Lice strikes...Yuck!!!

[lmj]

Well I don't believe it. My oldest DD has head lice. She has been scratching her head since last weekend and really complaining about how itchy she is. I have looked but not seen anything. Her scalp was very red but I didn't see anything in her hair. She went to the school nurse yesterday but they just put some Benadryl cream on her neck. Today I finally called the doctor. We went in and she took one look and gave us the bad news. I have no idea where it came from, I haven't gotten any notes from school lately about anyone in the class having it. She washes her hair at least once a day every day. We used the Nix cream and I spent about an hour combing her hair out with the little comb. I also washed all her bedding and everyone else's pillowcases in hot water with bleach and sprayed down the couch and all of the beds with the "lice spray" I bought. My other 2 kids don't seem to have any signs yet but they usually all use the same brush so I will have to keep checking them. Oh yeah I also am disinfecting all the combs and brushes. Any other things I am missing? I can't think of any. (All this written as I sit scratching my head)

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I am sorry to hear this.this is a tough thing.my little sister got head lice 3 times last year,my mom would call every time crying.i would go ahead and treat everyone in the house,that is what they did.
now i am sitting here scratching.

 

[Serena]

I hate those little critters

Don't forget the stuffed animals. If you can't wash or dry them on high heat, seal them up in a plastic bag for about 3 weeks. Also the car where she sits.


it's a pain. And one more thing, lice like clean hair.

 

[ltldeb]

Okay, the first thing I did while reading this was scratch my head. I hate lice! We had a bad problem here where it came home from DD's school every two weeks for an 8 week period about 3 years back. I was at the end of my rope. It almost got to the point where I was going to tell the kids NOT to wash their hair because lice migrate to clean hair. I even sent the cat to the vet's for the afternoon so I could bomb my house. It wasn't a fun time.

Good luck. I hope you get rid of them fast!

 

[Karel]

IF she wears hats, run them through the dryer. I sprayed all the softball team helmets when my daughter had them. We had a big problem last year in my daughter's class.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

I sympathize totally. My oldest DD had lice last summer and it took FOREVER (well, about 3 months) to get rid of it. I finally just started treating her every week until it was gone for good. Amazingly, no one else in the house got it. Good luck and hopefully you can get rid of it quickly.

 

[janette]

My girls had them a couple of years ago and they came back after I treated them. The only place I could think of that I didn't treat was the car so don't forget the car seat.

I rinsed the girls hair with vinegar every other day and used the combs after they came back. That worked and I didn't have to treat again. The vinegar stank but I felt better about using it than all the chemicals in the treatments.

 

[Talking Hands]

I feel for you. We had to shave my daughter's head 2 years in a row because of lice. Now she is a fanatic about her hair.
Good luck in getting rid of them
NIX the entire family, spray or wash everything, bag up the stuffed toys that can't be washed and dryed. Rinse hair with vinegar.
Has your daughter gone to the movies recently. We always seem to have a rash of head lice after big school holidays when the kids go to the movies. Also if they use those headphones are music stores.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Oh, you poor thing! We went through the head lice thing when my daughter was in 1st grade. It was awful. The school wouldn't send out notices to tell the other parents and by the time it was all over, 21 people ended up with head lice. I just love public school! But that's another headache hahahaha Anyway, I have a great website for everyone that's ever had questions about head lice.

http://www.headlice.org/

It's the national pediculosis association. They'll give you much more comprehensive information than even the Doctors have. All the latest treatments, etc. Now that the darn lice are resistant to Nix and Rid it's hard to find a treatment that will kill every single one of them. And if just one is left......there you go again. My thoughts are with you, my dear.

 

[dandave]

Here is some general lice info:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/headlice/factsht_head_lice.htm

It's a myth that lice only like clean hair. Any scalp will do. http://www.health.qld.gov.au/headlice/about.html

It is not recommended that you treat members of your household with medicated shampoos unless they are over 2 years old and actually have lice. These shampoos are pesticides. They can cause damage to the nervous system if overused, and the lice can become resistant.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/headlice/factsht_head_lice_treating.htm

Good luck to you!

 

[JasonLyons]

my daughter had that once, so hard to get rid of, I washed all pillow cases everyday with the rid and that seemned to do the trick, get a robi comb

 

[Princess Michelle]

Just reading the title of this thread made my head itch.

 

[lmj]

I actually had to go take a hot shower. After sitting and combing all of those little bugs out of her hair I could see some of them on my sweatshirt. I even used the extra fine tooth comb that came with the kit to comb out my hair just to make me feel better. I am much better now.

 

[AngieBelle]

Oh I remember lice! We had head checks in elementary school and I got lice in 4th grade. I remember sitting in the bathroom forever while mom put this yucky stuff in my hair and combed out the bugs. Not fun! And then she had to wash the brand new plush kitty I had gotten for my birthday 'cause I slept with it, and when she threw it in the drier, it's silky hair turned to cotton! I was devastated.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Oh, I feel for you.... I still feel guilty - my kids had a bout with them 6 years ago - the heydey of lice when they were making the cover of magazines. We actually had them 3 years in a row but one year was really bad in particular. 80% of the girls in that age group at their school had them!

Every week it seemed for a month and they would still come back in the form of a nit or two. I even let the doctor talk me into putting lindane (a prescription) on their heads for over an hour... I've since learned this is very toxic and still don't know the long term effects... wish I could sue the doctor.... this was before the internet at our house of I would have looked it up!!!

Anyway, a few things I've learned - vinegar loosens the nits and a good METAL lice comb works the best - use the metal one on dry hair only though or it will pull hair out. Also, another thing I hadn't thought of back then is to blow dry your kid's hair! Lice die from heat which is one reason adults don't get them as often - we are always doing something to our hair. Had I known this it would have helped....

Good luck!!! Remember, this too shall pass....

 

[amid chaos]

A couple other ideas...boil the hair and comb after she uses them EVERY day. Do her laundry EVERY day and i took the sheets, comforters and pillows and threw them in the dryer every morning for 20 minutes.
Also..drop some tea tree oil in her shampoo...smeels awful but worth the effort.

Oh, and shame on that school nurse!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Originally posted by lmj
After sitting and combing all of those little bugs out of her hair I could see some of them on my sweatshirt.

:::shudder...shudder:::itching my head....

A girl in my troop said that there was a comb she had gotten at the pet store that worked perfectly at combing through her dds hair. Her dd had LONG hair.

Good Luck!

 

[wdwnutze]

Don't forget to wash any coats that your daughter has been wearing. My dd had lice twice 1 1/2yrs ago. It was so hard to get rid of. No one else in the house got it thank God. I told my dd to put her jacket inside her backpack in school and not on the coat hooks with everyone elses. I also kept her hair tightly braided and reminded her no sharing combs, headbands, hats etc.

 

[Chattyaholic]

My DD got lice when she was in 4th grade. She'd had a friend over to play for an afternoon and a few days later she had them. She said "oh, Amber just had them last week too!" and I knew they had been upstairs playing with each other's hair, combing, curling, etc. so I knew that's where she picked them up. We used the Rid shampoo/comb and I laundered all her bedding (it was spring, so no coat to launder, and had been told to thoroughly vacuum any furniture where she sat, and to put all her stuffed animals into garbage bags for two weeks. We did all that and I guess it worked, she didn't get it again and neither did myself or DH. I have heard lice don't like heads with hair spray, and I use that every day.

 

[believe]

Don't forget to spray the car. This is how my niece spread the lice to our family. Also, I found the best way to see the lice eggs was to look while blow drying the hair. Remember that the shampoos kill the lice slowly so even after using it you may still see live lice that you must remove. It took me weeks to remove everything from my daughter's hair. I still look at her hair every couple weeks, I truly don't want to go through all that again.