Tips on Removing Lice on Babies

Even if you keep your baby's hair completely clean, he might pick up head lice, which are spread through direct contact with the hands or belongings of someone who is already infected. Head lice are parasites that suck blood from the scalp --- itching is the primary symptom of their presence --- and lay eggs in the hair. Lice and eggs both must be removed to rid your baby of lice.

Use a Nit Comb

• To remove adult lice, baby lice and nits, or louse eggs, from your baby's hair, comb his hair carefully with a metal nit comb, which will have extremely fine teeth to trap all the lice and eggs. Wipe the nit comb out on a tissue or paper towel after each pass through the hair to remove the tiny lice and eggs from it.

Cover Your Baby's Hair With Mayonnaise

• Mayonnaise has been known to kill lice on some people, and although it's not scientifically proved, it's safe to put on your baby's head. Slather room-temperature mayonnaise all over your baby's head, and wrap his head in a shower cap for at least two hours to give the mayonnaise a chance to work. Stay with your baby the entire time to make sure he doesn't pull the shower cap off or, worse, pull it down over his face. After two hours, shampoo out the mayonnaise; you'll likely need to shampoo it at least twice to get it all out.

Avoid Anti-Lice Shampoo

• Commercial anti-lice shampoos contain pesticides that are absorbed through the skin, especially through the tiny wounds caused when a louse sucks blood from the scalp. These pesticides, especially lindane, an ingredient in many anti-lice shampoos, are dangerous to infants.

Head to a Lice Salon or Call a Professional

• Businesses exist to help deal with lice epidemics. The people who work in such places are trained to spot louse eggs and work their way through a child's hair strand by strand to remove them. Call your local elementary school to ask for recommendations. Your school also might be able to give you names of independent nit-pickers who will come to your home to delouse your baby's hair.

Don't Make Your Own Anti-Lice Shampoo

• Many homemade anti-lice shampoo recipes call for essential oils such as tea tree oil, rosemary oil, peppermint oil and eucalyptus oil. Some of these oils, particularly peppermint and eucalyptus, are extremely dangerous for babies and can stop their breathing if inhaled.

Repeat Everything in Two Weeks

• The life cycle of a louse is about three weeks, and eggs take six to 10 days to hatch. This means that even after you've successfully deloused your baby of all living lice, you might have missed eggs that will hatch within two weeks. Therefore, repeat whatever treatments you have used two weeks after the first delousing to make sure you don't have a repeat infestation.