· For parents ·

Ticks and kids.

Tick advice for kids is the same as for adults, with one difference. The dangerous tick is the size of a poppy seed, and kids have a lot of skin in spots that are hard to inspect quickly. A daily tick check at bath time is the single most useful thing you can do during tick season.

The thing to look for

Smaller than you think.

The riskiest tick, a blacklegged tick nymph, is barely visible. Most parents who have pulled a tick off a kid found it hours or days late, because they were looking for something larger.

Larva

0.5 mm

Smaller than a poppy seed

Rare on humans

Nymph

1.5 mm

Poppy seed

The one most kids miss

Adult

3 mm unfed

Sesame seed

Easier to spot

In your bathroom

A trick that works.

Sprinkle a few poppy seeds on a white tile. That’s the nymph size. Tape one to the bathroom mirror for the season. Once you’ve seen the scale, you’ll stop assuming a tick is “big enough to notice.”

The routine

Where to check, in order.

The full check takes about a minute. Ticks go for warm, hidden, slightly damp spots, the parts of the body kids don’t inspect themselves. Work top to bottom.

Through the scalp and hairline with fingertips. Part the hair, especially behind the ears.
Behind and inside the ears. A favourite spot for nymphs.
Neck and the back of the neck down to the shoulders.
Armpits. Lift each arm.
Waistband and bellybutton. The waistband of underwear is a common attachment point.
Behind the knees. Bend the leg, check the crease.
Groin and between the legs. Easiest during a bath. Don’t skip it. This is one of the most common attachment sites in kids.
Between toes and the soles of the feet.

Best time

Make it routine.

Do it in the bath or shower the same night you were outdoors. Once a day during tick season for kids who play in long grass, leaf litter, or the woods, and every day at summer camp. About as ceremonial as brushing teeth.

Without the fear

How to talk about it with kids.

Tick checks should feel like normal body maintenance, not something scary. Four things that help:

Make it about being outside, not about staying in.Tick checks are the price of playing in the woods. Call it the “coming home routine,” like rinsing off sand after the beach.
Show them what to look for. Older kids can do their own tick check on legs and arms once they know what a nymph looks like. A poppy seed on a white plate does the job.
Don’t over-explain Lyme.Most kids don’t need to know about Bell’s palsy or facial weakness. They need to know ticks can make you sick if they stay on, and the check finds them early.
Stay calm when you remove one. A tick on a child is uncomfortable, not an emergency. Tweezers, straight pull, clean the bite, save the tick on a card, get on with the day.

When to call

Warning signs in kids.

The same warning signs apply to children as to adults; see the risks page for the full list. A few notes specific to kids:

Same-day call

Family doctor, walk-in, or telehealth.

Any expanding rash at the bite site or anywhere else on the body.
Fever lasting more than 24 hours within 30 days of a tick bite.
Persistent headache, joint pain, or unexplained tiredness.
A tick attached for an unknown length of time, especially if engorged.

Lyme treatment for children is well established and works very well at this stage. The earlier the better.

Emergency room

911 or ER.

Facial weakness on one side (the child can’t smile symmetrically). Severe headache with neck stiffness. Confusion or unusual lethargy. Seizures. Sudden vision changes. Chest pain or irregular heartbeat. These are uncommon but serious signs of late-stage Lyme or Powassan virus. Don’t wait.

Other heads-ups

School, daycare, summer camp.

Tell the school nurse if your child was bitten on a school trip or at outdoor day camp. Nothing urgent follows, but if other kids get symptoms later, the school will want the date.
Ask about the camp’s policy.Many summer camps and outdoor programs in Lyme areas now do end-of-day tick checks. If yours doesn’t, ask why.
Pack permethrin-treated clothing for camp. Sawyer Permethrin-treated socks and pant legs hold up all season and are by far the best protection in tall grass.
If you live in a Lyme area, tell the family doctor before tick season starts. A doctor who knows your kid was outdoors in southern Nova Scotia in July will watch for different things when a fever shows up in August.

How to safely remove a tick - same for kids as adults: fine tweezers, straight pull.
Prevention - clothing, repellents, permethrin.
Tick identification - what was that, anyway?
For my pet - for households where the kids and the dog both spend time outside.

Last reviewed May 29, 2026

General information only, not medical advice. In an emergency, call 911. Read the full disclaimer.