Lice Lessons

Lice Lessons

You are home from a long days work and about to start making dinner when your child hands you his/her backpack. You reach inside to collect their dirty lunch remnants and find a note from the school that reads something like this: A child in your son/daughters class has been sent home with Lice. What should be included but often is not, is a detail description of what you should do next. I will now share that with you.

First a few tidbits about me, I m a mother of 2 (now grown children) and a recently retired home daycare provider. Over my daycare career I have helped raise close to 100 children. Needless to say I have had Lice in my home on a number of occasions.

Lets dive right in shall we....

Keep a vigilant eye for scratching - this is the beginning of your struggle. If your child is scratching at the nape of their neck or behind their ears it isn't because they are sweaty or whatnot it is probably the lice that are biting them. Don't ignore the scratching. (make sure their nails are cut short)

Start by grabbing 2 pencils and have a good look in these two places. Using the Pencils to separate the hair you are looking for nits, small grey/brownish (some describe them as transparent) they appear to be glued to the child's hair, close to the scalp. If you find these - YOU HAVE LICE.

 

 

If you have caught it early you should be able to control it relatively easily, just kidding it will be a ton of work (sorry). Go to the pharmacy and grab the treatment - might as well grab two as you WILL need this as your follow up. Also may as well buy the furniture spray while you are at it.

 

Lice will NOT go away without treatment.

 

Use the treatment as prescribed (read instructions carefully) and once the treatment is done immediately and I do mean immediately remove every single nit you can see - Section off  longer hair and go through section by section. This will take HOURS so find a comfortable spot with your child and get to work. Great time to pop them in front of the television for a movie.

 

Well, here comes the BIG next step (and DO NOT MISS THIS) Assuming you got ALL the nits out and although you and your child are pooped now is when you must do the following:



1. Wash ALL bedding/towels etc. in HOT water and dry on HOT for an hour
2. Wash all the child's clothing in the same manner
3. Wash all outer wear as well, scarves, hats, hoods etc.
4. Anything that can't be washed MUST be placed in a DARK sealed garbage bag for 2 weeks
5. Spray furniture AND Car seats with the Lice furniture spray
6. Vacuum child's bedroom floors/carpets/baseboards/mattress
7. Remind your child(ren) NOT to share brushes, combs, hats, scarves etc. with school mates

Now you can rest......for a little while

Over the next 2 weeks monitor daily and redo the treatment portion at that time EVEN if you don't see nits - a live one can still be lurking about in school on another child whose parents haven't done their due diligence as well has you have.

It has been said that Lice nowadays should be called Super Lice. It is becoming immune to certain treatments, so extra care should be made to prevent the spread.

Here is the life cycle of Lice. This is why it is so important to do the follow up treatment in case you miss a nit - it will hatch and all your efforts will be lost.

 

If you do not do these things you WILL have to start this nightmare all over again, so best to do it correctly the 1st time.

Extreme cases may need the assistance of a Lice Squad, they come in and treat the family and help clean house (so to speak) the fee is upwards of $300 last time I checked. Well worth it.

I know this sounds daunting, I get it. Been there done that. Here is to happy Lice Free Heads.

Kathleen

Please direct questions and or inquiries to rdkj4@aol.com