More mothers are getting lice: How to avoid infestation as kids head back to school

It’s back to school, and that means the risk of lice entering your home just went up astronomically.

According to Wendy Schaffer-Berenbaum, Montreal’s self-professed lice fairy, more mothers are getting lice these days.

Why? She muses that since the pandemic, families have spent more time at home together, and parents checking on their children as they do homework tend to hover over them with their heads touching.

“If that first ‘all-inclusive resort’ is full, mom’s head is looking pretty good right now,” Schaffer-Berenbaum explains.

Here are a few tips on how to prevent the spread - and what to do if those little insects manage to find their way into your home:

What are lice?

Lice are tiny, grey insects about the size of a sesame seed, according to the Quebec government.

Barely visible to the naked eye, they live on the scalp, and sometimes on eyebrows and in beards.

They can lay eggs, called nits, which stick to hair and are difficult to remove.

“Lice are irritating but not dangerous,” officials note. “They do not spread diseases and are not the result of poor personal hygiene. Lice are most common in children in a school or daycare setting.”

What are the signs?

The most obvious sign of an infestation is an itchy scalp, caused by “an allergic reaction to the saliva that the insect injects in the scalp to feed on blood.”

“An inspection of the head is the best way to find lice or nits,” said health officials. “As they’re generally less than 10 to 20 live lice on the head, it is extremely important to conduct a thorough inspection.”

What if I find something?

Schaffer-Berenbaum recommends checking your children’s heads weekly, especially around that back-to-school time.

If you find something, step one, she insists, is don’t panic.

You can call her or go to the store and buy a lice treatment remedy.

“Follow the instructions. Don’t do back-to-back treatments. Just follow those instructions. They’re easy,” she said.

What about the house and car?

Schaffer-Berenbaum points out there’s no need to strip the car or burn the house down; some regular hair care is enough to get things back on track.

“Too much time, too much energy, is spent cleaning the house. If the parents never even did anything in the house, but they just continuously took care of the hair, they’re going to eradicate their lice situation,” she said.

Lice cannot survive without a host for longer than 24 to 48 hours, Schaffer-Berenbaum explains.

“You need to use common sense, which it’s so hard to apply common sense to this because it’s emotional,” she said. “Anywhere the head has been touching, so hats, pillowcases, pyjamas, hair, towels, bathrobes, yes, the car seat, if you have small kids with a high back, absolutely vacuum that or wipe it down.”

Alternatively, Schaffer-Berenbaum adds, some affected areas can simply be avoided for a few days.

“Close that door. They don’t go to the basement for two days. It’s not really a big deal,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be a big deal.”

How can I avoid all this?

The longer and more free-flowing the hair, the higher the risk, says Schaffer-Berenbaum.

“The best, best, best form of prevention is, of course, checking [and] putting the hair in braids,” she said. “I cannot reiterate this enough. Have your child’s hair in braids, which, by the way, when you’re braiding, you’re also looking, you’re screening.”

Parents can also spray their children’s hair and clothes with different essential oils, including tea tree, rosemary, peppermint, citronella or mint.

“It repels them but again, it’s not a guarantee because if your kid is really head-to-head with somebody for a long, extended period of time, and it’s getting crowded in the first resort, they might get on over to the second resort,” she said.