Found an engorged tick on my 20 month old - - course of action?

[Anonymous]

I found an engorged tick in the hair of my toddler today. It is impossible for me to say for sure but I think it is a deer tick. When this happened to my older daughter they offered to put her on a course of doxy or just wait and watch. Since she resists medication, we chose the wait and watch. There is a place in Germantown that will test the tick for lyme(for $75) and I'm considering that as a first step. They can also do a blood test, but it sounds like it may take some time for the blood test to show a positive result.

Does anyone have direct experience with ticks/lyme?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Take the tick off. Wash your kid's head with soap and water. Go about your business, but keep an eye out for any flu-like symptoms. (A course of antibiotics, "just in case"? What responsible pedi does that anymore?)

[Anonymous]

1. Vomit.

2. Be glad I'm not you.

Oh wait, you wanted YOUR course of action? That I don't know. I'm headed back to step one on my course of action.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take the tick off. Wash your kid's head with soap and water. Go about your business, but keep an eye out for any flu-like symptoms. (A course of antibiotics, "just in case"? What responsible pedi does that anymore?)

A course of prophylactic antibiotics can prevent lyme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take the tick off. Wash your kid's head with soap and water. Go about your business, but keep an eye out for any flu-like symptoms. (A course of antibiotics, "just in case"? What responsible pedi does that anymore?)

ditto

[Anonymous]

A course of prophylactic antibiotics can prevent lyme.

It can prevent Lyme disease. It will breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Which is more dangerous to your child in the long term?

[Anonymous]

I have had more experience than I care to say. I've probably pulled 5 ticks off my kid over the years.

First, don't panic. You should talk to your pediatrician's office. If you know how long the tick was on there, and it was less than 36 hours, the chances of transmission are slim. Contrary to the PP's assertion, my rather holisitc pediatrician will put the child on an antibiotic if you can't confirm how long the tick was there. Our kid gets stomach issues from the antibiotic, so now, we send the tick for testing and then put her on antibiotics if it comes back positive, which ours did last summer. Our pediatrician was able to send the tick out for testing for us and insurance paid for it. The testing took a couple of long weeks, though, and DH and I were not in agreement on whether to treat first or test the tick first. It appears to have all turned out ok, though.

Go to the website of that Germantown test site, and it will tell you how to preserve it for testing, if that is the route you choose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A course of prophylactic antibiotics can prevent lyme.

It can prevent Lyme disease. It will breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Which is more dangerous to your child in the long term?

Lyme. Having had lyme, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to follow a course of prophylactic antibiotics. Plus, Lyme presents differently in children. You could miss the initial stages.

[Anonymous]

what part of the boom docks do you live in

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what part of the boom docks do you live in

The Bethesda kind and it's "boon docks"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

A course of prophylactic antibiotics can prevent lyme.

It can prevent Lyme disease. It will breed antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Which is more dangerous to your child in the long term?

Obviously lyme disease.

[Anonymous]

Keep the tick and try to identify! I had one on me and it was a dog tick so the doctors said not to worry about it. I was pregnant at the time.

[Anonymous]

What is up with the nasty posters on this thread? I am not the OP, but I am disgusted with the PPs. Having had found a tick on my toddler, I feel for the OP. It is fear-inducing. The second time my kid had a tick on her head, my DH proceed to convince me it was a boo-boo that had scabbed over. Several DAYS later, the babysitter figured out was a tick. I have could have kicked myself.

I am the prior PP that actually spoke to pulling ticks off my kid. FYI, I don't live in the BooN docks. I live in Bethesda, and PP, you are a jerk.

[Anonymous]

We live out in the country. My kids hunt, fish, camp, and sail. I couldn't begin to count the number of ticks I've pulled off them over the years. Carefully remove the tick. Wash the bite well. And watch him for signs of infection or Lyme.

One of kids did get Lyme Disease. Luckily, she had the bulls-eye looking rash. The pediatrician put her on a course of antibiotics. End of story.

[Anonymous]

Our toddler had a tick in his chest a couple of months ago, and we went to the ER, where the doc took a cotton ball, soaked it in Palmolive (or some similar dish soap), and then proceeded to move it in a circle AROUND the tick, never touching the tick. Without once being touched, the tick backed itself out of our son's skin, and we disposed of it. The doc then gave my son a dose of antibiotic prophylactically (sp?), as they get so many ticks they don't bother to test them for Lyme any more, they just assume all ticks would test positive.