We dealt with lice last fall, and my 2 DDs had grown their hair out to donate to Locks of Love, so it was almost impossible to get rid of it. We ended up hiring a professional, and my kids said it was the best X-mas gift ever (we took the money out of our X-mas budget). It had been going around school for over a year, so once we finally knocked it, I sent the following info. to school to share with other parents. I hope this helps.
Lice Remediation
The following information was learned during our quest to rid our child of lice. We discovered our child had lice on a Friday night before we left for vacation that Sunday. We did not immediately follow these steps. Before these steps, what did NOT work was the over-the-counter kits and combs, as well as a prescription kit from the doctor. We thought we had it taken care of, but within two weeks, it was back. We arent sure if it was back because we did something wrong, or because someone at school passed it back to our child. Regardless, we spent a lot of money on lice kits to treat the whole family twice (just in case) before spending even more money hiring a professional to come and help us.
Once we followed the experts advice (detailed below), all evidence of lice was gone within two combings. We did however continue to treat all the kids daily for 5 days, and then decreased the frequency to every other day. Then the expert came back to check us all again, and gave us the go-ahead to move to twice/week unless it comes back again. Following is the plan we followed.
Lice Remediation Requires Several Components:
1. Limiting exposure
2. Learning how to comb the hair
3. Using the right kind of comb
4. Being diligent about the whole family and the house
5. Continue to check everyone twice/week
Limiting Exposure
The second time our child had lice was over Thanksgiving. We immediately canceled all of our plans for the long weekend, and instead spent it dealing with the outbreak. We did not allow our kids to come in contact with any other people during their time off school. We were determined not to spread it.
Learning how to Comb
There is an excellent video online that shows the best way I have found to comb through hair in an effort to remove all lice and nits (eggs). It can be found at:
http://www.hairfairies.com/do-it-yourself-guide/
The Right Comb
The comb choice is very important. We tried using 6 different combs. With them, we spent 3 hours at a time combing through hair and not ever finishing the entire head in one sitting! The problem was that we would see a nit, comb that hair section, and still see the nit on the hair the combs were not working. Once we got the right comb and watched the video online, it only took 45 minutes to comb through the entire head of long, thick hair.
The comb the expert gave us can be found on
Amazon for just over $10.00. It is called lice terminator. Im sure there are other good combs out there, but I know this one works for sure.
Treat the Whole House
While the outbreak was happening, we put Olive Oil on our kids hair every night before bed (makes it hard for the nits to stick to the hair) and covered their pillows with towels to protect the pillow case from the oil. Then we woke them each up the next morning an hour early to comb through their hair, wash it, and put it in a tight braid or ponytail.
Each day, we washed their bedding, any towels that were used within the last 24 hours, and any clothes they wore within the last 24 hours, as well as any clothes we wore while combing their hair. We also rotated coats so we could wash them. We limited what furniture they could sit on, and vacuumed any furniture they were on (including mattresses) within the last 24 hours. We did not share any brushes, ponytail holders, etc. Daily, we soaked all combs and brushes used within the last 24 hours in boiling water for an hour (turn the heat off the water before putting the brushes in).
We did not allow the kids to be on anyone elses bed but their own. They could not have their heads touching (that was difficult, but they eventually started reminding each other).
This was a very difficult week. We were all suffering from lack of sleep, and my husband thought I was going overboard. However, the experts work was only guaranteed if we followed her plan, so we did it anyway. I did not want that money to go to waste.
Continuous Checks
Since we suspect the second outbreak happened due to someone at school giving it right back to our child when we returned from vacation, we are being very cautious this time. We are checking everyones heads twice/week to catch it early.
If all else fails, you can search the internet for a lice treatment company.
One of my kids had lice last year more than once before we figured out where they kept coming from. After hours and hours (and HOURS) picking her hair, I found that shampoo and started using it daily. That was the end of the lice!
It sucked bad!!! The Robi and live zaps ended after about 4 weeks.....
