BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

MAY 31, 2023

Before we launch into this article, we should warn you that any discussion of head lice is guaranteed to make your scalp feel itchy!  

However, it is important to be on top of these little critters, because they are very common in learning environments, and your child is liable to get lice at some point (or several points) in their education.  

Lice LOVE to move from head to head at school, but they can make the rounds at childcare too, and you don’t want these itchy, scratchy, creepy, crawly critters to get too comfy in your child’s hair.  

Infestations are irritating, and although head lice don’t carry disease, you want to get rid of these little blood-suckers before they multiply and make life miserable for everyone!  

To help you handle a head lice case (or three…), here are five things to know, courtesy of Derek McCormack and the team at the Raising Children Network. 

1. Head lice aren’t always easy to spot.  

You might see live lice crawling through your child’s lovely locks, but because these tiny insects move fast and hunker down in human hair, it’s likely that you’ll notice your child scratching their head, before you see any insect action.  

Children with head lice often feel itchy around the ears and/or back of the neck, and you might also spot some small, oval-shaped nits (aka lice eggs) stuck to strands of your child’s hair, close to the scalp.  

If the nits are brown-black, this means they’re yet to hatch, and if they’re white, then the egg is empty and this particular louse is living large on the outside! 

2. Sharing personal space, or personal items, gives lice a ticket to ride. 

Lice don’t jump or fly, but they’ll happily hitch a ride on things like hairbrushes, scrunchies and hats, and they can easily crawl from head to head when children are learning and playing in close proximity.  

Derek says, “It’s not always possible to avoid a case of head lice, because of the way young children interact, but teaching your child to use their own hair accessories, and acting on your educator’s advice can help.” 

“For example, you might get a message from your early learning service, asking parents to check children’s hair that night and, if you do discover lice, keep your child at home until the day after you’ve treated them.”   

3. If you find that your child does have lice, jump on them straightaway!  

Untreated head lice can mess with your child’s concentration, or even sleep, and it doesn’t take too long for lice to infest a lot of people in a family, classroom or childcare community.   

Derek says, “If your child gets head lice, there’s no need to be embarrassed. They’re very common in childhood, and it’s important to tell educators about the situation.” 

“You should then treat all family members at the same time.”  

4. Anti-lice products are one way to stop these critters in their tracks.  

These products are available over-the-counter from your local pharmacy, and they use powerful ingredients like permethrin, maldison or pyrethrin to knock lice dead.  

Derek says, “Lotions, liquids and creams tend to work better than shampoos, and whatever product you choose, check that it has actually killed the lice.” 

“If the lice are still alive in your child’s hair, you’ll need to go back to your pharmacist and ask for something with a different lice-killing ingredient.” 

“Once you’ve successfully treated the lice, it’s then important to do a second treatment about a week after the first, to kill any lice that have hatched after the initial application.” 

5. Wet-combing is another way to eradicate lice and nits. 

This treatment involves you:  

• Putting a load of cheap conditioner on your child’s wet hair and scalp. 
• Waiting 15+ minutes for the lice to suffocate. 
• Combing the lice, nits and conditioner out with a fine-toothed nit comb, running it from the scalp all the way down the hair shaft.  
• Then repeating the treatment on everyone in your family.  

 

You’ll need to comb each person’s whole head of hair at least twice, cleaning the nit comb on a tissue (or under the tap) every single time you run the comb down their hair. 

This can be incredibly tiresome – especially if you have many family members lined up with lice – but wet-combing does have a couple of advantages. 

For one thing, conditioner smells nicer and is more skin-friendly than a lot of anti-lice products.  

It’s also very satisfying to see all those lice caught in the conditioner!  

And, most importantly, regular wet-combing is pretty darn effective.  

Derek says, “Using conditioner and a nit comb every two to three days for a fortnight can work wonders, and once your fine-toothed comb stops picking up any lice or eggs, you can stop the treatment.” 

Of course, there’s always the possibility that your child (or entire family) will get nits again…  

Sometimes these itchy insects keep moving around your social circle and you’ve just got to keep getting rid of them.  

This is where a chemical-free treatment plan may be better, but if your child gets head lice more than three times in a year, Derek suggests a trip to the family doctor. 

He says, “There is a prescribed medication that’s child-friendly and effective at killing head lice when all else fails.” 

Whether you’re dealing with your first case of head lice, or your 10,000th stroke of a fine-toothed comb, it’s also good to know that head lice are a normal (if nasty) part of childhood, and there will come a time when that nit comb isn’t needed.  

Sigh.