Lice found in school - how to keep it away from us?

[4greatboys]

Earlier this year our entire Kindergarten had huge outbreak. The nurse was checking the kids heads once to twice a day. I went out and bought the shampoo and washed my sons hair with it even though they hadnt found any on him--luckily he didnt get them.

We already had an outbreak just a few weeks earlier in my youngest sons preschool class and they were harder than hell to get rid of.

Actually the lice like clean hair, its easier for them to hang on to. Dirty hair is harder for them to grab hold.

 

[summerrluvv]

That's interesting, because that's exactly the opposite of what our nurse told us. She said it's not keeping clean that allows them to thrive. We knew for a fact that one of the main culprets in my daughters class was really poor and had no running water. It was pretty gross.

That's absolutely false. Rich people and poor people get head lice. Dirty hair is greasier so they can't cling on as well. Clean hair isn't as greasy. I had head lice a few times growing up and we were very clean and not poor. I don't think your nurse knows what she is talking about and I'm really surprise she is giving out incorrect information being a nurse.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

I haven't read all of the responses so someone may have already said this -- but I had heard that lavendar scented shampoo will keep them away -- something about it that they do not like.

 

[Blondy876]

Please keep in mind that it is probably not up to the classroom teacher whether the child is allowed to stay or go. In our school we had a big outbreak (I caught it too). Children were sent home everyday with lice but often returned the next day. I as the classroom teacher, am not allowed to send them home. That has to be done by the nurse. Illness policies are often dictated by the school or the district not the individual teacher.

 

[KikiFan]

I'm surprised your nurse is not aware that this one of those myths about lice. It's known that it is no longer just the poor. It affects all societal levels and incomes and that cleanliness or uncleanliness in a home has absolutely no bearing on it. I've included this from the Center's for Disease Control's (CDC) website. I've bolded the most pertinent part. [http://www.cdc.gov/NCIDOD/DPD/PARASITES/lice/factsht_head_lice.htm]

I realize that lice can effect anyone, at any income level - my own daughter got it! But in the case of this one family, the lack of running water prevented them from cleaning, washing or doing any of the things that needed to be done to remove the infestation. Poverty and cleanliness don't lead to having lice, but it can make it signifigantly more difficult for them to get rid of it. This little girl is a close friend of my daughter's and we knew for a fact their water was shut off, as was their gas, and they couldn't afford the OTC shampoo. In that sense, yes, poverty did play a part.

 

[Tantor]

Lice die within 24-48 hours without a blood meal. You do not have to put stuff in a bag for 2 weeks. Just remove for 1 to 2 days and they die.
Also tell your kids to put there hat,scarves , gloves in there sleeve of there jackets at school.
You should NEVER treat your children with any of the lice products UNLESS you find a live loose on the head.
Nothing kills the nits you have to comb them out.
We had a company called the Lice Squad come into our home to help remove and they gave me all this literature.

 

[Tantor]

Common Myths About Head Lice


Myth: Lice "Jump" from child to child.

Truth: Lice cannot leap. Lice are transferred by contact, either directly or through another device (such as a comb, hat, furniture and or bedding).

Myth: I should use a pesticide on every surface of my house if my child has lice.

Truth: Off of the body, lice can only survive for a day or two. Nits that hatch will die if they don't find food within hours. There is no need to clean every inch of the house. Concentrate on the hair, bedding, hats, toys, and furniture instead.

Myth: Fumigating is the way to really kill lice.

Truth: Fumigating won't be effective because all of the humans won't be present. Lice live on humans and animals. Fumigating the house will be ineffective. Fumigation also has no effect on the nits (unhatched eggs). Concentrate on the hair, bedding, hats, toys, and furniture instead.

Myth: Petroleum Jelly or Vaseline is the way to kill lice.

Truth: Using petroleum jelly may smother lice, but it will take forever to remove it. You might also find it is ineffective in destroying nits. Every year we receive desparate calls from parents asking how to remove the vaseline from their childrens hair. We still don't know.

Myth: Using Mayonnaise and a shower cap is the way to kill lice.

Truth: This is gross. It is also ineffective.

Myth: I need to shave my childs head.

Truth: Hair removal can help the problem, but it will be traumatic. You will do better to use a lice shampoo and carefully comb out the nits. Leave the shaving for when you send them off to the military as a teenager.

Myth: Lindane is the best lice treatment.

Truth: Lindane is a dangerous, prescription-only lice treatment. This drug has a checkered past. In 18 years ago consumer advocates petitioned the FDA to have it removed from the market. It is linked to reports of seizures and even death from improper use. Consumer Reports suggests throwing away a prescription for Lindane. "Besides" they say "it is not as good at killing lice as the over-the-counter products".

Myth: Gasoline or Kerosene is a good lice treatment.

Truth: Every year someone manages to kill or maim a child because they believe that gasoline or kerosene is an effective lice killer (they are not). The last case we know of was a 13 year old girl from Lorimor, Iowa. The volatile fumes will combust. These products should not be applied to the hair (or other parts of the body).

Myth: Lice are dangerous and carry disease.

Truth: Lice will cause itching and a rash, but there are few serious health risks. Mostly, it is an embarrassment issue.

Myth: Only dirty kids get lice.

Truth: Personal hygiene has little to do with it. Lice can survive 24 hours underwater and they are not killed by soap and water.

Myth: Once you kill the lice you are done.

Truth: Lice eggs (nits) will hatch after about 7-10 days. If they are not removed after you shampoo it is likely you will be reinfested shortly.

Myth: You will know right away if you have lice.

Truth: It takes your immune system 4-6 weeks to develop a sensitivity to louse saliva. Meanwhile a female louse can lay 6 to 10 nits a day. By the time you find out, several generations of lice may be in residence.

 

[kaw1218]

we have always used this.....it seems to work for us. I have found it at Walgreens.

http://www.liceguard.com/store/index.html?14.html&1

 

[Linda/MA]

Myth: Gasoline or Kerosene is a good lice treatment.

Truth: Every year someone manages to kill or maim a child because they believe that gasoline or kerosene is an effective lice killer (they are not). The last case we know of was a 13 year old girl from Lorimor, Iowa. The volatile fumes will combust. These products should not be applied to the hair (or other parts of the body).

Who in their right mind would do that to a child!

When my DD's 2nd grade class got it (and she did too), one thing we did was to send in a large trash bag so that the kids put their coats, etc. in the bags each day instead of hanging them in the cubbies where they all touched each other. It lasted in that class from early fall until spring! I was very vigilant about checking for nits and she never got it back. Ugh! it was terrible.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

No regular shampoo (Suave coconut or lavender) will prevent a louse from getting on your kid. Hairsprays,styling products, etc. have not been shown to deter lice. The best thing to PREVENT it is to keep your girl's hair up tightly and tell kids not to hug, wrestle, put their heads together with other kids.

We had it 2 years ago and used the drugstore lice shampoos and home spray. We followed the directions to a tee and a few days later we shampooed again. But I combed hair and picked nits everynight for a week. My DH washed every bed linen and sprayed down all beds, couch, chair, etc. while I was using the shampoo.

The funny thing is my mother is the school nurse! I called her immediately and she came over and picked my oldest's head (hers was worse). I was very embarassed but she said "It's not a bad thing to get lice, it's a bad thing to keep it." She sees it all the time and the ones that keep it don't follow the shampoo directions or don't bother at all.

Someone else posted that some families weren't able to afford the treatment shampoo. I know here that the health dept. will help you with the shampoo. Also my mom has used some of her supply money to buy the treatment and if someone needs it and can't afford it she will give it to them.

 

[stm61]

Why would you take this out on your child's preschool teacher -- whether or not they got it at school?

I hope you apologize profusely.

I didn't take it out on his teacher. I thought that another child must have had lice and the parents didn't tell the school. He hadn't been anyplace but the school and home. I just told her that I wasn't happy that someone could send their kid back to school without telling the school.

 

[simpilotswife]

That's interesting, because that's exactly the opposite of what our nurse told us. She said it's not keeping clean that allows them to thrive. We knew for a fact that one of the main culprets in my daughters class was really poor and had no running water. It was pretty gross.

Your nurse is wrong. That's an old wive's tale. And who cares how poor the people are? Lice happens to rich people too.

One thing that our school does is that when there is an outbreak of lice, they have the children put their coats in their backpacks during the day instead of placing them on the hooks. That seems to help reduce the transmission.

Also tea tree oil is supposed to be very effective in helping to get rid of lice.

 

[MichelleVW]

We had it in my house once...We followed the directions on the OTC stuff and my oldest was cleared up quick....my youngest....nope...we could NOT get rid of them.....Oldest DD never got them again, but it took forever to get rid of them on the youngest one. What we finally did...was comb out her hair every day with the fine tooth comb and every day we got less and less...then they were finally gone.....never (knock on wood) to return.

 

[MrsPete]

Lice are a nightmare. My daughter came home from school with them a few months ago, and the whole family suffered for about a month. I never want to go through that again.

Things I learned:

The lice on a child's head are very easy to kill. We used the Walmart-brand lice shampoo (read the directions -- it's not just a matter of washing normally), and it was disgusting to see the little buggers washing down her back. Her head was bug-free in one shampoo. That part was easy.

You must re-do the chemical shampoo on Day 10 . . . and maybe another Day 10. I didn't like the "natural" shampoos.

The first hard thing is cleaning your house. My water bill was huge because I washed her sheets every day in hot water (and I set my machine for a double-rinse). I wasn't impressed with the mattress sprays, and I finally bought a plastic mattress and pillow cover. Then you have to clean the carpets, the stuffed animals, etc., etc., etc. Don't forget the car, her bookbag . . . everything.

Constantly deep-cleaning the house is exhausting, but if you miss just one louse, he'll jump back on the child's hair.

The second hard thing is getting rid of the nits, the eggs. They're clear/silver (hope you have a dark-haired child), and they're the size of a flake of dandruff. The hold onto hair tightly; you must slide them down the length of the hair to remove them. You can get rid of some of them with the little lice combs, but eventually you're going to have to move on to going through the kid's hair bit by bit by bit. I have a big craft lamp with a magnifying glass on a gooseneck, and I'd let the kids sit and watch TV while I went over their hair with a rat-tailed comb.

We did the olive-oil thing just about every day. It does make the nits/eggs slide off more easily.

Last comment: It's miserable going through this situation, but don't be too hard on yourself if you don't get rid of them immediately. My daughter's problem was discovered on a Friday, and I genuinely thought that if I did gave it my full-out attention all weekend, we'd be good to go on Monday. Nope. Not even close, and both my husband and I worked like dogs all weekend long on the problem. It lasted a month at my house. Several times we reached the point that we thought we were done, then the next day we'd find more.

I was amazed at how many of my friends had also been through this horrible situation, and ALL of them said it took them weeks to get rid of them. Several of them said they were "cured", then their kids picked them up again. While you're going through it, you can't have other kids visiting, nor can your kids go to other people's houses.

If you know that someone in the classroom has them, but your child doesn't yet, I'd suggest a long conversation about sharing hats, combs, etc. . . . and I'd suggest having your child wear a bandana over her hair to school every day -- it might help a little. The hairspray sounds pretty good too.