lice...and nits

[JessicaR]

I'm willing to believe that nits farther down on the shaft are more likely not to hatch. But I'm not willing to say, absolutely, that they WILL not.

I totally agree. Just posting the center for disease controls stance. If it were me I would remove everything I could until I find no-more.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

Yes seriously LOL---- www.licebustersnyc.com - they were great! 11 of us went there- 4 of us were checked and did not have lice and the rest did- got treated in an hour without using any type of pesticides (won't put that on my childs head!) came home, washed the sheets, pillowcases, blankets etc and vaccumedand that was that. No washing sheets every day etc and they gaurentee their work. It was a bit pricey but I would gladly pay that anytime over sitting there picking nits for days and putting poison in my kids hair.
I didn't even have them and I was still scratching just thinking about it!! The lady at that place is great that does the nitpicking- she did rechecks on both me and my daughter and my friend and her daughter and did not charge us for the recheck and even gave the kids ice cream while they were there!

I have never heard of such a service -- amazing! It's not cheap, but after hearing some of the horror stories, I am sure the $150 - $250 would be well worth it.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

Fleas are not lice. Completely different and unfortunately I've had to deal with both of them.

I read the post referring to fleas as saying the KIDS said they had fleas even though what they had was lice.

 

[westjones]

Oh we just went through this. Honestly, I thought we were past all of this stuff because my kids are in high school. They never had them when they were younger (and I have never had them). But one of my daughters got them and passed them to the other.

I just thought I would let everyone know what we did to get rid of them. EVERYONE was telling us the RID and stuff like that doesn't work. Which is annoying because that is what the doctor said to use. Luckily, I came across this shampoo at Meijer's grocery store (I didn't see it anywhere else, but you can also buy it online):

http://www.licergone.com/

I was just picking up almost anything I could to get rid of this stuff. I was in a panic.

So anyway, what I found worked best (since I went through this twice, once for the first daughter to get it and then again with the second daughter who got it from her sister) is:

We used the Lice R Gone shampoo 3 times the first day (30 minutes on each time)...and then apply and rinse Suave Coconut conditioner (I read it helps, I don't know, but we used it). 2 times the second day + suave coconut conditioner (again 30 minutes). And then EVERY day for 15 days (leaving it on for 30 minutes each day + suave coconut conditioner). We also picked the nits that we could find under a lighted magnifying glass. This stuff says it gets rid of the nits, and maybe it does get rid of a lot of them, but we still had to pick. We never saw another bug after the first day. We did find 2-4 nits each day for about 10 days (but that could be because we are dealing with blonde hair and 50+ year old eyes that don't see so well....otherwise we may have found all the nits sooner).

So after all of this, both daughters are clear of lice/nits. Also....we are using Suave Coconut shampoo and conditioner to prevent them from returning. Not sure if it works, but figured it can't hurt.

So anyway, just in case this helps anyone else, I thought I would pass this along. It was so stressful and I was not prepared for it, but if you find yourself in this situation, I thought I would pass along what we did.

Oh I googled Lice R Gone several times ,some people say it works great others said it didn't. Honestly, I don't think 1 treatment is enough (they say it is, but it isn't). But it is safe to use daily, so we may have 'over killed' on how much we used it, but in the end....it worked, so just thought I would share what we did.

I hope NONE of you ever have to go through this.
(oh, and how my daughter got it was from going through used clothes are a thrift store to find something to wear for Halloween).

 

[aprilgail2]

We used the Lice R Gone shampoo 3 times the first day (30 minutes on each time)...and then apply and rinse Suave Coconut conditioner (I read it helps, I don't know, but we used it). 2 times the second day + suave coconut conditioner (again 30 minutes). And then EVERY day for 15 days (leaving it on for 30 minutes each day + suave coconut conditioner). ).

OMG that is way to much work for me LOL----15 days???? I would seriously look up a nitpicker in the area before resorting to 15 days of that. The nitpicker only used panteen shampoo and just combed and combed and picked and picked...
I would use that service again in a heartbeat !

 

[westjones]

OMG that is way to much work for me LOL----15 days???? I would seriously look up a nitpicker in the area before resorting to 15 days of that. The nitpicker only used panteen shampoo and just combed and combed and picked and picked...
I would use that service again in a heartbeat !

Believe me, if we had such a service where I live, I would have used it. We don't, so had to do it ourselves. Not fun at all! And as I said, we may have overkilled, I just heard too many stories of people battling this over and over and not getting rid of them, so I wanted to make sure we ended it completely.

I will never know exactly how much we needed to do to get rid of them, but what I did worked, so I just thought I would share this with others because I did a lot of searching online and got a lot of information and I just wanted to maybe give someone else some ideas if they ever have to go through this thing themselves.

But YES....I would have loved to go to one of those services if we had had it available!

 

[tlbwriter]

(oh, and how my daughter got it was from going through used clothes are a thrift store to find something to wear for Halloween).

How did you narrow it down to that? When my daughter had lice, it was going around her classroom and her teacher suspected the lice were crawling between coats that were crowded onto too-close coathooks (she made the kids start putting their coats in their bags) but we never knew how Patient Zero contracted the little buggers.

 

[westjones]

How did you narrow it down to that? When my daughter had lice, it was going around her classroom and her teacher suspected the lice were crawling between coats that were crowded onto too-close coathooks (she made the kids start putting their coats in their bags) but we never knew how Patient Zero contracted the little buggers.

Well she didn't have them before she went to the thrift shop, no one in her school had them (she goes to a small charter school, and the nurse did head checks after I reported my daughter had them). So we know she didn't get it from school. Also, she is 17, so it isn't like she is with people she doesn't know putting her head near them (like with small kids when they are playing together). And she really hadn't been anywhere other than school the week before she started itching EXCEPT going to the thrift store and trying on clothes to try to find something that she would wear to look like an elderly woman for a party. It was two days after that shopping trip that she noticed itching and when we had her checked there weren't a lot, but the doctor did see them and we so we started treating them.

If she were a younger kid, it would be harder to tell how she got it.

 

[Nicolepa]

I have never heard of such a service -- amazing! It's not cheap, but after hearing some of the horror stories, I am sure the $150 - $250 would be well worth it.

$150 is a bargain! My daughter had lice in December, really bad. I did RID and spent 6 hours combing out here hair. Not only did I not find any dead lice, but I saw no end in sight!

So the next day I took her to my local lice place. $95/hour! Turned out all 3 of my kids had it. She obviously had it the worst. They spent 3 hours on her hair. The next day I took my boys back (didn't have appointments available the same day). 2 hours on my 2 y/o's hair. 1.5 hours on my 8 y/o. They said he had just gotten it. I swore I had it but they said I was clear. Apparently there was something (Citronelle) in my shampoo that keeps them away. So $600 later (the month of Christmas) we were all clear. I had to comb out there hair every day for 14 days to make sure. If they miss a nit and it hatches and you don't catch it you are at square one again.

I won't talk about all the laundry I had to do! But I will say I think I was OCD about that.

 

[Iott Family]

They do make non pesticide lice agents that will kill the lice. And a good nit comb is a must. Also, tea tree oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil and olive oil naturally detract those little buggers. My kids use a rosemary mint shampoo now that there was a lice breakout at both the preschool and elementary school. Cookie cutters kids salon also carry lice free products, a bit pricey, but they work and dont smell awful!

 

[pilesoflaundry]

They do make non pesticide lice agents that will kill the lice. And a good nit comb is a must. Also, tea tree oil, rosemary oil, coconut oil and olive oil naturally detract those little buggers. My kids use a rosemary mint shampoo now that there was a lice breakout at both the preschool and elementary school. Cookie cutters kids salon also carry lice free products, a bit pricey, but they work and dont smell awful!

I used to think all that stuff worked but I think it depends on the person more if it works.

One of my dd's gets them every time they go around school, my other dd has had them once and only once. They share a room, clothes, etc. and you would think they would pass it back and forth. They also use the exact same shampoo (coconut with rosemary). The dd that gets them has very thick, beautiful hair. The other one has thin, fine, sort of oily hair.

The terminator nit comb is the best. It has these little ridges and it really gets it all out.

So many people don't' realize you have to comb and check for 10-14 days and no one wants to do the work so they keep going around. It's not as simple as one dose of shampoo and go on your merry way. Which is why I think they keep going around my kids school. Everyone thinks just the rid and you are done. Ugh.

 

[tlbwriter]

The dd that gets them has very thick, beautiful hair. The other one has thin, fine, sort of oily hair.

Yeah, it's a common misconception that "dirty" people get lice. The truth is that lice are apparently attracted to clean hair. Your daughter with the more oily hair probably has some natural protection.

 

[westjones]

I won't talk about all the laundry I had to do! But I will say I think I was OCD about that.

Oh my! For two days straight my washer and dryer did not stop! I was up in the middle of the night loading and unloading the wash. I was endless. Then for like two weeks I washed up everything she wore and slept on. It was a nightmare! I am so glad we are done with it.

 

[Beach Bunny]

Ewwwwww