Head Lice

[chilkootmom]

:eek: I am starting this thread for education purposes. I for one have had a REALLY bad experience with this. My daughter attended a school that I will not mention....and came home with head lice many times over a period of 2 years...possibly even 8 times. I cleared it up each time spending HUNDREDS of dollars and going even to the extreme of cutting her hair to make nit picking easier. I fumigated my home on many occasions and had a problem with my neck due to checking her head so often.

I think that if I start this thread some people may learn more about lice and take care of it better. I AM SICK OF LICE! I have not had a problem with lice since moving away from the school she once attended...and feel that this was a problem that was in the school, because of some parents that just didnt know how to take care of it or couldnt afford too. The school that she attended actually sent home the shampoo so I feel that this all could have been taken care of if it was just done right the first time by everyone.

Could we get some ideas and opinions here? I personally know that this will help SOMEONE...

Chilkootmom

[Cherry Pop]

The problem with lice returning is usually due to parents not cleaning their houses properly once their child has been infected with lice. Yes using the lice shampoos are good but are useless unless the home is properly cleaned meaning sheets, blankets, pillows are washed in very hot water or put in a bags in a freezer or even put in garbage bags tied tightly for 2 weeks. Also do this with stuffed animals. Vacuum all carpets and beds and change the vacuum bag. Put the used vacuum bag in a tied up bag as well. Also after the child's head is clear of lice, try using hair gel, tea tree oil shampoo, or any of the hemp products from the body shop on the scalp as lice don't like any of these. Lice love clean hair not dirty so the more you put into the hair, the better. This is just some of the things I learned as my daughter's school has breakouts all the time. She fortuately only had it once as I did all of the above and haven't had a problem again, Knock on wood!

[chilkootmom]

I also used all of these avenues as well and agree with that whole post.

Chilkootmom

[tish]

That reminds me i still have a bag of stuffed animals in the storage room...lol In all seriousness, i found using the tea tree oil shampoo and lots of gel when i found out about the outbreaks at school seemed to work.

[habsfan10]

I found out that you should also use shampoo with conditioner. The conditioner is slippery, so when your hair is dry they have something to stick to. the conditioner leaves your hair smooth, not dry and brittle. Lice love dry hair and clean hair. Also every so often, use DAWN dish liquid, works great on ducks. I found that out on the net. My son had them once, and I washed his head in DAWN and shampooed with conditioner and also cut his hair---NO PROBLEMS SINCE THEN

[Flaxie]

My daughter came home with them every time she went to a certain friend's home. I tried stopping her from going over for a few months thinking it would give them time to get things under control. I let her play with said friend again and she ended up with them again. After the fourth time I tried talking with this child's mother about it. She actually told me that they had given up on trying to get rid of the lice!!! I helped by delousing her kids and told her what to do at home but our kids don't play anymore.....It's just to "costly" a friendship.

[chilkootmom]

It is that type of response that just drives me crazy!! Giving up??? I would never let my child run around with live yuckies on her head....ewwwweee....how can people live with that...I would just be CRAWLING!!!

[Chilkootteacher]

How would you feel if there was a child with nits and/or live lice in your child's class everyday for the entire school year?

[Cartersmom]

I would feel that the parents would be negligent. Lice are ITCHY! and they are sucking your blood. They need to be dealt with swiftly and effectively..

Question, though. I was going to put tea tree oil in our shampoos before ds starts in the school system. I've heard tea tree oil is an excellent repellent.
How much do you put in each bottle? What is an effective amount?

[Chilkootteacher]

I know someone who puts about a dozen drops of tea tree oil in an average size spray bottle of water and swears by it. She squirts it almost everyday on her own hair and her daughter's hair.

[sugadip]

I worked at a summer camp and we had to send several children home because of lice. We had to call all the parents and inform them of what had happened. The children we sent home were told not to come back until the lice were gone. Well 2 days later they came back to say their mom had washed their hair with dish detergent. I knew that the family had little money so I walked them home and brought 3 bottles of the proper shampoo and a comb and asked the mother to please wash all bedding and clothing and to wash their hair. Dish detergent will act as a deterent, not a remedy. Tea tree oil works well as a deterent as well but doesn't prevent lice.

[bubbles]

I have delt with this myself a few times having a daughter and all. I think from experience with other people that i know who have had them that the reason they dont get rid of them is that they dont get all the nits out. you need to pick pick and pick some more. even if you leave 1 nit in there head and it is alive it will hatch and the whole thing will start over again. The solution does not kill all nits its not 100 percent and neither are those combs that are out there. I have used those combs on my daughter and other children i have cleaned out and after using the comb i will go thru with my fingers and i always find a bunch more. So you must pick and pick and pick everyday and if you do still find nits you need to redo their hair with in 7 days which is about how long it takes a hatched nit to lay eggs.

[ChelorSean]

Another really good working thing is to use mayo and a plastic bag....i know yuck right but you know i have a friend that is always fighting it with her kids and if not hers then the one she babysits.and she swears its better than nixs(or whatever its called).alls you do is take a couple table spoons of mayo and heat it up in the microwave just so it's not so cold and while that warms up you wet the childs hair down.then dry the childs hair is it's not dripping.add the mayo to the childs hair and make sure you get it everywhere,then get a plastic bag or suran wrap and wrap the childs head and make sure there is not air getting in or out.let the child stay like that all night.then rise it out and get to picking.hope this helps and you can google it if you want to check it out.good luck to anyone that has to deal with it!

[ceg]

I had them once when I was a kid, caught them from a friend. It was a hassle, I would scratch until my head hurt. One thing I found that helped was rinsing my hair and scalp with vinegar. The adult lice don't like the taste and won't bite then. That way at least the adults die off or leave, then all that's left is the nits to deal with. Also makes it easier for the child if they're not scratching as much.

[maggie_sj]

The reason for these little bugs is people are not educated about it. Most people think that by using the shampoo, that it takes care of it.. but you have to go through and pick out all the nits . if you dont, 7 days later the problem returns. A cheep way of killing them instead of paying for expensice shampoos is buying a THICK conditioner, coat the hair and scalp as thick as possible and wrap in plastic, leave it on for a few hours. I am taking hair dressing right now and i just passed the test about this!:) Good luck!

[chilkootmom]

That remedy is good for live lice but will NOT do anything for the nits...and that is the key...getting rid of the nits. I have heard a million of those suffocating tricks, hair gel as well as all those already mentioned ones...but you have to get rid of the nits....just like you stated, it will just happen alllll over again, all it takes is one. That is why it is so important to get the bedding, stuffed animals, and emptying the vaccuum...

[domarloc]

:eek: I am a bug freak and the thought of head lice makes me near sick. I can knock on wood and say neither of my kids have had it. I did once last year think my daughter might have had it after an outbreak in her classroom and went thought the whole process of washing everything and picking what I thought to be nits out of her hair to find out she had dandruff:biggrin: . Better safe than sorry. I feel for anyone who goes through this, I only thought I was going though it and was copmpletely horrified.

[Cherry Pop]

How would you feel if there was a child with nits and/or live lice in your child's class everyday for the entire school year?

At my daughter's school the children who are found to have lice are sent home immediately and the school isn't discreet about it so the children always know why that child is being sent home. I think that is kind of wrong because it embarasses the child and it isn't the child's fault. Lucky for my daughter, I discovered she had lice, that one time, because I decided to check her after she informed me that so and so had been sent home due to lice.

[Flaxie]

The conditioner treatment really works well and it doesn't hurt thier scalps like the chemical products can. Besides smothering the adults it weakens the bond that holds the nits to the hair and they come out much easier. A shoppers pharmasist told me this a couple of yrs ago.

[scuddles]

when my daughter got it, we went to the pharmacy and bought the recommended shampoo followed the instructions, and they were STILL CRAWLING in her hair, I called the pharmacist and asked about hair dye, he said it would kill anything living, including nits. so I took her back to the pharmacy let her pick out which color she wanted and it hasn't been a problem. You still have to comb and pick out the dead stuff though. I don't think it matters as to what procedure you do, you have to pick everything out. As for the tea tree oils and shampoos I used it everytime I bathed my daughter for her first year of school for fear of her bringing this home and it never helped. I now make sure I do a head check every week with my kids while they are in school.

[blueyes]

HI, a few years back my kids got it from the kids in the building i use to live at. MAn they are a pain to get rid of. I also use vingar in there hair. I would wet their hair down pour some in and leave it sit for a bit while they r in the tub. Then wash hair with shampoo and for about 2 weeks i keep using the vingar.
Also u have to wash everything they come in contact with. Their coats pillows and bedding. Plus vaccum the furniture carpets. U can also buy spray for the furniture. BAg all dolls and stuff animals.
One secret i do when picking out nits. IS that i get them to sit in the sunlight. The sun will make the nits shine. plus i also start at one side of their heads and right up and over in a stright line with line bits of strands of hair. So i won't one. Ur right u just need 1
. Now when my kids find out that the kids got lice. they have hats on my daughter got a pony tail in. They just keep telling not me i'm not getting them again. Knock on wood they never did as of yet. I hope they don't come home with them. I do keep on a weeekly basis just to be on the safe side.

[Flaxie]

LOL

I have long very thick curly hair.
From now on if one of my kids comes home with lice I'm dying my hair!!!

[karen]

But here's a question: if your child is sent home with lice, do you as a parent contact his/her closest friends' parents to let them know? My step duaghter had about 6 cases of lice over a period of 6 months. They had a problem with lice in the school but once school was out, she was the only one in the daycare to get it? Where was she getting it from? My guess was the friend that didn't go to daycare that stayed over night at her mom's house when she was there. I politely called and advised the mom that my step daugther was sent home from daycare with lice and nicely and politely suggested that she check her child and it ended up being more of a headache than anything. Personally, I would appreciate the call and would check right away! We spent alot money on products, sprays, and tea tree oil (we regularly put it in our shampoo now!) as well at the time it takes to go through the whole house and strip beds, change bedding, do the laundry, etc....but I"m not so sure the same process was done at the mom's house. I do know that the follow up shampoos were done though.

[Flaxie]

My daughter has come home with lice about once a year if not more often. She goes to school, after-school program, summer camp, and has many friends who go to different schools and programs so she is exposed to more opportunities then the average child. I make it a point to immediately contact anyone we/she has spent time around in the few weeks prior to notice of lice. I feel it is my responsibility to warn others.
Now how you approach the call is everything....
Regardless of how I feel she may have come in contact with lice I approach each call as if I am calling to appologize for exposing their family to lice. The first rule I learned in parenting class was to use "I" not "you" The same applies to everyone, not just children. Don't point fingers, just inform. Most, not all, parents will appriciate the heads up and deal with it properly. As I mentioned in an earlier post the odd family will feel so overwelmed they give up. A few times the other parents will ask my help in checking thier kids. I have no problem with this, and have on a few occasions spent an entire day at the home of someone I hardly know helping them go through heads, giving treatments, bagging toys and telling them what to do about furniture etc. One thing to keep in mind is that some parents due to vision problems, lack of experience etc just don't know where to start.

[AreWeThereYetMom]

Had a similar experience a few years back when my daughter got them on a couple occasions from grade 1 and again from neighbors children. I can't remember how many times I had to contact friends and family for the dreaded 'lice alert' - that part is just as annoying.

Schools and the health clinic are great to educate but sadly the neighbors were ignorant... their kids had them over and over again. I resorted to the tea tree oil, one dose of the nix and picking the nits under a shadeless bright lamp worked the best to see & remove the clear eggs.
Shocked the heck out of me the next school day when I saw the neighbors kids heading to school - both a boy and a girl with new brush cuts... wow that was so sad. Further checks worked well for us with the bright lamp.

Somewhat gross but I recently heard is very effective is a flat iron... use it to heat zap the nits - just have to be careful how close to the skin you need to get.
Great websites ...
http://www.lice.ca/
http://www.toronto.ca/health/hl_index.htm

[Tara]

Had a similar experience a few years back when my daughter got them on a couple occasions from grade 1 and again from neighbors children. I can't remember how many times I had to contact friends and family for the dreaded 'lice alert' - that part is just as annoying.

Schools and the health clinic are great to educate but sadly the neighbors were ignorant... their kids had them over and over again. I resorted to the tea tree oil, one dose of the nix and picking the nits under a shadeless bright lamp worked the best to see & remove the clear eggs.
Shocked the heck out of me the next school day when I saw the neighbors kids heading to school - both a boy and a girl with new brush cuts... wow that was so sad. Further checks worked well for us with the bright lamp.

Somewhat gross but I recently heard is very effective is a flat iron... use it to heat zap the nits - just have to be careful how close to the skin you need to get.
Great websites ...

http://www.lice.ca/
http://www.toronto.ca/health/hl_index.htm

That sounds like my old neighbours. It was constant lice, they just were not clean people. The girl had basically a brush cut as did her brother. Then I saw their grandmother sporting one (the grandparents had custody). Good lord it was sad. I felt especially awful for the little girl :(

[Lisa_morris]

I have a 7 year old daughter and until this year never even knew what lice looked like. During the christmas break I noticed a rash on the back of her neck and it was due to being allergic to lice. I looked everywhere and asked everyone how to get rid of them, everyone has ideas. I used the shampoo but lice are now getting immune to the chemicals in the shampoo, so its not recommended. I used vinager in her hair which took of the glue that nits use to stick onto the hair and went through her hair. I was so panicked about the lice I went threw and cleaned and bagged AND vaccumed everything only to find out I went a little over board. I called all the parents and wrote a note to the teacher when Christmas break was over. About a month later they finally did a head check and about half the student had to stay home the next day. I now check my daughter every other day. I cant tell you how many lice Ive gotten out of her hair, she just keeps picking them up from somewhere. I dont like using the shampoo expecially since its not as recommended as before instead I bought a robee comb which shocks the little buggers. I use this a couple times a weeks just to make sure her head is clean. I use to always think dirty kids got lice, but I guess the cleaner your head the more they stick, they dont like dirt and oil. I think this is a very good topic, until this year I had no idea how to treat lice, I just hope the little buggers dont come back.

[AreWeThereYetMom]

One other thing I forgot to add is to use > Masking Tape or clear scotch tape <
Found it very helpful for the times when you aren't quite sure whether you seen something in their hair.
Just roll up a piece and press against the scalp along different areas.

It's not so sticky that it would hurt or pull the hair, but if there's any live lice there, they will stick to the tape.
A funny memory though from a few years ago, when we once used clear tape to check my daughters hair and found one. My son immediately got out his microscope set and thought he wanted to be a bug scientist. Boy, that changed once he hit teenager status lol.