Back to Concerned your child is unwell (3 months and older)?

Tick bite

Most tick bites are harmless and only a small number of ticks are infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. 

lyme disease picture.jpg

A tick bite can only cause Lyme disease in humans if the tick has already bitten an infected animal. Ticks that may cause Lyme disease are found all over the UK, but high-risk areas include grassy and wooded areas in southern England.  Ticks are most active in spring, summer and early autumn. Symptoms appear on average 14 days after the tick bite, however can occur between 2 days and 3 months.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Picture credit: Skin Deep                                                       

Please see your GP if your child experiences any of these symptoms after a tick bite: You will need to inform your GP that your child had a tick bite.

  • A circular red rash around the area of the bite. The rash may be white in the middle and look like a “bulls eye”. Click here for pictures of the rash
  • Hot and shivery
  • Headaches
  • Aching joints and muscles
  • Muscle weakness
  • Extreme tiredness
  • Tender glands
  • Feeling sick
  • Facial weakness (droop on one side of the face)

Treatment for Lyme disease is with antibiotics and is most effective if started as early as possible.

Antibiotics are not used for prevention of Lyme disease following simple tick bites.

Speak to your doctor if your symptoms come back after treatment with antibiotics or they do not start to improve

Do not worry if all of the tick has not been removed. Please do not try to dig out retained parts as this will increase the risk of skin infection. Retained parts will usually work their way out within a couple of days.

Prevention:
  • Cover your skin, wear long trousers and boots and tuck trousers into socks when walking in long grass
  • Examine yourself and your children for tick after exposure and remove all ticks as soon as possible. Some ticks can be tiny, no bigger than a pencil dot
Tick removal

Where should you seek help?

For wear and tear, minor trips and everything in between.

Self-care

You can treat your child's very minor illnesses and injuries at home.

Some illnesses can be treated in your own home with support and advice from the services listed when required, using the recommended medicines and getting plenty of rest.

Sound advice

Children can recover from illness quickly but also can become more poorly quickly; it is important to seek further advice if a child's condition gets worse.

For information on common childhood illnesses go to What is wrong with my child?

Pharmacists are experts in many aspects of healthcare and can offer advice on a wide range of long-term conditions and common illnesses such as coughs, colds and stomach upsets. You don’t need an appointment and many have private consultation areas, so they are a good first port of call. Your pharmacist will say if you need further medical attention.

Sound advice

  1. Visit a pharmacy if your child is ill, but does not need to see a GP.
  2. Remember that if your child's condition gets worse, you should seek further medical advice immediately.
  3. Help your child to understand - watch this video with them about going to the pharmacy.

For information on common childhood illnesses go to What is wrong with my child?

Health visitors are nurses or midwives who are passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and preventing illness through the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme. They work with you through your pregnancy up until your child is ready to start school.

Health Visitors can also make referrals for you to other health professionals for example hearing or vision concerns or to the Community Paediatricians or to the child and adolescent mental health services.

Contact them by phoning your Health Visitor Team or local Children’s Centre.

Sound advice

Health visitors also provide advice, support and guidance in caring for your child, including:

  • Breastfeeding, weaning and healthy eating
  • Exercise, hygiene and safety
  • Your child’s growth and development
  • Emotional health and wellbeing, including postnatal depression
  • Safety in the home
  • Stopping smoking
  • Contraception and sexual health
  • Sleep and behaviour management (including temper tantrums!)
  • Toilet training
  • Minor illnesses

For more information watch the video: What does a health visitor do?

School nurses care for children and young people, aged 5-19, and their families, to ensure their health needs are supported within their school and community. They work closely with education staff and other agencies to support parents, carers and the children and young people, with physical and/or emotional health needs.

Contacting the School Nurse

Primary and secondary schools have an allocated school nurse – telephone your child’s school to ask for the contact details of your named school nurse.

There is also a specialist nurse who works with families who choose to educate their children at home.

Sound Advice

Before your child starts school your health visitor will meet with the school nursing team to transfer their care to the school nursing service. The school nursing team consists of a school nursing lead, specialist public health practitioners and school health staff nurses.

They all have a role in preventing disease and promoting health and wellbeing, by:-

  • encouraging healthier lifestyles
  • offering immunisations
  • giving information, advice and support to children, young people and their families
  • supporting children with complex health needs

Each member of the team has links with many other professionals who also work with children including community paediatricians, child and adolescent mental health teams, health visitors and speech and language therapists. The school health nursing service also forms part of the multi-agency services for children, young people and families where there are child protection or safeguarding issues.

If you’re not sure which NHS service you need, call 111. An adviser will ask you questions to assess your symptoms and then give you the advice you need, or direct you straightaway to the best service for you in your area.

Sound advice

Use NHS 111 if you are unsure what to do next, have any questions about a condition or treatment or require information about local health services.

For information on common childhood illnesses go to What is wrong with my child?

A&E departments provide vital care for life-threatening emergencies, such as loss of consciousness, suspected heart attacks, breathing difficulties, or severe bleeding that cannot be stopped. If you’re not sure it’s an emergency, call 111 for advice.

Sound advice

  1. Many visits to A&E and calls to 999 could be resolved by any other NHS services.
  2. If your child's condition is not critical, choose another service to get them the best possible treatment.
  3. Help your child to understand – watch this video with them about going to A&E or riding in an ambulance
Survey for parents/carers - what was the outcome of you looking at this page?

There are many sensory issues associated with sleep including:

  • Sensitivity to sound, touch, and visual stimuli which can be distracting and distressing and can affect the process of falling asleep.
  • Interoception difficulties, particularly recognising when hungry, full or thirsty or when the person is tired. 
  • Some children are more sensitive to foods like sugar, caffeine and additives which keep people awake.

Look at the bedroom environment to see what may be affecting their ability to go to sleep and stay asleep. Do their pyjamas and bedclothes feel comfortable, are they too hot or cold?  Is it too light or too dark, too noisy or too quiet? Perhaps it is too cluttered and stimulating. Think about your child’s diet. Are they eating too early or not having enough to eat? Are they eating food that can stimulate them close to bedtime. There can be added difficulties where children have restrictive diets but some simple adjustments of what is eaten and when can make a big difference. 

Click here for more information on sensory issues.
 

Sticking to the same routine helps your child to know what to expect at bedtime and helps them feel secure. It also helps to support your child’s internal body clock and keep it on track. The age related sleep advice and information on this website can help with establishing routines. Some children will benefit from using picture timetables, timers or social stories to help them understand their bed-time routine. More information about visual supports can be found on these websites

Visual Resources | Autism West Midlands 
Visual Supports | Autism Toolbox Autism Toolbox

Your child may be feeling overstimulated after a busy day and needs help to wind down, or their environment may be overstimulating with lots of toys, TVs and computers within reach. Avoiding TV and computers or hand-held devices an hour before bedtime can help your child to wind down. Activities that are good for the wind down period are jigsaws and colouring. Having a relaxing bath and milky drink can help some children, but for some children having a bath can over-excite them so they may need to have their bath earlier in the day.

Children who wake to use the toilet, wet the bed, or who wear nappies or pull-ups at night that need changing may have disturbed sleep. Eric, the children’s bowel and bladder charity are a good source of advice on this topic.

 

What might help 

Keeping a sleep diary 

A sleep diary can help you understand what may be causing difficulties with sleep. Fill it out every evening and record as much as you can. You can use it to spot patterns and make changes that may help. 

The Sleep Charity have templates you can download; one for teenagers and one for younger children. 

Seeking advice and help from sleep services 

There are organisations that can help you if you are having difficulties with your child’s sleep. There are many national organisations, including those who specialise in sleep for SEND families, and there are also community-based services in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Click the link at the bottom of page to visit our support services page. 

Understanding sleep cycles 

The circadian sleep cycle is a 24-hour cycle that helps govern essential bodily functions especially the sleep-wake cycle. It plays a vital role in a person’s ability to sleep in one consolidated block of time at night and to stay awake during the day. As the sun sets in the evening, the brain begins producing melatonin, a hormone that induces sleepiness. Core body temperature also drops.

As melatonin and tryptophan (an amino acid which helps produce melatonin) are naturally produced in the body, there are things you can do to help their production.  Darkness helps to promote the production of melatonin which is why it is a good idea to put your child to sleep in a darkened room, and light emitting devices such as tablets and phones also can destroy melatonin so should not be used for at least an hour before bed. New research shows that limiting exposure to screens and increasing physical activity levels during the day has a positive effect on children's overall physical, mental health and wellbeing, including sleep.

Setting a waking time consistently even in holiday times, which is called ‘anchoring’ the wake time, can help to reset the body clock over time. This should be accompanied with exposure to lots of light on waking to support circadian rhythm. 

Melatonin and tryptophan occur naturally in some foods and drinks such as milky drinks and cereals which is why having a milky drink before bed can help settling to sleep. For more information visit Diet & Sleep - The Sleep Charity

Prescriptions of melatonin

Behavioural strategies and practical solutions are the best way to address sleep difficulties, but if they are having a significant impact on your child’s ability to function, a drug form of melatonin is sometimes prescribed for neurodivergent children. As the drug’s function is to re-set sleep and wake cycles, it works best combined with good sleep hygiene practices. It is important that is it taken under medical supervision and not purchased on-line so that it is closely monitored for dosage and side effects. It should be prescribed for the shortest period necessary as the long-term effects of the drug on children’s development are not yet known.

 In Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin the Community Paediatric Service and the CAMHS (BeeU) Service) can prescribe melatonin for children and young people who meet ALL of the following criteria.

  1. the child/young person must be open to and being treated by the service due to a neurodevelopmental/mental health need (diagnosis is not required but the child must be being seen by the service, not on a waiitng list)
  2. sleep issues are causing significant impact on the child/ young person, for example due to daytime sleeping or behavioural problems that are impacting daily functioning or educational attendance
  3. behavioural approaches have been tried and failed. These may have been offered by the service (where available) or by community sleep support services.

GPs are unable to prescribe melatonin although they sometimes issue repeat prescriptions when prescribing has been started by a specialist (such as a paediatrician or child psychiatrist). 

Further support 

Click on the link below to visit a page with information about

  • national websites and sleep organisations
  • local community services in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.