10 Effective Tips to Prevent Lice

Do not share items that touch the head.

The most common way lice spread is because kids will share items that touch their head with others. To prevent catching lice, the following items should not be shared, especially among children.

• Brushes

• Combs

• Hair clips or accessories

• Hats

• Bike Helmets

• Coats

• Scarves

• Towels

• Headphone

Avoid head contact

Kids will naturally put their heads together, literally, and if one child has lice, this can spread it to other children. Children should avoid playing together when they may have head to head contact. Keeping your child's hair back in a ponytail or braid can help reduce the risk of them catching lice from other children.

Have your child keep their belongings separated

In schools, it is common for children to share closet spaces where they are expected to hang their coats, backpacks, and hats. These shared spaces make it easy for lice to travel from one child's belonging to another. Encourage your child to keep their personal belongings out of common areas.

Sterilization

How to prevent lice? You want to regularly clean items your child uses on a daily basis, such as bedding, combs, brushes, and hats. When they go to a friend's home for a sleepover or you have one at your home, have them take their own pillow and sleeping bag to use. As soon as they return from the sleepover, or when everyone has gone back home, bag these items and wash them as soon as possible. This may seem like you are taking extra precautions but this is one tip you most likely already do.

Shampoos

Using certain shampoos can help reduce the risk of your child catching lice from classmates. Consider using these types of shampoos to prevent lice from entering your home.

• Coconut

  Coconut shampoo can be an ideal shampoo to help prevent the spread of lice to your children. There are no side effects to using this type of shampoo, making it safe to use on children of a younger age. Coconut oil contains anti-viral, fungal and bacterial components that repel lice. You can use scent coconut shampoo or mix some coconut oil into the shampoo you already use.

• Tea tree oil

  While tea tree oil may not be the best shampoo to prevent lice, it can be ideal to use when you already have an infestation. Tea tree oil should not be used by everyone as it can have some harmful side effects and cause irritations and allergic reactions like blisters and itching. The terpenoid and anti-fungal components in tea tree oil make it effective at killing off adult lice. Tea tree oil should also be used only by the adults in the home who are not breastfeeding because younger children can be more sensitive to the side effects.

• Lavender oil

  Lavender oil shampoos should not be used as an everyday shampoo since it can cause some skin irritations. How to prevent lice with lavender oil works the similar way as tea tree oil because of the properties, but use it in smaller amounts. As with coconut oil shampoos, you can purchase lavender scented shampoos to use or add a few drop of lavender oil to the shampoo you currently use.

Head checks

It is best to know what you are looking for and perform regular head checks on your children. While this may not prevent lice, this can greatly prevent a serious infestation, especially since the irritation lice can cause usually takes up to six weeks to become apparent, like the itching. Lice can move fast and are quite small which makes it more difficult to spot, but the nit or eggs are often easier to identify. The eggs will be attached to the strands of hair and are slightly more difficult to remove than dandruff. Get into the habit of checking your child at least once a week and especially along the hairline at the back of the neck and behind the ears.

Use lice protection sprays

Using a lice protection spray can help ward off lice infestations because it kills of lice and nits. These sprays are typically a peppermint scented; it doesn't leave an unpleasant odor on clothing, bedding, household items or hair accessories.

Cover public seats

The school isn't the only place your kids can catch lice. Seats at the movie theater or airplanes can have lice on them without you realizing it. While lice can only live for two days without a host, you might want to take extra precaution when using these public spaces. Then how to prevent lice when at the movies? Simply throw a scarf over the seat before sitting in it and bag it up once you leave and wash when you can.

Keep hair away from the face

Girls may be more at risk of catching lice than boys because of their longer hair. To reduce this risk, it is ideal to keep your child's hair tied back and use hairspray to keep any stray hairs back.

Ignore the stigma

Many people associate having lice with being unclean or needing to have more hygiene, but this is not the case. Lice is a come condition that is easily treated without resorting to pesticides. There are even lice removal services in many communities to help rid your family and home from these pests.