Best Non-Toxic Tick Repellent

With all of the chemicals in the world today, as a mom I try my best to be very aware of the ingredients in lotions and insect repellents that touch the skin of my kiddos. I want protection plus peace of mind that I’ve done all I could. My teen son was diagnosed with Lymes Disease at about 4 years old.  There was no “bulls-eye” like you read in magazines and it was incredibly difficult to know he needed help at such a young age.

I still remember him telling me, “Mom, my knees, they just won’t run anymore.”  At the time I had no idea that Lymes was infesting his joints. And if your kids are anything like mine, they’re falling and jumping and oh so active all of the time so it was hard to tell if his knees hurt from the latest tumble or from something more sinister – a tick with Lymes disease.

Well 3 trips to the doctor later we had a positive blood test on Lymes and began treatment for the next 30 days which leads me into insect repellent protection. Lymes is nothing to play around with yet I wasn’t willing to accept defeat and keep my kiddos indoors! Now at age 16 Christian is outside just as much and is still a lover of life, camping and adventures in nature but we’re always sure to use a good non-toxic repellent. We found one called Proven Repellent that seems to work well WITHOUT all the chemicals of deet.  Proven Repellent is quite effective but my favorite part is that it is non-toxic.

Now with my daughter, kid number 4, I’ve learned a few things along the way after having a child with Lymes so hopefully Samantha never has to suffer my learning curve as a mom. We are a horse family and she’s outside daily with her rescue race horse Ollie and she understands the importance of protecting herself from bug bites and especially ticks.  Sadly my teen son had to learn a few lessons the hard way but he’s still trail riding his rescue horse too! There are so many things that no one explains about ticks when you do a quick Google search!

Here are a few suggestions from one mom to another about ticks:

1. Have your child take a bath and do a tick check every night: front, back, side, scalp etc
2. If you find a tick and remove it be sure to use alcohol swab on the area
3. Note the tick bite on your calendar – it can take 3-4 months if you’ve been infected with Lymes to have a blood test prove positive so you need to keep track of tick bites
4. Keep tweezers and alcohol in the car during the outside summer season so you can remove any ticks you find while playing at the park etc
5. Teach your child to check their own scalp because they’ll notice any bumps or abnormalities before you will and ticks love to hide in the scalp.
6. Looks for a rash or “bulls-eye” on the skin when performing a tick check. Remember, a rash or “bulls-eye” is a pretty clear indicator of Lymes however the lack of a “bulls-eye” doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t infected (approximately 30% do not receive the “bulls-eye” and my son was in that 30% range)
7. Feel free to spray shoes – ticks love to climb up from the ground so spray sneakers as well as skin.