Head lice! Souvenier from WDW

[Lambert808]

This is so gross, and I am embarrassed to type it - but I want to save others from this. My daughter got head lice while at WDW. We just returned, and I found one in her hair the next day (she hadn't left our house in the 12 hours since we had been home). Thankfully we caught it fast and I had divided our laundry in plastic garbage bags at WDW without realizing dd had lice, and taken it right to our washer when we got home, so it hasn't spread.

DON'T let your kids wear the hats they have out to take photos with!! None of the rest of the family got the head lice so I am certain it was from those hats! She was the only one to wear one in a photo with characters. I don't know why we even let her put it on, I just wasn't thinking about this at Disney

 

[campingcorgi]

Hot water--if you didn't use the very hottest you haven't stopped it.

Hats, bus seats, theater seats, plane seats, all of these are ways to spread lice. She got it because she was where someone else had been with it--you'll never know exactly where.

Lice is not fun to think about but not a cleanliness issue. In fact, people with very oily or oiled hair usually do not have lice. Getting it once can happen to anyone. Getting it over and over IS a cleanliness issue.

Hope you have gotten control of this--I know it's no fun!

 

[tink2]

Oh no! What hats? I'm not sure the hats you are talking about. Please clarify so I'll beware on our upcoming trip!
Good luck! I'm a teacher and, though my children haven't gotten it yet, I know it isn't fun!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Oh how gross! Thanks for the reminder about the hats. We have taken a photo in the past with my daughter in the funny stuffed castle hat she just picked up and tried on. (they have all the funny hats at the carts around the parks and in the gift stores.)

We are leaving in 8 days!

I am glad you mentioned this problem. I never would have thought about it, either.

Good luck with it. I am sure it is overwhelming to come home with.

 

[Lambert808]

Some characters have hats you can put on - like they had a hat with the Genie for the kids to put on. Like another poster mentioned there are all these cool hats at all of the stores and stands too.

I know my daughter could have gotten it anywhere on our trip - but we stayed on site, only used Disney transportation, and were all together every day riding the same rides. We took a plane with leather seats, and rode in a towncar with leather seats. She is the only one who got it, so that is why I am leaning towards the hats, but it could have been from anywhere. Just be aware, and check your family over before heading home so you don't infest your house. I will be doing laundry for days, and thankfully I hadn't tracked stuff all through the house!

Lives4Disney - you are so right! We came home with a slight cold as it was. Then to notice this. AAaaccccckkkkkkk! It put me into over-drive. LOL!

 

[foxfire]

You see so many people trying on hats in the stores and I always think about the possibility of head lice being spread that way. I always go to the very bottom of a stack to select a hat. I figure those have less chance of having something icky in them.

 

[lindaso]

Thanks for the warning. When you're on vacation, you would not be thinking of that like you do at home and school. It can happen so fast. Hope you get rid of them easily enough.

 

[crcormier]

Glad that you got through it.

Does anyone else's head itch now???

 

[flyingenie]

I love your title for the message!

definitely something for me to keep in mind- when I was little I too liked trying on the hats at the shops and posing for funny pictures.

 

[kupperman]

Thanks for the info. We will not be trying on any hats this time.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Yikes! That is one souvenier I don't want to bring home. I never let my DD try those hats on. I always think gross things first.

And yes thanks to reading this thread, my head is itching like crazy.

 

[HM]

I feel for you guys. Lice is not fun...but nothing to be embarrassed about....pretty common thing. I think the incubation period for lice is a bit longer than a week's trip time. Does she attend a school or daycare? They should be notified as well as she may have contracted them before the trip.


My DD got head lice last November and we are pretty sure she got them at a movie theater! The backs of those seats never get washed. Also, although we thought her's were gone, they were back a week later.....so we had rewash everything all over again. Keep checking your DDs head for the next few weeks. Be on the lookout for the little black spot droppings too....as a sign they are still around.

 

[myboysmom]

Don't forget the bike helmets. My DS got a case about a year ago. We thought we had gotten all of them. Then about a week later they were back. We then realized we had not cleaned his bike helmet! Rid had some wipes that worked really well.

 

[Lambert808]

Yep - my head iches just thinking about it. My daughter has VERY fine baby thin, blond hair -so it was very easy to spot as soon as it started. We did notify school though, and due to the time we were gone, and the lack of nits the school was certain we got it while gone also. DD was nit free when she went to school so they were really happy with that

I am almost done washing everything, and everyone gets daily head checks to make sure they are all gone. All the stuffed animals are in plastic bags, and new brushes for all. The nits hatch in 7-10 days, so if there were nits around we could see more lice and more nits at around that time frame. So everything is being watched / bagged / washed for 2 weeks to be certain.

I can definitely see picking it up at the movie theaters! Those seats gross me out They are just nasty! LOL!

 

[SueM in MN]

here's a really good website with head lice information and pictures:
http://www.headlice.org/

 

[disneyfan551]

This is a little OT, but my babysitter called this morning, and one of her teenagers has head lice. She is treating the house all day today, but I'm still worried about taking my 3yo back tomorrow. I've never had to deal with lice before, so I'm not sure what to expect? Do you think it's safe to take her back to the sitter's tomorrow? HELP!

 

[dzneelvr]

From a containment point of view, be sure and let WDW know as many of the specifics as possible--hat, location, date, etc.

I am sure they would want to get it out of circulation immediately to prevent others from contracting the lice.

ICK...so sorry you had to go through that!!

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by dzneelvr
From a containment point of view, be sure and let WDW know as many of the specifics as possible--hat, location, date, etc.

I am sure they would want to get it out of circulation immediately to prevent others from contracting the lice.

It's a little late for that. The NPA says that, in most cases, a head louse will not survive for more than 24 hours off of its human host. Any lice that may have been in the hat that haven't already made their way to a human head would probably be dead by now.

 

[swilshire]

When this was big in our local school a few years ago, the recommendation was to use olive oil on the hair, let it sit a few minutes, then wash well. We did this as a preventative until the outbreak was over. I've since seen doctors recommend this and also seen mention that people with oily hair don't get lice as often. Apparently there is something to it.

Sheila

 

[sarahsmom73]

Have I got something for you! I am a teacher and we just had a HUGE outbreak of headlice at our school... My biggest fear is that I will get it... My Hair Stylist has this shampoo and other products called Fairy Tales. It has lavender and rosemary extract which is supposed to repel lice! I use it everyday on myself and so far so good!