HELP! Need some QUICK advice regarding head lice *UPDATE p.2*

[Mkrop]

You know she may be annoyed now but she will get over it if not then too bad, it is one thing to ask a friend to do this and put their family at risk, and the answer would still be a big fat NO, but to ask a pregnant friend is just not cool, yes there are some organic means of getting rid of it but if you do need to use chemicals that is unfair to you.

 

[JennSaint]

I agree with everything here, except that lice cannot fly or jump. However, they can get on jackets, sofas, stuffed animals, etc. and live for hours, and if someone's head touches them, they'll attach to the hair.

OP, I see you changed your mind - good for you! I can't even imagine asking someone to watch my kids after they were found to have lice!

Thanks for clearing that up. I was told they could jump. Glad to hear they cannot. Lice just grosses me out!!

 

[laurajetter]

You know she may be annoyed now but she will get over it if not then too bad, it is one thing to ask a friend to do this and put their family at risk, and the answer would still be a big fat NO, but to ask a pregnant friend is just not cool, yes there are some organic means of getting rid of it but if you do need to use chemicals that is unfair to you.

To be fair, she does not know I'm pregnant yet... that is something I've actually been meaning to call her about but hadn't gotten around to it... And I felt if I mentioned it right then, under these circumstances, it would be awkward. Awkward for me because it would seem I only mentioned it because of this, not because I wanted to tell her anyway, and awkward for her because I know she'd feel obligated to congratulate me, etc. etc. when the overriding thought I'm sure she was thinking is "What am I going to do about my kids?".

So this was just a bad thing all around. I already feel like she kind of takes advantage of me sometimes with the girls because it seems there are so many "school emergencies" that they call me because they need one or both of the girls to be picked up and taken care of for several hours with no compensation. There are behavioral issues apparently. If I had known what it would be like when I said "sure, you can put my name on their emergency contact list", I probably would've rethought my answer. I see the emergency list as something that rarely if ever needs to get used; not so in their case. It'd be one thing if they were pretty good kids, inconvenient yes, but doable. But saying these kids are a handful is a major understatement.

 

[Erin1700]

Could you call the school and ask to be taken off of the list? If you are pregnant, the last thing you want is them calling you to get their sick kids.

 

[Mkrop]

Ok I am kind of gald she didnt know you were pregnant.

But why are you getting so many phone calls to go get them????? I always assumed the emergency contact number was for when I or my DH could not be reached temporarily, like when I worked and I was at a meeting where I couldnt have my cell phone on or now like being a SAHM if I am at the Drs myself and need my phone turned off. More like I am unreachable for some reason and they need to get a hold of someone. Does she work in a job that makes her unreachable. And I would not be picking up kids for discipline reason that is the parents' job.

I dont know maybe I misreading your posts but it sounds like she is taking advantage of you.

 

[Justanopinion]

Emergency lists are for just that...emergencies. Not when you don't want to take off from work.

I have 3 that have graduated, both DH and I worked, not once did anyone from my emergency list get called by the school. I onced called a friend to pick up DS because I was stuck in traffic but that was it. The school never had to call anyone from my emergency list.


As for the head lice. I've had lots of experience with that too. RID does not work. The best remedy is rubbing alcohol. Just like the website says you can let your hair brushes and comes soak for an hour, the same applies to hair. Pour the alcohol over the entire head, wrap in either a towel or plastic bag for at least an hour. I'm telling you from experience this will kill ALL the lice.

It's been a few years since I had to deal with it in my own kids. The younger grades seem to have it and not the older grades. Anyway, this summer, my brother took his girls (9 & 10) to stay with my mom. When he dropped them off he said the were scratching but had taken them to the Dr. and Dr. said it was dandruff. Well, mom brought them to me a few days later when she went out of town. I had them for 5 days. I guess I just wasn't thinking. I saw them scratch but didn't check them. I let them do their own hair so I never saw them that up close. I then took them back to my mom who had the girls another month. We all went to the lakehouse for the last 2 weeks they were here. The day we were leaving I ended up helping with their hair because mom was busy. I started with the 9 year old and couldn't believe my eyes. She was covered! We treated everyone with the alcohol. They were fine the next day...no lice at all. My brother then says oh...it was just the 10 year old he took to the Dr., which you couldn't see them on her like you could her sister. We won't be making that mistake again. We check them now when they show up.

 

[cheermom1]

RID is dangerous and can be lethal! There is absolutely no excuse to use this on any human or animal. And no, I'm not some organic nutjob, it's just that I've researched this for years for our school system and RID just plain does not work and can be fatal. Lice are now immune to the toxic poisin in RID and some always survive. There are much easier and safer ways to deal with lice.

For the best advice got to : www.headlice.org

op glad to hear that you don't have to deal with this problem and you are relived.

I don't use any of the lice treatments at the stores anyway. a friend who is a nurse told me to use tea tree oil. I put a few drops in conditioner and put it on the dry hair completely saturating it and leaving it on for 30 min. then rinse i use conditioner so that it is easier to comb and for the child it doesn't hurt by the tangling. it has worked very well for us. I agree that rid is not the best choice at all....

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[mjkacmom]

Ok I am kind of gald she didnt know you were pregnant.

But why are you getting so many phone calls to go get them????? I always assumed the emergency contact number was for when I or my DH could not be reached temporarily, like when I worked and I was at a meeting where I couldnt have my cell phone on or now like being a SAHM if I am at the Drs myself and need my phone turned off. More like I am unreachable for some reason and they need to get a hold of someone. Does she work in a job that makes her unreachable. And I would not be picking up kids for discipline reason that is the parents' job.

I dont know maybe I misreading your posts but it sounds like she is taking advantage of you.

I agree - I'm a SAHM, and I'm on a bunch of lists, and have never been called, and none of my emergency contacts have ever been called. I think you are being taken advantage of.

 

[mickeyboat]

Congrats on your pregnancy!

DD9 had lice earlier this year. We had pretty good luck with the RID, btw, but also spent countless numbers of hours picking, vacuuming and washing linens. This went on for 10 days. DH and I were exhausted but DD was a trooper.

If these girls have been in your home in the past 10 days, I would make sure to give it a thorough vacuuming ASAP. This is also true for your car. Check your son - the sooner you catch lice, the easier it is to get rid of it.

I think it was really presumptious of your friend to even ask, and I am glad you said no. Don't feel bad. As for being an emergency contact, it would have to be true emergency for mine to ever be called. I have also never been called as the contact for my friends.

Denae

 

[X and G's mom]

I work at a Medical Dr. office and everyone here swears about using cooking oil. Lice don't like unclean heads! Cooking oil makes it so they cannot grasp on!