Grandparenting: Help! My Grandchild Has Head Lice

The end of summer heralds that start of a new school year for young children. As a grandparent raising a grandchild (or even as a caregiver of grandchild), a lot of worry goes into clothing, immunizations and the like.

A few weeks into the school year, another medical reality may take center stage: head lice. The good news is that head lice is manageable.

Head lice has had a stigma attached to it for years. Even well-educated folk can be heard muttering under their collective breath upon hearing that a child has head lice. You hear: poor child, bad hygiene and the like. That's what you'll hear them say until their children gets it. Then they read up on it, and find out it has little to do with social status, how much money the child's parent make, what kind of house he lives in and if he has a personal nanny who baths him each night.

Head lice, called "cooties" back in the day, is a highly-contagious, parasitic bug that has nothing to do with cleanliness. Children get head lice when they do what children do---swap hats (sometimes by accident), combs and the like. Gather up a room of girls with long hair, and you have a cycle waiting to happen.

Since head lice can live on inanimate objects for up to two days, according to WebMD.com, the problem gets compounded. Do you carpool? Are your car seats made of fabric? You could harbor them and pass them on without thinking about it.

Head lice crosses barriers, both literally and figuratively. Just as many infections have become immune to cures, sometimes a simple case of head lice within a classroom can become stubborn to cure.

My daughter attended an elite, private school where one of her classmates had both an indoor and outdoor pool. The nanny took the child and her brothers to and from school. Her parents built a wing on the school. In middle school, that girl, along with about 10 others in the class developed head lice that became the nightmare of the school.

The girls in the class had long, flowing hair, and they hung their coats on hooks in the back of the classroom, and that's where the trouble began. The notes came home and for the months that followed (because of re-infestations), it became a nightmare, and many of us became experts at going on an all-out lice war.

The minute you cut corners treating lice, you've lost the battle. Be methodical and go step by step:

Check all family members, even if they aren't complaining of itching. Light-colored hair hides lice well. Lice are not attracted to thin hair, but don't check anyway. When in doubt, treat it.

Shampoo. Use specialized shampoo such as Rid or Nix to kill the existing lice. When in doubt ask a pharmacist or the school nurse. Work the shampoo into the base of the hair, particularly near the nape of the neck and around the ears.

When the hair is dry, go on the hunt for "nits," mere specks, removed with a fine-toothed comb made especially for removing head lice nits. Don't avoid this step, as it's a definite one-two (at least) punch.

The female head lice is born pregnant. Imagine that one. So while the shampoo kills the lice itself, it may not get all of the eggs or it may even leave a female or two left alive that needs to be physically combed out. If one pregnant female survives, the whole process begins again.

Unfortunately, as with every other medical problem in our society, sometimes the lice become resistant to old-faithful, over-the-counter treatments. Vigilance is the only answer. Generally, you repeat this process in 7-10 days.

Bedding and clothing. Wash everything in hot water: clothing, towels, sheets, anything you can gather up that would have come in contact with hair or even shedding cells. Since lice are living off of a host, the cells shed from the scalp, you can do a quick sweep of your home to know which areas are most vulnerable. When in doubt, wash it. In my daughter's school, it was decided that the coats hanging side by side were the culprit. Some parents had washed them, others didn't, so re-infection occurred.

Sofas and fabric-covered seating areas and the family car. Just as there are over-the-counter shampoo, you'll find sprays meant just treating fabric for lice. Spray anything you can't wash.

Carpeting. Vacuum carpets to remove any lice that may have fallen.

Re-evaluate the situation for a few weeks, checking your grandchild's hair line, particularly at the base of the skull, with a flashlight to make sure it's clear.

It may seem like a nightmare to get through, but if you follow the steps, eventually you'll get through it. Then, breathe a heavy sigh of relief, put your feet up on the (lice-free) sofa and put your checkbook away.