Ask any nanny what the one word is that strikes dread into any family, and we guarantee you’ll always get the same answer – nits! And as school term starts again, the horror of head-lice looms large.
Head lice myths
- Head lice, aka nits, are only found on human head hair. Not any other hair on the human body. Not on pets, not on furniture. So while lice can fall off onto furniture, they don’t survive long there. Vacuuming, washing all your bedding and treating your dog won’t make any difference.
- Head-lice don’t lice spread disease. Unlike ticks or fleas, head lice don’t spread disease – in fact, the main health problems associated with nits are anxiety and stress, and that’s not in children, it’s in parents, teachers and nannies who have to try and deal with the problem.
- Using insect repellents will not stop your children getting nits. While there are a few products on the market that claim to prevent head lice infestations, there’s almost no evidence they work.
Head lice solutions
As every experienced nanny knows, nits are part of childhood. The rise of social media has made them even more easy to catch, as kids lean their heads together to talk selfies or watch TikTok’s together.
While various products exist to treat headlice, there’s evidence that head lice are developing a resistance to them, in the same way that overuse of antibiotics is leading to certain medical conditions developing a resistance.
The traditional way is still the best
- Apply hair conditioner to damp hair to stop the lice moving. One nanny says that using fragrance free conditioner is a good idea if the child is especially sensitive to fragrance as sitting and sneezing can make the whole process less enjoyable.
- With a towel around the child’s shoulders, use a lice comb to work through the hair from root to end to remove adult lice. Wipe the comb regularly on tissues or another towel to remove the trapped lice.
- Because this only removed adult lice, not the eggs that are cemented onto the hair, the treatment needs to be repeated weekly for up to a month to remove all the adult lice before they can lay more eggs.
- It can be a long process, so one of our most experienced nanny candidates points out that ensuring the child is warm enough is important as sitting still for long periods can be chilly. Watching a favourite video or TV programme can also help – try and stay away from TikTok and other short form videos, as these can cause the child to think about how long they’ve been stuck doing nothing.
- Although head-lice can’t live long off their human hosts, most families feel better if they wash the towels and clothing involved in removing an infestation immediately after combing.
Above all, don’t panic. Nits are relatively harmless, although deeply annoying, part of childhood and treating them as a minor inconvenience rather than a major drama is going to be better for your mental health as a parent, as well as for your child!
Photo creds: Karolina Grabowska at Pexels