HELP! DD8 exposed to LICE, what do I do??

[TallyTutter]

My daughter had this problem last year, only she had a very active case. We found them (lucky for us) the day she went to spend a week with her grandmother (bad for grandma!). We bought the lice kit - HATED IT! It was only after we were half way through treating her hair that we read **do not use blow dryer or get hair near heat - combustible!! Needless to say that I was desperate to find something else. I scoured the internet.

Grandma combed her hair daily looking for nits. We pulled all her bed covers & washed them. We bagged her stuffed animals & put them on the back porch for 2 weeks. We also found a lice spray & sprayed the couch, pillows, mattress & anything else that she would have come in contact with - including the car headrests. I read that if the lice don't have a host they die within 3-4 days. I prayed it was true & it seems to be true. We also kept her hair as "dirty" as possible as much as possible. Lice like clean hair with no products on it! Lice can't attach themselves to hair that is dirty or has products on it.

Tea Tree Oil Shampoo saved us. I read that using either the pure oil in her current shampoo or buying the tea tree oil shampoo would help keep lice away. She still had 3 weeks of camp to go yet this summer! Once we started the tea tree oil shampoo we didn't have another problem. WalMart sells the shampoo.

 

[mrsboz]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. I can't believe that my two daughters didn't get it from this: One day they were over a friends house playing, I was there too. They were all climbing into a box together, so all of their heads were touching. They kept climbing in and out of the box, laughing, having a great time. Well, the father of one of the girls called me a couple of days later and told me that his daughter had lice. I freaked. One of my daughters has thick hair down to her bum. I don't know who it would have bothered more, me or the girls. I called the doctor and asked what I could do. I was really debating treating them. I'm so glad that I didn't. They never got it. I was shocked as they were rubbing heads all day practically. Hopefull, she won't get it. If they didn't get it from that close play you have a good chance.

Marypoppinswannabe: How do you know you got lice in a department store? How can you track where you got it? just curious because this totally grosses me out! I never thought of this. I do tell the kids to never try on hats at stores though.

I heard that they liked clean hair. It makes me not want to wash their hair for months straight. LOL.

 

[InstImpres]

I almost didn't read the thread, as I always itch just when reading about it.

The "nit picker" in our area (yes, this is a real job that someone gets paid for), recommend Neutragena TGel (the gooey brown one) to be preventitive. Use it 2-3 times a week instead of other shampoo. There is something in it that stays on your hair making it hard for the lice to be able to stick. I would do this for several weeks. Even though your DD may not have it, others at the party may have gotten it and don't realize, it will spread in a classroom setting quickly.

Good luck

 

[TallyTutter]

My daughter had this problem last year, only she had a very active case. We found them (lucky for us) the day she went to spend a week with her grandmother (bad for grandma!). We bought the lice kit - HATED IT! It was only after we were half way through treating her hair that we read **do not use blow dryer or get hair near heat - combustible!! Needless to say that I was desperate to find something else. I scoured the internet.

Grandma combed her hair daily looking for nits. We pulled all her bed covers & washed them. We bagged her stuffed animals & put them on the back porch for 2 weeks. We also found a lice spray & sprayed the couch, pillows, mattress & anything else that she would have come in contact with - including the car headrests. I read that if the lice don't have a host they die within 3-4 days. I prayed it was true & it seems to be true. We also kept her hair as "dirty" as possible as much as possible. Lice like clean hair with no products on it! Lice can't attach themselves to hair that is dirty or has products on it.

Tea Tree Oil Shampoo saved us. I read that using either the pure oil in her current shampoo or buying the tea tree oil shampoo would help keep lice away. She still had 3 weeks of camp to go yet this summer! Once we started the tea tree oil shampoo we didn't have another problem. WalMart sells the shampoo.

 

[LuvSW]

I just got back from buying Tea Tree Oil shampoos and conditioners. We're going to the pool, then we'll lather her up with tea tree oil and other smelly things that the little suckers won't like!

Thanks again for the help!

 

[hawt1]

Just noticed this thread and thought I would pipe in with our experience FWIW.

I also agree that chemical free is the way to go. Really, why pour chemicals all over your child's head just becuase you are panicked. There are a number of home remedies already mentioned on here that might work but the one that we used that did the trick for us was NitFree line of products.

These are all natural so there were no chemicals involved and they have a preventative spray that we use on our DD's hair that has a mint smell to it that is supposed to prevent reinfestation.

The other product they have that is the lifesaver as far as we are concerned is their NitFree comb. I think the comb is the key to getting rid of lice as you need ot comb out every single nit or they will hatch and you will get a reinfestation. Thsi comb is amazing, it takes out sand and everything. May be a little pricy but well worth it and it travels with us now just in case.

My two cents based on being nitfree after 2 days but talking to others who struggled for months.

 

[SherylWrites]

is a licemeister comb. It combs the nits and adult lice out of hair like a dream, even thick and curly hair.
We struggled with it as there were always kids in the school with it who would never come back with a clean head (lice free I mean).
The olive oil treatment is a nightmare to wash out. As is the mayo and all the other goop people suggest. Been there done that.
Tea Tree Oil is a preventative. It does not kill lice, but it *may* keep them away from her hair.
Fairytale Lice Shampoo is an EXCELLENT product and a great preventative but it won't kill the lice.
Lice have grown very resistant to chemical kits you can purchase in the drug stores as well.
The Licemeister comb is just a simple, very tightly toothed comb that fits in the palm of your hand. You just comb the hair over and they get stuck in the tines. IT's that simple and easy.
With lice, you always have to keep checking every day. It only takes missing one nit to get a whole head full again.
Check around the ears, the nape of the neck, the forehead and the temples as these are the warmest parts of the scalp.
Many suggest using products like gel and mousse in hair. This isn't a foolproof method but it can help.
It costs about $20 for the comb, but it will last a lifetime.

 

[neffernie]

I have always heard to use Tea Tree, but I have never tried it.

DD got lice last year that would not go away. We tried every over the counter product, even got a prescription for malathion from the pediatrician. Nothing worked.

You want to know what worked? Tea tree oil mixed with regular conditioner. I was desperate and read this online and it worked like a charm. Just mix a capful of the oil (found it in the vitamin section of the local walmart) with about a cup of conditioner, slather it on, and let it sit for an hour. After that, wash it out and use a nit comb to get any nits out. Keep doing this once a week until you cant find any more nits.

That said...i wouldn't freak out until you find nits in your DDs hair. From what you said, it sounds like there isn't much of a chance that it was passed.

 

[hawt1]

The Licemeister comb is just a simple, very tightly toothed comb that fits in the palm of your hand. You just comb the hair over and they get stuck in the tines. IT's that simple and easy.
With lice, you always have to keep checking every day. It only takes missing one nit to get a whole head full again.
Check around the ears, the nape of the neck, the forehead and the temples as these are the warmest parts of the scalp.
Many suggest using products like gel and mousse in hair. This isn't a foolproof method but it can help.
It costs about $20 for the comb, but it will last a lifetime.

Yes, licemeister is good and about the same price as the NitFree comb but we never ran across the licemiester in Ontario but did find the NitFree comb and I like it because the teeth have little grooves in them that seem to be able to grab the nits and pull them out.

The comb really is the key in the battle as well as laundering all of the sheets, toys etc.

Go with a good comb and do not trust the cheap ones that you get with the shampoo. Steel teeth and steel handle are the best as they do not bend and allow nits to go between them. Some kind of grip on the handle would also help as you are bound to end up with slippery hands. I think licemiester and NitFree Terminator combs both fit this description.

 

[kwhite1022]

Ill just back up what Ive read, for us, the RID treatment didnt work, too harsh and the bugs are getting resistant around our area. I found the mayo treatment to work the best. I treated every one in the house, no matter who had it! All pillows were tossed, an every bed washed and vaccumed. All stuffed animals were put away for over a month (cycle for the nits) and every morning the daughter who had the lice had her "new" pillow case rewashed, along with her bedding for a week. Not to mention, we combed through (with one of those great combs mentioned above) her hair twice daily, once in direct sunlight in the morning (sunlight helps you to see them) and then when daddy got home, he took round two. Seems OTT, but I tell you what, there are 5 of us and no one wanted to deal with them, or get them again.

To prevent in the future, my daughters, who have long hair, use a tea tree shampoo and come fall my daughter who is in school, will have her hair up in a bun sprayed heavily with hairspray to hopefully discourage any from taking up residence on her! They are a pain in the butt, and Ive heard horror stories of people who cannot stop the cycle. Good luck to you OP!!

 

[rockyroad]

If your child goes to school, then they have been exposed.

When I taught I had a couple of years when it seemed that my classroom was the head lice capital of the world.

But, the same kids got them over and over, and the others didn't seem to.

Even though I sometimes saw the lice just swarming in children's hair, I didn't get them either.

My own kids never got them.
My girls had long hair, but I kept it restrained...french braid or pony tail at least.
And I checked their hair everyday, but never found anything.

 

[hawt1]

My girls had long hair, but I kept it restrained...french braid or pony tail at least.
And I checked their hair everyday, but never found anything.

Braiding definitely seems to work. our oldest daughter has long hair and never got them. it was our youngest that has them. The other thing that I have heard that works to repel them is the smell of mint.

 

[Duchie]

Some moms on another board swear by the comb that "zaps" lice. I think you can get it at Walgreens, CVS, type places. I don't see the harm in that as a preventative, but wouldn't do chemicals (like pp's said) until you see actual nits. Hope the link works, otherwise, Walgreens has this brand, Robi Comb electronic lice comb.

http://www.walgreens.com/store/prod...n=jump&navCount=0&skuid=sku309618&id=prod9618

Good luck, hope she doesn't get them!

I second this suggestion. Both our pediatrician and our school nurse (and a whole bunch of other moms) recommended it and it worked great.

 

[LuvSW]

So far, no lice in the OP home!! Thank you for all the tips.

My DD and I have both been washing with the tea tree shampoo and conditioner religiously for the past 3 weeks and will continue to do so periodically as a hope to prevent any future potential for the little critters.

 

[happycampers]

Interesting that you posted this thread. The neighbor girl was playing with my kids the other night. I don't think any contact occurred as they were riding bikes together for a short time. Then another neighbor informed us (not to gossip, but to let us know since my kids were with her and her parents weren't letting anyone know) that the other day the girl had been at the neighbor's house and told them that she and her brother had them. I've been checking my kids as a precaution and have found nothing.

In all my years of teaching, I never once caught it despite having students who had it often. It does make my skin itch to think about it.

A fellow teacher once told me that blow drying hair helps prevent them because of the heat. (Anyone else heard this?) I'm not sure if it's hot enough or not, but I've been drying my kids' hair after their baths.

I'll have to look for one of those licemeister combs to have on hand. Where do people get those? Drug store? Beauty supply?

Now I can't get Rob Schneider's voice (from the old SNL skit) out of my head, "the licemeister, makin' copies."

 

[LisaNJ25]

Thank you, thank you. At least it sounds like I don't have to treat immediately. I can sleep a little better. My daughter has very long, very thick, very curly hair that is IMPOSSIBLE to comb, and I think we'd have to cut a lot of it if she does come down with lice.

YUCK. My fingers are crossed.

We did this last year... 4 out of six of us got it.. grrrr.. it was right after school ended.

Of course 3 out of us 4 were girls. My son was easy, we shaved his head.

We cut the girls hair short and thinned out my older dd's. I think she picked it up from school. What a mess..yes, I had it also. This was my first time dealing with it. We used the treatments and combed and combed and combed.


Best of luck.. I hope she didnt catch them. Oh.. and I am sure others mentioned.. the love clean hair lol.. so put some hairspray and pull it back in a pony tail.

 

[minkydog]

Some moms on another board swear by the comb that "zaps" lice. I think you can get it at Walgreens, CVS, type places. I don't see the harm in that as a preventative, but wouldn't do chemicals (like pp's said) until you see actual nits. Hope the link works, otherwise, Walgreens has this brand, Robi Comb electronic lice comb.

http://www.walgreens.com/store/prod...n=jump&navCount=0&skuid=sku309618&id=prod9618

Good luck, hope she doesn't get them!

My sister swears by the Robi comb! Her daughter had waist-length hair when she picked up lice the first time(she has had them at least 3 times) and the only thing that really helped was that Robi comb. It took about 6hrs to do a thorough job, but she was lice free.

Don't treat until you see live lice. You'll know them when you see them--they move fast and you'll go "Ick!" The baby oil/olive oil & Dawn detergent works very well. It's the diligent back-combing that really does the trick, though. If it takes you less than 2 hours to comb it out, you're doing it wrong.

Good luck and try not to panic!