If your child has head lice, don't panic. Headlice may be annoying and time-consuming to deal with, but it is something that you can treat. You don't have to shave your child's head in order to deal with headlice; there are lots of other options available to you.
Thing #1: Start Washing All Soft Items
First, you want to start in your child's bedroom. Strip the bed and wash all their bedding, including their pillows. Next, if your child has stuffed animals, those need to go in the wash as well. You are also going to want to wash any hats or coats with hoods on them that would come into contact with your child's head. It is a good idea to also wash your child's backpack, as that can come into contact with your child's head as well.
You don't have to clean your entire house, but you should clean things that come into contact with your child's head, or that your child will pull over their head.
Thing #2: Treat Your Child's Hair
Second, you need to sit your child down and treat their hair. You can purchase an over-the-counter (OTC) lice treatment. Some of these lice treatments basically come in the form of shampoo, so that you can just wash your child's hair with the shampoo in order to kill the head lice. Oftentimes, it is recommended that you blow-dry your child's hair as well in order to kill the lice.
Sometimes, you will need to take a special comb carefully through your child's hair in order to pull the nits out of your child's hair. The nits attach to the shaft of your child's hair, and you have to use a special comb to pull them off your child's hair.
Thing #3: Check Other Family Members
Finally, it is important to check other family members for lice as well. If one of your children has lice, there is a good chance that another one of your children could have lice or another family member may as well, especially if it took you a few days to catch it. If anyone else has lice, wash all their soft cloth items, wash their hair with a lice treatment shampoo, and go through their hair to remove the nits.
If your child has lice, don't panic. Start by washing their bedding and soft clothing items and toys that lice could attach to. Then, wash your child's head and treat it with a special comb to remove any nits. Check the rest of your family, and if necessary, wash your child's head a second time with the special treatment. Contact us to learn more about head lice removal.
