Head Lice Concerns!!

[Pumpkin]

I have been lucky for 4 years and luck finally ran out. My daughter with long thick hair finally caught it this year about a month ago now. :(

Thankfully I caught it on her very early and it wasn't too bad!! Still it took me almost two weeks to get it completely out of her hair and cost me over $60 to rid of this nuisance. Not to mention the power bill we will be receiving.

I have a beef with the way this issue is handled around here. The information to beat this pest is not being given out consistently!!

I called two different pharmacies and asked to speak to the pharmacist to which I did speak to one both occassions. In the two different places I called, neither woman seemed to have a clue with the questions I asked, and just kept making really stupid comments. They were of no help what so ever!!! I found more help online from women with large families who dealt with it and I figure, if anyone is gonna know it would be someone like that!!

This is what I did to rid of it...though you prob don't have to go to this extreme but I did, I wasn't taking any chances what so ever!

I did the treatment
Combed through and cleaned her head atleast twice a day everyday
Repeated the treatment after 7 days
Continue to comb through her head atleast once a day...
Even though it's been awhile, I still do it...paranoia has set in :P

All bedding and clothes worn were wash in hot water and put into the dryer for atleast an hour. (They say everything that can be put in a dryer should atleast be in there for 30 minutes on 125 temp)
Toys were sprayed, bagged for two weeks, then dried in the dryer for an hour upon coming out of the bags (I later found out you shouldn't use the spray due to the fumes, it's better to bag em and vaccum)
Bedding and clothes worn were put into the dryer for an hour every morning
Combs, elastics, hairbrushes, all garbaged and bought new as well.
Car was vaccumed out also.

We realized the other child had it when i found it on my daughter. We could tell my daughter contracted it from her because her head was crawling with full grown ones & littered with nits and my daughter only had one I believe, maybe two and then the nits that I found. Well when her mother went to buy the solution for her hair. The pharmacist she spoke with told her she only had to put the toys & such in the dryer for 10 minutes. What? 10 minutes?

No wonder there are problems in the schools and else where with this. If the pharmacists, schools and people can't get on the same page in treating it properly then how will it ever be beat!!? You think the pharmacies would all be on the same page with their information considering they are supposed to know this stuff!

[mizunderstood]

Oh pumpkin, I could have just wrote this post. I have been dealing with it for a week now... It is a nightmare. My little girl came home from daycare last friday just POLLUTED with them. ARG!! SO I spent all night Fri washing, cleaning, delousing!, Sat same thing again, Sunday again. Then I *thought* she was free of them (since I did vinegar on her friday, Resultz (from walmart) on sat, and tee tree oil Sunday) I sent her to school monday... She was still polluted! I went and picked her up, and did the Resultz on her 2X that day (I know not a good idea but I can't handle the itchyness!) then I did a vinegar rinse on her Tuesday, and wednesday. WAiting until she gets home tonight to check her again... It is a nightmare. And the worst part of the whole thing is still the STIGMA of lice. It only seems to be attracted to the clean kids!!! My kids are in the tub1-2 times a day! there hair is always clean, etc. Thank god my son didnt get them, just the baby... I am hoping that she is clean of them now.. It is expensive, and time consuming and just plain gross!!!
This is the time of year that they break out really bad in the schools and daycares, so please all parents check your kids EVERY DAY!!! I do, and that is why I found them so fast.
I have been really pushing my kids to not wear anyones clothing, hats, blankets, toys, pillows, etc... WHat a nightmare!
Also wanted to mention you dont HAVE to wash everything, just make sure that you run it all through the dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes. But me being paranoid, I washed everything in hot water, then put them in the dryer! YUCK! I hope I never have to deal with this again...

[livkat]

Just a suggestion, after the lice is gone, if you have girls with hair long enough to pull back then do that and use a couple squirts of hairspray. (The hairspray helps prevent the lice from attaching to your hair) I have learned these tips from years of working in daycares.

[sarahnb]

We went through this for a month. I found the best treatment was the hair soaking in conditioner with a shower cap on. It was the best I could do when the pharmacies were closed. Once the lice are gone, the chemical treatments are pointless as they don't kill the knits.

[ab]

when we first moved down here my kids and the kids from the church had it every other month (sick) we found out what kid it was comeing from and the family got to gether and choped her hair off. now i havent seen them for a year but after the 2nd time my girls got it i bought the nitnator its 19.99 and it grabs and kills every thing also works nice for craddle cap lol and that was what i have been useing every time after and their was a couple more times and i dont bye the wash any more just use the pick and vacum and the dryer. and keep their hair up. also the school sends home news letters every month saying they are haveing a problem so check heads at home and she has not got them for the hole school year and they send home tips and web sites to visit. also for anyone that does not know the RC shampoo can be coverd if you get a skript from a DR. good luck. and thanks for makeing me itchy lol

[Woofer]

from what i heard the cleaner the hair the more lice love it.

[Pumpkin]

Yes unfortunately lice come with stereotypes and really for no reason. Apparently, lice cling to both clean and dirty hair. I always thought it was just clean hair as well. I did a lot of reading up on this once plagued with it. I will post any sites I saved for help with this topic for anyone who may need it.

Lice also do not jump or hop though the secretary at my daughters school seems to think they do :P. The reason this happens is from the electric charge in the hair, it makes them look like they hop sometimes. They actually crawl. Jackets hanging side by side in school is a very good way to pass it along, so your children may not need to share head gear and such to get it.

No treatment of any kind you use will kill the nits. they have to picked from the "victims" head one by one and I will warn you if u ever have to deal with this and haven't yet, the nit combs that come with your treatment are useless!!

Also if you have no money to buy your treatment and need it ASAP cuz ur going bananas thinking about it.....ALL schools are supplied with it. They may not tell you this but they do have it, ask for it!! It was actually offered to me by my daughter's principal and teacher, but we already had I. I actually found her lice 15 minutes before leaving for her bus on a monday morning!!

Another thing I will mention, is that when you go into teh school to have your child checked before returning to class. Ask that you are taken somewhere more private than the middle of a hall or office. I witnessed a young mother and her young daughter return to school after having her child get it. The mother was crying, the child was crying and the freakin PRINCIPAL looked her head over right out in the open in the middle of the office right infront of all the windows. I was mortified for them, i felt soo terrible. When I took my daughter back, I was prepared to say let's go to the washroom if we must! Our principal took us right into her personal office thankfully. Great principal, I love her!!!

I used the equate brand solution and the R&C spray. But honestly, it's pointless i find, because the knits are the main concern and hardest to get and that is what nothing kills!! The solution makes your hair feel like it was just bleached 3 times in a row so i found putting conditioner on the hair afterwards helped also in sliding the buggers down the length of the hair!! I also used a flashlight each time i checked her hair cuz they are good at camoflaging!!!

Mizunderstood I feel for ya. My nerves were on edge the whole time going through that. I was testy and well you probably know exactly what I was feeling by the sounds of it. I am so glad for it to be over and I hope I never go through this again either. I hope none of you do or ever do again, oh it is the worst!!!

Well here are the sites i found. I hope they are helpful for you, I know they answered more questions for me than the pharmacists did!!!

http://headlice.org/faq/index.htm or just headlice.org

http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/infections/common/lice.html

http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/lice/headlice018.shtml

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/headlice/Head_Lice_Treatment_Guide.htm

One of the ones I used seems to longer be available, and it was the lady who had a large family and had great advice too . Darn it. Oh well hope these all help those who may need it!!

[FutureChief88]

Ok so what school do these kids go to? My daughter has had an incredible nuisance of recurring pinworm infections. I am terrified that THIS will get her too.

[Woofer]

most elementary schools are facing this i hear.

[Pumpkin]

It is in EVERY school.!!!!!

Some schools may not be as informative, but as far as I am concerned it is every where!! Most schools will send monthly news letters home that have a section all it's own stating "lice is on the rage again, check your child's head"....I have been in and out of many schools and the lice has been at EVERY one I have been to yet!! And it will continue to spread as long as people are ignorant to it and as long as the pharmacists continue to give usuless information and until they get their stories together on how to rid of the pest...it will ALWAYS be in the schools and outside the schools (kids go home at the end of the day, they live next door, they live down the road...).

Our secretary mentioned that the coats hanging side by side could be a big issue..... I almost feel like going to the pricipal and asking that next year when we come back, the jacket hooks are spaced out to not touch each other, and all hats & mitts in winter be hung with the childs own jackets, not all together!! This isn't going to solve the issue but I am darn sure it would help. I tell my child to put her jacket inside her book bag now instead of hanging it on her hook! In winter, coats are too big and things get too wet so it won't work then unfortunetly!!

I have been so careful with my child, and after all that she ended up gettin it from a kid up the road she plays with all the time instead. Had her head not been crawling and I mean crawling in the true sense of the word, she probably wouldn't have got it. You can't catch nits!!

Schools need to stress these things to parents on a daily basis if necessary. Check your child's head on a regular basis!! A school can only do so much though I realize, it mainly lies in the parent or guardian's hands. So get it through your heads, check your kids heads for pete sakes, check them!! I can't imagine not wanting to do it, I couldn't stand the thought of them being in my house. Not sure how someone could turn a cheek but some do!! Ewww!

If people continue to be ignorant, we will never win this battle!!


Your child got pinworms at school Futurechief? I found this below...

How Do You Get Pinworm?
Pinworm infections are contagious. People become infected by unknowingly ingesting microscopic pinworm eggs that can be found on many different surfaces, including:

bed linens
towels
clothing (especially underwear and pajamas)
toilets
bathroom fixtures
food
drinking glasses
eating utensils
toys
kitchen counters
desks or lunch tables at school
sandboxes

So if your child is getting them from school repeatedly..they are obviously not a clean school at all, and I would be raising some major concerns there especially before a child dies of e coli or something from being in a dirty facility. It happened at the Y years ago, I know within the last 8 years because my daughter was here then!!. A child lost their life because of that!

I am not sure of the privacy issues on here, but I am very concerned about that now, omg I don't ever wanna face that, the lice was bad enough!!! ...geez...What school does your child go to, could you pm me and tell me. I didn't realize pin worms were an issue in schools at all. That is a whole new thing to worry about. But thanks, I would have been ignorant to the fact it existed in schools, cuz I have never heard of it before!!!

[Woofer]

true ive never heard of pinworms and i'm not that young, i hope they are easy to get rid of.

[Sheila_1980]

I've received 3 letters from my son's school, all in one week! :eek: It's everywhere.

most elementary schools are facing this i hear.

[FutureChief88]

No this has been happening over the past year and a half. I think she was getting them from the Daycare she was attending at the time. But she has an awful habit of putting things in her mouth.. fingers, toys.. you guess it , shes put it in there. The problem with pinworms is.. once you get them you have to be very careful of what you do. You scratch at night (because its itchy and you do this in your sleep.. this is when the worms come out to lay eggs) and then you unknowingly put your hands by your face and there starts the cycle again. The last time she had them i was VERY concerned. Especially with a little girl, the worms can infect their urinary tract, as well as their gastroinstetinal tract. So we went to the doctor and they just laugh it off.., "o almost every child gets them" Not 8 times in a year and a half! Then he proceeded to ask me if she EATS DIRT?!?! I was like WTF.
She is NOT getting them from my house because EVERYTHING is disinfected here.. so she must have been picking them up elsewhere. We have even moved twice! So the last time i treated her.. i over treated her. You are supposed to treat once and then again in 2 weeks. I treated once a week with 3 treatments.. and they seemed to be gone..but tonight she was complaining about being itchy and having worms again. Now, she would just automatically assume it was a worms with an itchy bum, but still. I checked and didnt see anything.. so hopefully she was just itchy.
Also when a child gets them you are supposed to transfer any bedding or clothes that the child may have worn in a garbage bag to the washer.. so nothing could fall on the floor along the way. Then disinfect your laundry area,, and wash in hot water.
After the last infection..I used lysol on EVERYTHING.. every toy, every.. everything! I cleaned the floors with Javex and water and washed everything she may have touched with her hands.. Clothes, bears.. even couch cushions. If shes got them again.. its from school.. and i dont know how to stop it!

Also parents.. Pinworms can cause a child to wet their bed as well.. so i you are having problems with that.. Check out their bum at night.

[livkat]

I have worked with lots of children over several years and not one ever had pinworms, its interesting how your Dr. says almost every child gets them.

[livkat]

fc, you should contact your daughters school. Other parents may not no signs of pinworms, and the school could have an outbreak and not know it. Alos if it was an outbreak public health would have to be notified .

[FutureChief88]

Its not an outbreak.. she just keeps getting them. The school has been notified. I had them when i was a child, as did most of my friends. Apparently it is a common as head lice.

She doesnt have them again.. so i am sure it was the daycare she was attending.

[rhiley_08j]

http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/parasitic/pinworm.html

[shoona]

The best way(and quickest) to get rid of head lice is Dippty doo hair gel put half the bottle in the hair cover it with a shower cap over night and it is gone!!! works every time.. And to prevent head lice just add a little dippty doo to your childs hair every day before school....

[FutureChief88]

REALLY?!?! Wow that is really interesting! Thanks for the info!

[livkat]

The best way(and quickest) to get rid of head lice is Dippty doo hair gel put half the bottle in the hair cover it with a shower cap over night and it is gone!!! works every time.. And to prevent head lice just add a little dippty doo to your childs hair every day before school....
What is the ingredient in the gel that gets rid of lice?? To avoid lice I see your point in using gel, as I posted above that a few squirts of hairspray helps to keep the little buggies off. Never heard anyone say use hair gel as a treatment.

[momof2sweethearts]

The best way to keep your child free from lice is to wear their hair up in a ponytail and lightly spray with hairspray. Also shampooing with tea tree oil is supposedly good. Lice do not like hair that has chemicals in it so on the contrary they actually prefer clean hair. If all parents would do this simple thing for their children that would be the end of it or should. My children haven't gotten it yet (knock on wood)

[patbez]

Haven't had to deal with lice since I was a child, but wanted to comment on pinworm...

I think about 10% of the world's population get pinworm at some point in their life, although it is more common in children. It's extremely contagious, as the "eggs" can come in contact with any surface that an infected person touches.

I had pinworm when I was 18 & it was absolutely horrible. I had started working retail & I was a chronic nail biter...it probably took ONE time of me touching infected money & then biting my nails to become infected. I'm an extremely clean person...I have OCD & am neurotic about cleanliness, so when I discovered I had pinworm, I was shocked. Needless to say, I have never bitten my nails since...talk about a fool-proof remedy.

It's a horrible experience, having pinworm. I'm sure it's traumatic for kids, but it's extremely traumatic having it as an adult. I won't go into details, but you can read up on all of it yourself...yeah, not pretty.

I remember I took an over the counter oral liquid remedy, washed my entire bedroom down, cleaned all my clothes, bed sheets etc...& still got reinfected once more, probably from touching something I had touched when infected. I did the liquid meds one more time, repeated the whole process & finally got rid of it! Before having them, I had never heard of it! My friend apparently had it when she was young & I guess a lot of parents know about it...but I was none the wiser!

So, it's REALLY important to teach kids not to share hats, combs, brushes, hoodies etc....but also to wash their hands after touching things that don't belong them/are communal, esp. before eating or doing anything where their hands will be anywhere near their mouth. Having had both lice & pinworm in my life [& expecting my first child in a couple of months] I already know I'm going to drill these lessons into my kids, hehe.

[sarahnb]

Cheaper than tea tree oil shampoo, add tea tree oil to your shampoo/conditioner. It'll go a lot further.

[shoona]

What is the ingredient in the gel that gets rid of lice?? To avoid lice I see your point in using gel, as I posted above that a few squirts of hairspray helps to keep the little buggies off. Never heard anyone say use hair gel as a treatment.

Hi i am not sure what the ingredients are all i know is that it smothers the eggs and they cant hang on to the hair....:) i would think hair spray dose the same but it is easier to cover the whole head with gel then hair spray..

[livkat]

Hi i am not sure what the ingredients are all i know is that it smothers the eggs and they cant hang on to the hair....:) i would think hair spray dose the same but it is easier to cover the whole head with gel then hair spray..
I wasn't suggesting using hairspray as treatment. And I would definatley rather spray some hairspray then send my daughter to school with a gooey head full of gel.

[momof2sweethearts]

Cheaper than tea tree oil shampoo, add tea tree oil to your shampoo/conditioner. It'll go a lot further.

Probably smell alot better too LOL

[Pumpkin]

"The best way(and quickest) to get rid of head lice is Dippty doo hair gel put half the bottle in the hair cover it with a shower cap over night and it is gone!!! works every time.. And to prevent head lice just add a little dippty doo to your childs hair every day before school...."

Though this may be a helpful hint or tip above, Unless you have tested this and know, we have to make sure that we state, this will not kill the nits!!! This is how people get confused and how it continues to fester and spread!! If you infact found that this dippidy doo kills the nits and not just the bugs, and know this for fact, then by all means please let us know because no one has found a cure for it yet!! And nits HAVE TO be PICKED from the head......that's why this is such a nuissance and a worst nightmare come true!!


"The best way to keep your child free from lice is to wear their hair up in a ponytail and lightly spray with hairspray. Also shampooing with tea tree oil is supposedly good. Lice do not like hair that has chemicals in it so on the contrary they actually prefer clean hair. If all parents would do this simple thing for their children that would be the end of it or should. My children haven't gotten it yet (knock on wood)"

.......Momoftwosweethearts Unfortunately, I followed your protocol in keeping my daughter's hair up and in a braid, taught her no sharing of hats, etc, and BANG she got it anyways. They say they like clean hair but from the reading I have been doing I don't think it matters much. Though I will say I personally did experiment with the conditioner and it does help in sliding those suckers out!!! And yes puttin tee tree right into your shampoo, good idea!! Put about 40 drops into your shampoo and this supposedly helps to ward them off. Though I have heard people who use it, get tagged anyways so not sure how effective it actually is, but hey why not try !!!!

And also I am going to go as far as to say hairspray is not going to smother the eggs. Nothing as I have said, has been figured out to kill or smother eggs. Hairspray may help in sliding them out or something not to sure cuz i have never tried, but I really don't think it works otherwise all doctors and schools would be telling you to get out the supply of hairspray when your kids get tagged with it. It would be a heck of a lot cheaper if it did work though!! Darn it!!! :P

But this is the point I was trying to make. Go through all the posts just on here alone, and there are not that many. You will see the different scenarios and things that people "believe" or have been told work...then this info is passed on be it by word of mouth, pharmacist, schools, etc and the lice continue to thrive in our community instead of being beat! Same with the pin worms, if people are gonna continue to be dirty and not even wipe up after themselves etc, then pin worms will continue to spread....

EWW what creepy gross topics huh. YUCK! But it is better to be informed than to be ignorant!!!!

[AreWeThereYetMom]

Just came across this thread..
thought I'd put this link in here.
Some of the posts from this old thread from last year may help out for some that are still battling or concerned about the lice issue.
http://www.isaintjohn.com/classifieds/showthread.php?t=14910&highlight=lice

[shoona]

"The best way(and quickest) to get rid of head lice is Dippty doo hair gel put half the bottle in the hair cover it with a shower cap over night and it is gone!!! works every time.. And to prevent head lice just add a little dippty doo to your childs hair every day before school...."

Though this may be a helpful hint or tip above, Unless you have tested this and know, we have to make sure that we state, this will not kill the nits!!! This is how people get confused and how it continues to fester and spread!! If you infact found that this dippidy doo kills the nits and not just the bugs, and know this for fact, then by all means please let us know because no one has found a cure for it yet!! And nits HAVE TO be PICKED from the head......that's why this is such a nuissance and a worst nightmare come true!!


"The best way to keep your child free from lice is to wear their hair up in a ponytail and lightly spray with hairspray. Also shampooing with tea tree oil is supposedly good. Lice do not like hair that has chemicals in it so on the contrary they actually prefer clean hair. If all parents would do this simple thing for their children that would be the end of it or should. My children haven't gotten it yet (knock on wood)"

.......Momoftwosweethearts Unfortunately, I followed your protocol in keeping my daughter's hair up and in a braid, taught her no sharing of hats, etc, and BANG she got it anyways. They say they like clean hair but from the reading I have been doing I don't think it matters much. Though I will say I personally did experiment with the conditioner and it does help in sliding those suckers out!!! And yes puttin tee tree right into your shampoo, good idea!! Put about 40 drops into your shampoo and this supposedly helps to ward them off. Though I have heard people who use it, get tagged anyways so not sure how effective it actually is, but hey why not try !!!!

And also I am going to go as far as to say hairspray is not going to smother the eggs. Nothing as I have said, has been figured out to kill or smother eggs. Hairspray may help in sliding them out or something not to sure cuz i have never tried, but I really don't think it works otherwise all doctors and schools would be telling you to get out the supply of hairspray when your kids get tagged with it. It would be a heck of a lot cheaper if it did work though!! Darn it!!! :P

But this is the point I was trying to make. Go through all the posts just on here alone, and there are not that many. You will see the different scenarios and things that people "believe" or have been told work...then this info is passed on be it by word of mouth, pharmacist, schools, etc and the lice continue to thrive in our community instead of being beat! Same with the pin worms, if people are gonna continue to be dirty and not even wipe up after themselves etc, then pin worms will continue to spread....

EWW what creepy gross topics huh. YUCK! But it is better to be informed than to be ignorant!!!!

|Dipity doo dose kill nits too i have done many of times and no you dont have to pick the nits out they fall out while brushing they cant hang out after dipty doo is used....

[shoona]

I wasn't suggesting using hairspray as treatment. And I would definatley rather spray some hairspray then send my daughter to school with a gooey head full of gel.
I wasnt saying send your kid to school in it i said put it in over night or through the day while your child is home with it!!!!!

[sanstu]

Please parents, do not use a home remedy that calls for wrapping your child's hair in plastic and leaving on overnight, this is very dangerous.
Also, do you think maybe the problem with frequent infestations is due to a lack of proper treatment and product? If your child has lice, EVERYONE in the family has to be treated, nits Have to be removed. One surefire way to get rid of these pests is haircolor.(still need to remove nits) No matter what treatment you use the nits have to be removed!! Gads, just writting about this is making me itchy!!!!

[FutureChief88]

Haven't had to deal with lice since I was a child, but wanted to comment on pinworm...

I think about 10% of the world's population get pinworm at some point in their life, although it is more common in children. It's extremely contagious, as the "eggs" can come in contact with any surface that an infected person touches.

I had pinworm when I was 18 & it was absolutely horrible. I had started working retail & I was a chronic nail biter...it probably took ONE time of me touching infected money & then biting my nails to become infected. I'm an extremely clean person...I have OCD & am neurotic about cleanliness, so when I discovered I had pinworm, I was shocked. Needless to say, I have never bitten my nails since...talk about a fool-proof remedy.

It's a horrible experience, having pinworm. I'm sure it's traumatic for kids, but it's extremely traumatic having it as an adult. I won't go into details, but you can read up on all of it yourself...yeah, not pretty.

I remember I took an over the counter oral liquid remedy, washed my entire bedroom down, cleaned all my clothes, bed sheets etc...& still got reinfected once more, probably from touching something I had touched when infected. I did the liquid meds one more time, repeated the whole process & finally got rid of it! Before having them, I had never heard of it! My friend apparently had it when she was young & I guess a lot of parents know about it...but I was none the wiser!

So, it's REALLY important to teach kids not to share hats, combs, brushes, hoodies etc....but also to wash their hands after touching things that don't belong them/are communal, esp. before eating or doing anything where their hands will be anywhere near their mouth. Having had both lice & pinworm in my life [& expecting my first child in a couple of months] I already know I'm going to drill these lessons into my kids, hehe.

The nail biting is EXACTLY the problem. My daughter is a chronic nail bitier as well. I think this is why she keeps getting them! When you have kids you can wash and wash and wash..but if the school and other parents are not doing the same thing.. it makes what YOU are doing pointless.

Yea i had these when i was about 10.. and i got them again when my daughter got infected with thedm the first time.. about 2 years ago.

Same here about cleanliness. I am terrified about these things.. my family gets mad at me because i am so crazy about being clean.. but you have to. God only know what there is to catch! But i found myself biting my nails the last time i got infected.. and that was enough for me! It is soo hard to keep a 5 year olds hand out of her mouth!

[mizunderstood]

Please parents, do not use a home remedy that calls for wrapping your child's hair in plastic and leaving on overnight, this is very dangerous.
Also, do you think maybe the problem with frequent infestations is due to a lack of proper treatment and product? If your child has lice, EVERYONE in the family has to be treated, nits Have to be removed. One surefire way to get rid of these pests is haircolor.(still need to remove nits) No matter what treatment you use the nits have to be removed!! Gads, just writting about this is making me itchy!!!!

Actually sanstu, haircolor is not the best way to get rid of lice. Especially if you have already used some kind of chemical to treat them. The hair colring will burn the scalp and cause more problems. DO NOT color your childs hair to get rid of headlice!!!! I asked a few different hairstylests and they all said that dying hair is the WORST thing to do to get rid of them.
Hair color does not get rid of the nits, only the live ones. The haircolor just gives them a pretty place to live in.THe best way to get rid of them is by using one of the products on the market, check your childs head frequently, Applying some sort of thick product, gel, hairspray anything that they cannot attach themselves to.
Here is a good site
http://www.carefair.com/Hair/Head_Lice_1830.html

[sanstu]

In extreme conditions color may be the only way to go. Hair color is not applied to the scalp, it is applied to the hair. Since lice is becoming increasingly resistant to treatment this may be the only way to go. NO PRODUCT rids the head of nits, these must be manually removed. People using "home remedies" could possibly be re-infesting other children.
Some hair types are more difficult to treat then others. It is ALWAYS best to check with the pharmacy to determine which product is best to use. The home also has to be deloused, this is very important.If not done you run the risk of re-infesting.

[mizunderstood]

Excellent point sanstu... I just worry when I hear someone say oh dye their hair it will get rid of them... It makes me nervous... :)

[newmommy]

i had pinworm as a kid a couple of times and i hated it . i did the oral treatment everytime i had them. my doctor told my mom it was from eating raw mr noddles. and raw hot dogs.

[Tara]

You can't get worms from eating raw noodles.

[patbez]

newmommy: I ate raw Mr. Noodles & raw hot dogs like crazy when I was a kid/early teens & ONLY got pinworm in my late teens. Fancy that.

[iluvmnm]

Ok, here's a question..my friend has 3 kids at the same school, but one of them always seems to get lice....
She wanted to take them to a hairdresser to get her hair cut short after she did the last treatment and was told by the hair places she called that if there's even 1 nit in the child's hair they will stop cutting and make them leave.
Who has heard this??
Any hairdressers reading.....

[sanstu]

iluvmnm, considering that head lice is spread so easily, the answer to your question is yes, the hairdresser would immediately stop cutting the child's hair and your friend would be asked to leave.

remember nits have to be manually removed.

[sanstu]

newmommy, Mr. Noodles are not "raw", they are dried noodles. Hotdogs are processed not "raw".

[getoverit]

my sister is a hairdresser and says you should treat the head lice problem 2 weeks after you see no more lice because it takes 2 weeks for nits to hatch and that is why it is recurring...most people stop treatment when they see no more lice.

[Pumpkin]

IluvMnM....apparently there ARE hair dressers that will deal with head lice for you. I have no info on which one for you I am sorry about that, but I believe it was my daughter's teacher who mentioned there are some out there who will do it. You will have to call around and ask, one may know which hair dressers do do it....

getoverit...yes you should treat again after the lice are gone. The box suggests 7 - 10 days I beleive. I re- did the treatment after 7 days. One week to the day and still found a couple nits afterwards, but very few. I did not repeat the treatment again for a 3rd time because I find that solution very harsh. And the bug problem was gone. You have to pick the nits by hand or by comb out of the hair. Combs don't work as well as hands I found personally, but if you get a GOOD comb, it may work for you only using the comb. I am a perfectionist of sorts so I was relentless at picking through her head!! Plus the thoughts of it continuing was not an option!! :P

[newmommy]

You can't get worms from eating raw noodles.

well thats what the doctor told me!

[Tara]

Well your doctor is wrong, sorry. The noodles aren't raw, they are precooked, you're basically just putting the moisture back into them.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_eating_raw_noodles_give_you_worms

[mizunderstood]

LOL Tara is absolutly correct. That is an old wives tale to get kids to stop eating raw noodles. lol

Back on topic again... What do you do when your child keeps bringing lice home from daycare? My little girl has had them 4 times now. We have scrubbed the house, washed everything, used all the chemicals, and she keeps bringing them home. Is there something I can put in her hair to keep her from bringing them home from daycare?

[livkat]

LOL Tara is absolutly correct. That is an old wives tale to get kids to stop eating raw noodles. lol

Back on topic again... What do you do when your child keeps bringing lice home from daycare? My little girl has had them 4 times now. We have scrubbed the house, washed everything, used all the chemicals, and she keeps bringing them home. Is there something I can put in her hair to keep her from bringing them home from daycare?
I would speak to the daycare. It sounds like they may need to do a thorough cleaning of toys ect... Also children with lice are supoose to be kept home from daycare, just like school.
PS washing hair with tea tree shampoo is suppose to help prevent lice.

[Geneva]

I seem to have been given the name "Head lice Queen" among my friends as well as many of the teachers my daughter has had throughout her elementary school time. My daughter and I battled head lice on a continuous basis for over 6 months in a row. (this being the longest period) and many (seems like hundreds of times) more since. I am happy to say that our home and my daughters hair have been head lice free for almost 2 years now. My friends and their friends once hearing about my ordeal deemed me a pro at head checking and advice on how to "nip it in the bud". I had people I didn't know personally but knew someone i knew calling me for help and head checks. I also treated most of their kids for them so I guess over the past 7 years I have treated about 50 or more kids and 20 or more adultsjust on my own time. I volunteered at my daughters school everyday for an hour or two before I went to work and head checked the students in her classes. So if you agree with what I say please give it a try but I will advise never take a persons word for it!!! ALWAYS research as much as you can about it because sometimes pesticides (the lice shampoo) may not be the treatment you choose.

Here is what I have learned...They are not in any particular order i am typing as I think of them... LOL

Using the same lice shampoo for each infestation may in time result in an immunity. So mix it up. If you buy R&C this time buy Life Brand next time. Just a tip the pharmacist at Shoppers told me Life brand is made by the same company as R&C. It just has a slightly different chemical make up. .

Check the expiration date on the bottle. It is often more economical to buy the family size rather than the individual treatment since you have to buy 2 of the individual to treat for the second time 7 days later. Usually when buying the family size you have more than enough left to battle the next infestation immediately IF and WHEN it comes. Remember check the expiration date.

Research online what a louse looks like as well as what a nit looks like. If you are confident you can identify it then your one step closer to a lice free existence.....for a while LOL.
...one myth is you will see them crawling every time and they are hard to catch. Well yes they are hard to catch but you may come across one that is feeding on the blood of the scalp so it will not be moving. Nits rage in color Live nits in my experience range from a brownish reddish to sometimes an almost beige color. a live nit has a reflective side so if you move the hair slightly when doing a head check for the light to catch it in different angles it helps also.

Always do a headcheck in good light. Natural light is great but I prefer florescent lighting it is harsher and I find nits reflect more easily.

A full headcheck should be preformed at least once a week.

you can do a "Hot Spot Check" daily it takes only a couple minutes. The hot spots on your head that they tend to like are behind the ears....nape of neck....and the center of the crown. this takes only five minutes or so and can be incorporated into your childs bedtime routine.

The chemicals in the lice shampoo are very harsh. For years I would go to a salon and buy special conditioning treatments for my own hair and this was expensive. Then through reading on the internet and then questioning many hairstylist... more than one it was many..... I found that using a hand cream (my favorite is St. Ives for extra dry skin) which I found at the dollar store most times was a poor mans professional conditioning treatment. Any dry skin cream will do the trick in a pinch. I have tried body lotion also when I ran out of hand cream and it worked but not near as good and it was messier since its consistency isn't as think as hand cream. In between the 7 day treatment about day 2 or 3 do a conditioning treatment with the hand cream it restores a lot of the moisture the chemicals in the lice shampoo strip away. massage well into the scalp and roots of the hair. then root to tip. use as much as you want the more you saturate the hair the more moisture will be restored. ( I have been doing this to my own hair once a week for years and years it is also great after coloring your hair to restore moisture and shine as well ladies) I usually get a package of shower caps at the dollar store 10 in a pack for a buck and plop that on my head for an hour then after an hour i take it off and just comb through my hair. I sleep with it on my hair and wash it out in the shower the next morning. "so I have to wash a pillow case big deal!!" For the little ones this is safe unless they are at a stage where they chew or suck on their hair in this case still leave it in but pull their hair back into a pony tail or braid it or just be creative.. I would suggest that after having it in the hair for an hour or so to run the lice comb through the hair carefully but firmly in sections and you may find that the cream has smothered any newly hatched lice and they comb out and also those suckers are so slick they sometimes come right out on the comb.

There is no substitute for hand picking the nits out of the hair. I must stress this. The combs are pretty useless at least in my opinion. I have even tried the new electric vibrating buzzing comb they sell for $50 it's a crock. but that is just my opinion. If your going to get everything get down and dirty and right in there with your hands. checking each strand of hair in sections of no more than 5 milimeters large. you will use lots of hair clips and it take the time but it truely is the best way to do it.

Dont forget a louse can survive off a host for 24 plus hours so vacume vacume vacume

seal stuffed animals in a garbage bag for 2 weeks or put them through a hot air cycle on your dryer. maybe two then give them a good shake outside ot beat with a broom handle or something like that. I recommend the garbage bag for 2 weeks and the dryer because these toys can be reinfested if nits that weren't found after first treatment hatch.

wash the bedding and dry on hot cycle shake well when you take them out of dryer

teach your children to never share hats or brushes as this is usually the first contact

book bags, jackets, hats, mitts, any thing made of material or fabric needs to be run through the hot dryer and shaken well.

let everyone in the home have their own hair brush and assecories. these kind of things makes organizing a dream also.

never reuse towels always use fresh linen.

preventative measures like the above may take a bit of extra time in your cleaning ritual but worth it in the end trust me.

avoid the lice spray they sell for $10 a can that you can use on your car upholstry and house furniture. The fumes are unsafe and really unnecessary (only in my opinion) I went to the dollar store and got an empty spray bottle and I filled it half way with water quarter way with lysol or mr clean or whatever you use and then a quarter way with vinegar. (never mix amonia based products) give it a good shake. Then go through the house and spray your fabric covered furniture. spray it good (i usually do it before bed so i can get it good and damp so it can air dry over night) The vinegar mixed with the cleaner is chemical enough to make the environment inhospitable for the lice so they tend to get off the furniture and onto the floor or carpet. you can vacume them up the next day. Vacume off the furniture and you have it made. The lysol is a cleaning agent so if you want to use a sturdy hand brush to to go over your furniture with it will clean your upholstry. the vinegar is a degreasing agent as well as an odor killer. as the vinegar evaporates it takes the odor with it. (fantastic for pet messes by the way) and the degreaser helps with those stubborn juice spots or candy stains our kids love to grace us with on our beautiful living room set LOL.

Vacume your matresses both sides. don't only limit your cleaning to your childs room you interact with your children and the lice can be carried on your clothing into your own bedroom and other places in the home.

Vacume vacume vacume

did i mention vacume vacume vacume?

LOL



Don't just vacume once a day vacume several times a day.

continued in next thread I got a lot to say lmao

[Geneva]

Also ask your child's school for their head lice policy. According to District 8 there is a standard policy every school must follow. I ran into the situation where I was checking kids in my daughters class and the school decided that they were only sending children that had live lice home not just nits THIS IS WRONG!! A chile should not return to school unless they are NIT FREE!!

Be an advocate for your child. This is an everyday affliction for our children but it doesn't have to be. There are some people who think that the work ends when you finish treating the hair. well surprize that is just the beginning. Be prepared for 2 or 3 gruelling weeks of ... you guessed it vacuming!! LOL and all the rest of the cleaning.
Another myth is Lice come from "dirty kids" this is not true. Lic want a clean healthy environment to feed and reproduce in so if you have a twisted sense of humor or are at the point of running out of tears because your so stressed by this that you may as well laugh take it as a compliment by the lice your kid is sooooo clean that they want to live in their heads. Bad joke I know but bottom line it is true. :)

If you notice your child is getting lice from a particular child or group of children you need to act!! silence only lets them reproduce more. Contact your school, daycare, or babysitter. Don't be embarrassed. remember it is like pesticides that your putting on your childs head how safe and healthy is that?? Just a note I took my daughter out of school for almost 4 weeks in grade 3 because her school was not following the "NO NIT POLICY" I called district 8 and didn't stop till I got to the top. I went and got her class work once a week for her to complete at home but i made a stink about it. Guess what they started enforcing their own policy.

Public health runs classes on how to identify and treat lice. Your child's school can at your suggestion contact these parents and offer assistance for them to take this one evening class. Do whatever you have to do to make these institutions create and/or follow their own policies.

Unfortunately you may be labeled a difficult parent or a loud mouth but it is a small price to pay for making sure your child has a clean environment to learn and thrive in don't you think??



Again I just want to say again that the above are only my opinions and you are free to disagree. But I needed to share my experience just the same

Have a great day!!

[harley2]

Also ask your child's school for their head lice policy. According to District 8 there is a standard policy every school must follow. I ran into the situation where I was checking kids in my daughters class and the school decided that they were only sending children that had live lice home not just nits THIS IS WRONG!! A chile should not return to school unless they are NIT FREE!!

Be an advocate for your child. This is an everyday affliction for our children but it doesn't have to be. There are some people who think that the work ends when you finish treating the hair. well surprize that is just the beginning. Be prepared for 2 or 3 gruelling weeks of ... you guessed it vacuming!! LOL and all the rest of the cleaning.
Another myth is Lice come from "dirty kids" this is not true. Lic want a clean healthy environment to feed and reproduce in so if you have a twisted sense of humor or are at the point of running out of tears because your so stressed by this that you may as well laugh take it as a compliment by the lice your kid is sooooo clean that they want to live in their heads. Bad joke I know but bottom line it is true. :)

If you notice your child is getting lice from a particular child or group of children you need to act!! silence only lets them reproduce more. Contact your school, daycare, or babysitter. Don't be embarrassed. remember it is like pesticides that your putting on your childs head how safe and healthy is that?? Just a note I took my daughter out of school for almost 4 weeks in grade 3 because her school was not following the "NO NIT POLICY" I called district 8 and didn't stop till I got to the top. I went and got her class work once a week for her to complete at home but i made a stink about it. Guess what they started enforcing their own policy.

Public health runs classes on how to identify and treat lice. Your child's school can at your suggestion contact these parents and offer assistance for them to take this one evening class. Do whatever you have to do to make these institutions create and/or follow their own policies.

Unfortunately you may be labeled a difficult parent or a loud mouth but it is a small price to pay for making sure your child has a clean environment to learn and thrive in don't you think??



Again I just want to say again that the above are only my opinions and you are free to disagree. But I needed to share my experience just the same

Have a great day!!
you no what is good for head lice dye your hair it works...

[mizunderstood]

you no what is good for head lice dye your hair it works...

unfortunatly you should NOT dye a child's hair. It is dangerous, and harmful to a young child. Unfortunatly I did have to do this to my daughter, after she brought them home a half dozen times... I do not recommend it, but if you are careful, it does work. She has been free of them for 3 weeks or more now...

[Geneva]

over conversation with several different parents on several different occasions one parent a doctor and one a nurse and the others normal people like me lol. We were commenting on how many people we knew who used tea tree shampoo or put the tea tree oil in their shampoo have found the lice are developing an immunity to it. Personally I can tell you after paying 15 dollars for a 500 ml bottle of tea tree shampoo and using on my daughters hair every 2 days for several weeks. Paranoid I bought a few bottles. My daughter came home with yep!! you guessed it.. LICE. I was just plain peeved off by this time ( mind you this was nearly 2 years ago since our home has been lice free for that long now) During some of our conversations several parents switched out tea tree oil for peppermint oil. and they seemed to think it worked better than the tea tree. But this is just what I heard so I thought I would share it. I will say that nearly 2 years ago I finally gave in to my daughters constant begging for streaks in her hair. Finally I streaked her hair and she has never had lice since. I am not saying this is a preventative measure because I die my hair regularly (premature gray) and I have picked up the lice once or twice in the past 8 years. So I DO NOT believe that coloring the childs hair is a solution but it may help a bit. possibly.

I still take preventative measure by teaching my daughter the responsibility of keeping her hats and mits with her own outter wear and not to share them or hair brushes and accessories etc. I found that once I integrated these little things into her daily routine it became second nature to her and it gave me less need to nag the teachers constantly about taking the preventative measures herself. ( although I think it should be done by the school as well Consistancy is the key)

I need to stress to every parent/guardian out there that lice has been here this long and sitting here hoping that the schools will take care of enforcing their own policies or helping to educate the parent that need it or giving the parent that need it a little ambition to take notice of thier children that have been lousy for days or even weeks, WE the active parents need to take initiative to advocate for our children. Our children have the right to be educated in a clean healthy environment. This stands for the pin worm cases also. Get upset, Get loud, Get noticed. Then GET IT DONE!! It is going to be up to us parents this generation and next generation and so o to stand up and be heard. Every school has a PSSC committe and every school has an open door policy (at least they are supposed to) Power in numbers... I have done it myself so I am not talking out my butt. I rallied several parents and confronted the principal and vice and several other teachers. We sat in the office till they figured out we weren't leaving. We pitched them ways of helping those parent that need it or hide from it. Don't just tell them to do it stand up and offer your personal self as a volunteer. when they see the community getting involved they are very quick to jump to action. At least they were in my daughter's school. I still get thanks often when I run into parents and my daughter doesn't go to that school anymore.

Take action is what I am saying I guess

Have a great evening

[AreWeThereYetMom]

Well said & very good tips! The bright light for random checks works well for us anytime there is a school lice alert.

Also, don't forget - it's not only day care and elementary schools, also check your kids in middle school etc!!

We recently had a lice alert about a grade 8 student having discovered lice after a group of kids returned from their grade 7 & 8 school trip in May.