Rather Embarrassing, but need advice

[gr8tpanther]

My DD went to a church vacation bible school and apparently pickes up HEAD LICE... I treated her and found TONS of nits. I began picking them out one by one and cutting a few patches out that were underneath and wouldn't show the chops.

Does anyone out there know how to keep these buggers from coming back? What I should do? How to deal with these?

I HATE bugs of ANY kind and this is just devastating. I had to miss 2 days of work and my boss is NOT happy.

 

[piratesmate]

DS got them when he was 2 - from some children I took in when their mother ran away from home.

Have you tried the shampoo RID? That's what we used. I have a feeling that there may be an age limit (like 'not younger than') that I didn't know about at the time.

It worked well & we just combed the nits out with a special comb - very fine teeth. We were fortunate in that they didn't come back - although we had to treat/deal with all the furniture, bedding, clothes in the hamper...

Good luck!

 

[gr8tpanther]

Everytime I think I got all the nits, I find another one, never ending.

I make her change her bedding twice a day and I wash everything just as often, clothes she is wearing, I make her change those several times a day and I wash them as well. I bought clorox bleach for colors, HOPING it will do the job, and I keep the combs soaking in HOT bleach water.

I think I wash her hair several times a day and I have already treated twice, this is such a nightmare...

Thanks for the advice.

 

[monarchsfan16]

If the RID doesn't work, put mayonaise in the hair. It's the only thing that would work for my cousin.
Your house will have to be vaccummed. I think stuffed animals and stuff that can't be washed have to be put in trash bags for a month or so to suffocate the nits. All bedding and clothes need to be washed.
There was a huge outbreak of this when I was in 6th grade. This advice all came straight from the school nurse, since so many people got it she just gave the advice to everyone because they expected all of us to get it. They actually had to close the school for a long weekend it was that bad. Without human contact lice will die within 48 hours, I think. They can come back too if you're not extremely careful. Any upholstered furniture needs to be vaccumed/cleaned immediately.

 

[piratesmate]

Originally posted by gr8tpanther
Everytime I think I got all the nits, I find another one, never ending.

I make her change her bedding twice a day and I wash everything just as often, clothes she is wearing, I make her change those several times a day and I wash them as well. I bought clorox bleach for colors, HOPING it will do the job, and I keep the combs soaking in HOT bleach water.

I think I wash her hair several times a day and I have already treated twice, this is such a nightmare...

Thanks for the advice.

You're right - it IS a nightmare!! I'm pretty sure we got some sort of spray for the furniture - but it was so long ago (1983) I have no idea what it was. Don't forget your carpets.

We were fortunate that it wasn't as bad as you have it! At least I never got them - good thing, too, since my hair was permed at the time. Can you imagine all those tight curls? Yuck!

 

[gr8tpanther]

I sprayed and vaccumed and cleaned and shampoo'd and only ONE kid has it. I went to the Dr in a panic and made him check me, he said he didn't see anything.... but I still treated myself and other daughter.

I have her confined to ONE spot on the carpet and she had to keep a sheet under her. ICK!

 

[bumcat]

I believe the spray is also RID. We used it once on our couch just to be sure but that was also many yrs. ago. You can also put hair brush and comb in a ziploc baggie to kill those nasty things. Are you using the knit comb? I use to use that and it worked pretty good.

 

[Cruisin]

Don't forget about the upholstery in your vehicle. It should be vaccumed thoroughly also.

 

[gr8tpanther]

I pitched all the brushes and bleached all the combs in hot water. I tried using the nit combs, but they didn't do much, so I just picked them out with my fingernails. I sprayed all the furniture and the mattresses and my car seats. But does the spray kill the eggs?

 

[gottaluvPluto]

My DD had lice when she was 4 years old. It takes a long time to get rid of the nits. I would put a Disney movie in and let my DD watch the movie as I went through every strand of hair and removed the nits. The comb would work for some nits, but some I had to remove by hand. I went through my DD's head twice a day for three weeks. Some schools and day cares take children with nits in their hair. They do not take children with the lice.

 

[gr8tpanther]

Been going through her hair every couple of hours. I let her take a break and then back at it again. I am so glad she is being patient.

I get paranoid about getting them under my findernails and them getting in MY head...

 

[BostonTigger]

I remember when I got it from a friend in elementry school (we bumped heads and that's how I got it), mom made me wash my hair a couple of times and then used heat to treat my head. She put some kind of bag over my head with a hose that was connected to some kind of device (used for perm? Don't really know) that put out heat. I think it worked, because I don't remember doing it for all that long.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

Wash your pillows or throw them out. We see lots of kids in school with head lice and this is a tip we offer to those parents.

I would not send a child to school or daycare with nits. IF those nits hatch and it starts spreading to other children, your child will end up with it again eventually.

After you do get rid of all the lice, braid your childs hair, put gel, mousse, hair spray, whatever on it. A lot of styling product will help her from catching them again. This works because it aids in changing the texture of the hair while the product is on it.

Lice can only grasp certain texture of hair. This is the reason African Americans don't get head lice. Lice can not grasp onto the hair follicle due to its shape/texture.


By the way, lice is nothing to be embarassed about. Lice like clean hair. They will not live long nor well on oily hair.

 

[gr8tpanther]

My older daughter doesn't have any, I saw ONE crawling and treated, found like 3 nits and that was it. She has very oily hair and I have trouble getting her to wash it, this is ONE time I am GLAD she has dirty hair and I really think that is why she doesn't have it, or have it as badly. My other daughter, the one who got it, is a freak about her hair being dirty, might change her mind now.

 

[Jeanny]

get RID shampoo and wash EVERYONE's hair with it, not just your daughters. It's a very long process to get rid of the nits, etc. When my daughter was small, my neighbors went camping and the kids all came home with head lice.. .did they tell anyone?? No, so the rest of the kids in the neighborhood were all playing together with them and got head lice too!! don't be ashamed.

 

[Jeanny]

sorry, this went through twice for some reason.

 

[Kallison]

Hate to tell you -- it took me two weeks to get rid of it, when my DD had it in Kindergarten. I was so upset the teacher sent me flowers! I ended up putting the over the counter stuff onher head with a shower cap overnight. The recommended time limit wasn't enough. Then we went to prescription strength. None of the old wives stuff works - vaseline, mayo, etc. Get a good lamp, like a hobby lamp with a magnifier and keep picking away. This too shall pass.

 

[gr8tpanther]

My kitchen is now the "inspection" center. I put one of the 3 tier lights in there and have a section set up at the sink. We been "nitting" for 2 days! I got Rid and Nix.

 

[mom2of2]

Didn't notice if this was mentioned or not but you have to treat again 10 days from the first treatment to kill any that hatched. It also helps if you blow dry the hair everyday after washing. Try rinsing with vinegar as well.
Good luck

 

[mrsgus06]

Earlier this summer, all four of my girls brought me the gift of head lice! Yuk. Yuk. Yuk. Anyway, I was lucky enough to work with their doctor before becoming a stay at home mom and she called in a rx for Ovide. It stinks to high heaven, especially with 4 of them running around with it on their head! You put it on at night before they go to sleep and in the morning, wash their hair. You still have to comb it out (a lot), but I think it works better than over the counter stuff. Please realize this stuff is like 97% alcohol and is VERY FLAMMIBLE! Make sure no one smokes around them or they do not get near an open flame of any kind. I did follow up 10 days later with the same thing. I know they only like clean hair and it must be a compliment, but I was considering not washing their hair all summer! Good luck.