Head Lice and Toddlers

Head lice are very small grayish-white translucent insects that inhabit the scalp, hiding amidst hair and feeding on blood. Lice cause severe itching and irritation in toddlers.

Oftentimes, lice will remain hidden in hair in such a way that it becomes difficult to find out if your toddler has head lice at all in the first place.

Here are some tell-tale signs to help positively identify head lice:

• Frequent scratching and rubbing of scalp
• White lice eggs (also called nits) showing up on the hair
• Excessive itching in the scalp

Toddlers generally get lice in one of the following ways:

• Close association with an infected play mate or sibling
• Sharing pillows, hats and other personal belongings with infected people

To help your toddlers regularly maintain a healthy scalp and hair, you need to get rid of their head lice.

Here are a few good tips to get rid of lice:

• Use lice-killing shampoos made for children.
• Remove lice and nits manually from the hair.

Some do’s to prevent lice infection:

• Wash all the clothes used by your toddler with hot water to disinfect them from any nits that may be sticking to the clothes.
• Soak the combs and brushes used by your toddler in hot water and then wash them with soap.

Some Don’ts:

• Don’t lose patience. This can be a frustrating problem as it recurs from time to time.
• Don’t let your children share combs, brushes or hats.
• Avoid using lice sprays or gasoline-based, non-approved products since these can prove to be harmful.