E.H.
We had bedbugs about 2 yrs ago now...my husband travels a lot and we think he picked them up in New York...they are in every hotel there (even the high end ones apparently). Our pediatrician diagnosed it, I took the kids in b/c I thought they had a rash. Anyway, I did a ton of research as well and ended up trying Diatomaceous Earth since I wanted something cheap and non-toxic. It worked great!! I didn't have to throw out any matresses or furniture. I puffed it around the baseboards in every bedroom, on the sides and in between the matresses and around the feet of all the furniture in the bedrooms (after moving everything away from the wall). I vacuumed it up and put out fresh powder each week, but I don't think you need to since it never loses potency. Since bedbugs don't often live in the matresses or bedding (they prefer wood to fabric) and they don't jump or fly, they had to crawl through it to get to anyone in the bed. The DE dehydrates them and kills them in a day or two. Within a week the bites decreased, there were only occasional flareups after that when eggs hatched. Within about 3 weeks they were gone completely. I never foound any signs of bedbugs accept the bites. I also washed the bedding every few days in very hot water and for the non washable bedding I threw it in the dryer on high heat for at least an hour just in case.
I found DE at a local animal feed store...it is often used to deworm horses I guess, so its not too hard to find. You can order it online easily too. Good Luck.