What do I do?!?

[bradma]

I've been lurking since February when we finally decided that we could do Disney this summer. This is my first post and it's a doozie...
My 6 year old twin girls were sent home from school yesterday with lice (first time) and I'm at my wit's end!! We leave for our surprise trip to Disney on June 30. Everything is paid for and I was so looking forward to planning for it during the next two weeks. Now all I'm doing is checking heads, picking nits, researching online, vacuuming, doing LOADS of laundry and worrying myself sick. I'm seriously thinking about canceling the trip right now but I'm so confused, I don't know what to do.

 

[Trentmom]

Oh wow..no experience with lice, but that stinks

Don't cancel though.

Going to take some time to clean everything real good in the house


But after that you are so going to need this vacation to relax.

June 30th is seventeen days away



That is plenty of time to get rid of those things and still get ready for your trip



Hope you go

 

[ilovedisney1]

I would still go. As long as the lice is gone.

 

[dansamy]

It is absolutely vital that you wash their hair 2x ( about a week apart) with the medicated shampoo and pick EVERY LAST NIT! Every single one. Also ALL stuffed animals/pillows/etc that can't be tossed in the washer must be bagged and sealed for 2 weeks. I've never used the upholstery spray for my couch or powders for the carpet. Unfortunately, my daughter had them last year. I've had them twice as a child. They are irritating and time-consuming to properly eradicate. One consolation: they prefer clean hair. It's just an old stereotype that "only dirty people get lice". My daughter and I both have very fine hair and it seems to be more attractive to them than coarser hair.

 

[HeatherH]

No personal experience with the lice (thankfully!) but I would NOT cancel the trip yet! I think 17 days is plenty of time to stop the infestation and go ahead with your plans. What kind of cancellation penalty do you have? It differs if you have a package or room only.

Good luck, and I know there are some lice experts here who can help!

 

[bradma]

I love the internet...but looking up "lice" online leads to millions of horror stories and I guess that's part of the reason I'm so freaked. I have bagged up stuffed animals, washed sheets and bedding in hot water and dried in dryer at high temps, vacuumed and will definitely do the 2nd treatment next weekend (we used RID). I spent several hours yesterday and again today going through their heads with a metal fine tooth comb to get rid of nits and any "leftover" lice. I plan to do the same tomorrow. But then do I do olive oil? mayo? cetaphil? Do I buy the robi comb? Should I keep vacuuming? And the directions on many of the sites, say to "throw the bag away" after vacuuming but what about the bagless, which is what I have? Do I just empty it into the trash???
Do I call out sick the next week and use the rest of my sick days to make sure they are completely gone?
I am slightly hysterical (and exhausted) at this point so I'm rambling I know.
It's just that we've had a very tough few years and we scrimped and saved for this trip. I can't believe this is happening...
My husband thinks I'm blowing this all out of proportion and I think he's taking it too lightly.

 

[bradma]

No personal experience with the lice (thankfully!) but I would NOT cancel the trip yet! I think 17 days is plenty of time to stop the infestation and go ahead with your plans. What kind of cancellation penalty do you have? It differs if you have a package or room only.

Good luck, and I know there are some lice experts here who can help!

We have the the package (buy 4, get 3) but my sister booked the flight so I'm not sure about that penalty yet.
I'd love any help I can get! Thanks.

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Sorry!

I understand. we just week through 3 weeks of it. I would get rid of it for days and DD would go to school and come back with it. I finally had it out with the school nurse who was not checking the entire class for it. and when she finally did and 5 kids were out with it in one week. it all dissapeared.

DONT cancel your trip. wash everything for your trip and put it away. like in the garage.

I bought and used the house hold spray on everything including the car and carseats. Dont know if it worked or not but it made me feel tons better.

And i have a friend that swore by the mayo method and i doubted her but it works great. and it makes their hair feel so much smoother after the rid and nix treatments.

Good luck and have a blast on your trip. Your gonna need it after all the headache!

 

[bradma]

It is absolutely vital that you wash their hair 2x ( about a week apart) with the medicated shampoo and pick EVERY LAST NIT! Every single one. Also ALL stuffed animals/pillows/etc that can't be tossed in the washer must be bagged and sealed for 2 weeks. I've never used the upholstery spray for my couch or powders for the carpet. Unfortunately, my daughter had them last year. I've had them twice as a child. They are irritating and time-consuming to properly eradicate. One consolation: they prefer clean hair. It's just an old stereotype that "only dirty people get lice". My daughter and I both have very fine hair and it seems to be more attractive to them than coarser hair.

How did you get every last nit? This is the advice that I need!!! Did they reoccur for your daughter? What did you use?
I didn't buy the spray either b/c it is supposedly not necessary. Although, I'm lysoling everything anyway.

 

[HeatherH]

Okay, the cancellation penalties for a WDW package are:

Cancel 44 to 6 days prior to arrival - $100 per package
Cancel 5 days or less prior to arrival - $200 per package

If you don't show up on the day OF arrival, you would lose the package amount. It differs if you have a GRAND GATHERING, though.

The flight issues have to do with the airline, but seriously...from the WDW perspective...do NOT cancel yet! You have time go get this dealt with!

Good luck!

 

[dansamy]

I love the internet...but looking up "lice" online leads to millions of horror stories and I guess that's part of the reason I'm so freaked. I have bagged up stuffed animals, washed sheets and bedding in hot water and dried in dryer at high temps, vacuumed and will definitely do the 2nd treatment next weekend (we used RID). I spent several hours yesterday and again today going through their heads with a metal fine tooth comb to get rid of nits and any "leftover" lice. I plan to do the same tomorrow. But then do I do olive oil? mayo? cetaphil? Do I buy the robi comb? Should I keep vacuuming? And the directions on many of the sites, say to "throw the bag away" after vacuuming but what about the bagless, which is what I have? Do I just empty it into the trash???
Do I call out sick the next week and use the rest of my sick days to make sure they are completely gone?
I am slightly hysterical (and exhausted) at this point so I'm rambling I know.
It's just that we've had a very tough few years and we scrimped and saved for this trip. I can't believe this is happening...
My husband thinks I'm blowing this all out of proportion and I think he's taking it too lightly.

I know you're exhausted and slightly hysterical. I'm gonna try to talk you down! First of all, that metal nit comb? Useless.

Sit outside in the sun and get you some hair clips to partition off one section of hair at a time. Start at the nape of the neck or over the ears. These areas are usually the worst. Nits look like little spots of dried glue...you know how it will dry clear? Those are empty nits, which have hatched. White nits are still incubating. You have to hand strip the nits. Grasp the hair shaft between your thumb and forefinger just above the nit and strip down the hair shaft. You should be able to feel it as a tiny bump under your finger and you should be able to feel it being pulled down the hair shaft by your fingers. The nits are VERY small. This is very tedious work. It is best done in bright light with no shadows or outside in the direct sunlight, so you can see your work. I dropped nits into a small dish of rubbing alcohol as I worked.

For your vacuum cleaner, I would change all the filters, wash the reuseable ones and wash the canister. Hot soapy water should be just fine.

Again, I can't stress how important it is to hand strip out every last nit. I know it is time-consuming, tiring, back breaking work, but if you want to be rid of these buggers in one round of treatment, it's the surest way to be sure they are all gone.

Skip the mayo, cetaphil, etc treatments. None of them work any better than RID. The Robi comb I have no experience with, so I am not a good one to ask on that.

 

[bradma]

Sorry!

I understand. we just week through 3 weeks of it. I would get rid of it for days and DD would go to school and come back with it. I finally had it out with the school nurse who was not checking the entire class for it. and when she finally did and 5 kids were out with it in one week. it all dissapeared.

DONT cancel your trip. wash everything for your trip and put it away. like in the garage.

I bought and used the house hold spray on everything including the car and carseats. Dont know if it worked or not but it made me feel tons better.

And i have a friend that swore by the mayo method and i doubted her but it works great. and it makes their hair feel so much smoother after the rid and nix treatments.

Good luck and have a blast on your trip. Your gonna need it after all the headache!

What steps did you do with the mayo? Did you leave it on overnight? My fear is that it can go rancid and somehow get in their mouths?

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

Wacky double post!

 

[bradma]

I know you're exhausted and slightly hysterical. I'm gonna try to talk you down! First of all, that metal nit comb? Useless.

Sit outside in the sun and get you some hair clips to partition off one section of hair at a time. Start at the nape of the neck or over the ears. These areas are usually the worst. Nits look like little spots of dried glue...you know how it will dry clear? Those are empty nits, which have hatched. White nits are still incubating. You have to hand strip the nits. Grasp the hair shaft between your thumb and forefinger just above the nit and strip down the hair shaft. You should be able to feel it as a tiny bump under your finger and you should be able to feel it being pulled down the hair shaft by your fingers. The nits are VERY small. This is very tedious work. It is best done in bright light with no shadows or outside in the direct sunlight, so you can see your work. I dropped nits into a small dish of rubbing alcohol as I worked.

For your vacuum cleaner, I would change all the filters, wash the reuseable ones and wash the canister. Hot soapy water should be just fine.

Skip the mayo, cetaphil, etc treatments. None of them work any better than RID. The Robi comb I have no experience with, so I am not a good one to ask on that.

Thanks for the advice- and for talking me down! I guess "slightly hysterical" is probably an understatement at this point.
I did do what you described above as well today. We sat on our back steps when the sun was out and I started with the "dual comb" method and it really did get A LOT of the junk out- scary actually how much was still left- but then I just started using my fingers and nails. I got one of those sticky roller things and put the nits on there. My eyes were crossing by the end and then I started panicking. How the he** am I going to get ALL of them out?

 

[bradma]

Okay, the cancellation penalties for a WDW package are:

Cancel 44 to 6 days prior to arrival - $100 per package
Cancel 5 days or less prior to arrival - $200 per package

If you don't show up on the day OF arrival, you would lose the package amount. It differs if you have a GRAND GATHERING, though.

The flight issues have to do with the airline, but seriously...from the WDW perspective...do NOT cancel yet! You have time go get this dealt with!

Good luck!

Thanks for the info. We'd be out the $ for the insurance, the $100 for the trip cancellation and whatever the flight penalty is, which I'm afraid may be non-refundable. Over $1000 if that's the case.
Deep breaths...

 

[bradma]

I'm going to attempt to sleep but thanks so much for all of your help, especially this being my first post! And whoever wants to give more advice/info/word of encouragement, please do! I'll check back in the morning, hopefully with positive news.

 

[dansamy]

Thanks for the advice- and for talking me down! I guess "slightly hysterical" is probably an understatement at this point.
I did do what you described above as well today. We sat on our back steps when the sun was out and I started with the "dual comb" method and it really did get A LOT of the junk out- scary actually how much was still left- but then I just started using my fingers and nails. I got one of those sticky roller things and put the nits on there. My eyes were crossing by the end and then I started panicking. How the he** am I going to get ALL of them out?

My daughter and I both have very thin, baby fine hair. It only took one go-through to hand strip all the nits from her hair. As a child, it usually only took my mother one go-through with mine. My sister has VERY thick hair. It took several days of hand stripping nits to be done with hers. Yes, you need to take time off from work if your girls have thick hair. Cut their hair into a shoulderish length style. That will get the older nits that are further down the hair shaft out without picking them out.

 

[tasha99]

Don't cancel! DD got lice when she was in 4th grade, and if I could get rid of it anyone can. It took about 10 days.

I think what made the lice go away was that in between the 2 medicated shampoos, we sat down every day and I went through her hair with a lice comb. I found tons of nits after the first shampoo, then a smaller number every day. By the time we did the second medicated shampoo, there were no nits and about 2 live lice left on her head (the medicine didn't seem to kill them outright--just slowed them down--I got those last lice by combing them out right after the shampooing.) It was tedious, but we'd sit down and watch a tv show or two with her in front of me so I could comb through her hair.

What was interesting is we had a stray kitten staying with us temporarily at that time. I gave her Advantage, and in addition to tons of fleas, a louse fell off her. I know they say lice are just for humans, but if you have any pets, you might consider giving them their flea medicine. (DO NOT give them the lice shampoo, which could be poison to them--I think the shampoo my daughter had said it could kill cats.)

 

[JohnsonsLoveDisney]

What steps did you do with the mayo? Did you leave it on overnight? My fear is that it can go rancid and somehow get in their mouths?

I just put it in their dry hair with the nit comb. (make sure its clean) started at the nape of their necks and worked my way up. Its really gross. My 3yo thought it was great. and then just left it in for about an hour. it smothers the lice and the nits. and makes it so much easier to get the nits out. Then i used their regular shampoo and put it in the mayo hair, got it a little wet, lathered, rinsed, and then shampoo'd again. they smelled a little funny for a few washes.

But with DD coming home with it every few days. i checked her before and after school. and not being able to use the rid or nix again. it worked. and made me feel better.

 

[teskak]

The advice for us from the school / daycare / health department is to get really cheap conditioner. The sort of stuff that is home brand and cover the kids hair with it.

The lice breath through a hole near thier butts.... and the conditioner blocks that hole so they cannot move around - because otherwise you can play hunt the lice as much as you like, but they will just run away as you move to thier spots. There is a 7 day growth cycle from hatching to when they are able to lay eggs again. So if you clear out the hatched ones, and as much of the eggs as you can, you re-do the same treatment again to get the rest before they breed.