How Can I Prevent My Kids From Getting Head Lice?
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Lots of kids will get lice at least once while they’re in school. Removing the insects and their eggs (called nits) from your child’s hair is a painstaking process — even if they aren’t squirming or complaining the whole time. Many New York City parents opt out of doing the nitpicking themselves, preferring to hire a professional who willconscientiously rid kids of licefor a few hundred bucks a head.
But is there any way to prevent or significantly reduce the chances of a classroom lice infestation making its way home with your kid? And do products like scented detangling sprays that promise to repel the little suckers actually work? I spoke to the school nurse at a Brooklyn private school, a mom who has spent countless hours removing lice from her kids’ scalps, and a professional lice-removal expert to find out. I also asked them to recommendat-home lice treatmentsand share removal advice for parents who brave doing it themselves.
Know thy enemy: How to spot a louse
Head lice are parasitic insects that feed on human blood and spread most easily among school-age children. They spread most efficiently via head-to-head contact, which is why they are so common in classrooms where a dozen or more kids sit and play in close proximity to each other, day in and day out. And because getting lice is common, there should be no shame in finding them on your kid. “Remember, this has nothing to do with the cleanliness of your home or your child. It can — and will —happen to anyone,” says Taylor Parker, school nurse atthe Co-op Schoolin Brooklyn.
Both Parker and Eda Bilir-Messner, owner ofEdaMama,a Brooklyn children’s hair salon that also provides in-home delousing services, say that lice actually have no preference between clean or dirty hair.“They are indifferent to cleanliness — they are only attracted to human blood and the warmth of a scalp,” she says. Gross. Bilir-Messner recommends that parents check their kids’ hair for lice and eggs once a week with some sort of a flashlight. “You can even use your iPhone light to look through the hair,” she says. And if, for example, your child went to a sleepover and you later hear that one of the kids in the group had lice, she recommends combing their hair with a nit comb just to be on the safe side. Bilir-Messner also mentioned checking for lice after each school break, when families returning from hotel stays and other shared spaces might be bringing lice back to school with them.
Invest in an ounce of prevention — with a minty, lice-repelling scent
Even when there is no evidence of an infestation among your kid’s friends or classmates, Bilir-Messner and Parker told me there are a few things you can do to make your kid’s hair and scalp less attractive to lice.
“Head lice dislike strong, natural scents, particularly peppermint, tea tree, rosemary, eucalyptus, and lavender, which can act as natural repellents,” says Parker, explaining that the strong scents overwhelm them, making them less likely to move onto a new head. Peppermint is often cited as the most effective, she says.
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Both Parker and Bilir-Messner like this popular detangling spray that uses a blend of rosemary, citronella, tea tree, geranium, and peppermint oils to deter lice while conditioning hair and soothing the scalp.
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This prevention spray from the popular lice-treatment brand Nix contains lemongrass, citronella, and rosemary essential oils.
Look for everyday hair products that contain dimethicone, an ingredient commonly found in lice treatments that Parker recommends because the thick silicone oil coats lice and their eggs, suffocating the insects and preventing eggs from hatching. Because it is a mechanical method, dimethicone is also better at killing “superlice” that have built up resistance to permethrin, an over-the-counter chemical treatment.
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Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio often usesVerb Ghost Oilas a detangler on her elementary-school daughters’ hair. It contains dimethiconol, another type of silicone that can help smother lice.
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Trolio’s sister often has her kids wash their hair withRedken All Soft shampoobecause dimethicone is high on its list of ingredients.
Does tying their hair back help?
Yes. Both Parker and Bilir-Messner said that having your child wear their hair in braids or a ponytail while at school can be an effective lice-prevention method.
What to do if your kid gets lice
Don’t panic. Many parents have dealt with lice before you, and many more will deal with them after you. According to Bilir-Messner, you should take a two-pronged approach: One, make sure you’re getting all lice and eggs off the head. And two, make sure you’re killing them by smushing them between layers of a paper towel or using a chemical that will kill them while you’re removing them.
She also stressed that consistency is key. There is no shampoo or gel treatment that will kill 100 percent of lice and eggs, so if you don’t get all of the nits, they could still hatch and lead to reinfestation. “Check everyone in your home and treat positive cases in the household at the same time. Follow the product instructions precisely, repeating the treatment if directed. And keep combing with a professional nit comb every day for at least one week,” she says.
Parker recommends using aMEDca stainless-steel nit combwhile your child’s hair is wet and conditioned; “other combs might be too wide, and the immature younger lice, nymphs, will slip right through,” she says. I keep a similar lice comb in my medicine cabinet — the aptly namedNit Free Terminator— that I bought after it was recommended to me by a friend with a 3-year-old on his second lice adventure. It’s the same one that authorErin Boyle, a parent of two elementary-school kids, mentioned in a recent newsletterabout picking nits off of her kids’ scalps. Parker also suggests getting apintail or rattail combto help you to part kids’ hair easily when searching for the little buggers.
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A magnifying glass is another good tool to have, since nymphs can be too small to spot with the naked eye. Using one with a light is ideal, says Bilir-Messner, because lice “are a similar color to hair, but when you shine a light on them, they move because they wanna hide.”
Once you’re done with their head, clean everything their head has touched
Lice can’t survive away from a human scalp for more than 48 hours and will naturally die off. But to be safe, you’ll want to wash all affected bedding, clothing, and other machine-washable things. You should vacuum rugs, couches, and car seats, or use a lint roller to remove any lingering bugs, says Bilir-Messner. For anything that can’t be washed or dried on high heat, like stuffed animals or bike helmets, Bilir-Messner suggests sealing them in a plastic bag for one week. Hairbrushes and hair ties can be sanitized by submerging them in boiling water for five to ten minutes.
Lastly, you should always inform your school and fellow parents of any lice or nit sightings. “Encouraging everyone to check their children’s hair is the best way to stop the cycle of reinfestation,” says Bilir-Messner.
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What are the best ingredients for killing lice and nits?
In addition to treatment products that contain dimethicone, Parker recommended oil-based treatments (with mineral oil, olive oil, or coconut oil), or ivermectin for high effectiveness. She also noted that “traditional pesticides like permethrin are less favored due to lice developing resistance.”
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Nix contains dimethicone and isoparaffin, a type of mineral oil that also works as a suffocant.
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A prescription-strength ivermectin treatment.
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This treatment uses coconut oil, diatomaceous earth, and walnut shell to suffocate and loosen nits.
Bilir-Messner says that any over-the-counter lice treatment you use should be formulated to kill both lice and their eggs. She also says it’s crucial to follow the instructions precisely, as many treatments contain harsh chemicals that can be problematic if overused. And since lice eggs stick to the hair shaft thanks to a gluelike coating, treatments with gritty exfoliating ingredients can be very helpful. In fact, Bilir-Messner told me she has seen professional nitpickers use a homemade paste made of baking soda and conditioner to help loosen nits when combing.
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