Hug with caution! Head lice are everywhere these days. Anywhere kids connect, lice can spread. Lice don’t jump or fly, but they can crawl quickly from head to head, which is the way most head lice are shared.

Hug with caution! Head lice are everywhere these days. Anywhere kids connect, lice can spread. Lice don’t jump or fly, but they can crawl quickly from head to head, which is the way most head lice are shared. Your kids want to make great friends at school, but advise them to try to keep their distance.

Wear long hair off the shoulders. Visualize kids standing shoulder-to-shoulder, with long hair flowing freely. Why make it easier for a louse to crawl onto your child’s locks? Long hair worn up in a bun is best––or in tight braids––making it tougher for lice to reach the hair and penetrate to the scalp.

Never share brushes or combs, hats or helmets. It’s possible for live bugs to be left behind and survive away from the human head for up to 48 hours. Err on the side of caution and hang your coat on a separate hanger (or hook at school), whenever possible. Stacking coats together, especially kids’ hoods, is a bad idea.

Avoid lounging around on couches or rugs. Keep your head off these surfaces because head lice could be waiting for you! Spray surfaces with an all natural lice repelling head lice product to ward off creepy critters. Vacuuming rugs will help too.

Have kids take their own pillows and sleeping bags to sleepovers. After the fun and while still outside, you might want to shake everything out. Then wash and dry the sleeping bag and pillowcase in the hottest acceptable heat.

Don’t wash your hair everyday. Head lice prefer clean hair because they can navigate without difficulty and easily attach their eggs to hair shafts. Take a vacation from super clean hair! Use an all natural lice shampoo once per week. Both preventative and lice treatment head lice shampoos are available.

Use head lice repelling products. Everyday use of head lice products such as leave-in conditioners and gels will coat the hair and repel lice. Preventative head lice products including essential oil sprays and detanglers are not only natural lice repellents, they also make the hair “dirtier” (slipperier) and more difficult for lice to grasp onto.

Blow-dry hair whenever possible. Dry heat kills lice and their eggs. While this is not sufficient head lice treatment for an infestation, it might take care of a bug that recently found its way into the hair, as well as the eggs (nits) it may have planted.

Check your kids for head lice and nits weekly. Review pictures of lice and nits so you can spot them. Using a bright, natural light and a magnifier, check dry hair with a fine-toothed comb, fanning through small sections of hair at a time. Or wet the hair, divide into sections and comb through each section with a metal nit comb.

NEVER ignore an itchy head. Be aware of your child’s scratchy behavior; head scratching is a telltale sign of lice. Make sure your kids know to tell you or the school nurse about head itchiness and any bites or rashes they discover––especially around their ears or at the back of their necks (favorite lice hangouts). Tell them not to be embarrassed…it happens to the best of us. Getting head lice is not your fault!

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Melissa Gordon is the author of this article on Head Lice Products.
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Author: M Gordon.

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