Guess what we brought home from Disney?

[mom2rb]

I was looking at my kids hair today. They have lice. We just got back from the World last night. We were at all four parks and my kids met and played with lots of other kids this week. So if we had it first and gave it to your kids I am sooooo sorry. If your kids gave it to mine arggggh.

 

[snowglobe girl]

Oh no!! You know - I've thought about that before because they may have not even gotten it by playing with other children...think about how many times your head rests on the back of rides. Those little pests are so easy to get and so hard to get rid of. I hate that happened to you guys. I work for child protection (where we deal with lice and children constantly) and a tip for everyone to try to keep from bringing home extra "guests" is to put hair spray in your children's hair (for some reason, this sort of "repels" lice) and put hair in pony tails.

 

[Mom to Will and Finn]

Oh no! I'm sorry .

Maybe you should (if you haven't) contact the hotel you stayed in and let them know.

Thanks to the pp for the hairspray tip. I'll be sure to do that.

 

[paigevz]

Also, (elementary teacher here, so I deal also with lots of lice and lots of children!) use a hair dryer on your kids daily, and that "bedhead" spray or any greasy substance helps keep them out, too.

However, since you've already got them, let me tip you on getting rid of...............wash EVERYTHING right away. Treat the kids, send them off to school, and then wash every pillow, sheet, comforter, every piece of clothing worn in the last two weeks, including sweaters/jackets.....................throw stuffed animals in the dryer for 30 min or bag them up for a couple of weeks......................vacuum carpets, wipe down sofa backs and pillows, and car backs and pillows.....................When the kids get home, strip the clothes off their backs and make those your last load.........it's a lot of work, but the only way to really be rid of them where they won't come back is to treat every head, and clean everything every head may have touched........

Good luck................
Just edited to say, don't forget about Barbie and dolly hair and clothes, too!

 

[sleepyone]

Oh no, so sorry to hear that . I hope you're able to get rid of it quickly. Hey...ummm...y'all haven't been to Humble have you?....gonna' go check my kids' hair....LOL. Just playing with you. I really feel so bad for you and your kiddos.

 

[ksjayhawkfan]

Oh that sucks Im sorry. We have had an ongoing lice problem in DDs class at school. Now everyday her hair gets put in slightly messy buns and a squirt or 2 of hairspray before she leaves. The only thing that I found that worked to get rid of them in Suave Coconut shampoo and conditioner.

 

[Joann]

OMG that is so terrible! I would freak out, luckily my kids have never had lice touch wood..... if they did I don't know what I would do I hate bugs of all kind and freak when I see them let alone bugs in your hair now I am gonna be freaked while there worrying about if we are gonna get lice! Well I won't I wear mega hair spray and have dyed hair I also heard they don't like dyed hair guess I will be packing the hair spray on my kids to !!! sorry yours got lice that sucks!!

 

[Nik's Mom]

Yuck! I'm sorry that happened! I wonder where they got them? I guess it could be anywhere!

 

[mom2rb]

I have no idea where they got it. My MIL cut my hair last Thursday and she brushed the boys' hair then too. She is a hair dresser so she would have noticed. But we could have gotten it here sometime Friday or at Disney World this week. DH and I were joking that it is a good thing Sat.-Thur. were so great, because today really sucked.
The bad part was that I let them play with their friends on the street this afternoon. They brought out their new Darth Vader mask and everyone played with it. So I had to buy extra shampoo so that all of the kids on the street could wash their hair with it.

 

[DreamsComingTrue]

Im going through the same thing right now for the 3rd time this school year.My best advice for you is to put Tea Tree oil in the childrens hair then put a shower cap on them for 20-30mins.After wash it out .It strips the hair but it kills everthing.Ive used the other soaps and the like but it didnt seem to work.One try of this and we were goto go in 2 days. Just all depends how badly they have it and how much picking you have to do.Not much of a fun job but this worked the fastest.
Hope that helps.

 

[bugsy]

Oh no!! You know - I've thought about that before because they may have not even gotten it by playing with other children...think about how many times your head rests on the back of rides. Those little pests are so easy to get and so hard to get rid of. I hate that happened to you guys. I work for child protection (where we deal with lice and children constantly) and a tip for everyone to try to keep from bringing home extra "guests" is to put hair spray in your children's hair (for some reason, this sort of "repels" lice) and put hair in pony tails.

really? I always spray my hair, not all over, but on top, should we just kind
of lightly "mist" all over? frankly, I never gave the lice thing a thought at all,
but like you said, the headrests on the rides! It adds up! What are your
thougts?

 

[AllyBri]

Great tips from everyone.

 

[shellybaxter]

I direct a preschool - so I've seen a few lice in my day - LOL. The best tip I ever got came from a doctors office. Get a black light and use it in a dark room to search your child's hair for nits (the eggs of the lice). Killing the bugs themselves is actually the easy part. The nits are the hard part to get rid of, but not getting rid of them can cause and re-infestation. After treating the hair with lice shampoo most of the nits will dead, but a few may live on, so removing them from the hair is very important. They glow under the black light so they're easy to find and either pull out or clip those single strands of hair with scissors.

Also, I don't think you would have got them from the rides. The need fiberous surfaces to host on, and the rides are mostly plastic. More likely it was a chair in the hotel lobby, or something in the room that wasn't changed before your arrival, like maybe the comforter. Of course they could have gotten them from other kids, or trying on hats in the gift shop even.

Shelly

 

[Daxx]

So, we're off to WDW in less than 2 weeks. What can we do to prevent getting lice while we're there? I'm def. going to bring that Suave coconut shampoo and conditioner (we love it, anyway!) w/us and use it daily w/DS. But, what other precautions can I take?

I've already read on these boards to not let your kids try on the hats in the stores b/c everyone puts them on their heads, even if they're not buying them. And, I suppose if you're buying one, grab one from the back where it, more than likely, hasn't been tried on. And, I've read that they like clean (as in fresh washed) hair, so it's good to use hair gel and spray to "dirty it up" a bit.

But, if anyone else has any nit/lice prevention tips, please pass them along. Is there a spray you can buy to "sanitize" things (comforters and chairs in the rooms, newly purchased hats, etc.)?

 

[Martha7]

I don't agree with sending the kids to school while they've still got the lice. I used to volunteer with the PTA at my sons' school, and although it does create a hardship for the parents, sending them to school will only spread the problem around to everyone else! I used to have to call parents to come and pick their children up if they were found to have lice during one of our monthly "lice check" days. It's a controversial subject for sure. We used to find that the kids who sat next to the chronically lice-carrying kids would often end up with the lice too. Some families don't wash everything and send their kids to school, knowing they have lice. It's bad for everyone all the way around. Follow the advice that everyone has given for washing everything, (stuffed animals too!), treat the headrests in your car, etc., but please don't send them to school until the problem has cleared up!

 

[lsteadman]

No advice because everyone seems to have it cover in the above post.

I just wanted to send some pixie dust your way! I hope you had a great trip! I pray that on your future visits you don't have this issue.

Do the the sell "Disney" theme head scarfs in the parks anywhere. If not I will bring my own. It looks like ponytails is the style of the week.

 

[dolphindan1]

Head and Shoulders...I was told by a doctor when I was very young use Head and Shoulders everyday...Lice and ticks hate it....its true I live in a national forest and anytime we go in the woods I am tickless but my kids might have one or 2 and my wife too...I have never had lice either well since the doctor told me to start using it...its good stuff and it keepd hair soft...I actually use the wal mart equate brand and it works just as well....Sorry that it happened to you....just remember its nothing to be ashamed of cause it will happen to alot of other people and to be quite honest the cleanier you are the easier it is to get its not a product of being nasty as some people like to think....thats why the gel and hair spray fixes cause they dont like dirty hair...Good luck

 

[dck12ga]

I am sorry, We went in Feburary and our daughter and myself came home with little guests also!! I have no clue where we got it from, it could be anywhere!!! We were just the unlucky ones!! No fun at all!! But we are going back in Feb. again and seriously thinking of wearing a baseball hat all the time!!

 

[crcormier]

Sympathies to you, that's not a fun souvenir. Ack, my head itches now!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

I'm so sorry that happened to you. We're leaving for DW tomorrow, so now I'll be extremely watchful. First thing I"m going to do is remove the comforters. Can you see them on bedding?