Look up about how Lyme disease is transmitted. If I remember right the tick has to be attached for a while feeding on the host ( they actually have like a topical Anesthesia effect when they bite on so you don't feel it right away ) then the Lyme disease is transmitted when the tick begins to regurgitate. Sounds gross. Anyway do not squash the tick if you pull it off either crawling or attached. The guts with the bacteria can get on you. If it was just crawling then you are ok likely. Check for other ones. The deer tick is very small. Always change clothes after being out in woods, put dirty ones right in laundry or leave out in garage in case there are more ticks on them. When hiking tuck pants into socks so they can't crawl up and get to skin. Wear tick repellant if you can. Check dogs too and keep them on tick and flea treatment.

Also Rocky Mountain spotted fever comes from ticks, my BIL had that. He lives in South Carolina with lots of pine trees around.

We are in PA and I pulled a tick off DH on Sunday night. He found it Friday night but I was away and he couldn't reach it. Not quite on topic but do you think he could have asked him adult daughter who is a Cert Nursing Assist to help him out? Nope, just leave the freaking tick on till I got home. I would have asked the new neighbor who is a nurse to pull it off. Someone. Anyone. I digress. Just be careful and if bitten check with your doctor about blood test for tick borne diseases. Usually a certain time after the bite.

I hate ticks, gives me the creepers. Fun fact though, the opossum is the Hoover vacuum of the forest eating the creepy crawlers. So be friendly to opossums!

There are lots of different kinds of ticks. Dog ticks in the south are common , not sure if they pass disease to humans. However if too many ticks get on a dog or animal along the spine they can cause what my dad calls tick fever. It paralyze so the animal. If you can remove them it might have a chance to recover.

Try to prevent contact. The more you know the better prepared you are. Also in the south there are chiggers to be feared of. And fire ants. And mosquitos with the Ziika virus.

It is not the large things that will get us eventually but the small and microscopic ones!

Deer tick bites & lone star tick bites can cause red meat allergies. Seriously. My sister in Ohio was bitten and has now developed a severe red meat allergy.

Not trying to make you more anxious, but tick bites can be major.

I had lymes. I was 10 and my mom noticed that a side of my face was not moving. I had bells palsy. We never found the tick and there was no mark. I remember getting alot of shots. I can at least now do the elvis lip because the muscles on one side are more developed lol

I have had what i must assume is lingering problems. My joints in my legs can hurt so bad sometimes i am laid up on the couch. My knees and ankles seem to be the worst. I just had an issue with inflamed cartlidge in my chest and that shit hurts, thought i was having heart problems.

You can always get a blood test to check, of you are worried and just keep a watch on your baby. Any face drooping or one sided crying go right in.

I live in the country and the kids get them often from playing outside. The off deep woods works really well.

i'll comment first then go back and read the other posts.

what size was it? deer tick or dog tick? the fact that it was crawling is fine, if it was embedded then it'd be a whole different story. your baby is a-ok.

i grew up downstate. doing a "tick-check" coming inside was a very normal thing. my dad was a landscaper so he and his co-workers even had to do thorough tick checks. the number of embedded deer ticks i've had pulled out of my skin with tweezers - well let's just say i lost track after 35 or 40. i've had lyme's disease twice, two years apart. the first time was ok, the second time was bad.

like i said, if it was crawling, it's all good. learn the difference between deer ticks and dog ticks, and do tick-checks after spending time outdoors. you can also spray your kid's clothes with bug spray with DEET (sounds like she's still too young to put it on her skin). but a good thorough tick check is the absolute best method of prevention. honestly, if you live in an area with a lot of ticks you can't stop them (like a mosquito bite) but DEET and a good eye are your most valuable tools.

Wow, I'm late on this but I have the same issue. How rural in NY are you? I'm out in suburbia LI an found 3 ticks already. My response? Natural is best--chickens, muscovy ducks, and if you don't mind the noise, guinea hens. If allowed to free range during the day, they'll decimate the tick population (especially guinea hens but you have to make sure you only feed them when they go back in their coop at night because otherwise they're not hungry enough to do much foraging during the day.)