“This post was sponsored by Nix® Ultra as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and I received products to facilitate my review”
Be prepared this back-to-school season with these tips on lice management. It’s time to “always be prepared!”
Notice anything about any of these pictures?
If you’re like most people; you may be thinking “Oh how cute,” or “Those kids watch a lot of screens.” Maybe you’re thinking “That momma’s got some bags under her eyes.”
Yep, all those assessments would be correct. But, you know what I think before any of the aforementioned? I think… “Geez, I sure hope those kids don’t have lice.”
As a mom that has gone through the experience, it’s the first thing that comes to mind every time I see kids lean in to each other. Every time my kid puts on a friend’s helmet. And every time I borrow someone’s brush. I abhor lice.
Why? Let’s blame the Lice Incident of 2015 that scarred me, my children, neighbors, family friends, and acquaintances for life. You can read all about that fun time, here. I’ve learned a lot about delousing since then, as somehow since publication of said post, I became everyone’s go to expert for lice management. Lucky me. {Shudder}
What have I learned? Let me share my wisdom:
First up, now that the kids are back in school you WILL (it’s inevitable) get a note sent home from school in the near future declaring that a child in your kid’s class, grade, school bus, whatever, has lice and to check your children.
Y’all. This is not a suggestion You absolutely MUST check your children. How do you do this?
- Check each household member with a magnifying glass in bright light for lice/nits (eggs)
- Look for tiny nits near scalp, beginning at back of neck and behind ears
- Examine small sections of hair at a time
- Unlike dandruff which moves when touched, nits stick to the hair
And, may as well get thee a lice comb. STAT. It’s the best way to get through thick hair.
Now what happens if you find lice? First? Gag. It’s ok. It happens to the best of us. Next, take a deep breath and try not to freak out. I freaked out in the Lice Incident of 2015 and it did nobody any good. If I am unlucky enough to have lice in my house again, I’ll follow my own instructions that I’ve put together. Let’s call it Lice Management 101:
Get thee to a drugstore and purchase Nix® Ultra, a new safe and effective over-the-counter remedy that kills both traditional and super lice, as well as their eggs.
Spread Nix® Ultra solution on dry hair, completely saturating hair and scalp. Ensure coverage behind ears and on nape of neck. Leave solution in hair for 10 minutes. Nix® Ultra solution is safe and non-toxic but care should be taken to avoid contact with eyes. Protect eyes with wash cloth or towel.
Next, wash hair thoroughly with regular shampoo. Do not use conditioner or shampoo that contains conditioner! Nix® Ultra solution conditions hair for easy combing with Nix® Lice Removal Comb. Towel dry hair.
Finally: Use the Nix® Lice Removal Comb to remove nits and lice. Part hair into four sections. Comb one section at a time. Start at top of head. Lift a 1-2 inch wide section of hair. Place teeth of comb as close to scalp as possible and comb with firm, even motion away from scalp to the end of the hair. Use clips to pin back each section of combed hair.
Clean comb during use by wiping lice and nits onto clean tissue or dry paper towel. Discard tissue or paper towel into sealable plastic bag. After combing, recheck the entire head for lice and nits. Seal and discard plastic bag containing nits and lice.
The combing takes time. Don’t rush it. Leaving even one egg in there can lead to a total re-infestation! 🙁
Check hair after 7 days. If lice or nits are present, repeat steps 1-3.
After you’ve tackled the heads, it’s time to go into deep clean mode: All bedding, pillows, towels, coats, hats and clothes used within the last week had to be treated in the dryer on high heat for 40 minutes. All brushes, hair elastics, and head bands were tossed. Items like bike helmets were put in the freezer in ziploc baggies for 48 hours. Here’s a good checklist for making sure you’ve covered all of your bases.
And now, it’s time for the fun part – you gotta contact everyone, EVERYONE, your child has been in contact with. Especially their school. That’s a fun convo.
Fortunately (if there is such a thing as fortune when dealing with lice), this Back-To-School season, Nix® is launching the first-ever and only data-driven lice tracker, which is a tool for school nurses and parents to report lice outbreaks in their area as well as track infestations. The Nix® Lice Tracker uses IRI data from lice product sales, along with crowdsourced data from school nurses and parents and Google Trends data to track lice outbreaks.
Using IRI sales data from all lice products, the Nix® Lice Tracker reports outbreaks in real-time so parents can receive up-to-the-minute information on outbreaks in their community. Let’s just say I’m happy not to be in Nebraska at the moment. Eww…
Hope this helps during those dark mom-moments! Oh, and if you got through this post without scratching your head… pat yo’self on the back!
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