No one expects parents to know everything, but a new report shows parents believe kids catch head lice from anything such as swimming pools to playing outside.
Despite three quarters of parents having experienced head lice, over half do not want to use medicated remedies in case they are too harsh for their little one's delicate skin.
Instead, parents turn to their grandmothers' ancient medicines such as lemon juice and vinegar or even simply scrubbing up with modern cleaning products such as washing up liquid or disinfectants.
The poll, commissioned by Nice 'n Clear, shows that dads are the least prepared when it comes to preventing youngsters catching head lice with 40% wrongly thinking that simply washing their child's hair will do the trick.
Don't rely on an itchy scalp to let you know when head lice are present - not everyone with head lice experiences iching.
More than one in ten anxious mums think having head lice will severely impact their child's popularity at school and nearly half worry head lice will affect their little one's confidence.
A significant 16% of mothers claim lice is one the biggest worries they face when their tots start school. Young parents are especially concerned about what the other mums will think if their child catches lice, with one in four 16 to 24-year-olds anxious about other people's opinion.
Head lice are masters of disguise and can be difficult to find, so here are some top tips to help you detect them:
- Check the whole family - it's not just children that get head lice: parents, grandparents, carers and teachers can get them too.
- Don't rely on an itchy scalp to let you know when head lice are present - not everyone with head lice experiences itching.
- Use a coloured head lice detection comb on dry hair. It's easy to do this when your kids are distracted by another activity like watching TV. Comb from the root to the tip until you have worked your way around the whole head. Live lice will get trapped by the comb's teeth, indicating infestation.
- Make detection part of your regular routine. This way you can spot and treat infestation early before it gets out of hand.
For more information visit www.lice.co.uk
