OT - Lice!

[Nanisashi]

Imagine my surprise/horror when my dd4 was getting a haircut and the hairdresser found the beginning stages of lice. I was pretty mortified and I felt bad for dd because she had been so excited to get her haircut, but ofcourse the place couldn't do it. I had to keep her home, notify the daycare, neighborhood kids moms, gymnastics class, friends. What is the best remedy to get rid of them? I bought something called Fairytales yesterday and did two applications, I want those things gone!

 

[sunshyne1023]

Must be an outbreak. I just found them on my DD3 the other day! Mayonaise works wonders. Lather it up and leave on for at least 3 hours. The oil and vinegar smother them. So far so good. Just keep checking and sliding the nits off and I rinse the nit comb in white vinegar. I googled lice forever and these are the 2 things that worked for me. I bought the lce kits and they never work and they were expensive too. Someone else said spraying their hair with listerine? I never tried that one. Good luck..its a pain in the butt.

 

[Dawn414]

There's definitely an outbreak going on...we got notified by our daycare that a couple children in our kid's class were sent home...thankfully nothing so far for us, but it is definitely something going around.

Dawn McG

 

[mickeylove2]

There's another thread going on about this with some really good remedies and advice, I'll try to find it and post it for you unless someone else does it 1st!

 

[solferino]

Don't forget about bedding and stuffed animals/dolls they might sleep with. If they can't be laundered, I think sealing them in a plastic bag for something like 2 weeks is supposed to be sufficient time for anything left behind to die off.

 

[daisy2]

Throwing the bedding in the wash and washing them in hot water and putting it in the dryer on high heat will kill them too. You can't really do that with pillows but you can sure send them through a hot dryer than put them in a plastic bag for two weeks. Also boil your brushes and combs and hair ties. You can spray your couches with the nit spray. Just make sure you get all the nits our of your childs hair you have to be consistent with it.

 

[Nanisashi]

Thanks for the suggestions! She is sporting a mayonnaise hairdo at the moment. I will check out the other threads for more ideas.

 

[TheDizMom]

This is the time of year when lice seem to be most prevalent for some reason. My sister's kids have gotten them twice from the cousins on the other side of the family and she has always used the Rid. It has always worked for her. I, thank goodness, have never had to deal with this and whenever my kids have been exposed I do a few treatments on them to hopefully keep them from getting them. Unfortunately it takes a while to get rid of them. Don't forget to use the Rid spray and vacum all furniture and rugs, and wash everything that can be in really hot water. Also put all stuffed toys, hats and anything else that might harbor them, and won't wash well, into air tight plastic bags for several weeks to kill anything that may be on them. Spray your car and car seats if you use them too. Make sure you don't share anything that may spread them like beds, pillows, brushes and hair accessories. My sister also has her kids each pick one stuffed animal that they can keep out for bed and she washes them every day. If at all possible restrict activity to only certain rooms in your house to try to prevent getting them in your entire house. It is a real pain in the butt for sure, and I sympathize. Remember this happens to the best of us, and it too shall pass.

 

[poohlovermom]

We had lice for over 12 weeks a few years ago,ugh! We tried everything but what finally worked was maynoise on the hair. Yes maynoise. We put it on the hair and placed on a showercap over night then rinsed with vinegar the next day. I forgot the life cycle of lice but did this everyday through the cycle. Only thing that worked. Hey and the left overs in the jar great for sandwich making. PM if anymore ?

 

[gottalovethem]

I have no advice but have to say that I sooo afraid of my children getting this -- my dd has the thickest, curliest hair and I have no clue how I'd be able to comb through it all.

Great job on the mayo, sounds like it really works!!

And yes, it seems lice is everywhere right now.

Good luck!!

 

[fakereadhed]

We had lice for over 12 weeks a few years ago,ugh! We tried everything but what finally worked was maynoise on the hair. Yes maynoise. We put it on the hair and placed on a showercap over night then rinsed with vinegar the next day. I forgot the life cycle of lice but did this everyday through the cycle. Only thing that worked. Hey and the left overs in the jar great for sandwich making. PM if anymore ?

This works, but ONLY if you do it EVERY day of the life cycle, OR comb out each and every nit(egg) after treatment. Sometimes this is the only thing that works because their are resistant strains that the OTC products don't work on. To OP: Try NIX first. It kills the eggs too.

Also, save yourself some grief and get rid of ALL of your throwpillows, extra blankets, and stuffed animals, and dolls that you can part with. Bag them up and put them in the attic until spring. Saves you from feeling like all you do is laundry if your kids' school has it bad and it keeps going around. If your child has a favorite stuffed animal, wash it every day on hot and throw it in the dryer on high.

One thing to note- if your kid takes any meds you can probably breathe a sigh of relief. In our family(when the kids were younger one of the schools CONSTANTLY had problems with lice) anyone taking meds did not get lice. I don't think they like the taste of you! And I know they sometimes put kids on Bactrim if it's a chronic problem. It didn't seem to matter what the med was, but those with daily meds in our household didn't ever get infected.

Wishing you some That is one ordeal I totally hate to go through...

 

[beattyfamily]

Do a treatment. Then again in 7 days.

Nitpick every single day at least twice a day (in the am and then in the pm. Dry hair is best. Good lighting is a must. Magnifying glass very helpful. Carefully dispose of the nits as they can survive and hatch!

In between treatments, put olive oil on their head and comb and comb and comb. This will catch the lice. Rinse with Dawn to get the oil out.

Buy the Robi comb at Walmart. It zaps the living lice and kills them.

Do laundry. Clean all the sheets and towels etc... Vaccum the couch and rugs.

Boil the brushes in water and do not share them.

Once lice free, use products with Tea Tree Oil (shampoo, conditioner etc...) as it seems to keep them away! Same goes for lots of hairspray.

Keep their hair in a ponytail at school. Less chance of transferring/getting them.

Helpful info:

Eggs take about 7 to 10 days to hatch.
Female lice can lay up to 8 eggs a night.
Within 7 days of hatching female lice can lay eggs.
Lice can survive off the head for up to 3 days!
Nits will remain alive off the host for up to 10 days; they will not hatch at or below room temperature (68 degrees F) though.
Lice can live up to 30 days and can lay up to 90 eggs total.

 

[angwill]

I had a friend who's children had them all summer and then shared them with the neighborhood unfortunatly. The life cycle is two weeks and the most important thing after treatment is using the nit comb daily and trying to pick out the eggs you can see if the comb doesn't get them. Soak the comb in alcohol between combings. It is the glue that holds the eggs to the hairshaft that is the problem since no product can eat through the glue except from what I read the new fairytales product they just put on the market so good choice there. The Rid will get rid of the live lice but the eggs then hatch two weeks later thus combing and picking for at least two weeks to get all the eggs off. Personally, I would treat again in two weeks as well. I think I remember reading that the lice can only live for 24-48 hours without a blood host (head). Keep in mind I only went to CDC and health services websites so I didn't get any of the home remedies mentioned her for my friend.

After all this my friend feels she was stopping the combing too soon because she would honestly feel they were gone since she didn't see any more lice or eggs only to have a reinfestation. She said she didn't think her husband was doing a thourough job going through her head either. She said if she could do it over she would have just shaved her boys hair off to start with.

HTH

Wow, I just read the info above mine and it sounds like there is a lot of different information out on the net that doesn't always match up with other info. I was not trying to contradict what was said since I didn't see it till after I posted my info.

 

[tlbwriter]

Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt. Washed it in hot water.

The most important thing is to remove all of the nits. Comb every day. Don't use the plastic comb that comes with the chemical kits - get a comb with metal teeth. I started using tweezers to pluck out hairs with nits instead of attempting to remove the nit itself - this seemed to work better. Chemical treatments will kill some of the nits. Mayonnaise will kill the lice (and condition the hair) but will not kill the nits.

Also, lice like clean hair. Don't wash your child's hair every day, even after the infestation has been treated.