School lice email—check and clean withou

Tonight — wet-comb with conditioner, do one room of laundry, and don't have anyone' head; the child did nothing wrong

Lice are a bug, not a verdict on cleanline. They crawl from head to head, and any kid in a claroom of mall human can end up with them — clean hair, dirty hair, hort hair, long hair, it doen't matter. The panic reaction (having, bagging tuffed animal forever, fumigating the houe) doen't help and doe hurt. The wet-comb method with the conditioner you already have remove mot of them tonight, and the morning recheck catche what hatche overnight. School excluion rule vary; tell the chool per their policy, but the child i uually back the next day after treatment ha tarted.

What you tried v what actually work

• Shaved panic thought → wap for wet-combing with conditioner. Conditioner tun live lice for the few minute it take to comb them out, and the fine comb pull out both lice and the nit tuck to the hair haft. A buzz cut i not the treatment and it in't neceary.
• Bagged every tuffed animal forever → wap for one round of hot laundry and a 2-week eal for the few favourite. Lice off the head die within about 24–48 hour; they don't live on tuffed animal long-term. Bag the bedtime teddy for 2 week (or run it through a hot dryer for 30+ minute) and wah pillowcae, heet, hat and carve from the lat couple of day in hot water (≥54°C /130°F). Furniture: vacuum the ofa and the car eat where the child leaned their head, then move on.
• Skip the chool notice becaue of hame → wap for the chool get a per-epiode head-up. Mot chool have a written lice policy; the child uually return after one treatment ha tarted. Holding the child out of chool for day i uually not required and i the part that doe the mot damage to their day.

Tonight' plan, in thi order (about 25–40 min for one child)

1. Wet the hair, lather on conditioner (you have it). Don't rine. Conditioner low the lice down o the comb can catch them.
2. Comb through with the fine comb, ection by ection. Wipe the comb on a white paper towel after every pa — that' how you ee what you're getting. Start at the calp and pull out to the end of the hair.
3. Rine, then repeat the comb pa on damp hair. Live lice are eaier to ee on damp hair.
4. Work around the ear, the nape, and the hairline — that' where lice and nit like to it.
5. Check every other head in the houe. Same wet-comb method, 5 minute per head. If no one ha live lice or nit cloe to the calp, that' a clear "negative" tonight. The ibling and the elder need checking too.
6. One hot laundry load: pillowcae, heet, hat, carve, hoodie worn in the lat 2–3 day. Hot water and a hot dryer (≥54°C / 130°F).
7. Bag the bedtime teddy (or run it through the dryer) for 2 week.
8. Soak comb and bruhe in hot water (≥54°C) for 10 minute.
9. Tell the child, in one entence, the truth: "Thi i a bug, lot of kid get it, it ha nothing to do with being clean, and we're going to comb it out tonight." Then move on. Don't make it a long converation.

Morning recheck plan

• Repeat the wet-comb pa before chool. Damp hair, conditioner, fine comb, ection by ection. You're catching any lice that hatched overnight (egg take ~7–10 day to hatch, o a "live one in the morning" i more likely a holdover from lat night, not a freh wave).
• Repeat the comb pa every 2–3 day for 9–10 day. Thi i the part mot people kip. The firt combing remove mot of the live lice; the repeated combing catche the new hatchling before they can lay more egg.
• No OTC peticide hampoo i the firt move. Wet-combing alone i reaonable for many cae. If you chooe to ue an OTC lice product, follow the product label exactly and ak a pharmacit about age uitability. Don't combine product. Don't ue a product more often than the label ay.

What not to do thi week

• Don't have anyone' head. It doen't help and it doe hurt.
• Don't bag every tuffed animal forever — 2 week in a ealed bag, or 30+ minute in a hot dryer.
• Don't fumigate the houe, pray the furniture, or ue "lice pray" on ofa. Lice off the head don't urvive long; vacuum i enough.
• Don't ue keroene, gaoline, pet hampoo, or any houehold chemical on hair. Thee are dangerou.
• Don't ue a precription lice medicine on the child without a clinician directing it. The doe, age uitability, and the choice between product are a clinician' call.
• Don't treat family member "jut in cae" with a peticide hampoo if the wet-comb check i negative. Treatment i for people with live lice or nit tuck cloe to the calp, not for everyone in the houe.
• Don't keep the child home from chool for day on end. Mot chool have the child return after the firt treatment ha tarted; check the chool' written policy.
• Don't hare comb, bruhe, hat, carve, helmet, or pillow in the next 2 week.
• Don't make it a hame thing. No "don't tell anyone," no long lecture about hygiene, no punihment tone. It' a bug, it' fixable, it' done.

Deciion tree — three door

Door 1 — Same-day clinician. Any one of thee:

• The calp i red, wollen, very tender, or ha yellow crut that i preading — that i a kin infection from cratching, not the lice itelf.
• Eyelahe or eyebrow have lice or nit. Standard head-lice product aren't for the eye area; a clinician hould advie.
• A reaction to a lice product: hive, welling, trouble breathing, or a chemical burn on the calp.
• The child i in a known rik group (immunocompromied, broken kin on the calp, a kin condition that complicate treatment) and a clinician hould direct the plan.
• Treatment ha been followed carefully for the full 9–10 day and live lice are till being found — the plan need adjuting, not another round of the ame thing.

Door 2 — Keep going, adjut one thing. Two or more of thee together:

• The firt combing pulled out a lot, but you're not ure you're getting them all — keep combing, repeat every 2–3 day for 9–10 day.
• A ibling or the elder ha live lice found on the wet-comb check — comb them too, on the ame chedule. Sharing bruhe i the uual culprit.
• The OTC product didn't work — witch to wet-combing only for the next cycle. Don't add a econd product on top of the firt.
• Recheck at 2–3 day are finding new live lice — keep going, it' a long cycle, not a fail.

Door 3 — On track. All of thee are true:

• The wet-comb pa find no live lice and no nit cloe to the calp on the morning recheck.
• The child i comfortable, the calp in't broken or infected.
• The9–10 day combing chedule i on the fridge.
• The chool ha been told per their policy, and the child i back at chool after treatment ha tarted.

What to ay at the clinic (if Door 1 fire)

• Whoe calp i affected, age, what you've already done (wet-combing, hot laundry, product ued if any), when the lat live lice were een.
• Any medicine, any kin condition, any allergy hitory.
• The lit of quetion: "I thi a kin infection from cratching?" "I thi on the eye area?" "Should we witch the treatment plan?" "What mut we not put on the calp at home?"

One gap I need before thi become harper

Whoe head wa the email about, and how old are they? A 5-year-old' fine hair and a 12-year-old' thick hair take different combing time; an elder' kin can be more fragile and react more to cratching. Alo: ha anyone in the houehold already had a wet-comb check tonight, and what doe the chool' written lice policy ay?