Family

No more nits

It can seem like a never-ending battle trying to keep your child's head free of lice during the school year.

Natural ways to keep kids free of head lice

**Step by step

**It can seem like a never-ending battle trying to keep your child’s head free of lice during the school year. As soon as you think you have all your kids nit-free, one of them starts scratching and then the others join in. But during the summer, the chances of re-infestation are greatly reduced because kids are not at school with hundreds of other children so it makes sense to get back into the nit-free regime and see if you can have a couple of months of peace.

Many parents will automatically turn to the chemical preparations at the chemist shop, but some of these may no longer work if the head lice have built up resistance. Here are some tried-and-true natural methods I have found work well. But by all means, if you’ve had enough, get the chemicals.

**1. Comb crazy

**Commit to the comb. I used to line my kids up every night and enthusiastically comb their hair free of nits and then, after about six days, I’d get tired of it. of course, we all know you need to do it for 14 days straight to be sure you get all the hatched eggs. So do it during the news or your family’s favourite TV programme.

Set up a good light, have a glass of water next to you to dump the lice in and start at the sides, nape of the neck and hairline, working your way in. But don’t forget that lice are drowning in the water and drink from the glass, as I once did!

**2. Shampoo regime

**Every second  night, get your child to wash their hair, then smother it in conditioner. Leave the conditioner on for 20 minutes and then start combing. The conditioner stunts the lice temporarily and makes it easier to catch them with a comb.

**3. Teeth of steel

**Choose a good fine-tooth comb. I recommend the steel ones.

**4. Night oil

**Smothering your child’s head in Vaseline for a night will loosen the nits and suffocate some but not all of the lice. So do this at the start of the treatment and allow a good session in the morning to wash it all out. Squeezing on some baby oil can help get the Vaseline out. Some people also recommend olive oil and mayonnaise but it’s not for everyone.

**5. Hot laundering

**Treat the whole house at the same time – otherwise you’ll re-infest each other. on day one of the treatment, take all linen, including pillowcases, and wash in hot water. Do this again seven days later. Get used to washing towels. Each towel that is used to dry hair must be washed in hot water.

**6. Teddy taming

**Wash teddy and any other soft toys who live in your child’s bed at the same time as you do their linen. For the purposes of nit and lice alienation, it might pay to limit your children to one favourite toy for the next two weeks, making sure they choose a toy that can withstand the hot wash cycle.

**7. Take to tea tree

**Make your own tea-tree shampoo and conditioner by buying any cheap brand from the supermarket and dropping tea-tree oil into the bottle. I use about 10 drops per small bottle but you can adjust it so that it has a good strong smell. Your children need to use it from now on. It won’t kill an infestation, but it will prevent another one occurring.

**8. Hairbrush oil

**Drip some tea-tree oil onto your child’s hairbrush before they brush their hair. other oils you can try are eucalyptus, lavender and orange. Please be sure to remember that essential oils, while natural, can be toxic so use them sparingly and never apply directly to the skin without first diluting with a base oil such as almond or olive oil.

**9. No pet products

**Do not under any circumstances use products designed for animals, such as flea shampoos or sprays. These have not been tested for human use, and while they may be effective, you’ll be exposing your child to some serious chemicals.

**10. Lice and nit busters

**Do try some natural treatments before resorting to chemical ones. Most chemists have a good range and, personally, I have had a lot of success with the or Nits herbal range of nit treatments.

**Hot tip!

**Be sensitive to their feelings of embarrassment and make sure your kids know that lice and nits love clean hair.

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