DD's friend had or has head lice.

[Disneyland1084]

My DD's bestfriend got head lice two weeks ago. Her mom's been giving her regular treatments, and has been going to school since there was no sign of it in her hair until yesterday. However, this friend slept over on Saturday in the lower bunk. She told me she was lice free, but was still getting another treatment Sunday to make sure. I was fine with that. Today DD comes home from school and tells me her friend told her one lice bug was found on her head. I'm a little annoyed her mom didn't tell me. But I DID wash the sheets and pillowcase she slept on in hot water after she left. Is that good enough, or do I need to do more? DD said her head doesn't itch at all, so it doesn't look like she caught it. I've never had to deal with lice before, so I'm a little clueless about it.

 

[Southernmiss]

Your dd is probably ok. But i would get tea tree oil and either dilute a few drops in a spray water bottle or put a drop in your dds shampoo as a preventive. And get a metal nit comb. Have your dd shampoo and leave conditioner in her hair and comb out her hair checking the comb for lice or nits and rinsing the comb between swipes. Those little buggars are better nipped in the bud before they start. Probably overkill, but worth it to me to prevent an infestation.

 

[mtemm]

we just went thru this for the first time in my house...hopefully the last time! I would definitely make sure you use product of some sort in dd hair, would wash the pillow on hot/dry on hot as well as the case and bedding. did she lay on your dd bed at all? would probably just do her stuff as well. and because I am slightly insane and just went thru this and DO NOT WANT IT BACK I would probably fine comb my dd today and again in a week just to be sure. Most people would probably think this is overkill, but honestly it really is what I would do and I would rather be overkill when lice are involved. NOT A FAN. If you do comb her, make sure to wipe comb on napkin or paper towel each swipe and check to see if any nits/bugs are there. because of the color of my kids hair I couldn't see them until they were wiped off. crazy.

 

[zoemurr]

Her head would only itch after they hatch. If she does have it you certainly wouldn't want to get to that stage. Just check her head. I'm sure there are pictures online, but they are clear, drop shaped eggs that are tiny and lay close to the hairline or behind the ears. It will not move if pulled at (unlike a piece of dry skin.) If you see one then cut off that piece of hair, and do a treatment.

 

[descovy]

Another thing you can do is style dds hair with a hot curling iron or hair straightener. One, it makes you come through in sections... Investigate as you go. Two... The heat will kill the lil buggers if they are there. Three, if you're going to comb all that hair, she may as well look good!

Sorry, benn there done that. 3 girls.

 

[mom2rtk]

I would do as others say and check her hair routinely for a while. You also need to think hard about anything her head came into contact with at your house. Were there stuffed animals on that bed? You can't wash the pillow. Bag up any item that can't be washed. Set it aside for a couple weeks.

Keep in mind they can't live without being on a host for more than a couple days. That will help as you assess what to be overly careful about (like DD's hair) and what to not worry about quite so much.

Honestly, if they found one louse, I would be skeptical that it was the only one present.

 

[kamik86]

I had it a few times as a kid (I have a LOT of hair and it is curly and tangles easiliy so they were a pain to get rid of, plus my sister had a few step children whose mom didn't treat it right so they kept giving them to the rest of us kids)

You will want to get a nit comb. If your child has straight thinner hair a plastic one is probably fine. If she has curls you might want a metal one. The plastic ones would break in my hair less then 1 full comb through.

Then get a piece of black paper (easier to see the eggs on, the bugs are black but since they move they are a bit easier to see anyway) comb through her hair and then tap the comb on the paper. If you find any bugs squish them, same if you find any eggs (the eggs make a popping sound when squished which also makes it easier to tell from dry skin) and get her a treatment (its a special shampoo) most come with enough for two treatments (unless your child has really long thick hair then you need more) you will want to do both treatments and comb through her hair every day as most treatments are not as effective in killing the eggs (it kills some but not all, the eggs protect them) so if you miss even one with combing they could come back. You would want to do this until you have several days in a row of finding no bugs or eggs. The less infected she is to start the better off you will be.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Go buy a LiceMeister comb for starters. It is a good investment and I highly recommend it to have it in your arsenal for parenting.
http://www.headlice.org/licemeister/

With the lice comb, you can comb through your dd's hair and you will see pretty quickly if she has lice. You comb after a bath/shower, dip comb in water to rinse to see if you see any nits on the comb or live lice.

Head checks daily.

Nits are completely hard to notice until you have gone through lice. A quick nit check is to look at the hair around the ears, base of the neck, and right on top of head.

Nits are a very very tiny clear teardrop attached to a hair. You will know it is a nit VS dandruff if you cannot pull it off with your fingernails. A piece of dandruff will come out easily. A nit will not pull off.

When my dd had lice (twice), I had to use a large lighted magnifying glass just to get the nits out.

It sucks.

 

[aprilchem]

I agree with everyone else who said check - my daughter has had lice twice, and both times I caught it before she was itching at all (there was a kid in her class who kept getting it and reinfecting the whole class).

 

[mjkacmom]

Her head would only itch after they hatch. If she does have it you certainly wouldn't want to get to that stage. Just check her head. I'm sure there are pictures online, but they are clear, drop shaped eggs that are tiny and lay close to the hairline or behind the ears. It will not move if pulled at (unlike a piece of dry skin.) If you see one then cut off that piece of hair, and do a treatment.

You start with the live ones, and then they lay eggs. If she has picked up anything, it will be a live bug. Get a good metal comb (everyone parent should have one anyway...), and comb through with conditioner. Lice are pretty easy to get rid of with combing - but once they lay eggs, it becomes much tougher, because they are sticky, and tiny.

The problem with the treatment is that it makes the nits even stickier, and doesn't kill them. I'd start with combing.

 

[kidshop]

I found a lice (louse) on dd last week about 2 days after she said her head was itchy. Due to a previous scare with a close friend, and I am prepared for lice war!

I bought a robicomb that electrocues lice. Well, it works! That at is how I found the first one.

I stopped combing and went right for the Listerine. Yep, listerine, I don't do poison. wet the dry hair with it, put on a shower cap (30 minutes minimum ) and I didn't even rinse it out, just blow dried. I saw nothing alive after that.

I do tea tree oil I add to shampoo and conditioner. I comb through every day with the lice comb or robicomb to check. And I spray her head every day with either the listerine, lice free spray (Amazon) and then a lot of hairspray. Her hair is up or braided now.

Dang, those things are TINY was my first thought! I had never seen one before. Shockingly small imo.

Good luck!

Oh, and we never did get it from the friend who came over. Seems it is hard to get that way, especially if you do some preventatives. You need to make your hair unfriendly to the critters.

 

[bittybabygrower]

And remember, lice love a clean, clean head! Easier access to that yummy scalp! Use a hair product in their hair and some hairspray. That can be a deterrent to those little buggers!