Overwhelmed and unsure what to do re: derma issue

[AnalogWife]

I'm posting this within the scope of Special Needs because it may be different due to DS's language disabilities, the specialized school, etc.

DS (3, autism, mostly nonverbal) started school 2 weeks ago, he goes Mon/Thurs. Last Thursday we went to the beach where DS spent a lot of time lying in the sand.

Since then he's been getting covered with bug bites! He always gets a fair amount of mosquito bites but these look like flea bites. We cosleep, DH and I have no fleabites, so we thought it might be sand fleas from the beach, only I too spent some time in the sand, no flea bites.

They appear to be spreading, he had more yesterday and before I left for work this morning I found a few more, on his face.

We have one car, today is Saturday and I have it at work all weekend (7am-6pm Sat and Sun) and DH takes the car when I get home, but he can get a ride.

I'm not sure if DS's doctor is technically still his PCP, we've recently switched to Medicare and I submitted for this dr for DS, but I'm not 100% sure this dr was accepting Medicare patients, we haven't yet received the insurance cards. TBH, I've always felt a little off-balance with this doctor, I chose him for his POV on vaxes (we were getting really harrassed by DS's former pedi) so we had a one-time get-to-know-you visit and then I brought my DS in to get a chicken pox dx, only between the get-to-know-you and the CP visit I forgot to submit the paperwork to switch to him as DS's PCP so we had to pay for the full office visit. After that, I submitted the paperwork but since then we've been with him a year and have never paid a visit---CDS however has cc'd him countless reports and reviews. And now we may or may not have him as DS's medicare dr....

DS's spirits are mostly normal, an eensy more irritable, but I think it's the heat, he does much better in air conditioned stores, etc. He's supposed to go back to school on Monday, and I really don't want him to miss a day, but I am hesitant to send him in with all these bug bites. And what if it's something else? WHERE is he getting them from if DH and I don't have them?

I was not raised to be comfortable with doctors, I don't think I've ever called one during off-hours. I am not sure what I do. Do I call the doctor after 6pm? Do I call him tomorrow during my lunchbreak on Sunday? (I have a phone job, I have the internet but I can't make outside calls from my desk. I have one more break before 6pm, I'm using it to call DH for a bug bite status update---I called earlier and he was half awake and felt there was no major change, I'm hoping he's right.)

What would you do? They are mostly on his trunk, we're so new at the school I don't want to be the "flea bite" people, or have DS turned away due to fears of being contagious. Maybe he got it from the school.....?

[AnalogWife]

I just talked to my DH, he says that DS is in good spirits and that none of the bites seem "new" that they are chilling out.

I'm still unsure about bringing DS to school, I'm sure he'll still be pretty red and polka-dotty. But he really likes it there and I hate to miss a day, but I also hate to think of one of the teachers saying "*GASP* Look at this!" and I'm still unsure of where they're coming from.... Are children more susceptible to fleas?

[LynnS6]

Could he have chiggers? They were a real problem near some of the lakes when I was growing up.

If he does, the only cure is time. You can give him warm baths, calamine lotion and wait.

ETA: I don't think that they exclude for chiggers, but you should definitely call and ask the daycare people.

[AnalogWife]

Thank you Lynn. I don't think they're chiggers, judging by the photo the chigger bumps look more pearly. DS's bites genuinely look like these photos. I'm very very new to the whole "school rules" thing, I don't even know the terminology such as "to exclude," should I call the school first thing Monday and ask if they exclude for flea bites?

[LynnS6]

If he seems to be feeling well, and doesn't have a fever, I'd just bring him to school. I'd explain to the teachers that he seems to have bug bites that he got while you were at the beach on Thursday. I wouldn't bother to tell them that you think they're fleas, because you don't know that for sure. But if they're bug bites, I they shouldn't exclude him. (Make sure you wash all his clothing and bedding and vacuum well.)

To 'exclude' a child simply means they send them home because they think/fear that he might be contagious. My dd got excluded a couple of times for eczema. I finally had to have the doctor write a note saying that she had eczema and that the rashes she got were not contagious.

Being excluded for something that's not contagious is a huge pain (especially if you have to go to work). You usually have to take them to the doctor and have the doctor certify that it's not contagious. It always took me at least a day to accomplish this. (I don't mind being excluded for contagious stuff -- I don't want sick kids at school, and I don't want to get other kids sick. But eczema?)