Playing outside and ticks

KYmama9286

So DS was playing out in the grass today for a few hours and when DH was feeding him I noticed something in his hair (right at the hairline in the back-- easy to see since his hair is so blonde). Sure enough it was a tick (blech!). DH seemed to think it was no big deal and just pulled it off and then burned it with a lighter (uhm gross again). Apparently him and his siblings (and our friend who happened to be over when I found it) said they got ticks all the time as kids and it was no big deal.

I only had a tick one time as a kid and I remember it being a bigger deal (dad having to use tweezers to remove it, putting it in a plastic bag, etc.). Anyway DS went to sleep as normal and now I am up thinking about Lyme disease (of course!)

Can someone soothe my mind and inform me about tick and tick maintenance? haha Should we have done something different? I found it really strange that he got a tick from just playing in the grass (we do have about an acre of land and lots of woods in back and further in front of our house but only 2 trees in the front yard). When do I need to be concerned about Lyme disease or other negative reactions? TIA!

ETA: I did inspect his body after finding the tick to make sure there werent any more. Thankfully due to his glowing pale skin I figured a big black tick would stand out haha

identicaltwins2be

I'm glad you found it and got it off!  Any kind of bug gives me the creepy crawlies.  Anyway, I don't have much to offer other than if you pull them off make sure you get the whole thing.  As gross as it is, you can pull the body off and the head can still be in there which can cause infection.  Here is a link I found that might be helpful.  I hope it was just a one time thing for you guys!

baze2

I had not had a tick before last summer when I had at least 5! The dog ticks (the big ones that most people think of) do not cause Lyme disease. It is the deer ticks. they are tiny tiny tiny..but yes you can see them and yes you can feel them. I had deer ticks from our lake house property in KY.

Lyme disease comes from the second stage of the ticks life. After it's first bite on an animal with the disease. It is not very common in Cincinnati. I would watch for the symptoms but really probably nothing as it wasn't in very long.

There is a chemical you can get at home depot that will keep the population in your yard down. But be sure to check if it is safe for kids to play in the area right away. We use it at our lakehouse as our dog has had as many as 40 ticks at one time (even with the tick treatment stuff) It really has worked to keep the tick population down.

HTH 

 

 

curlypie1

Yuck. I loathe ticks with every ounce of my being. We get a lot of them at our house. We are surrounded by fields and since the next door neighbor is a rental property, they aren't the best at keeping things mowed back. We usually catch them before they latch and I inspect Nora every time she comes into the house. Every night before bed, we do a tick check in her hair if she's been playing outside. Not fun, but it's neccesary where we live.

Make sure you look under your socks and inside your pants when you take them off. We've unknowingly brought them into the house on our clothes later to find them crawling around.

kmn3

Unfortunately, both DH and I have had a tick or 2 this year thanks to our 2 dog indoor dogs that only go outside long enough to do their business.  Yes, the dogs have been to the vet, gotten Frontline, and the yard's been fertilized since the ticks!

 Anyways, I called and asked the doctor about Lyme Disease.  As long as you don't see a ring around the area the tick was you're totally fine.  Nothing to worry about.

 The vet did say that ticks are supposed to be really bad this spring/summer for some reason.  Just keep a watch out

kyfirewife

IDK.

It seems like we had ticks all the time when we were kids. But we grew up in the country and spent all kinds of time running around in the woods. We had regular "tick checks" when we were little where we would undress before bathtime and Mom would check us from head to toe, go thru our hair, etc. And I remember helping to pull them off of our dog, cat, etc.

I guess maybe since I was a kid, it never seemed like a big deal. All I remember is being told they were hard to kill. My parents either burned them with a match or cut them in half with a knife. Not sure why, other than that supposedly they were hard to kill (?). And if they'd already attached (I only ever remember them attaching to the dog), you had to be careful to get the head out or it could get infected.

But... I found one tick this year so far. On me, thank goodness, and had some serious anxiety. Not over me, but for DD.

Oh, the joys and anxieties of being a parent! So no I go back and forth between it being no big deal like when I was a kid, and being a total worry-wort re: DD.

related mental note: must remember to order Frontline for dogs & cat