Washing in hot water and drying on high heat will kill lice and nits

Although the chances are small that lice in the house will get back on a head, there is still a chance. In my opinion, if you have lice, why take chances? Do you want lice back?  I hope not!

There are several ways to clean the house of lice:

• Wash items in hot water and dry on high heat
• Bag items for 2 weeks
• Freeze for 3 days
• Vacuum
• Wipe down with Windex (or water and vinegar)

Items that need to be cleaned:

• Bedding including mattress pad, pillow, and comforter
• Clothing that has been worn, including hoodies and beanies
• Stuffed animals and toys that aren’t hard plastic
• Furniture such as couches
• Brushes and combs
• Car/car seats
• Sporting equipment such as helmets, caps or pennies
• Backpack

There are sprays you can purchase at the drug store but I would not recommend them.  They are pesticide based and if you spray them on your beds and couches, your kids will then lie on and breathe the pesticide.  Besides, lice are resistant to the pesticides so these sprays don’t really work.

Head lice don't care how "old" your hair is

I was speaking to a parent the other day while removing head lice from her daughter and she was under the impression that adults don’t get lice as much because their hair is “old.”  Lice do not discriminate by age. To them, hair is hair.

Lice are, however, particular about the kind of hair they live in. There are several types of hair they can’t tolerate.

• People with hair that’s less than ¼” long. Lice need hair and warmth to survive.  Therefore, no hair means no lice.
• Some African American hair does not seem to get lice especially if it’s short/corn rows and has lots of hair product/oil in it.  It is a myth that African American hair will never get lice.
• People with balding or thinning hair don’t typically get lice.
• Hair on babies that is thin and wispy.
• Head lice only like head hair, not other types of body hair. There are different types of lice for different types of hair on the body.

Lice heaven would be long, straight, thick hair.  If I were a louse and I made it to the pearly gates of lice heaven, I would want to be in an 8-year-old’s thick long hair. I could set up shop and no one would be able to find me for months!

Better check for lice before putting your kids on that bus!

Are you finding lice notices in your child’s backpack almost on a daily basis? Does is seem like there’s lice everywhere right now? You are not alone. Either your family has it, or it’s in the school, or someone you know is struggling with these little pests. Now is the season for lice!

Lice outbreaks tend to spike during the fall when children are returning to school. It has nothing to do with weather and everything to do with proximity. Kids are kids. They sit on carpets together, have cozy reading areas in the class, share brushes after PE, and weekend sleepovers. You name it. They are close together for hours on end so lice are bound to spread like wildfire.

Summer

Summer is the time for relaxed routines and vacations. No one is thinking about lice during the summer. So when the fall comes around and kids return to school, the children that had lice during the summer return to school with more lice and nits than hair! They are crawling with bugs to share with their friends at school. All it takes is putting heads together during a small group, sitting on the sofa in the reading nook, or sharing pennies during soccer practice and shazam – the next child has lice!

Creepy Crawly Bugs

Lice do not hop or fly, only crawl. So when kids put their heads together, lie on the carpets, or share brushes, bugs can easily transfer from one child to another. It doesn’t have to be direct contact, merely contact with a surface (ie couch, carpet, brush, clothing, etc) that touched the infested child. Bugs crawl off the infested child and are waiting to move onto the next head.

It’s usually the big, fat, juicy bugs that go from child to child. They are the pregnant females and waste no time making a home on the new head they’ve found. A pregnant louse can lay 4-6 eggs per day. Those hatch and before you know it, another child bites the dust.