Has Your Child Ever Had Lice?

Yes. Unfortunately most families go through this at least once. Some kids just seem to attract the things and it seems to be the ones with the cleanest hair!

It wouldn't hurt to treat everyone in the household, but not with chemicals. Use olive oil. Saturate the hair with olive oil and wrap in a trash bag (cheaper than a shower cap) for 8 hours, then wash out the oil and nit-comb. Continue to nit-comb for at least a week every day. If you find any more bugs, you can re-treat the hair once a week, but if you get all the nits out you probably won't have to. You are already doing all the vacuuming and washing and putting stuff into plastic bags, so you should be OK.

I know it's gross to deal with those bugs, but try not to blame whomever gave them to the kids. They probably didn't know they had them. You might want to share the olive oil information with the other mom. Those chemicals they sell for lice are very toxic to children.

Hey D.,

The biggest key is the combing and as long as you are doing this religiously, you will successfully eliminate them. Washing the linens and brushes and combs well is necessary, but you don't have to go crazy cleaning the rest of your house, regular cleaning is usually enough. For an egg on a hair to hatch and make it's way to a head is very difficult without the head to head contact, so concentrating on the head and then reasonable cleaning of "head spaces" like pillows, hats and brushes should do it! Just be sure to vacuum your upholstered furniture and vacuum the carpet where ever your kids may lay their heads.

The key is good nit picking, hours and hours of it.

M.

I have had lice 3 times in my life. First time I was about your daughter's age, then second and third times I was a teenager. I got it babysitting and the parents refused to treat their children. They refused to believe their sweet angels were "dirty".

Trust me, your children aren't "dirty", in fact clean hair is more attractive then dirty hair because the lice can actually hang on to the clean (oil removed) hairs easier. Lice aren't really dangerous, just really really annoying and tricky to get rid of. Take your time and make sure you get everything that has touched your little one's head, bed sheets, pillows, hats, combs, hair ties, it might take a few tries. Persistence is key.

In a few weeks you should know for sure, I would leave her things in the bags for a good month, just to be on the safe side. When you take them out run everything through a hot wash before bringing it back in the house.

Good luck.

Lice are so disgusting and embarrassing - even though getting them has nothing to do with how one keeps one's house, or cares for one's children. It sounds like you are doing/have done everything that you can. Just be vigilant, and don't forget to also vacuum the car, especially where her head rests. I would also either purchase new pillows for her bed, or wash the pillows in hot water.

My then 8 year old daughter got them at a Brownie's sleep-over, but they never spread to my 2 year old, so let's hope that you have the same luck.

I've had it happen many times when my older kids went to their dads. All you can do is keep watching and checking their heads. Besides cleaning everything over and over. You just have to keep up with it or it will get worse. And don't feel bad about it happening, lice like clean people. It doesn't mean your a bad parent or that you are dirty people. Good Luck it will get better.

We have 7 girls and my oldest got it and we were able to keep it to just her! Persistence is the key! We spent hours going through her hair daily for at least a week after treating her for the live bugs. We thoroughly picked through her hair removing all eggs but you have to do this consistently because any egg left behind has the potential to hatch! I used clippers on one of her friends that had it and put them back into my case and 7 days later when I went to trim my two-year-olds bangs a live bug crawled across her hair! I was able to catch it but they can survive for up to 14 days! So anything you bag up keep it that way for at least 14 days or more! Don't feel bad it is a common thing! I know people hear you have it and they just think your a filthy person but we too are neat freaks and was devastated when we had it! It will go away, just hang in there and be persistent!

Head Lice are very common. My Dr. was very explicit about this not having anything to do with my keeping my children and my house clean. Schools will often go through a school wide problem. Some people have had success using mayonaise on the hair. Because it is so thick the lice die and so do the eggs. Put a plastic bag over the hsir after rubbing in the mayo and let it stay on for a half hour or so. Then shampoo as usual. You then need to pick through the hair again. This is not fool proof but many parents are concerned about the use of too many chemicals on the child's head. You always need to repaeat any treatment in 10 days to ensure that no eggs escaped the first treatment. Lice are an icky problem but not life threatening.

Hi D.,
I use tea tree and lavender shampoo from california baby, I buy this from drugstore.com. You can find it at local stores also but I needed a tear free shampoo for my DD. They say this will repeal the little buggers and help prevent them from getting them. My DD's class has had outbreaks several times that last two years and she has not gotten them yet, thank God!! You can get lice no matter how clean you are because believe it or not they like clean hair. You can also add mouse to her hair to make it "dirty" so the bugs can't stick.
Good luck!!

Make sure you retreat just like the kit told you to. It is very difficult, as I'm sure you have seen, to get rid of every nit. If even one nit survives, it hatches, and once that little louse reaches maturity, it starts laying more eggs, and before you know it, you're infested again. The reason to retreat is to take care of any young lice that hatched since treatment and before they are mature enough to lay eggs.
Good luck. I have two daughters. ONe had it twice, the other one once. Never from each other, though. I always get their hair cut to about shoulder length or slightly shorter to make combing out so much easier. I also found that finger nails worked much better than any comb on getting the nit off of the hair shaft.
R.

UGHHHH, I feel your pain! My 3 year old just got it, and I was a mess too. But do be careful with the over the counter treatments and cleaning. My dr wouldnt prescribe her the perscription shampoo, b/c she said it was highly toxic. So, I did 2 OTC treatments and 2 mayo treatments. (you saturate the head, wrap it in a shower cap, and leave it on over night). I got her hair cut and took her into the dr to be checked again. My issue was that she got it 3 days before we were moving and then we were going on vacation (in a camper) the following week, and I just didn't want to be taking that with us to either place!! Then she was scratching for days after the whole treatment, because her dr told me that I "over-killed" them and her scalp was so dried out. They really are nasty little buggers, and make you freak out. But, it seems like you are doing everything you need to do. Hang in there! :)

Poor mommy! Although we lucked out and didn't catch any from our friends and babysitting kids, I did the whole house and family treating thing three times! I was up all night "just in case" going through the checklist. (We went to the Health Dept for free screanings and were given the advice you have.)

Looks like you're doing all you should do. Just keep those soft toys, blankets and pillows that you don't need in bags to avoid hatchlings from re-invading your heads or laying new eggs. (the garage was a good spot so the kids wouldn't be tempted to look for Orid or whatever other favorite toy it was at the time.) Vacuum daily and throw away the vacuum bags in a tied plastic bag outside. Check your heads each day. When you are cleared, check heads daily especially after visits/play dates with other kids (that's how my friend found out who had them in the first place.) If you have pets, give them a once-over every now and then. Lice don't live on them, but they'll hop a ride just as if it were a walking pillow.

The good side, is I found out how many un-missed toys and pillows I had around the house.

I never saw nits on my hair or my sons. I just thought it was dandruff. I saw bugs. My friends kids got it and their hair is so light you could see bugs crawling through their hair. IAll I can say is we washed our hair according to the package and it went away. But make sure to do it at least twice and wash all the bedding and haits ion hot and dry on high for at least 30 minutes. I washed all the combs and hair brushes too.
I read on here once to use lots of jells, wax, hair spray on their hair as lice hates product. It cannot stick to the hair. Get rid of them first and then use the dtuff to kerep them away. Our whole community gets them because the kids share towels and combs at the pool. Good luck.