child is exposed to external irritants.
As a result, new parents are faced with a host of questions and options. In such a situation, it is worth acting by the method of elimination. At the first signs of a rash on the baby's skin, keep a diary and enter information about the child's contacts with different surfaces and objects. Monitor as closely as possible what exactly your baby comes into contact with and what the skin reaction is after that. We must not forget that in addition to skin reactions, problems with the gastrointestinal tract or respiratory tract problems may occur. If digestion is disturbed or the child sneezes, then the cause of the disease is not related to insects.
If you have a rash, take careful control of the situation. Try to exclude all new objects and things after contact with which this reaction could occur. If you exclude all the options listed above, then the likelihood of bedbugs entering the children's room will be very high. In this case, the rash will intensify significantly.
To detect small bloodsuckers in a room, there are a number of additional indirect signs:
- You can see small black dots on the underwear. This is what the excrement of these insects looks like. They are best seen on light-colored sheets;
- Small bloody spots on the bed. In order to determine whether it is blood or something else, you can use hydrogen peroxide. Upon contact with a blood stain, it will begin to hiss and foam will appear;
- The presence of a smell in the room that is somewhat similar to cognac or almonds also indicates the possibility of uninvited guests.
Be sure to carefully monitor your baby. Changes in his behavior may signal the appearance of bedbugs. Most often the signs will be as follows:
- The baby refuses to go to his bed;
- During sleep, you can hear him moaning or crying;
- Begins to touch his face and body in a random manner, attempts to scratch the skin;
- Became more moody or nervous.
It is extremely difficult to find out exactly how many of these small parasites have settled in your home. Even in complete darkness, bed bugs try to hide in places that are very difficult to detect. But it’s quite possible to take the little bloodsucker by surprise.
From 2 a.m. until sunrise, these pests are at their best. It is at this moment that you need to go in search of parasites and their nests. When you turn on the light in the room, you may find small insects scattering around the bed, and some of them may just drink blood. Set your alarm and look around everything you can.
Ways to protect yourself from bites
The best option when bitten by bedbugs is to completely disinfest the apartment. But what to do if specialists cannot arrive on the day of the call? In such a situation, in order to reduce the likelihood of pest attacks not only at night, but also during the day, you can use any of the traditional methods. All of them are aimed at repelling insects with the help of pungent odors.
Here are the most popular methods, using which you will know how to get rid of bedbugs before the exterminators arrive:
- Any cosmetics.
- Perfume and lotion.
- Essential oils with orange, eucalyptus or pine aroma.
- Fish fat.
- Clove decoction with eau de toilette.
These are the most popular means that are usually applied to the body to protect against linen, bed and other bugs. When the complete disinfestation of the apartment is completed, they must be washed off and immediately seek help from a dermatologist. The doctor will examine the affected areas of the body, after which he will tell you how to treat the wounds further and how long it will take for the bites to heal. It is recommended to visit a dermatologist until all wounds on the body have completely healed.
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The danger of bedbug bites
When parasites attack a child, this is fraught with unpleasant consequences, including:
- Increased nervousness in the baby;
- Severe manifestation of allergic reactions, which contributes to the deterioration of the general condition;
- Possibility of secondary infection.
All these points will be discussed in more detail below.
Re-infection
The itching that occurs after a bug bite causes constant discomfort. Even an adult cannot always resist the desire to scratch the bite site, and even more so a child. Children may generally lack hygiene skills.
Scratching the bite site can lead to other diseases or infections. As a result, you may experience inflammation or the appearance of pus. All this will lead to the need to use antibiotics for complex treatment.
Allergic reactions
In the medical field, the concept of allergy refers to the reaction of the human body that occurs after foreign proteins enter it. The child has a very high predisposition to allergic reactions, so they can suffer greatly from the bite of small parasites. Bed bugs' saliva contains particles that are very strong allergens for the human body.
Signs of allergies include:
- The appearance of edema;
- The affected areas begin to turn red;
- A debilitating itch develops.
Pediatricians note that a child at different ages does not have any particular allergic reaction or individual characteristics to the bite of this parasite. The reaction in each individual case may be individual. Even in a schoolchild, the disease can be more complicated than in an infant. In such a situation, the allergic background will play a special role, and how often the baby has contact with the irritant.
An allergic reaction seriously threatens the child's health. If the mother or father notices a rash or fever covering the child’s body, an ambulance should be called immediately. This may also include blue lips, wheezing and hoarseness when breathing. All these symptoms are a sign of an allergic reaction, which can lead to complications.
Larval skins or excrement can also cause allergies, but these cases are extremely rare. These particles can enter the body through the respiratory tract, leading to unpleasant consequences.
Increased nervousness
After a bug bites a baby, he cannot sleep normally. Because the affected areas begin to itch and pinch very much, also causing pain. At an early age, discomfort and frequent agitation, together with a lack of normal sleep, are negative factors for the child’s nervous system. A bedbug bite is a source of additional worry for parents and unnecessary stress for children.
Under no circumstances should you postpone the problem for a long time. As soon as your child develops skin rashes, you should immediately see a pediatrician. Specialists of the required profile will give you advice that will help solve the problem.
A health professional will provide assistance when the source of an allergic reaction cannot be determined. If the pills your doctor prescribes do not reduce the number of new rashes, stop taking them immediately.
Allergic reactions
In 80% of cases, a bedbug attack leads to the development of allergies. It can manifest itself not only on the skin, but also on general well-being. Allergic reactions are expressed as follows:
- rash on the bitten areas or all over the body (photos of bedbug bites show this allergy is especially noticeable in children);
- headache and fever;
- red spots and swelling in the affected areas.
The body's reaction to bites manifests itself differently in everyone. Particularly severe allergies are traditionally observed in allergy sufferers and women/children. As for the duration of allergic reactions, it directly depends on the characteristics of the body and the strength of the person’s immunity at the moment the bugs bit. On average, allergies go away within 3 to 14 days.
Examination of the child
It is best to conduct the examination after your child has just woken up. We recommend starting with his head and neck. It is very difficult for bedbugs to penetrate hair, so there is no need to resort to a thorough check. Parents need to follow a number of simple tips:
- It is advisable to reassure the child and say that you just want to count his moles or come up with something like that;
- Carefully examine all areas of skin that may be exposed during sleep;
- You need to look for the presence of several grouped red dots.
Possible damage to health
Infection of the body caused by bedbug bites can lead to the following consequences:
- Skin diseases: infection is introduced through numerous scratches at the bite sites.
- Violation of blood composition due to numerous attacks by bedbugs: one animal can drink about 7 μl of blood, which, with numerous punctures, can cause anemia. If a child is bitten by many parasites at the same time during the night, he may develop iron deficiency anemia.
- Mental attacks or nervous exhaustion, as a result of daily lack of sleep and painful irritation of the skin.
- Depressive state due to nervous exhaustion: can lead to loss of strength.
How to treat bedbug bites in a child
First aid can significantly reduce a baby's sensitivity. For this reason, decide clearly how exactly you should proceed when it comes to bites on children.
If the allergic reaction manifests itself to a minor extent, then washing the damaged area with laundry soap or using alcohol for wiping may be sufficient. These actions will reduce the risk of infection at the bite site and also reduce itching.
If you are faced with acute pain, there is a significant increase in temperature or severe rashes on the skin, it is advisable to resort to the use of products with an antihistamine effect (anti-allergy). You can buy them at any pharmacy, but it is worth considering that each drug has restrictions on the age at which it can be used. Below is a list of medications for bedbug bites, depending on the age restrictions specified in the instructions for the medications.
Remedy for bedbug bites
For children over 1 year old, Zodak or Claritin are suitable.
Over 2 years old, you can use Diazolin, Cetrin or Loratadine.
Fenkarol can be taken by children from 3 years of age.
Tavegil and Cortisone are given to children over 6 years old , and Eden only from 12 years old .
Ointments, creams and gels with a soothing, healing and anti-inflammatory effect help well.
Ointment for bedbug bites
A two-month-old child can use Fenistil.
from 7 months .
Children aged 1 year and older can use “Rescuer” or Soventol balm.
Over 6 years old ointment for bedbug bites BioPokrov
Subject to the restrictions of the instructions, these products can treat bedbug bites and their symptoms without fear for the health of the child. The products are sold without a prescription and are available throughout the Russian Federation.
There are also traditional methods for treating bedbug bites in children. Their effectiveness manifests itself in different ways. They should be used to treat the outside of the bite area. In this case, the most popular are lemon or aloe juice. Various decoctions made from sage, string or chamomile. Peppermint oil or regular Vietnamese star.
