Lice!

[poosiegirl]

I'm a bit freaked out by these little critters and hoping that some been there done that moms (and dads) can reassure me.

My three year daughter goes to a home daycare during the day. Apparently on Monday evening the daycare provider's grand-daughter as came over to visit (my daughter was already home so she had no contact with the little girl). Fast forward to this morning when mom realizes the little girl has lice. She immediately called daycare provider who let me know. All in the first hour or so my daughter was there.

The daycare provider immediately put tea tree boil conditioner on all the kids' hair and pony-tailed and braided my daughter's. She washed or isolated any stuffed animals her granddaughter had contact and kept the kids away from the furniture until she could spray it.

I checked my daughters hair and scalp and didn't see anything, but then again I'm not 100% sure I know what to look for (and I did google images- yuck). How big of a chance is there that she's got them or will catch them tomorrow? I plan on braiding her hair and spraying some hair spray on it, because I read lice don't like that. Please reassure me!

 

[NinaBella]

Buy tea tree oil and put a couple drops in her shampoo. Use hair gel and hair spray to dirty her hair. I have also mixed water and tea tree oil in a spray bottle and sprayed their hair. My husband uses a tea tree hair gel.

 

[MandiC]

Oh lice, I hope for your sake she doesn't get it because they can be a pain to treat. My kids have in the past been around kids who had lice and didn't get it. I've gotten a call from my cousin even once after my daughter's slept at her house that her daughter had lice and my daughter's still didn't get it. Oddly enough one of my daughter's got it from school (still can't figure it out but I am thinking because in that grade they only had hooks for their coats and everyone's coats hang next to each other all day) we managed to keep it to just her but I was worried. I'd almost be worried that she brushed through the kids hair, hopefully she boiled the combs/brushes before. Lice don't like dirty hair so hair spray/spray gel should help, I spray my girls everyday before school with a spray I got from Walgreens called Lice Shield. Hopefully since she was there such a short period of time nobody will get it.
If she gets it you pretty much have to go through her hair, strand for strand daily for at least 2 weeks looking for bugs and eggs. We caught it pretty early so I didn't find anything after the first few days but I continued to look for the next month just so I knew for sure...to this day when I start looking through her hair (if we get a lice letter home from school) she gets nervous. We sprayed furniture, washed all bedding/clothes she had worn on hot, bagged what we couldn't wash and put it in the garage, boiled brushes/combs, bagged hair things we didn't want to throw away. The bagged stuff stayed in the garage for at least a month, I was so scared to bring it back in (which is unreasonable really ) but I think 2 weeks is supposed to be fine.

 

[msmama]

When there is lice in school they put backpacks and coats in black trash bags and don't take them into the classroom. I leave a comb by the door and do a quick comb through his hair when he gets home from school.

Make sure you keep her hair up and braided and close to her head and remind her not to get too close to any of her classmates. No dress up at school for awhile, too.

It's been in my son's class every year and we've never had it (knock on wood). Good luck!!

 

[cagirl4life]

When checking a kids hair it is easiest to spot in good light. So especially if you daughter has light hair take her outside to check. I know people doing it with a candle going so when they find nits or eggs they put it into the flame so they know it is gone.

There is shampoo with tea tree oil in it already. We always have some on us since last year my moms school had a horrible outbreak in kinder. Braid your daughters hair back, no hair accessories that could easily be shared. There is a spray you can use if you do find it. Wash everything on hot. Bag what can't be washed. There is also specialist. So if you see her really itching her head and are unsure you can take her and they will check. I know they have them here in Phoenix. If they find live they will offer to sell you a treatment.

 

[poosiegirl]

Thanks everyone! I picked her up from daycare and there have been no signs of lice! My daycare provider went on a cleaning streak and checked everyone's hair in her house plus my daughter's and the other kids' hair too. So far no one else has them either.

The mom and the granddaughter went to school today and were checked and also lice free. Guess she caught it right away.

I have a son in kindergarten so I figure it's only a matter of time before it happens again. I feel so much better prepared as to how to prevent it and how to treat it now! Thank you for all the advice and reassurance! I feel so much less itchy now.

 

[SweetMissy]

I feel your pain!! For the 1st 3 months after my daughter started kindergarten, we had this issue. They're very hard to get rid of! I did everything I read online to do, but no matter what, it took 3 months....and that was only because I eventually treated her hair every other day and finally got rid of them. All it takes is one little teeny tiny egg and before you know it, you have an infestation. Just keep checking her hair....oh it's making me itch just thinking about it, lol. Good luck!!

 

[Lauralaylin]

Thanks to preschool, we've had to deal with it twice, the last time I was alone as my husband was traveling. It's not the end of the world! My opinion is to call someone in to check heads and remove everything. That way you know it won't come back! It is actually not easy to catch on things like couches, but it's still a lot of work vacuuming, washing, etc.

 

[chris31997]

Tea tree oil(about 15 drops) in some coconut oil. Mix it well. Spread it on the hair as if it were hair conditioner. Bonus, coconut oil hydrates hair

At night sleep with a plastic head covering on to help smoother the lice.

During the day before hair is braided, apply oil either coconut or olive oil.

Do not wash hair every day. Wash it once/twice a week.

Find an allergen pillow case.

Spray a cedar/tea tree essentail oil mixture around the house and on beds.


I have dealt with it off and on DD has thick, fine, long hair Of course her head can not tolerate the chemical that kill lice. About 6yrs, she stopped washing her hair every day. We had no problems with lice after that. It is a "clean person" issue. Lice attaches to clean hair. It cannot attach to dirty hair. Once one person had it in the house, before, we treated the whole house with the coconut oil and no one else had to deal with it.