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The Parents Daily is your source for advice and information for rasing your kids.
Author: norman horowitz Article source: http://www.articledeshboard.com/. Used with author's permission.
Anybody who has ever experienced the excruciating torture of having head lice knows that nits are a huge problem. Head lice are a common problem for young children. The infestation is extremely contagious and spreads quickly through schools. It is a much bigger problem on girls than boys because girls often have long hair that the lice can hide in.
The first sign of head lice that you will notice is an itchy scalp. If you see your child scratch, check his or her scalp for lice. Lice are small insects that are difficult to see crawl about on the scalp. Instead, look for lice eggs, which are usually laid on the hair surrounding the scalp. Lice eggs are the color of honey and resemble dandruff, but must be picked out of the hair; you cannot remove them simply by brushing.
To find the nits in your child's hair, have her sit down, and then use a brush to push all of her hair to one side of her head. Start pulling small sections of hair onto the cleared side of the head to examine closely for small insects, eggs, and skin irritations. Repeat the process on the other side of the head. A child who scratches her scalp may cause irritations to become infected. If you find anything that looks like it could be infected, take your child to the doctor as she may need antibiotics to clear it up.
If your child has nits, you need to know how to get rid of head lice. There are many head lice treatments you can buy, and often you will need to buy more than one to be successful. The initial step is to bag and quarantine for three weeks any bedding and stuffed animals. That way the eggs will hatch and die off without anything to feed on. Then you should wash anything else that will fit in the washing machine in very hot water. Other clothes that can't go through the washer must be dry-cleaned.
A good place to begin to try to get rid of head lice is with over the counter shampoos, although some lice have built up chemical resistance to the compounds used in these. If this is the case, a prescription may be needed for a stronger version. The recommended method for treatment is to use the shampoo about one week following the first wash to ensure that all the lice are gone.
Carefully pass through all the (preferably wet) hair with a fine comb, removing all eggs and lice.
If you have ever had to go through the agony of dealing with head lice, you know that nits can be a major problem. If there has been a lice outbreak at school or daycare, you should examine your child's head very carefully. There are a number of head lice treatments available, and often it takes more than one.
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