Head lice question

[stitchaholic]

i have been through the lice nightmare twice, there is only 1 product that worked for me,but i cannot for the life of me remeber what it is called,but it is not nix.
along with that treatment,i combed her hair 2 hours per day to remove eggs,because nothing will kill those.
i also used a proffesional staightening iron as close to the scalp as i could,only a very high heat will be effective.
even with all that,it took me close to a month to be completely rid of all bugs and eggs.
if your daughter does carpool with her,have her wear a cap or have her hair braided and back, and make sure that she does not go head to head with the other girl.

 

[mefordis]

You make perfect sense. The mother was the one to catch them. Last night she noticed red marks on the girl's neck and ears. Then she checked her head and found the lice. She then called a professional lice picker who came over and charged $100 for each of her two girls to pick through their heads for 4 hours. The mother called me this morning and gave me the info and said she is going to have the school nurse check her today. I told her I would feel comfortable waiting to carpool until a later date, when we know the lice and eggs were totally gone.

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.

 

[mefordis]

I think I am going to wait one month before carpooling again. If the mother doesn't like that then I'm sorry. Lice sounds like a total nightmare and frankly at this time in my life I am overwhelmed with other things at home and really cannot handle one more responsibility (like picking through my daughters hair for 2 hours a day for 2 or 3 weeks. ) The carpooling isn't really helping me out anyway. I can drive my daughter to school myself just fine.

If she gets snippy with me well, I really don't want her in my life anyway, right?

 

[5 for WDW]

I put Fairy Tales spray on my kids hair everyday. It is a lice repellent and while I can't swear that it works, everyone I know swears by it. It is a leave in conditioning spray with rosemary, lemongrass, tea tree, etc.

I even spray their backpacks once a week with it. It costs $12 a bottle here and I am just about getting ready to buy a new bottle since the first day of school.I use it on all three kids. You can also get it online.

I also put my daughter's hair up almost everyday. Especially days when she takes a shower before school. Since lice prefer "clean" hair (hair up days), I let her wear it in a headband on days when she has not had a shower that morning. She still gets the spray every morning.

Just a tip that we swear by. Head lice is a nightmare!

 

[mefordis]

Thank you!!! Where do you get your Fairy Tales spray??? I'm going to get it as soon as I can find it.

I put Fairy Tales spray on my kids hair everyday. It is a lice repellent and while I can't swear that it works, everyone I know swears by it. It is a leave in conditioning spray with rosemary, lemongrass, tea tree, etc.

I even spray their backpacks once a week with it. It costs $12 a bottle here and I am just about getting ready to buy a new bottle since the first day of school.I use it on all three kids. You can also get it online.

I also put my daughter's hair up almost everyday. Especially days when she takes a shower before school. Since lice prefer "clean" hair (hair up days), I let her wear it in a headband on days when she has not had a shower that morning. She still gets the spray every morning.

Just a tip that we swear by. Head lice is a nightmare!

 

[disneygals]

Unfortunately, I know way too much about lice treatment, had three go arounds here.

If she is very diligent they will probably be gone in a month. But if two eggs are missed and hatch..couple of weeks later, they're back!

I would suggest buying a robi-comb at Walmart. You run it through the hair and it kills the bugs. I wouldn't trust it as a treatment alone, but it's a very good detector. It will give you peace of mind.

When lice was going around a few years ago, a mom called me after a sleepover to let me know her daughter had it. Ran the comb through my dd's hair, killed one louse and that was the end of it.

For treatment, I have done olive oil overnight with shower cap every 3-4 days for 3 weeks and then daily comb, comb, pick pick.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Been through lice twice with my dd, once in 2nd grade and then last yr in 6th grade. It sucks to the nth degree.

I swear by the LiceMeister comb. Get one and have it on hand OP.

My dd's hair is THICK and going through her hair daily consumes our life.

 

[Mkrop]

I think I am going to wait one month before carpooling again. If the mother doesn't like that then I'm sorry. Lice sounds like a total nightmare and frankly at this time in my life I am overwhelmed with other things at home and really cannot handle one more responsibility (like picking through my daughters hair for 2 hours a day for 2 or 3 weeks. ) The carpooling isn't really helping me out anyway. I can drive my daughter to school myself just fine.

If she gets snippy with me well, I really don't want her in my life anyway, right?

Smart decision about the carpooling,remind her to vacumm the seats regardless if you ride with her or not. But I hate to say this, if this girl is in her class or actvity, your child could still get lice. This little girl got it from someone too!

Do all the preventative stuff, washing with Tee Tree Oil Shamppo, spraying child's hair with hair spray, wearing it up, wiping down backpacks, washing hoodies etc.

DS's 2nd grade class, the girls only, had it over and over again depsite parents trying to be very diligent about treating the girls.

 

[punkin]

DD had it a couple of years ago. It was awful. I got it too. My DH and older DD did not get it BUT, I was not taking any chances and both girls got daily comb outs (even though my older DD has waist length coarse curly hair). I also did 2 poison treatments on myself and younger DD. I also went to a professional lice comber for myself and younger DD. It took me 3 weeks, uncounted loads of laundry on the "sanitation" cycle and everything unwashable was bagged up for a month. They did not come back but now whenever anyone gets even a little itch, I freak out and bring out the lice comb. I am still traumatized.

A month should be enough for the lady to get the lice out assuming she is diligent. You can resume carpool then.

 

[castleview]

Lice is a PITA and I would stay out of the carpool for a week or two since she's not treating it with RID or Nix. However, it is important to keep perspective. As annoying and expensive as it is to treat lice (I've been there), lice is not a threat to your child's health. School nurses deal with kids in wheel chairs and kids on feeding tubes on a daily basis in addition to bellyaches and fevers. They will get annoyed if a parent demands the world stop over head lice.

Here's what worked for us:

RID on day one
Mayo on day two
Olive oil on day three
Rid on day ten
Mayo or olive oil on day eleven (more to condition the scalp and hair than anything else)

Do laundry. Vacuum. Comb with the licemeister comb or Rid pick several times a day (parents should use it too just to check) Heavy on hairspray while lice is still going around.

It's expensive, but try to make the best of it. Your house will surely get cleaned.

 

[mjkacmom]

Um, this girl should not be going anywhere until the lice an nits are all gone. Even with the pesticide (which I used in a heartbeat - lice freaks me out), it took me a few days to get the nits out. I would notify the school, if she's going, and give them a heads-up. The year we had it, the entire first grade had it!

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Smart decision about the carpooling,remind her to vacumm the seats regardless if you ride with her or not. But I hate to say this, if this girl is in her class or actvity, your child could still get lice. This little girl got it from someone too!

Do all the preventative stuff, washing with Tee Tree Oil Shamppo, spraying child's hair with hair spray, wearing it up, wiping down backpacks, washing hoodies etc.

DS's 2nd grade class, the girls only, had it over and over again depsite parents trying to be very diligent about treating the girls.

As a preventive we always wash DD's hair with a Shampoo that has Tea Tree Oil and mint in it. Lice don't like either so to me it is a good way to keep them away. We use this during the school year when she is around the most kids. So far so good for us.

 

[pixiewings71]

You make perfect sense. The mother was the one to catch them. Last night she noticed red marks on the girl's neck and ears. Then she checked her head and found the lice. She then called a professional lice picker who came over and charged $100 for each of her two girls to pick through their heads for 4 hours. The mother called me this morning and gave me the info and said she is going to have the school nurse check her today. I told her I would feel comfortable waiting to carpool until a later date, when we know the lice and eggs were totally gone.

A professional lice picker? Or maybe a professional nit picker? LOL Sorry, couldn't resist...I've never ever heard of anyone who does that professionally.....that just freaks me out.

As a preventive we always wash DD's hair with a Shampoo that has Tea Tree Oil and mint in it. Lice don't like either so to me it is a good way to keep them away. We use this during the school year when she is around the most kids. So far so good for us.

I was going to suggest tea tree oil too, we just put it in the girls hair to keep the bugs away. I don't like the chemicals either, and they don't even work around here. The lice are immune now and you have to let your kids sleep with the shampoo on their heads! So we avoid that as much as we can, we use tea tree oil and a good comb.

OP, my head is itchy now...thank you very much! LOL

 

[mefordis]

I know! I'm sorry! My head has been itching since Wednesday when I heard. By the way, the girl is in a different class at the same time as my dd, but different class. She also goes to a morning enrichment class at the local JCC, so maybe she got it there (I'm hoping!) But she still might have given it to someone in her class. I really want to stop the carpooling altogether. Is that rude? Will I look ignorant doing it? I shouldn't care what I look like, right?

A professional lice picker? Or maybe a professional nit picker? LOL Sorry, couldn't resist...I've never ever heard of anyone who does that professionally.....that just freaks me out.



I was going to suggest tea tree oil too, we just put it in the girls hair to keep the bugs away. I don't like the chemicals either, and they don't even work around here. The lice are immune now and you have to let your kids sleep with the shampoo on their heads! So we avoid that as much as we can, we use tea tree oil and a good comb.

OP, my head is itchy now...thank you very much! LOL

 

[Minniemama350]

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.

My sister has treated her foster kids in this manner and kept from giving it to the other 5 kids. She also recommends using a hair dryer as additional preventative.(Certainly not as treatment , just prevention)She's good at getting rid of it. I trust her.

 

[5 for WDW]

Thank you!!! Where do you get your Fairy Tales spray??? I'm going to get it as soon as I can find it.

A few of our local hair salons sell it so I get it there. You can also get it online. I will pm you the email address.

 

[fortheluvofpooh]

for preventative measure, get a squirt bottle, the brown listerine (must be name brand not generic) fill the bottle with 1/2 water 1/2 listerine, spray your childs hair every morning and especially when she showers. It stinks going on but the smell goes away and it works to reduce the chance of your child getting lice. HTH.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We just had a child in my preschool class with lice and we got the full run-down on lice killing/prevention from our district nurse. All parents of children in the infected child's classroom need to be notified immediately that their child was exposed to head lice. The infected child is not allowed to come back to school until all the live lice and nits are gone. The nurse or trained office personnel must check the child's head on their first day back before being allowed to return to the classroom. All soft items (stuffed animals, cloths items, etc.) in the classroom must be double-bagged in plastic for 2 weeks to kill any infestation.

Lice can live in short hair or long. They stay on or near the scalp so it doesn't matter how long the hair is or if it's pulled back or put up. In the home, all bedding, soft toys, etc. must be washed in hot water and dried in a hot dryer. Anything that can't be washed should be bagged for 2 weeks. All soft surfaces that cannot be machine washed should be vacuumed and vacuum bags should be securely bagged and disposed of right away. You can't mess around with lice by saying you'll comb the child's hair everyday for 2 weeks. In the meantime, new nits are hatching and the lice is going to spread all over your house, car, classroom, etc! The infected child cannot continue to attend school during the treatment. It must be completed and the child must be cleared by school personnel before returning. The parent can choose the treatment method but whether it takes 3 days or 2 weeks, the child must stay home.

Not only should the infected child not be carpooling with anyone, but she should not be allowed to attend school. If I knew a child with head lice was attending school without being cleared, I wouldn't hesitate to report it to the school. It's not fair for other children to be exposed to be knowlingly exposed.

 

[smschex]

This is time consuming and messy, but it works where conventional treatments fail.

http://nuvoforheadlice.com/method_explained.htm

I also agree with the PP who mentioned the robi comb as a means of detection. I wouldn't trust it as the only means of treatment, but if used correctly it is very helpful in checking for live bugs.

 

[pixiewings71]

OP I don't think you are out of line to stop carpooling with this child. It is your choice, her Mother may accuse you of being rude but really, she's showing her ignorance in dealing with this.

I also wanted to add, that white vinegar helps strip the nits from hair, I used the mayo/vinegar treatment on DD21 when she was about 10....she had HORRIBLE lice, so bad I wanted to just shave her head.....she was very independent and didn't like me brushing her hair so I didn't know she had it...it took us MONTHS to get rid of it...months...it was horrible, I treated her head every other day alternating between treatments. I will never forget that.......