There are so many ticks out there this year! It can be a tricky line to walk wanting to get the kids outdoors but also wanting to keep them safe from nasty chronic stuff like lyme disease. I talked to our ped’s office extensively about this after finding our first deer tick — which looked like a freckle — this spring and what they emphasized most was finding the ticks and getting them off within 6-8 hours to minimize chance of transmission.
These are some things that we have embraced in our family’s tick prevention campaign:
- making bath time an after-hike ritual or at least changing clothes shortly after the hike
- wearing hats (we love Sunday Afternoons hats)
- offer the kids something tasty (like a chocolate chip) if they find a tick on themselves or their siblings or you
- google lyme disease — it totally motivated me to step up our tick checks
- if you find a tick, a pair of clean tweezers is all you need for removal — forget all the crazy ways to remove ticks that we grew up with, like flames, alcohol or oil (yes, I had exciting childhood tick removal experiences)
- talk to your pediatrician if you find a tick or if you have questions
In case you need further motivation, I have an fascinating story involving a tick, a belly button — not mine or my kids’, thank goodness! — and a trip to the emergency room. I will spare you the details and just let your imagination alone motivate you to do tick checks after every hike. (Getting off soap box now….)
If you do find a tick that has embedded itself, make sure you remove it as soon as possible. If you remove a deer tick, you may wish to keep it intact and bring it to your doctor for testing to determine whether it is a lyme disease carrier. If it is not a deer tick, what you do with the pest is entirely up to your own discretion.
Happy hiking, and don’t forget to channel your inner apes by participating in a post-hike communal tick-check grooming session!
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