Rather Embarrassing, but need advice

[Debbie]

I've dealt with this at school and I've dealt with it at home. It's a nuisance, to be sure, but it is nothing to embarassed about!

First. If you have treated your DD with lice shampoo, do not treat again for 5-7 days. It is an insecticide, and should not be used repeatedly.

While the nit comb helps, plain and simple it will take removing the things strand by strand. I've spent hours night after night doing that in my time. I remember the time, after an hour or so of nit-picking my saying "Done", my DD reaching up pullin on her hair and saying, "What's this, Mom?"

Washing her bed clothes and clothing every day is a good thing. (Once a day will do it.) Be sure to use hot water. Bleach won't don't do anything, but it will smell nice.

I finally did use (vegetable) oil on the last DD when she had them. Plaster oil on, cover with plastic (I used a shower cap), and let it sit for half hour and then shampoo (regular old shampoo). Repeat each day for a week. Then once every three days.

DON'T use a shampoo-conditioner combo. Shampoo with conditioner in it will coat the hair, and the lice shampoo won't work as well.

Stuffed toys can be thrown in a plastic bag and put in the freezer for a couple of days. Don't forget her hat! (Ask me how I know )

I always boiled my combs before and after the nit-picking.

The hint of getting her hair up, sprayed, gelled etc. is a good one. Please don't shave her head! (We had a parent do that to her daughter--twice!)

For me: both girls required 3-4 weeks of nightly...then 4, 3, 2 times a week nit-picking/check. Head checks were then done.

One thing that I have used with success is tea tree oil. I had a specific shampoo, and then when I needed it again, I couldn't find that shampoo, so made my own. A couple of drops in regular shampoo. Apparently, lice don't particularly like the (medicinal) smell. Did it help? Well, I didn't get lice, but who knows, maybe I wouldn't have anyway.

Good luck! It's a tiring job, but it will eventually be over!

 

[KristaTX]

Getting lice is not embarrassing; anyone can get it. However, keeping lice for months is a shame! I was a school nurse for several years, and one of the most frustrating things I encountered were persistent cases of head lice. And in every instance it was that the parents were not staying on top of the situation. Most of the shampoos (not all - just read your instructions carefully) require a second treatment after about 7-10 days. Assuming that all the live lice are killed by the initial shampooing (check for live ones every day, just in case the treatment wasn't successful), the 7-10 days allows any unremoved eggs to hatch. A properly timed 2nd treatment will kill the baby lice before they are old enough to lay more eggs.

There are many good resources online. Do a search. One such site is http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/headlice/factsht_head_lice_treating.htm .

You won't have any problem as long as you keep on top of this. Keep picking those nits. The good metal combs always seemed to work better than the plastic ones for me. And in some cases it is just easiest to use your fingernails or a pair of tweezers to slide them down the hair shaft.

Edited to say: There are alternative treatments that you may read about (overnight mayonnaise treatments, etc). Some of these work, but just use some common sense. Don't shave your child's head (unless they want it that way ), and don't use anything flammable . I hope that everyone here is too intelligent to do something like use gasoline on their child's head.

 

[CrazedDisFan]

I thought I should add, the cost of all the treatments really can add up. We refer our students to the Health Department, most can offer you reduced cost Rid/Nix and advice.

 

[tink2dw]

When I worked at Head Start,a low income pre-school, We told parents to iron the carpets in the house and the clothe seats in the car,and car seats, with as hot an iron as the carpet could take.

To make sure each family member had a seperate comb and brush and no one shared!! Make sure children aren't sharing at school.

To put any soft Item coats,stuffed animals, pillows, in the hot dryer for 20 min.

Bag EACH childs hats,coats,mittens,sweater,sweatshirts in a seperate black pastic bag Everytime they come in the house.

They recommended the mayo, not salad dressing, treatment.

But I went to our hmo Dr. and got perscription for Dd.

Dd has THICK hair it took many long sessions to get the nits out.

This too will pass!! With Time!!

 

[pkasbohm]

i have had 2 cases of lice in my daycare in the last 10 years. Luckly, it was contained to only those kids!
I do the following:
I vaccumed everything( and i mean everything)couches, floors, etc.
washed everything that can be thrown in a washer
put away all stuffed animals in a trash bag and stored them for a month.


I didn't have to shampoo their hair because i sent them home but i would not let them come back until it was completely gone because i didn't want the other kids to get it--mine included! It must of worked because only the kids that came in with the lice is the only ones that had it.

The parents said to constantly keep picking and checking.

oh and i heard that you are not suppose to treat anyone unless they actually have some, because the lice can become ammune to the rid--just what i heard--don't know if it is true!

 

[stm61]

having survived a few horrendous cases of lice while doing foster care I have one thing to add: wash the live pets to! My kids were nice enough to share with the sitter's kids. We treated everybody with the same stuff at the same times, mine were fine after initial and repeat washing with Rid, her's kept getting it again. We finally realized her cat and 2 dogs were passing it back and forth with the kids. My son and a foster daughter each got a case at 2 seperate times, I was ranting about the other parent at the daycare who must have sent their kid in with it without telling anybody and contaminated my kid. Nope, it was the neighbor's cats! They were picking them up and hugging them and holding them next to their heads. If you read the labels you'll see that most pet shampoo's will kill lice. I used it on DS one time when I discovered he was infested at 8 pm on a Sun night in SC when NOTHING was open thanks to the blue laws!

 

[kasar]

Okay, now I can't stop itching my head! LOL

My neighbor and I had DDs the same age and they both picked up lice from a museum that we went to (NEVER let kids use dress up clothes at a children's museum!). After a couple of days of battles to get the kids to sit still (they were around 3) we switched to the prescription treatment. Worked great. I also threw out every brush, comb, ponytail elastic, headband, etc in the house and put all stuffed animals into plastic bags. I'm not sure what worked but the combination did the trick.

Did you know that there are professional nit-pickers that you can hire to take care of this? We never got that desperate but we were close.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

Nix is a very good one ahd it keeps you from getting back for a period of time it says. Always retreat the following week and the following week after that if needed. One way to get rid of the nits is use vinager over night and they slide right off plus she will have shiny movie star hair (while vinager is in hair). You may have to do strain at a time and its takes a lot of time. I had shoulder length thin hair and it took my mom 6 hours.
Good Luck

 

[missyc]

Instead of washing/throwing out things like pillows and stuffed animals you can put them in the dryer on high heat. I can't remember for how long though! Sure beats washing EVERYTHING in the house!
My Dr. said that RId and similar products as well as the prescription stuff are EXTREMELY dangerous to children. She suggested smothering the live lice with vaseline, killing them with heat (blow dryer), and picking the nits out by hand. She also suggested blow drying hair daily after a bath to prevent them again. This has worked for about 11 years in my family. No chemicals, other than the first time my niece got lice. then we got informed by her pediatrician! Haven't had a problem since.

 

[gr8tpanther]

Well this is day 4 of the lice war and I am STILL nit picking! Just when I think I got them all, I sift through and find another few! When does it end? I have vaccumed daily and still continue to do laundry daily and shampoo daily. When should I retreat?

 

[janette]

I don't think you can retreat for about 7-10 days.

My girls have picked them up twice, thankfully the older they get it is very less likely.

I used vinegar & water to help with the nits. Did it everyday for several days, can't remember how many. One of the reasons I liked it is that it was not toxic as the chemical treatments are. The girls hated it because of the smell but they survived okay and we got rid of the nits without a recurrence.

 

[gr8tpanther]

I found that looking for the nits in the backyard in the sun helps ALOT, they glitter in the natural light. They are not that hard to get out once I see them, but I know I still don't have them all.

She was invited to go away on day 10 do thinking about treating on day 5 and then on day 9?

 

[square pond]

I had the same problem with my dd when she was about 8!! Treated her twice with Rid kit and they still were not gone!! The thing that worked was before bed I covered her hed in olive oil than gave her a shower cap to sleep in. Next morning we shampooed with the rid shampoo and they were gone. Messy and a little uncomfortable to sleep in but it works. The doctor said it suffocates them!

 

[gr8tpanther]

Did that get rid of the nits too? I heard that even if the nits are dead, they still stick on the strands.

 

[dzneprincess]

gr8tpanther,
please update. I am in your situation now! And I need to know, please please please tell me this is over and done with for you? Please tell me it is not still going on? please please please..........................

 

[gr8tpanther]

It is DONE! Here is all I did to get rid of them quickly...

-I treated with Walmart brand RID (cheaper and works better)

-METAL COMBS, walmart has them

-Used Dog flea and tick shampoo, left it on for an HOUR then rinsed and chased it with Denorex left on for an hour.

-Then I finally colored everyone's head, and they were gone!

I washed everyday, vacummed everyday, and confined my child to ONE spot on the carpet with a sheet under her in front of the tv.

 

[dzneprincess]

How long was that, 2 weeks? What do you mean colored everyone's head? We are doing the mayonaisse on our head tonight. I am hoping and praying that this works. I am so aggracated and frustrated and sad...I just want it over and done with..........

 

[gr8tpanther]

I found them on Wednesday, and had them gone by the next Thursday.

I went and bought hair color, the chemicals will kill anything, and they took care of the bugs... all the nits that were left, slid right out with the comb.

I didn't change the color of the hair, I got a color that was VERY close to the natural, I just wanted the chemical treatment.

 

[dzneprincess]

Gr8t, since you are now an expert on things, could you pretty please come and handle this for me???Pretty pretty please? UGH I HATE THIS!!! Did you all try the maynaisse treatment? I never thought about coloring the hair. How old is your child, mine are pretty young still 9,8,5 and 1. I know I would use it on the 1 year old. I am not so sure if I could use it on the others. How many days after your treatment did you still find eggs? Sorry ot pick your brain, but as it is still fresh on your mind I need all the advice i can get

 

[gr8tpanther]

Well, see, that is why I finally colored, I was finding eggs even when I was SURE I had gotten them all!!! Even AFTER all the dog shampooing and the denorexing and the Walmart branding.

If you have any boys, shave their heads!!! Mine are girls 10 and 11. My 10 year old has REALLY long fine hair, light blond, it was tough and she was the one who was infested

my 11 year old has courser hair and they don't like that as much, so she didn't have them nearly as bad. BUt I chopped her hair off, cause she didn't care.

Tellin ya, color the hair, might stink, they might not like it, but it worked.

I would use the dog shampoo for an hour THEN color the next day.

OH, blow dry... I bought the most powerful, hottest blow dryer I could find. If nothing else, use it on your own head.

That was the toughest, I had nobody to look at my head who knew what they were looking for, so I just basically STEAMED my head daily and combed with a nit comb. I did everything to me that I did to them though, mainly so they wouldn't feel dirty or ashamed. If I was doing it too, it was ok.

If your kids can stand heat, fire it up, cause heat is their enemy and in this case YOUR friend!