Keeping Kids Safe from Ticks in Connecticut: A Step-by-Step Guide for Parents
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This article was last updated in April 2025 for accuracy.
Getting kids outdoors is one of the best things you can do for their health. But time outside comes with risks—including ticks, which are more active than ever and spreading across Connecticut in new ways. Ticks can carry diseases like Lyme, anaplasmosis, and rare illnesses like Rocky Mountain spotted fever. And due to climate change, some species that used to live only in the South or Midwest are now found in our backyards. This guide will help protect your child while enjoying everything nature offers
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Now in Connecticut: Spreading north due to warming climate
Appearance: Adult females have a white dot ("lone star") on their backs
Behavior: More aggressive than deer ticks and faster moving
When is tick season in New England?
Ticks used to be a warm-weather concern. Now, they’re active in Connecticut for most of the year. Why?
Milder winters allow more ticks to survive year-round.
Earlier springs cause earlier tick hatchings.
Extended falls mean adult ticks stay active longer.
More white-footed mice and invasive plants (like Japanese barberry) create ideal tick habitats near homes.
📌 Tick activity in Connecticut now spans from March through December, and some ticks may emerge during winter warm spells if it’s above 35–40°F.
Where do kids usually come in contact with ticks?
Ticks live in grassy, brushy, or wooded areas. Think: trails, parks, rock walls, and long grass. They also thrive in leaf piles.
So your child is most likely to come in contact with ticks while playing in or around wooded areas, in grass that’s more than 5 or 6 inches tall, and around lawn cuttings or leaf piles. (By contrast, open spaces with frequently mowed grass, like sports fields, are lower risk.)
Ticks can also live on animals including deer, other wildlife and pets. This is one way they might hitch a ride into your yard or home, even if you’re not close to woodland.
What should my child wear to protect against ticks?
While ticks can’t fly or jump, they do dangle off branches, leaves and animals, and easily latch onto anything that brushes against them. The right clothing keeps ticks from reaching your child’s skin.
When your child is playing in wooded or risky areas, use these clothing tips.
Long-sleeved shirt, light-colored
Long pants, light-colored
Long socks pulled up, with pant legs tucked into them
Closed-toe shoes like sneakers or boots
Hat, if they’ll be around low branches
Light-colored clothing makes it easier to spot ticks crawling on fabric, and tucking pants into socks keeps ticks from getting at your child’s ankles.
If your child will be hiking or playing in an area where low branches might brush against their head, they should wear a hat and tuck away long hair to prevent ticks from getting onto their hair and scalp.
And if ok with your doctor, you can treat clothes with permethrin or buy pre-treated gear (which lasts through many washes). Never apply permethrin directly to the skin.
Not all ticks carry diseases and most children who are bitten by a tick will not get sick. It is quite uncommon for a single tick bite to cause disease, even in high risks areas.
Andrew Carlson, MD,
Primary Care, Connecticut Children's
What’s the best tick repellent for kids?
DEET is the most effective ingredient to prevent ticks, and it’s safe for kids aged 2 months and older. Look for a product where DEET is listed as 10 to 30 percent of the active ingredient.
The DEET percentage affects how long the product gives protection. Use 20-30% DEET. 30% DEET lasts about 6 hours.
Don’t apply more than once in a day.
Avoid products that combine sunscreen with bug repellent. You’ll want to be able to reapply sunscreen frequently and separately, without reapplying DEET.
Picaridin and Permethrin products also repel ticks. Permethrin can be sprayed on socks and shoes, pant legs and hats. Do not spray permethrin directly on the skin.
If your child is younger than 2 months, do not use any insect repellent. Rely on other tick prevention methods, like appropriate clothing and a tick check.
What if I want to use a natural bug repellent that doesn’t contain DEET?
Read the label carefully. Avoid essential oils and home made remedies, which are often ineffective.
What’s the best way to apply tick repellent?
You should always follow the label’s specific directions. In general, apply insect repellent to:
Exposed skin except face and hands
Clothing
Socks
Shoes
Do NOT apply bug repellent to:
Face
Hands
Areas underneath clothing
Cuts or irritated skin
After your child comes indoors, make sure their clothes go right in the dirty laundry to be washed with soap and warm or hot water. That rinses off the bug repellent, and kills any ticks that might be hiding in the fabric. Ten minutes in the dryer will also kill ticks on clothing.
How can I protect my yard from ticks?
Many tick bites happen right in the yard. The goal is to make your space less inviting to animals that carry them.
Mow grass frequently (keep it under 5 inches)
Remove leaf litter, weeds, and brush piles.
Stack firewood neatly in a dry and sunny spot.
Move playsets and furniture away from wooded edges.
Create a 3-foot gravel or mulch barrier between the lawn and the forest.
What are tick tubes for mice and how do they control ticks?
White-footed mice are one of the main animals that young ticks feed on. If you can reduce the number of infected ticks in mice nests, you can lower the overall tick population around your home.
Tick tubes are cardboard tubes filled with cotton treated with permethrin. Mice collect this cotton to line the white-footed mice nests. The permethrin kills ticks that try to feed on the mice—without harming them.
Place around the perimeter of your yard, especially near:
Stone walls
Shrubs
Woodpiles
Apply twice a year:
Spring (April–May)
Late summer (July–August)
Tick tubes are available at hardware stores or online. They're a smart, low-maintenance, pesticide-free option that targets ticks before they ever reach you
How do I do a tick check on my child?
As soon as your child comes indoors, check carefully for ticks. (The same goes for all family members and pets.) Ideally, have them hop in the shower or bath right away, and definitely within two hours. That makes a tick check easy, and may wash off any unattached ticks.
Check the entire body, especially:
In hair
Along hairline
In and around ears
Arm pits
Inside belly button
Around the waist
Between legs
Behind the knees
Check your pets, too! Pets can get sick from tick bites, and they can carry ticks into your home.
What should I do if I find a tick attached to my child?
Remove the tick as quickly as possible.
Use clean tweezers to grab the tick as close to the skin as you can.
Steadily pull the tweezers upward to remove the tick. Try not to make a twisting or jerking motion.
If part of the tick breaks off in the skin, use clean tweezers to try to remove it. If you can’t remove it, just leave it.
If the tick is too small to grasp with tweezers, you may need to scrape it off using the edge of a credit card.
Clean the bite area and your hands using soap and water or rubbing alcohol.
Get rid of the tick by flushing it down the toilet, or tape or seal it in a bag or container and throw it away.
Should I use heat, nail polish or petroleum jelly to try to detach the tick?
No. The most important thing is to remove the tick quickly, and the best way to do that is with tweezers.
Should I save the tick to get it tested?
No need! Those test results are often unreliable and misleading.
Do I need to call a doctor if I find a tick crawling on my child, but it’s not attached?
No. A tick has to be attached to spread germs, a process that can take anywhere from hours to days. For example, your child’s risk of Lyme disease is very low if a tick hasn’t been attached for at least 36 hours.
But be sure to safely get rid of the tick (see above), and do a careful tick check to make sure there are no other ticks on your child.
What are the symptoms of tick-borne illness in children?
Not all ticks carry diseases and most children who are bitten by a tick will not get sick. It is quite uncommon for a single tick bite to cause disease, even in high risks areas.
Symptoms of tick-borne illness may include:
Rash, including “bull’s eye” around bite area
Fever
Fatigue
Headache
Body ache
Joint swelling and pain
Keep in mind that fever, headache and body aches can also be signs of other common illnesses– so any time your child experiences one of these, you should keep them home from school and call their doctor.
For more information about when to call the doctor, head over to this guide from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
If my child gets sick from a tick bite, what is the treatment?
Most of the time, just a short course of antibiotics.
Any other advice?
If you take precautions before your child goes outside, and get in the habit of daily tick checks when they’re back indoors, their risk of getting sick from a tick is actually very low! It just takes some planning.
Andrew Carlson, MD,