5 Eco-friendly Tips to Prevent Head Lice

There are ways to help prevent the spread of lice. Prevention is the key to avoiding pesticides and the headache of time-consuming lice clean up. Here are my top 5 suggestions…

1. Lice has seasons. Those are the times to be the most diligent. You will know when those seasons are when you get a note home from school letting you know another student has it. Other parents may mention it too.

2. Add some tea tree oil when shampooing or buy a tea tree shampoo.

3. Kids need to know not share combs, hats, hoodies, hair accessories or anything else that could transfer lice. Girls should limit their use of hair accessories. Any ponytail holders, clips etc… will need to be thrown away if there is an infestation so it’s just better to put them away for a while.

4. Keep clothes and soft toys to a minimum and off of the floor. When clean clothes get put away and recently worn clothes are in the laundry hamper there is less chance of lice transfer between family members. If lice does come into the home clean up is way faster. Toys that have cloth or fur are a perfect home for lice. You can put them in the dryer or freezer to kill off any possible squatters.

5. Gel, gel, gel and more gel. Every morning before school lather gel into everyone’s hair. Girls with long enough hair get ponytail holders and tight braids – french braid or single stand preferable. Remember gel. Lice love clean hair. Slicking it with product makes it difficult for eggs to attach.

Hopefully these tips will stop you from doing what I did when my son came home with the “someone in the school…” note. He looked great in a buzz cut though. Now that his hair is in a cute fauwhawk and it’s lice season once again I’m taking my advice. Gel, gel, gel, gel, gel!

Traditional products to kill and remove lice are expensive and full of pesticides. The Granola Catholic wrote an article about how to kill and remove lice more naturally. The link is below. I do recommend gel during lice season. You can use whatever you think works best for you though. Some people make their own gel out of plain gelatin to make it more natural. If you try that let me know how it turns out! If not, recycle your gel bottle when it’s empty.

If you are dealing with lice at home right now remember to treat your chairs, couches, head rests and carseats in cars, stuffed animals, pillows and bedding. Also, every egg needs to be removed from the hair or else you will have not solved the problem at all.

Please feel free to add your own suggestions! And if you like reading my crap please follow me on WordPress, Facebook, Twitter or leave some comments to let me know you’re there! I love comments.

~Stephanie

“I am committed to cultivating loving speech and deep listening in order to bring joy and happiness to others and relieve others of their suffering.”

Thich Nhat Han

Related articles

• Safe Cheap Natural Treatments for Lice (granolacatholic.blogspot.com)
• Olive Oil Treatment: Get Rid of Head Lice Naturally (ecochildsplay.com)
• All Natural Head Lice Remedies (naturemoms.com)