5 ways to guard your child against head lice
Head lice are a cause of irritability in children and extreme anxiety in parents. Almost all children get head lice at some point due to their close contact with each other. But by following the steps listed below, you can ensure proper hygiene of your kid and save yourself a lot of time and energy.
Know the Symptoms
As you may already know, lice are tiny brown creatures that feed on human blood in order to live, and the most common symptom of lice infestation is itchiness around the back of the neck. In many children, lice do not show any signs of presence until there has been a full blown infestation already in progress. Thus, it is advisable to do regular checkups with small toothed lice comb to detect head lice as soon as possible.Distance your kid from the carriers
Although head lice are annoying, they are not be avoided like the plague or some infectious disease. But it is always better to be aware of anyone in your child’s circle, who is known to have head lice or is being treated for it. If someone has been treated for lice infestation and it hasn’t been at least 2 weeks since the treatment, ensure that your child does not come in contact with their fabrics and personal usage items. It must be noted that you must not scare your child that it causes them to treat the infested person differently, instead, just teach your child to casually avoid situations that involve head to head contact with them.Adopt better personal hygiene practice
Good hygiene practices are not only good for general health, but they are also number one in preventing lice infestation. Train your child to take showers daily and clean their combs and brushes on a regular basis. Other steps include washing your children’s sheets in hot water, and cleaning their plush toys thoroughly. If your child had been with someone who has head lice, wash their clothes so that there is no chance of head lice infesting your child too.Teach your kids the importance of not sharing personal items
A huge majority of the lice infested population consists of school going children. Thus, it is important to be watchful of situations in which children share daily objects. It is good to encourage children to share certain things, such as stationary to help their friends out, but you may want to discourage sharing of personal items that may cause spread of head lice. These items include:- Pillows
- Combs/hair brushes
- Hair accessories such as headbands and hats
- Clothes and anything that comes directly in contact with the body
