Help Lice!!! We leave for Disney tomorrow!!

[iloveboardwalk]

I know the parents were not doing anything to get rid of the lice in the home because they told us. One got the prescription from the doctor and thought that would be enough. The other used Rid once and never did anything else. I try not to make assumptions about my students or their families. In these cases, it was very clear the parents were not following all reccomendations.

Perhaps the parents were taken in by stories they read on the internet about how easy they are to get rid of and how they are really just no big deal.

 

[Tikicampers]

Ok, we had a horrible lice problem in my classroom this year . We had one child who couldn't quite get rid of it, and kept reinfecting everyone. Here's what the nurse said:
1. You need to use the lice comb every night to pull out nits. Rid does not get all the nits, and if they hatch you start all over again. We had a mom who used Rid once and then just the comb every day. Her kid was the first one cleared. Keep checking for a while.
2. Wash all bedding, pillows, etc in hot water. If you can't wash it put it in a plastic bag and seal it so no air gets in. Leave it for a couple of weeks. This goes for stuffed animals too. This is crucial and the reason the one kid kept getting it over and over. If the lice are on a teddy bear they will just crawl right back onto your child's hair.
3. I have heard all kinds of things that lice don't like: hairspray, dye, dirty hair, but our nurse said these really don't do anything.
4. If you have girls with long hair, it may help to pull their hair back (less chance it will rub up against infected child's hair). Since it's hot you'd probably do that anyway.
5. I would probably ask for new sheets on your DD's bed just in case.

Lice love anyone's hair, they get kids at every socio-economic level. They spread most easily among young girls because they tend to play with their heads close together. With the kids in my class, it seemed to spread to the siblings, but not the parents. Have you checked everyone in the family yet? I would check everyone every night for a while. I somehow managed to remain lice free even though about a third of my class got them. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. You have to be so vigilant to really get rid of them. It makes my head itch just thinking about it. I wrote all I can remember, the CDC also has info on their website.

Evidently, you did not read my earlier post. I did not say lice was easy to get rid of. I said it was not as easliy spread as some seem to think.

 

[720L]

WOW! I'm only on page 6 of reading all the posts from you guys but wanted to clear some things up. The Pharmacist said the RID will kill all the lice if you do it exactly as the pkg said. We did. The directions said to comb through the hair every night with a nit comb. I did. Every night for an hour before bed I combed through her hair. The first night I found 1 DEAD nit and that was all I found the rest of the trip. I kept her hair in braids so her hair wasn't flying around everyone elses hair. IF I THOUGHT she still had live lice in her hair, I was prepared with another dose of RID at Disney. I was constantly checking her hair in the parks--I felt like a monkey! I never found anything. We didn't fly so don't worry about the airlines. And I cancelled her BBB appointment even though she was clear--I didn't want to risk infecting somebody else.

 

[720L]

I'll admit I've never had to deal with lice and chances are I never will. However, I've had several students deal with it. None were cured with one treatment.

The OP said her daughter had nits that looked like dirt in her hair. Someone posted that the darker the nits are, the closer they are to hatching. It's very possible the child will have live lice within the next few days.



Or the Stitch Ride or Sounds Dangerous. Do they clean those head phones between shows???

She DID NOT have nits when we left. I combed all of them out. (as soon as she woke up again, I combed through her hair AGAIN) ANd if she did, the live lice are killed by the RID (or so the box says).

 

[TimeforMe]

To the OP: I'm sorry that so many people on this thread felt the need to gang up on you; especially since you weren't here to even defend yourself. I truly don't get it.

Anyway, how was your trip? I hope you all had a great time.

 

[KariC]

WOW! I'm only on page 6 of reading all the posts from you guys but wanted to clear some things up. The Pharmacist said the RID will kill all the lice if you do it exactly as the pkg said. We did. The directions said to comb through the hair every night with a nit comb. I did. Every night for an hour before bed I combed through her hair. The first night I found 1 DEAD nit and that was all I found the rest of the trip. I kept her hair in braids so her hair wasn't flying around everyone elses hair. IF I THOUGHT she still had live lice in her hair, I was prepared with another dose of RID at Disney. I was constantly checking her hair in the parks--I felt like a monkey! I never found anything. We didn't fly so don't worry about the airlines. And I cancelled her BBB appointment even though she was clear--I didn't want to risk infecting somebody else.

Good for you! I'm glad everything went well. This thread got a little heated (if you can't tell!). Thanks for updating us all.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

WOW! I'm only on page 6 of reading all the posts from you guys but wanted to clear some things up. The Pharmacist said the RID will kill all the lice if you do it exactly as the pkg said. We did. The directions said to comb through the hair every night with a nit comb. I did. Every night for an hour before bed I combed through her hair. The first night I found 1 DEAD nit and that was all I found the rest of the trip. I kept her hair in braids so her hair wasn't flying around everyone elses hair. IF I THOUGHT she still had live lice in her hair, I was prepared with another dose of RID at Disney. I was constantly checking her hair in the parks--I felt like a monkey! I never found anything. We didn't fly so don't worry about the airlines. And I cancelled her BBB appointment even though she was clear--I didn't want to risk infecting somebody else.

Sounds like you did everything right! THANK YOU for being a responsible, caring, yet not hysterical parent!

 

[DawnCt1]

To the OP: I'm sorry that so many people on this thread felt the need to gang up on you; especially since you weren't here to even defend yourself. I truly don't get it.

Anyway, how was your trip? I hope you all had a great time.

Ditto!

 

[LucyStorm]

As one of the two telling you it is an inconvenience, I will tell you that my son DID get head lice. So I am telling you what I have said from a position of experience and professional training. I think mine and Dawn's points about it being an inconvenience were not about what you have to do to get rid of them, but about some posters who claimed you could get all kinds of diseases from head lice. Dawn can correct me if I am wrong about what she said (as I know she will! ), but that is what I meant by inconvenience.

As for the pinkeye and ringworm, they are extremely contagious and you should keep your child out of school. But as someone pointed out, even the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend keeping your child out of school for nits. (And the bolded comment warms my heart as well.)

For the OP, I am so very sorry that you have come back to this. I hope you had a wonderful trip. And I am sorry that you came here for advice, and got some of this vitriol when you weren't even here to defend yourself.

 

[720L]

How I wish I didn’t read this thread! I’ll be scratching over it for days.

To some extent, I don’t blame the OP for wanting to go ahead with her vacation plans. What irks me, though, is that it doesn’t sound like she consulted with her pediatrician on how to treat for lice and how to avoid spreading it.

Looking up information on the internet and asking questions on the DIS CB is all well and good, but neither is a substitute for getting professional treatment.

I’d like to think that when dealing with a contagious situation, most people would see a doctor and get his/her clearance before boarding a plane or checking into a hotel room.

I found the lice at 5pm on a saturday night. I am not going to call the emergency line for a non emergency. I consulted the Pharmacist who knows as much about medicine as the dr. He said do the treatment and comb throughs and didn't feel it was neccesary to call my ped. WebMD and other websites say to contact a dr to confirm the diagnosis (I already confirmed it) or if you see live lice after treatment. I didn't see live lice or I would have called.

 

[Tikicampers]

Wow, you're brave! I don't think I would have posted for a long time. I'm so glad the lice didn't ruin your trip, and I'm sorry you have to read all this. Thanks for the update though.

 

[720L]

And considering the Mom didn't even know what a nit looked like I seriously doubt she knows this. I also doubt she will tell her DD that she can't go in the pool for the first 2 days in Florida.

Guess what dear? I did know this and I didn't wash her hair or go swimming for the first 2 days.

 

[iloveboardwalk]

I'm glad you had a nice vacation. I also hope you don't have a re-outbreak. As I mentioned, the last few months around here have been absolute hell on Earth. I've learned that some lice are harder to get rid of than other lice, apparently.

 

[720L]

Not knowing and spreading it is unavoidable and accidental , KNOWINGLY spreading it is irresponsible and selfish!!!


The other problem was she was not actively pursuing control of it at all.

Why do you think I wasn't pursuing control of it all?!! Why was I spending my time calling the pharmacist, calling school, and researching the internet on top of combing through her hair and changing everyones bedding, vacuuming, putting her stuffed animals in bags? Because I didn't want to infect anybody!

 

[720L]

The Mother admitted she didn't get all the nits and wasn't planning on doing anything else. they were planning on swimming which lessens the residual killing of the remaining lice after the shampoo so there goes another back up that the manufacturers count on to kill them. She didn't know what they looked like, had not checked herself or her other kids, wondered if changing the pillowcase was enough. One shampoo is not enough anymore, I have seen a child who shampooed according to the instructions and I know the family, I'm sure they did, and there were still live lice crawling around They have gotten too resistant now because too many families don't follow the instructions and don't "inconvenience " themselves to not spread them. So 3-4 days into Disney all those nits she couldn't be bothered to comb out hatch and crawl right onto the chairs at ITBAB because we all know kids scrunch down in those seats when the bugs come out, guess what other bugs will come out.

Ummmm....yes I did check myself and the other family members and am still checking.

 

[720L]

BUT she didn't do what she was supposed to do!!! The most important thing is combing out the nits so they don't hatch and spread. SHE SAID she hadn't combed out all the nits and didn't intend to before leaving.Didn't even know for sure what she was looking for. Even Dawn says she should comb out all the nits before exposing others so even according to Dawn she didn't do what she was supposed to.

WHERE did I say I didn't intend to comb out all the nits?

 

[LucyStorm]

You are brave to come back here and defend yourself and I applaud you for it.

 

[720L]

Well I'm finally to the end of this thread. We had a wonderful vacation--got 3 dreams from the dream team--and it only rained 1 day! Spending an hour every night combing through hair kind of stressed me out, but it was still a good trip. Sorry some of you had to get so nasty. Thanks to those that stood up for me while I couldn't. I love the DIS and missed it while I was gone. I don't know why I wasted my time responding to some of the posts but I had to defend myself.

 

[robinb]

I don't know why I wasted my time responding to some of the posts but I had to defend myself.

I don't think you wasted your time. I'm glad you came back to set things straight!

 

[hippiechicken]

You are brave to come back here and defend yourself and I applaud you for it.

ditto. glad you had a nice trip!