Lice..Happy Easter

[Pembo]

DD, 7, had a friend over yesterday and her mom called today to tell me she found lice! The friend's friend had them and the mom has been checking but never saw anything...until this morning.

So my question...the girl was here a couple hours. DD said that did not play dress-up or beauty shop or anything else we could think of to suggest that their heads would have been together. What should I do for prevention??? I was thinking sweeping DD's room, changing her bedding, washing DD's hair....Anything else??

btw-The poor friend's mom was sobbing on the phone, she felt so bad. It could have been worse.

 

[java]

Put all the stuffed things in the room into plastic bags and tie them up!(BLACK garbage bags)

Washing her hair isn't going to make a difference I don't think- they do sell some lice preventative shampoo out there. I have no idea if it works.

Poor little thing. And don't worry yet. Keep checking her head- the nits are kind of clear balls attatched to the hair(my brother had this when he was little and my mom was in the hospital. I got to deal with it! at 12! So I know what it looks like and how to get rid of it once you have it- and I never did get it. (I kept my hair UP in a pony the whole time.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

You said sweep, so I'm assuming that means no carpet... after sweeping, if truly worried, I would throw away the broom. But at the least, soak it in bleach and rinse it under VERY hot water. Lice are used to clinging onto things so it doesn't hurt to be too careful.

I would go with anything material she could have come into contact with. So, anything material in your DD's room, towels in the bathroom or kitchen, seat cushions on the kitchen table, any chairs or couches, if you drove her anywhere.

And once you're done vacuuming, either throw away the bag or clean out the filter and lint holder (idk what it's called) when you're done.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The best thing you can do is go out and get a lice comb and check your dd's head. I recommend the Licemeister. Look it up as it is a brand name.

Cleaning the house is fine and dandy but put your energy into your dd's head.

Wipe chair backs, chairs, stuffed animals in garbage bags. Vaccuming is your best weapon.

My dd has had lice twice. The sooner you get the lice comb thru her hair the better off you are going to be.

 

[Pembo]

DD has carpet, so we'll be vacuuming. Her hair was in a ponytail yesterday. I thought I heard that Suave shampoo is a good lice preventative?!

 

[robinb]

The best thing you can do is go out and get a lice comb and check your dd's head. I recommend the Licemeister. Look it up as it is a brand name.

Cleaning the house is fine and dandy but put your energy into your dd's head.

Wipe chair backs, chairs, stuffed animals in garbage bags. Vaccuming is your best weapon.

My dd has had lice twice. The sooner you get the lice comb thru her hair the better off you are going to be.

I agree . My DD had lice 3 times and I really liked the red Rid comb with built-in magnifier for my aging eyes. I got it at Walgreens. It helped A LOT to determine if something was dandruff or an nit (aka egg) or a louse.

I would skip the lice shampoo. It never worked for us. The key is to get rid of the live crawling lice before they are able to breed and lay eggs. My recommendation is to comb your DD's hair when it is wet with unrinsed conditioner in it. The conditioner will keep the lice from moving around too much while you comb.

The first time I tried to get rid of lice it took months. I tried the shampoo twice and I tried to pick nits. Nothing worked. Finally, I did The Lice Program (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/index.html) I found while Googling my problem. I didn't want to do it at first because it was a 21-day program but after 2 months of no lice relief I gave in and did it. It worked like a charm! I did it for the next two infestations too. What I like the best about this program is that (1) you don't have to worry about nits. You get the lice when they hatch and (2) you are given days off to rest and recover from mega-combing sessions.

 

[robinb]

DD has carpet, so we'll be vacuuming. Her hair was in a ponytail yesterday. I thought I heard that Suave shampoo is a good lice preventative?!

It doesn't matter if her hair was in a pony tail or not. The lice usually crawl between kids who have their heads together. I don't think that anything is a lice preventative.

 

[Arkansan]

Try products from Fairytales Haircare as a preventative. They are organic (so no poisons or chemicals) and reasonably priced. Once you get on their e-mail list, they send a monthly discount code worth about 15% off. My 3 kids have been using the shampoo, conditioner, and hairspray for years now and we've never had lice. Co-incidence? Maybe, but to me it is cheap insurance. They need to wash their hair anyway, right? So the kids might as well be using organic shampoo that is formulated to deter lice. The site is Fairytaleshaircare dot com.

Good luck!

 

[1tricky1]

dd is 7 and since daycare we sprayed her hair with tea tree oill from the body shop. i sometime add to her shampoo also, her hair is always tied, braided bun all the time
NEVER had it so i personally believe it helps


vicky

 

[beattyfamily]

I feel for you.

We had this problem two summers ago. I have two girls with long, thick hair so it was a nightmare.

I tried everything....treatments, combing and nit picking several times a day, Tea Tree Shampoo, Fairytales shampoo/conditioner line, electric comb and Olive oil.

It took 3 weeks and I believe what worked was the constant combing/nit picking and combing the hair with olive oil. That is how I got the live ones.

Of course, we also cleaned everything (clothes, bedding, brushes) and we each had separate brushes and I kept their hair in pony tails with hairspray for awhile.

Good luck!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I feel your pain. Years ago when the girls were in 2nd and 3rd grade our school had an outbreak. We were very lucky - dd 1 had one nit and dd 2 had 2 nits, ds had none.

It was a nightmare though. I did everyone's hair with Nix, bough a steel nit comb and combed their (long, thick) hair twice a day with it. I washed their sheets, pillows, mattress covers and bedspreads EVERY DAY in hot water and kept them in the dryer extra long. I also vaccumed every rug, mattress, upholstered furniture, booster seats and car upholestery every day. All stuffed animals went in a sealed garbage bag for a month. Any clothes that couldn't be washed in hot water and dried in the dryer went to the dry cleaners.

We were lucky that we were able to get rid of them that one time. I heard terrible stories from families who thought they were doing everything they could but they kept coming back.

I was exhausted!!! To this day I still make the girls wear their hair in pony tails or braids. I also sprayed hair spray on their hair every day until the "lice epidemic" was over at school.

GOOD LUCK!

 

[SarahKate]

Lice sucks!!!!

Last fall DD7 got it, not sure who from, no one ever called to "fess up" (but I don't blame them, it would be hard for me too!).

I agree w/ other poster to get the comb that has the little magnifying glass. It works very well. It has a plastic handle w/ the magnifying glass built in and metal teeth. The plastic comb that comes w/ the lice kit is junk.

Just keep a close eye on her, and see if you can find any eggs......look through her hair small section by small section. I think the best way to resolve is by very, very regular "nit picking" and removing everything you can. I'm still not sure that the shampoos really helped that much. You'll see them closer to the scalp, where it's warmer, many times you'll find them in the hair behind the ears.

DD has THICK and CURLY hair so we would spend hours doing this.

As far as cleaning, if it makes you feel any better, we didn't get overzealous w/ cleaning. Think of it - lice are parasites, the eggs need warmth to hatch. And the nymphs and adult lice need blood to survive. So if something falls on a stuffed animal or carpeting, there's such a tiny, tiny chance of them getting lice that way. We washed bedding and recently worn clothes and jackets in HOT water. We vacuumed very regularly. We didn't bag up any toys or anything like that. I used the lice spray that came in the kit on many different things - toys, couch, headrest in the car, backpack, and any place else I felt like her head would have come in contact. She wore a braid for a little while, so her hair wasn't all free flowing. All these things resulted in NO reinfestation and no problems since then.

Also, if she does end up with lice, please don't feel badly or embarrassed about it. It really isn't a big deal - lice have been around for millions of years. It happens. It's a pain in the ****, but it's workable. And another thing too - I made a much bigger deal out of it than DD did - her and her friends would just talk about it like it's nothing (much to my dismay at the time!)......at this age, it really doesn't have the stigma that it does in older kids!!!

A funny thing too.....DH and I BOTH thought for sure we had lice too at this same time. He came home one nite and said he thought for sure he had it - I checked and checked and not one thing. I also got very itchy, and NOTHING. I've read several places that boys don't usually get it, probably because there's just not as much hair! Actually, my head is itching as I type this.......

 

[Mary•Poppins]

I am a teacher and work with 6 year olds in a one-on-one remedial reading program. Anyway ... since I work right next to my students ... I am an expert at spotting lice.

As upsetting as it is to have a child with lice (my son got it at age 11) it is mainly a pain. If your children were together I would vacuum her room and any room they were playing in, then wash any couch throws or bedding they may have has contact with. But mainly just check her hair daily for the next 10 days. Our school nurse said that lice lay eggs in the hair that mainly surrounds the perimeter of the head (nape of the neck and by the ears). The live bugs usually scurry on the top of the head and are VERY fast. It is almost impossible to see them unless a child has a severe case.

One day my son was watching TV and was scratching his head. As I watched him, I asked him if his head was itchy all day ... he responded, yes ... well ... it was all over when I looked at his head. This was at 9:00 at night and he had just slept over a friend's house the night before. LUCKILY these are very dear friends of ours. I felt SO bad having to tell them. Their husband is a teacher too ... and knows how lice can spread. They vaccuumed and washed everything and their sons were fine. My other two sons never got it either. The funny part of the whole story is my husband was so freaked out by it ... more than myself! I think I just see and deal with it more in my work place and I'm just use to spotting kids who have it.

My son on the other hand was mortified. I knew we had to call the school and report the case ... which meant his whole class had to be checked. I kept telling him that these things happen ... but you know kids.

 

[Kae]

I think a pony does help. Please don't use a lice shampoo unless you find bugs or nits. You can cover her hair with cheap gel & a shower cap for sleeping & shampoo it out tomorrow. Do it a few days in a row.

Kae

 

[Pembo]

OP here..Day 2 of lice watch. Yesterday we vacuumed her room and washed everything we could. I read online to wash her hair, put in conditioner and not rinse it, then comb her hair before rinsing...so that's what we did. I have a feeling she'll be "clean". The girls mostly played outside and they aren't the touchy type, so no head to head kind of stuff.

I'm just glad DD didn't go over there Or that we didn't take the girl home in our car.

We'll keep looking though...

 

[shortbun]

This is going to sound weird but I would lather up hair with olive oil and wrap in plastic wrap immediately to kill any live lice and stop them from laying eggs. The one time we had lice here, I smothered them like this then did REALLY thorough nit picking for one week while doing the olive oil treatment every other day. The end result: lice free and beautifully conditionend hair. No chemicals used.

 

[iwrbnd]

Last year my whole family got infested with lice! It was awful! My DH and I are the only ones that didn't get it. My daughter still sleeps with us (I know, I know, we're working on it!) and I couldn't figure out how we escaped it. My DH is practically bald so that explained him but not me. Well, I was taking Bactrim for a bladder infection and my DH (is a doc) said he read that preliminary studies are showing Bactrim kills lice! Just thought it was interesting!

BTW, we got rid of the lice with olive oil, too.

 

[CapeMayMommy]

I put suave coconut conditioner very thick on my children's hair and combed out all the live lice and whatevery nits I found.

did this twice a day.

 

[shellybaxter]

If you have trouble spotting the lice get a black light and go into a dark room - they light up under the black light.