Ugghhhh! I need some help please!

[princesshannahsmom]

I don't post on here very often. I really don't have time!!! However, I have a situation that I hope some of you can help me with.

I just received a call from my daughter's school informing me that she has head lice. Okay, no big deal you say. However, this is a continuous thing and we have done everything they tell you to do to get rid of them and they KEEP COMING BACK!

So, please, tell me what you know about permanently getting rid of these pesky little critters!

Please, don't slam me. We are a VERY clean family. We do have pets, but they say they don't get lice. I just need some friendly advise!

 

[Mkrop]

Relax, it has nothing to do if you are a clean family or not.

Contact the peds, she may need a Rx if this has been reoccurring. Something stronger to kill the buggers.

If they wont do an Rx, make sure you are cleaning and wiping down everything she is coming in contact with. Many people forget about cars (esp carseats) and hats, and backpacks etc.

Is this a school issue, can they help with bagging backpacks.

If she has long hair, make sure it goes up each day and put lot of product on it. Lice do not like "dirty" hair. They also do not like tea tree oil, so either get some shampoo with it in it or go to a health food store and get the oil and put it in your own shampoo.

GL

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Big magnifying light, Licemeister comb, tiny pair of scissors, and alot of patience.

As far as your home must constantly vacuum till you are sick of it. Anywhere her head lays or she sits esp.

Also you need to wash her bedding and vacuuming her mattress daily.

You have to go thru the hair with the Licemeister comb as much as you can everyday.

Here is the biggie....you have to sit under the magnifying light and go thru every strand of hair DAILY to remove nits. You must nitpick until you are insane everyday. My dd's hair is VERY thick so it was torture.

Here are a couple of sites for you to look at for info and helpful hints.

Here is a three week program without chemicals for the resistant lice.
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/theliceprogram/index.html

Here is head lice.org. Talks about chemicals in the products.
http://www.headlice.org/

 

[princesshannahsmom]

Thank you so much for responding! I know that it has nothing to do with being clean, but some people lay that stigma on the whole lice situation, so I just wanted to throw that in there!

Anyhow, thanks for the advice! We haven't tried an RX, so maybe that is the next step. I hadn't even thought about the seats in the car, so I will definately treat those next. And, tea tree oil, I hadn't heard that one either, so hey, I will give that one a try too. I will admit I have been lax about putting anything in her hair in the mornings before school, but from now on, its up in a pony tail and LOTS of gel!

Thanks again for your kind response!

 

[Mkrop]

In a ponytail or braid so no loose strands coming down, lice will crawl via the hair strands. Make sure you kiddo is not hugging other kids.

You may not get an RX if you havent been doing some of the simpler stuff like vacuuming other areas but you can always ask!

 

[mjkacmom]

We got rid of lice the first week, but I worked really hard - 24/7, it seemed like. After the shampoo, I spent a few hours a day, on 3 of my kids, combing through their hair (metal comb, not the plastic). I washed all bedding, vacuumed the carpets and furniture, bought a lice spray, bagged all stuffed animals for a week, washed every coat, jacket, hat. I literally spent about 6 hours a day on lice patrol.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

6 hours a day! I may seriously have to take a couple of days off from work to take care of this pesky problem! DH took off today and went and picked her up from school, bought the pesticide and a metal comb and some spray. I have instructed him to wash EVERYTHING that is cloth and can be washed. I also instructed him to pack up all stuffed animals in black plastic bags and to vacuum everything. I may take off half a day to treat my vehicle and help him out. One way or another I am going to get rid of these things! Thanks again for everyone's advice and keep it coming! I will try just about anything at this point!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

6 hours a day! I may seriously have to take a couple of days off from work to take care of this pesky problem! DH took off today and went and picked her up from school, bought the pesticide and a metal comb and some spray. I have instructed him to wash EVERYTHING that is cloth and can be washed. I also instructed him to pack up all stuffed animals in black plastic bags and to vacuum everything. I may take off half a day to treat my vehicle and help him out. One way or another I am going to get rid of these things! Thanks again for everyone's advice and keep it coming! I will try just about anything at this point!

Yep. It is all consuming to get rid of them. It takes about 2 weeks with 2 treatments and many hours a day.

What were you doing before to try and get rid of them?

Oh and actually it is not the washing machine that kills the lice, it is the dryer. I think you need to have it on for 30 mins on high heat to kill lice and nits.

So if you cannot wash sheets, blankets daily, you can just put them in the dryer and run it.

 

[princesshannahsmom]

I guess I was just doing the basics before. I would do the treatment on her head (along with nit removal), I would wash and dry all linens and towels. We bought the spray for the bedding and I would spray the mattresses and pillows (after putting them in the dryer(the pillows of course)). I would vacuum the whole house emptying the container into a bag that went straight outside. Thats all I can really think of! Obviously that wasn't enough! Thanks again for all of the replies!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I guess I was just doing the basics before. I would do the treatment on her head (along with nit removal), I would wash and dry all linens and towels. We bought the spray for the bedding and I would spray the mattresses and pillows (after putting them in the dryer(the pillows of course)). I would vacuum the whole house emptying the container into a bag that went straight outside. Thats all I can really think of! Obviously that wasn't enough! Thanks again for all of the replies!

The spray is useless, you don't need it.

You need to do nit removal daily. Or follow the first link I gave you and read it. It explains everything. I learned alot by going over it.

 

[tmarquez]

We had this problem last year...it was a nightmare. We did everything by the book to get rid of them and they kept coming back.

I ended up calling the Dr and he prescribed a single pill that took care of it pretty much immediately. I really think I'd still be combing today if I hadn't called.

Apparently some lice are resistant to the OTC meds.

Good luck!

 

[mjkacmom]

6 hours a day! I may seriously have to take a couple of days off from work to take care of this pesky problem! DH took off today and went and picked her up from school, bought the pesticide and a metal comb and some spray. I have instructed him to wash EVERYTHING that is cloth and can be washed. I also instructed him to pack up all stuffed animals in black plastic bags and to vacuum everything. I may take off half a day to treat my vehicle and help him out. One way or another I am going to get rid of these things! Thanks again for everyone's advice and keep it coming! I will try just about anything at this point!

We were "lucky" to discover them on a Friday night, in the bath. They got their first treatment and comb that evening, and DH and I spent the entire weekend on nothing else but delousing. I'm a SAHM (and the kids were cleared by the nurse on Monday), but every evening, DH and I got our combs, and spent a few hours combing, looking for nits. I knew ahead of time how time consuming it is to get rid of them for good.

 

[dislal]

We had this problem at our house 1 time and I just want to give you a first.

The thing that helped us was to set up a chair in front of a window (you need a lot of light) and that is where I spent many many hours combing hair, put conditioner in the hair before you use the comb to comb through it also. The conditioner is messy but it is easier to get the nits out.

The girls would read a book or play a video game and the time went pretty quickly for them not so much for me. LOL

then I got a spay bottle of vinegar and my DD's would spray their hair every time they got in the shower and they used this for quite a while even after all the lice and nit where gone.

 

[Darcy03231]

We had a terrible time getting rid of them. What finally worked for us was bombing the house. They never came back after that (we also didn't have any spiders, ants, etc. for quite a long time after).

 

[mickeyboat]

DD10 had lice last November and we got rid of them within 2 weeks.

When we discovered them, I started picking her dry hair and got out as many nits as possible. I also found 4 live bugs. We did the RID treatment and I picked again. I think I picked for over 6 hours that first day. DH stripped the beds, washed linens, vacuumed everything and bagged up pillows and stuffed animals for the basement.

She had a few nits left, but was cleared to go back to school the next day.

I picked again twice the next day and every day afterwards for 2 weeks - morning and night. I had a metal comb and used lots of little clips to keep track of where I had picked and where I didn't. I also put the nits into a bowl of water and got rid of it outside when I was done.

We vacuumed the whole house again the next day and vacuumed her room and bed every night. We also stripped and washed her bedding every day for 2 weeks.

We washed ALL the coats in the coat closet - hers, DD9's, ours. We also washed all the hats, gloves and scarves. We washed her coat, hat and gloves every night.

We did the second treatment after 10 days.

After a couple of days I stopped seeing nits, but I checked morning and night for them anyway - her whole head.

I don't wish lice on anyone. It is so much work. But it didn't spread to anyone else in the family, and one course got rid of it for us.

Have you washed ALL the bedding - including siblings and yours? Is she using the same brush or comb as before she got lice? What about her backpack, jacket?

Good luck!

 

[princesshannahsmom]

Thanks for all of the great replies. Sounds like I really have my work cut out for me! DH called me at lunch and said they are working on everything. He is washing all the linens, even the ones in the linen closet. He is washing all of the towels and all of her clothes, jackets, etc. He is instructed to vacuum every square inch of the house, including mattresses and so forth. She packed up all of her stuffed animals and lovies, and I made sure to tell him to clean her book bag and lunch box (which is cloth). He said he can't really see that many nits, but I told him to make sure he is sitting by a window and he might see them better. He said he is going to vacuum his truck and will do mine when I get home. I hate leaving this in his hands because he isn't really a meticulous person, but I cannot leave work early because I work in a law office and we are facing some critical deadlines.

I read a few things on the internet in the last few hours and I was wondering if anyone else has heard these things. One article said pure vinegar would dissolve the nits (sounds a bit far fetched to me), and one article said to try using a flat iron on the hair after you have pulled everything that can be seen out of the hair.

Well, the only thing that is getting to me now, is that now everyone in her class knows and I don't want her to feel embarrassed when she goes back. She is mortified! The real unfortunate part is her class is really small, and it is a mixture of 4th and 5th graders. She attended this same class part time last year (she is in the gifted program) and two of the 5th grade girls are snotty and rude to begin with, so now, I am afraid they will be worse.

I don't know, I guess momma hen just kicked in and I don't want her to feel bad about herself! Thanks for the hugs!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't know about you but I could not see the nits without a large magnifying light. My dd's hair is so thick.

Nits are mostly clear & look like a teardrop. They are very tiny.

 

[Orange County Girl]

On top of all the other great advice here (pick, pick, pick!), I definitely recommend using the flat iron on a very hot setting. Section her hair so that you can keep track easily of where you've been. Take small, thin sections of hair and slowly run the iron through each section a few times from roots to ends. This will help to kill the eggs that you have missed.

 

[LMC]

Sit her in front of a window or glass door as the sun light makes it easier to find them. Section off the hair until you have gone thru it all. Put the little buggers into a ziplock when you pull them off. Wash with that rid stuff. Bag anything soft for TWO weeks. Wash all of her bedding including bed skirt. If her bed is by the window, you may want to wash the curtains. I also used a bug spray containing prymetherins on the mattress (before making the bed back up) and on all the furniture in the house and carpet around her bed. You may need to spray the car too. Rid makes a spray to use for this but if you look at it and see the active ingredient, you can get regular bug spray that contains the same concentration and get a much larger bottle for your money.

 

[ADisneyQueen]

I hope your nurse is right about the diagnosis. My dd was sent home last year and the nurse said it was lice. What the problem really was - I had let her wash and rinse out her own hair in the shower a few times and her head had some flakes and crusty scalp ( you couldn't see it unless you looked hard). She was not rinsing well and has long hair. Her skin is sensitive to some soaps and she had used her sister's shampoo. I think she was allergic to the shampoo. She was not itching her head. How can you not itch your head with lice? I washed her hair with neutragena dandruff shampoo and did a vinegar rinse. Took her back to another school nurse the next day and she thought she never had it b/c if it was as bad as first nurse said, it wouldn't be gone in less than 24 hours. The nurse who sent her home has been known to make mistakes and is a little weird.
I hope you get the problem solved. I know it is stressful. I washed everything at home-what a pain.