9/01/2008

Lice Lesson #3: There’s often more than meets the eye.

So, you see only one egg on your son's head. Big deal right? Believe me, there are probably more. And if you don’t get them out, they will hatch and create even more. Where there are eggs, there are adult lice. Lice are quite hard to find – they don’t like the light and will move quickly to hide again.

What You Can Do: Set the stage for a good check –get in the right light, get the right tools, get your kids a snack, put on a movie, and have the kids go pee - do whatever you need to do to allow yourself to do an extensive search for lice and nits (eggs).

2 comments:

  1. AnonymousTuesday, January 20, 2015

    I just found 1 nit on my 13 month old. It was empty. He won't sit still for the life of him. Any recommendations? I found lice on my 7 year old and have been taking care of her hair daily for 1 week so far and found today that I have lice now too. :-( not a good day

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  2. Cathy, the Nice Lice Lady.Tuesday, January 20, 2015

    I have often found that young children have a better time sitting still if they are in the bathtub with mom or dad sitting on mom or dad's lap. While they play with the water toy in front of them, dad or mom can condition the hair and do a wet combing. It won't be a long combing session, but every bit counts. If this technique doesn't work for you, you could try something that is not as effective but can still lead to progress - if your child is a deep sleeper, you can try gently going through the hair with your fingers, strand by strand, when the child is asleep. I did this with my son the first time he had lice (though he was older than 13 months, he was in preschool). I had a flashlight at the time, though a head lamp would work much better. In the dark while he was fast a sleep, I just pulled out the nits that I could see in his hair. If the pulling is too much, you could bring some nail scissors and just carefully snip out the strands that have the nits. I was even able to take out a few bugs while my son was asleep. (However, chasing bugs on dry hair is quite the game - they in are their natural habitat and can move pretty fast.) Even with this old school method, you can make some progress. Good luck.

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