AHHHH - Head lice!!

[tres besitos]

OK I need to vent to someone...I am so stressed out!!

We found head lice on my 6 year old 11 days ago. We checked the whole family and all 3 kids had it to varying degrees and I had it too ! I have been reading Harry Potter to the big boys at bedtime this summer and I have been in bed with DS 6 sharing pillow etc... So, we did the lice shampoo on everyone day 1 and on again day 8 for ds4, ds6 and myself. I have been checking everyone's hair for 1-2 hour intervals everyday and washing sheets, blankets, pillowcase and vacuuming daily. When my DH comes home after dinner he is checking my hair - very thick, long wavy hair not fun. I have done nothing else but this for the past week and a half. We have had two days of checking and finding nothing on anyone. But I don't know what to do. Do I keep checking or give myself a break for a couple days?

We were suppose to leave for a week vacation to our family camp today, we canceled because I don't want to give this to anyone else. And I didn't get any of the back to school stuff done that I was planning on doing this week! AGHHHH!!!! School starts mon 8-30. This HAS to be gone by then!!! I think that is what is giving me the most anxiety right now. I feel like its gone but what if it I missed just 1 egg on one of four heads, we are back to square one.

I guess the reason I am choosing to vent here is because these boards seem to be giving me some respite from thinking about this. We are going to WDW in 6 weeks (Sept 28th). So after everyone goes to bed and I start the cleaning and laundry of things not lice related. I find myself reading the boards for last minute packing tips, the transportation thread helped me secure a great deal on a rental car and I have been reviewing menus. Basically giving myself something fun to think about.

I truly have never needed a vacation more than I do right now! So thanks for letting me vent and thanks for existing to help me get the mind of the craziness that is my house right now!

 

[yenanh00]

I'm feel for you. My DD had lice about 3 months ago. Al we did was constantly laundry. It took almost three weeks to get rid of it. I dont know if you are doing this already, but wash everything in hot water. Also when are you rinsing your hair and everyone else hair use really warm water. I fill up the tub with really warm water, let my DD head lay back after the lice treatment soak it in water, I go through her hair with a lice comb. I know it took 2 hours that way it you cant get all the lice and eggs out, the water at least will suffocate them. If all attempt fails, put mayonaise in your hair and sleep overnight with it with shower cap on. I know it sound gross, but mayonaise since the texture is so thick it will suffocate the lice or egss once it hatch. Best wishes.

 

[Leajess99]

If your kids have any stuffed animals they sleep with than they need to be placed in sealed plastic bags for a couple of days or so. I am so sorry you have to deal with this.

ETA: I would also recommend using Tea tree oil shampoo or cocunut scented shampoo as lice do not like either. We found this out when my youngest was in preschool and had a classmate who could not get rid of the lice.

 

[Leajess99]

I'm feel for you. My DD had lice about 3 months ago. Al we did was constantly laundry. It took almost three weeks to get rid of it. I dont know if you are doing this already, but wash everything in hot water. Also when are you rinsing your hair and everyone else hair use really warm water. I fill up the tub with really warm water, let my DD head lay back after the lice treatment soak it in water, I go through her hair with a lice comb. I know it took 2 hours that way it you cant get all the lice and eggs out, the water at least will suffocate them. If all attempt fails, put mayonaise in your hair and sleep overnight with it with shower cap on. I know it sound gross, but mayonaise since the texture is so thick it will suffocate the lice or egss once it hatch. Best wishes.

If doing this than make sure you use new unrefridgerated mayonnaise.

 

[hsembrick]

OK I need to vent to someone...I am so stressed out!!

We found head lice on my 6 year old 11 days ago. We checked the whole family and all 3 kids had it to varying degrees and I had it too ! I have been reading Harry Potter to the big boys at bedtime this summer and I have been in bed with DS 6 sharing pillow etc... So, we did the lice shampoo on everyone day 1 and on again day 8 for ds4, ds6 and myself. I have been checking everyone's hair for 1-2 hour intervals everyday and washing sheets, blankets, pillowcase and vacuuming daily. When my DH comes home after dinner he is checking my hair - very thick, long wavy hair not fun. I have done nothing else but this for the past week and a half. We have had two days of checking and finding nothing on anyone. But I don't know what to do. Do I keep checking or give myself a break for a couple days?

We were suppose to leave for a week vacation to our family camp today, we canceled because I don't want to give this to anyone else. And I didn't get any of the back to school stuff done that I was planning on doing this week! AGHHHH!!!! School starts mon 8-30. This HAS to be gone by then!!! I think that is what is giving me the most anxiety right now. I feel like its gone but what if it I missed just 1 egg on one of four heads, we are back to square one.

I guess the reason I am choosing to vent here is because these boards seem to be giving me some respite from thinking about this. We are going to WDW in 6 weeks (Sept 28th). So after everyone goes to bed and I start the cleaning and laundry of things not lice related. I find myself reading the boards for last minute packing tips, the transportation thread helped me secure a great deal on a rental car and I have been reviewing menus. Basically giving myself something fun to think about.

I truly have never needed a vacation more than I do right now! So thanks for letting me vent and thanks for existing to help me get the mind of the craziness that is my house right now!

We had this problem a few years ago!! After a week and a half of constantly checking my girls and my hair and washing everything I realized that it wasn't something that I was doing it was the RID. I decided to call the dr and he called in a perscription of OVID (i think that is what it was called). It worked and the lice was gone!!

If you have treated your kids several times and the stuff still isn't gone I would call your dr ASAP and get the perscription strength stuff. GOOD LUCK

 

[Hannathy]

Make sure you aren't washing their heads with a shampoo/conditioner together shampoo while you are treating. This will lessen the Lice killing of the lice treatment.

Good luck!

 

[megan10310]

My SIL was completely freaked out when all 4 of her kids got lice. My other SIL had her 2 kids with it as well since we had all just had a family reunion and the big kids were all sleeping together. They both did the same protocol as you, but they switched all the kids to the fairytales haircare line to make sure that they didn't get it again.

www.fairytaleshaircare.com

It is pricey, but worth it for the peace of mind. She said is smells okay and seems to work!

 

[pixiewings71]

Tea tree oil works, so does the mayo. I've also used white vinegar while combing to make the lice release, then you dip the comb into more vinegar and it kills them. I hate lice, my DD22 had it so bad once that she scratched her head and had lice under fingernails....we had NO idea she had it!!!!! It took us about 2-3 months to get rid of it completely, it was insane. We went thru her hair daily, washed everything daily, put her pillow in a plastic case and used a plastic cover on her mattress, vaccumed daily and took away all of her stuffies. The stuffies lived in a plastic bag in the garage until a month after the lice were gone. The problem with RID is that so many people over use it that many lice are immune to it, that's why when we had it our dr said to put it in our hair and sleep with it in, comb it out in the morning and do that every night. That worked but the RID caused irritation for the girls heads' (younger DD had a light case and so did I) so we used the mayo trick.

 

[tinkerbelletreasure]

My SIL was completely freaked out when all 4 of her kids got lice. My other SIL had her 2 kids with it as well since we had all just had a family reunion and the big kids were all sleeping together. They both did the same protocol as you, but they switched all the kids to the fairytales haircare line to make sure that they didn't get it again.

www.fairytaleshaircare.com

It is pricey, but worth it for the peace of mind. She said is smells okay and seems to work!

I can't recommend this enough! I work for Girl Scouts and we have it available for girls who go to camp. My 2 got it at Day Camp this year and we used it faithfully for abotu 2 weeks and had no problems. It won't kill them, but it repells. Lice only have about a 2 days lifespan, so if you go 4 days withotu seeing any, you should be in the clear. Oh and the Faireytales doesn't smell bad or mediciny either.

 

[snowy76]

OP, are all the kids boys? If my DS had lice (and DD had it when she was younger, we only ever found two or three nits on me) I would give the little guys all a nice little back to school buzz cut to help. Lice have a harder time staying on where there isn't much hair to be had (plus there is just less to check).

 

[mjkacmom]

Hate to say it, but you are only doing a fraction of what you need to do - it takes several hours a day, for a couple of weeks. You need to get a good nit comb (metal), and a lighted magnifying glass. Go through each kid at least twice a day, section by section. Wash all bedding in high heat, bag all of the stuffed animals, vacuum the floor and furnishings, car and carseats. I also bought a spray. DH and I split the kids up, and would spend hours a day "nit-picking," and did the follow-up shampoo. We also did this long cetaphil treatment, saturating their hair in a whole bottle, and then combing it all out - took a while. We beat them in the first round!

 

[StacyMarie]

Make sure you are treating the car too, all the seats, capets, etc.! Get a good spray and treat the car, couches, chairs, etc. Put all stuffed animals and plush toys in a garbage bag and seal it up for some time. Wash in hot water and dry everything on high, including pillows, etc. This created a mess in my daughter's hair but we used good old vasoline and a shower cap. She slept in it overnight and it worked like a charm. The thickness smoothered the lice. I am guessing the mayo recommendation would have the same effect. Use a good metal lice comb and a magnifying glass and hot, hot water or vinegar to rinse the comb off when you find lice or eggs. Even when I knew it was gone, I still found myself checking ALL THE TIME. Good luck!!!

 

[SarahKate]

I truly feel for you! I really do. It sucks.

When my DD got this last year around this time, most of my time was focused on the hair checks and removal. We did the vacuuming, washing sheets, clothes, sealing up stuffed animals in bags......but by far working on her hair was the BEST thing I did.

Keep in mind that lice are parasites. They don't hop, they don't WANT to be away from their host, and they need to be attached to the hair/head to live. So even if one ends up on the carpet, furniture, etc it's not going to live long at all. I vacuumed a few times but NOT every day.......unless your kids are just rolling around all over the floor, it shouldn't be an issue!!!

We did the lice shampoo "kit" that came with the comb, shampoo as well as a lice spray.

First off, don't use the comb that comes with the kit. It's all plastic and is worthless. Instead, buy one that has metal teeth. That made all the difference for us. Once I had that, it made things a lot easier.

As far as the spray goes, I sprayed her carseat, headrest, backpack, anything that wasn't truly washable.

DD has very thick, curly hair and the school nurse advised me to use thinning shears to thin out her hair as well as keeping her hair in braids, ponytail, etc.

I would spend 3-4 hours at a time going through her hair! I truly feel this was what helped the most, even more so than the lice shampoo regime. I did this every handful of days, followed by just visually inspecting every day until she was FREE. She never had another problem and neither DH or myself ended up with it (surprising because we snuggle a lot!).

Another thing to tell you is to not feel badly about this situation. As much as it sucks, you haven't done anything wrong. There can be such a taboo related to this, but it has not a thing to do with a person's cleanliness. Lice have been around since the dawn of mankind, and will be around forever!

Good luck to you! Also, as far as your WDW trip goes, I would definitely not cancel a trip over that. It's not a disease, and as long as you're not rubbing heads or sharing hair accessories with other WDW guests, I can't imagine there being a problem. There was even recommendation by the Acadamy of Pediatrics that children should not be excluded from school because of headlice and our school may change their policy soon to say that kids don't have to be taken out for treatment.

 

[cydswipe]

Someone suggested using the original Listerine mouthwash... put on a shower cap... may want to google it, I have not tried it

 

[Sparkleshine]

I remember them using a blacklight to make sure all the nits were gone (they glow even in blond hair) when they did the back to school checks. If you have one handy it might give you piece of mind knowing that they are really gone.

Also if you can comb everthing out outside I would recommend that!

 

[CrAzY4DL]

We've had lice one time in 11 years worth of DD's (I've never had it, apparently I am too greasy) and what we did that one time was:
1-Completely vacuumed out the car at a car wash place
2-Vacuumed house & beds, threw away vacuum bag, vacuumed entire house + beds again, threw away bag (did this twice a day for 1 week)
3-Washed all bedding in hot hot hot water, bleach if possible
4-Stuffed animals got 2 week vacation in giant Ziplock bags
5-Picked through DD's hair with nit comb, used the RID stuff, combed through again, rinsed, used comb again.
6-For 2 weeks every time I washed DD's hair I put conditioner on after shampooing and combed through it with nit comb (also did the RID treatment again after 8 days, I believe).

THEN, and I think what made the HUGEST difference, I went back to our usual Suave watermelon shampoo. A friend told me when DD11 was 2 that lice don't like the smell of watermelon so we always used it. When DD11 was in 3rd grade she talked me into the coconut shampoo, 4 days later we had lice. Have never NOT used watermelon shampoo since then, have never had the return of lice. Coincidence? Possibly! But I don't wanna do that again, LOL!!!

 

[tres besitos]

Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions and advice.

I just finished up all the kids heads and only found a couple of nits in the little guys hair - 3rd day with nothing moving! I have also been using tea tree oil since the beginning in various ways - I added some to both our shampoo and conditioner. I have added it to the detangeling spray I use while checking hair. I did an olive oil/tea tree oil blend in my hair and left it on overnight at the beginning. this helped my husband tremendously going through my hair. I believe the olive oil is similar to the mayo - in that it will suffocate the little buggers. I think I'll try that with DS4 tonight since I found those nits today - He is so done with this process. The first couple of days it was almost nice quiet time with him - head on my lap, singing songs, he even napped. Now I'm lucky if he will sit for 10 mins without squirming away and he always want to be last!

As for the buzz cuts - I thought about it but couldn't do it. DS4 has golden ringlets which would kill me to cut off, DS8 has a Justin Bieber do and practically cried when I mentioned it, I did cut DS6's hair, his was all one length longish bowl cut - now a regular little boy cut - this made it much easier to check the back!

Regarding all the cleaning...I totally forgot about the car! We didn't go out at all the first 5 or 6 days and it has been hot so hopefully if there was anything in there it died in those first few days, but I will be taking out the shop vac as soon as I press submit!

Thanks for the info regarding Fairy Tales a friend of mine also mentioned it. There is a local salon that carries it - I'm going to pick some up tomorrow.

We bagged up all the stuffed animals on the first day and they are out if the bedroom. DS* keeps asking when he can have his Mickey's back.

Our trip to Maine can be rescheduled or maybe we can just go for Labor day weekend instead. I guess I am really lucky to have or Disney trip coming up. To get my mind off this and give me something to look forward to. We couldn't possibly still have this in 6 weeks could we!!???

I think tomorrow I need to take a day off from all of this, take the kids to the beach for the day and start again on Saturday... for everyone's mental health!

 

[ohanaMAMA]

oh girl.. weve all been there. ugh awful. LOL. my Dad always teased our girls. "Shave one half of the head. Set the other half on fire. Stab them with an ice pick as they run out!" The kids would scream and laugh... they knew thier Papa was just trying to make them feel better. It aint a shame to get them.. just a shame to keep them!

The best treatment I have found is also awful. But it works SO well.I promise!!Take some regular kerosene and mix it half and half with shampoo. You must treat every single human in the house. Apply like a shampoo and wrap hair in an old towell. let sit for 10 minutes. Wash out VERY VERY well. Wash again with regular shampoo. Once hair is dry douse the head in olive oil. Using a fine tooth comb taking hair in sections comb out entire head to remove nits.

repeat 14 days later.

dont forget to spray furniture and vaccumme carpets really well. Dont forget car head rests as well as bicycle helmets! Soak hairbrushes, and hair bands too!

 

[gem21]

Aww that sucks. Lice sucks... but it's managable.

Like other have said, you need to go through each strand of hair to remove ALL the nits! Just one leftover can start the whole process again. The shampoos only kill the live bugs, not the eggs. Honestly, it's a pain in the *** to do, and it's not fun for the kids, but it's worth it in the end to be very thorough in the process. (I am the "lice picking queen" at the camp I worked at... trying taking kids out of their cabin the entire first day to pick the nits... not fun!)

Repeat the process after 7 days, and keep doing it until there are no nits. Check the back of the head and around the ears, that's where they like to "hide"

Also don't forget about pillows, pillow cases, matresses, sofas, carpets etc... anything material and the lice can live on (not long though). Also, clean hairbrushes/elastics with alcohol or throw them out.

 

[DisneyMom70]

UUUUGGGH!!!

We just went through this. We did a combo of the Olive oil treatment every 5 days (me) and initial Lice shampooing and following vinegar treatment for DD4.
I nearly cried after spending 6 HOURS combing and picking through my daughter's hair only to be only 1/3 of the way done.

Read about the vinegar treatment. Used apple cider vinegar (or reg white) and saturated hair. Left it on for an hour and washed with tea tree shampoo (Trader Joes has a great one - not too expensive) and conditioned HEAVILY with coconut conditioner).

Thankfully, all but about 30 of the nits were gone. Repeated again the following night (only 15 minute soak) and after that nothing. I am still combing every night and do a nit check every morning. I also apply the tea tree oil (also from Trader Joes) to all pillows and head level on all chairs, furniture, carseats, etc.

Be careful using the lice sprays as they are pesticides. We did only the furniture that couldn't be washed or heat treated, and only once.

So far we are good, but my heart goes out to you. I never want to go through this again.