Head lice question

[mefordis]

My daughter's friend has head lice. Her mother refuses to use any of the prescription or over the counter meds and insist on picking them out herself. I have my doubts that this will get rid of all of them.

Does anyone know if just picking them out will get rid of all of them? She insists if she spends 2 hours a night for a week she will get them all.

Meanwhile, I carpool with her 2x a week (my dd does not have lice at this point). Am I over reacting to stop carpooling for about a month just to be sure?

 

[Tracy Savage]

Ick. In a week they will be in her bedding and every where the girl puts her head. You can pick the nits (eggs) but the buggers will keep layiing them.

 

[wdwmom2]

If she picks all the live bugs and nits out, yes she will get rid of them.

If she doesn't want to do any chemicals, maybe she would do the other option. Coat the child's head with mayo, put on a shower cap or wrap with Saran wrap, and leave it on overnight. Wash out the next day. But you still need to check the head for bugs and nits.

She also needs to take care of other things, bedding, clothing, combs, brushes, etc.

 

[terri01p]

Take it from a parent that had a kid that had head lice over 15 years ago and still remember ever horrible minute of it, if you can just stay away until all is said and done.

 

[jamimb]

If she is thorough and does it everyday for ten days yes you can sucessfully treat lice this way! The treatments ususally only kill the live bugs not the nits. That is way the combing out is so important. If she does it correctly it can be done. My DD had lice last yr and I used a herbal OTC because I did not want to put pesticides on her and it worked but that is secondary the combing is what is important.

 

[jamimb]

Ick. In a week they will be in her bedding and every where the girl puts her head. You can pick the nits (eggs) but the buggers will keep layiing them.

A good comb will get rid of the live bugs too.

 

[2Kds2K9]

My DD had lice in 4th Grade. She was sent home and I had to show proof that I had treated her before she was allowed back in the school. Don't know what your schools policy is, but you might check it out.

 

[mefordis]

Thanks for your comments! How long should I wait until I begin carpooling again? I'd like to stop altogether. It really doesn't help me that much and not worth the risk! She seems to believe the lice will be gone by next Tuesday but I don't want to risk it. Not worth it at all to me! I have enough to deal with without having to wash all my bedding, pick through my kids hair for hours, etc. Besides, I have a 1 year old, too! Imagine if she got it!

Please, what should I tell her?

 

[anniemae]

I remember reading somewhere, on here I think, about using OTC Cetaphil cleanser to get rid of lice. You pour it on and leave it and do it again or something like that. There is a specific procedure to follow. Try googling it to see, maybe that would help her.

Also, personally, I would not car pool with her until it's gone.

 

[mefordis]

Thank you! The BIG QUESTION: How can I trust that it is actually gone? Just because she doesn't see any herself doesn't mean they are all gone, right?

I remember reading somewhere, on here I think, about using OTC Cetaphil cleanser to get rid of lice. You pour it on and leave it and do it again or something like that. There is a specific procedure to follow. Try googling it to see, maybe that would help her.

Also, personally, I would not car pool with her until it's gone.

 

[freckles and boo]

At our schools the nurse has to check every child before he or she is allowed to return to class. Just about every kid on the block had them just a couple of months ago but thankfully my girls dodged the bullet (which is a very good thing because my younger daughter has autism and it would have been a nightmare) . All the parents were really receptive to keeping the kids apart because nobody wanted to spread it. I did a ton of research because I wanted to be prepared just in case. What I read is that many of the pesticidal shampoos have lost their effectiveness. Carefully removing the bugs and the eggs alone can work but you have to be very, very vigilant. Another "cure" I read about was using Listerine (which has a very high alcohol content) to kill the lice and then vinegar which is supposed to loosen the eggs.

 

[MizTink]

OMG lice.....what i nightmare! and expensive too if you go the conventional route with RID or some similar product. here's me advice. it worked for me and we've been free of lice for 2 years now after months of repeat treatments. unfortunately, other parents continue to send their kids to school with lice.

mix equal parts of lemon essential, lavender essential, and rosemary essential oils. then add 1tsp of the mixture to 8oz of any shampoo. wash hair with this EVERY DAY. blow dry hair every day too. the heat helps to kill any live ones. do the usual combing/nit picking.
i kept up the shampooing and blow drying for a while. then just did it maybe twice a week or so. it's a deterrent too so i usually had my dd's use it before school on monday and then a day in the middle of the week like wednesday. unless there was talk of a classmate having lice. then we went to every day again.
good luck! it can be horrible to deal with!

 

[mefordis]

This corroborates her research. Thank you. How long do you recommend not carpooling? 1 week? 2 weeks?

Thank you!

At our schools the nurse has to check every child before he or she is allowed to return to class. Just about every kid on the block had them just a couple of months ago but thankfully my girls dodged the bullet (which is a very good thing because my younger daughter has autism and it would have been a nightmare) . All the parents were really receptive to keeping the kids apart because nobody wanted to spread it. I did a ton of research because I wanted to be prepared just in case. What I read is that many of the pesticidal shampoos have lost their effectiveness. Carefully removing the bugs and the eggs alone can work but you have to be very, very vigilant. Another "cure" I read about was using Listerine (which has a very high alcohol content) to kill the lice and then vinegar which is supposed to loosen the eggs.

 

[MizTink]

My DD had lice in 4th Grade. She was sent home and I had to show proof that I had treated her before she was allowed back in the school. Don't know what your schools policy is, but you might check it out.

my dd's school was TERRIBLE about this. when my dd got it, i kept her home, treated, etc. and called the school nurse to let her know so they could do head checks. no such luck. i got so fed up with them NOT checking the kids,not sending notices home, etc that i threatened to call the health department.

 

[N.Bailey]

Kudos to the mother for not wanting to put the pesticide on her child's head. I wouldn't either. Some kids have even died from it. The statistics on that are very low, but any deaths at all are too many when there are alternative treatments available.

Just combing can do the trick and since many strains of lice are resistant to pesticides anyway, it's probably how most people treat them even if they believe the pesticide is what did the trick.

Lice need to feed very often (unlike fleas that can live for months between feedings), so bagging things up or simply leaving the home for a weekend will kill them on everything at the house.

Mayo and olive oil can be used to smother the lice. If you treat the infected head twice (x amount of days apart), you'll smother the live lice (some if not all of the nits), and then the 2nd treatment will get anything that did end up hatching. It takes a bit before those lice start laying their own nits, but if you're uncomfy, go ahead and treat a 3rd time.

BTW, I heard there is a fairly new strain out that can fly. What a nightmare!

 

[mefordis]

All great advice! How long should I have my daughter stay away from this girl? We currently carpool but I am really afraid to continue -- so far no lice. Don't want to catch it!

 

[N.Bailey]

BTW, lice actually prefer a clean head to a dirty one. All those old wives tales aren't true.

As someone already mentioned, drying the hair can kill lice. They also hate mousse, hair spray, hair gels of any kind. The use of those products and pulling your hair up go a long way in keeping your child from getting them from other children at school.

 

[mefordis]

Awesome! I use Johnsons No More Tangles on dd's hair, plus Lavendar and Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, so I'm hoping that keeps them off her hair!

BTW, lice actually prefer a clean head to a dirty one. All those old wives tales aren't true.

As someone already mentioned, drying the hair can kill lice. They also hate mousse, hair spray, hair gels of any kind. The use of those products and pulling your hair up go a long way in keeping your child from getting them from other children at school.

 

[N.Bailey]

All great advice! How long should I have my daughter stay away from this girl? We currently carpool but I am really afraid to continue -- so far no lice. Don't want to catch it!

I don't think anyone can tell you this. The mother could have worked on the child's head and got all the live lice out (and possibly all or most of the nits). Or, she could have done a horrible job all the while believing she got them all.

I would at minimal, want to wait and see what the school nurse allows upon checking the child's head. Short of checking the child's head yourself (and going on the assumption that you knew what to look for), that's about the best indicator you have available.

I'd be troubled if it was the school who initially spotted them in the child's head. That would tell me that the mother wasn't as knowledgeable about it all as it appears she may be (since she decided against the pesticide one assumes she's somewhat knowledgeable). I guess I would just feel better if I knew she was proactive enough to have caught it herself, then took it upon herself to get rid of them. If that wouldn't be the case, I just wouldn't be confident in her abilities.

I hope that makes sense. I know I'm not explaining myself very well.

 

[N.Bailey]

Awesome! I use Johnsons No More Tangles on dd's hair, plus Lavendar and Tea Tree Oil Shampoo, so I'm hoping that keeps them off her hair!

Get a bottle of hairspray and just spray her down before she leaves for the day. I don't know if the shampoo itself will detract the live bugs. I'm not saying it won't, I'm just saying I'm not sure. I know hairspray, mousse, gels, etc... really turn them off.