It has happened several times each year my kids have been in pre-school. I receive the dreaded “head lice alert” email from the school director, and immediately freak!
As a little girl, I never had lice, but just the thought of it kept me up at night. Not much has changed! If you’re looking to avoid these gross unwanted hair-guests, here are some lice prevention tips for you.
How to Prevent Lice In Your Household
1) Use a shampoo Lice HATE: Lice hate tea tree oil. In fact, the stuff is naturally but apparently can kill the little buggers. However, this substance also smells heavenly, and is good for the scalp! For my little guys, I choose California Baby Tea Tree & Lavender Shampoo and Bodywash, and have been using it for years (as well as other California Baby products). This formula is gentle on sensitive skin, and also a natural lice repellent! If they never crawl onto your child’s strands in the first place, you never have to deal with lice.
2) Wash clothing on the hottest setting possible! If you know there are cases of lice in the classroom, strip off their clothing (including coats and hats) the instant they arrive home from school and promptly wash them in the hottest cycle your clothing (and machine) can handle. I generally also choose a soak cycle, to ensure the clothing is really cooked! Follow this with a hot dryer setting, and this is helpful to kill any lice that may have managed to hitch a ride home on something other than a head.
3) No sharing hats or hoods! Teaching your children that they shouldn’t share a coat, hat, hoodie or headband with any of his or her buddies is an excellent way to keep those strands clean!