This is a post that I hope you’ll NEVER need – but, if you’re like my family and your children go to school, or church, or anywhere else around other children, you might find yourself needing to know natural remedies for lice. No one is immune from these pesky things!
My girls have had it twice (read my tips and encouragement about the lice removal process here) and the first time I went the traditional route with over-the-counter medicated shampoo. The second time around, I tried the medicinal shampoo again, but it didn’t work so I tried natural remedies for lice. This is what ended up working, and I didn’t have to feel bad about putting harsh chemicals on their sweet little heads!
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Looking for natural treatments for lice? You’re in the right place!
Natural Remedies for Lice
If you are looking for an effective way to get rid of lice, you’re in the right place. A lice outbreak can happen anywhere and infest a child’s scalp in a short period of time. The skin irritation is just – ugh, so bad! There are prescription treatments but sometimes common home remedies provide the best results (and who doesn’t love natural options?) Plus, they are the best way to avoid allergic reactions.
Related: How to Keep Spiders Away with Natural Spider Repellant Spray
So, here are our favorite natural treatments to treat lice on a child’s hair!
1.) Hair conditioner
Yep, this treatment option is what ended up saving our tails (well, our heads actually) the last time. Simply saturate your child’s hair with cheap conditioner on dry hair, then cover their heads with a shower cap. Leave it on for at least 6 hours, or better yet, overnight. This smothers the lice so after you treat, you’ll need to comb out their hair very carefully to remove the dead lice with a fine-tooth comb or nit comb. if you have it
Bonus: your little one’s hair will be super soft after an hours-long conditioner treatment!
(You can also use olive oil, coconut oil, or mayonnaise instead of conditioner if you like, and follow the same directions, it just seems messier to me than conditioner.)
2.) Vinegar
Just plain ole’ vinegar does the trick here, but you can also use apple cider vinegar for an even better head lice treatment. The first step removed the adult lice; now you need to remove the nits. The nits (lice eggs) are very sticky and vinegar loosens them from the hair strand, making their removal much easier. After you do the conditioner treatment and dry your child’s hair with a blow dryer, pour the vinegar over his or her hair, paying special attention to the nape of the neck and behind the ears.
Wait for a few minutes, then, in small sections, carefully comb out each strand with a lice comb. (This process can easily take an hour or more depending on the length and thickness of your child’s hair. Rent a movie they’ve been wanting to see to help keep them still.)
You won’t believe how good and simple these tips are.
A good lice-removing comb is essential. We used this one and it worked great. Even if you end up going the chemical treatment route, the comb included is flimsy and usually ends up breaking in longer hair.
3.) Tea Tree Oil
Essential oils are one of the best natural home remedies we know of. Lice don’t like tea tree essential oil so using it as an active ingredient is a great natural remedy for lice. You can add a few drops of tea tree oil to the conditioner (or mayonnaise/olive oil) when you do the conditioner treatment.
You can also use tea tree oil as a repellent against lice. Mix 10-15 drops of tea tree oil with 2 cups water in a spray bottle. Spray on your child’s head (especially on wet hair) to hopefully prevent lice from taking up residence in their little human heads.
Hopefully, you’ll never need these natural remedies for head lice, but if you do, good luck mama! You got this!
(P.S. Did your daughter’s long hair get tangled in the lice-removal process? Check out my tips for keeping her locks nice and smooth!)
Related: How to stop hiccups with the easiest home remedy ever!
WANT MORE ESSENTIAL OIL TIPS? CHECK THESE IDEAS OUT FROM KIDS ACTIVITIES BLOG:
This sugar scrub for kids uses essential oils to add some extra benefits.
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