Summer Camp Head Lice Preparedness
With summer right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking ahead. If your child goes to summer camp every year, you probably already know what to expect, but there is something you may not be entirely prepared for — head lice. It only takes one child with head lice to take over the entire camp, making the summer miserable for everyone involved. Fortunately, preventing head lice is fairly easy if you know what to do. Keep reading to learn what precautions your child’s camp should take and what you can do yourself to keep your child and the whole camp lice-free this summer.
Follow These Simple Tips to Keep CampLice-Free
Though you may not be able to follow your child to summer camp, you can call ahead to make sure the camp has certain preventive measures in place. Here are five simple things your child’s camp can do to prevent lice:
- Make sure all staff are educated and informed about lice, including how to identify them, how they are spread, and how to handle an infestation
- Ask about the camp’s lice control policy — if they don’t have one, suggest they look into prevention methods recommended by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- Encourage your child’s summer camp to screen for lice at check-in and, if necessary, provide resources for camp staff to learn how to do this properly
- Make sure the camp has the right products and policies in place to deal with an infestation — lice need to be controlled quickly, so control products need to be on-hand along with people who know how to use them
- Ask the camp about their communication policy — whether they tell all parents about a lice problem or if they only call the parents of the affected child
How to Protect Your Child from Lice
Once your child is out the door, they are also out of your hands; however, packing the right products for camp can make a world of difference in preventing head lice. Here are some products you should consider packing for your child:
- Clenz Prevention Oil – Available in a convenient travel-sized spray bottle, this oil harnesses the lice-repelling power of tea tree, lavender, peppermint, and orange oils to prevent outbreaks. Simply apply it to the scalp two to three times a week.
- Clenz Cream – If your child already has lice, you need to take care of the problem before heading off to camp. Clenz Cream loosens the glue lice used to attach their eggs to the hair shaft, helping you eliminate lice and eggs from your child’s scalp.
- Lice Repellant Spray – Made with a mixture of tea tree and lavender oils, this spray kills lice on toys, bedding, and other items, helping prevent them from coming back. It couldn’t hurt to also treat your child’s luggage and outerwear beforehand and send along a bottle of repellant to spray their bedding at camp.
- Eucalyptus Laundry Detergent – Wash all of your child’s clothes and bedding using this product before going to camp to make sure there are no tagalongs. This detergent is non-toxic and designed to eliminate both lice and their eggs with a single wash.
- Lice Prevention Kit – For comprehensive protection against lice, this prevention kit includes Lice Repellant Spray, Nit-Zapping Prevention Oil, Laundry Detergent, and Foaming Hand Soap to help you protect your child and their belongings before sending them to camp.
