Sadly for us parents, lice are clever little critters. They are pretty much undetectable to the human eye (unless you look really closely and have eyes like an eagle), can survive a hair wash by clinging to a strand of hair and during its 30-day life cycle, a female lice can lay five to 10 eggs a day. This means it’s vital to be consistent with detection and treatment.

In fact, like most females, the female louse is a deft operator. After she has mated once, she never has to mate again. She simply keeps spare sperm in a special part of her body, using it as she goes, laying eggs daily for the next 30 days. Now that’s what we call multi-tasking.

To eliminate lice once and for all and ensure a tear-free, tantrum-free bathtime, you need to understand the life cycle, which goes something like this:

• Head lice live for around 30 days
• Eggs hatch after seven to 10 days
• It takes 10-14 days for lice to become adults
• Once fully grown adults, lice will mate with each other
• One to two days after mating the female will lay her first egg
• The female can lay eight to 10 eggs per day
• The average infestation is around 20 lice, but left untreated numbers can quickly escalate into the hundreds