Hello
Our friend came over with his daughter Saturday and found lice on her Sunday...I have vacuumed, disinfected and thrown away the costumes she was playing with. So here's the question my 2 year old has sticky white dandruff looking gunk on the top of her scalp(she is late to get hair so when wet you can see scalp) I didn't see anything moving what is it? What should I do?? She has not been scratching at all, and her brothers look fine. She also loves to rub yogurt in hair...don't ask...and hates to have her scalp scrubbed, which i combed and scrubbed tonight. Am I being paranoid? We have NEVER been this close and personal with lice I'm an itchy mess! lol
Thanks!!
thanks for all the help and support! it is NOT lice! we just got back from peds office and it is some form of craddle cap...her dad has bad dandruff and dry scalp...poor thing. so i will be scrubbing scalp better and tonight coming olive oil through hair to moisturize scalp.
I am sooooo relieved thanks again!
Yucko! We were exposed this past summer, and though we didn't get lice, we treated for just in case. I think I'd take my little one to the pharmacy and have the pharmacist look. They can't diagnose, but they've seen lots of cradle cap, lice, etc., and could point you in the right direction, tell you what to look for. My question would be specifically does it look like the eggs?
If the gunk doesn't come off easily, it is probably nits. My suggestion is to NOT use the marketed lice shampoos as they are pesticides and are very dangerous. Go to a Kiddie Kuts or do an online search for natural lice shampoos. They are safe and can be used every day to keep the nits from becoming full blown lice. Rid and like need to be used again after about 7 days, so you end up give them a double dose of poison. If she does end up getting it, don't worry so much. SOOOOO many of us have lived through it as well. You would have lots of sympathy. :-)
Oh, I feel your pain. You may be describing nits. What you need is a shampoo to treat, like rid, and I would buy a metal lice comb instead of using the plastic one. The key is the combing. You really have to do it over and over and over and get every single strand of hair. If you do it right, you will really understand how deragoutory the term "nit picking" is! You are lucky that she does not have much hair! If she does not have hair (could not tell by your post exactly) then you might not have nits, because they attach to the hair, not the body, very near the scalp and you can't hardly even scrape them off, that is why you need the comb!
Yuck-I hope you don't end up with any more!
M.
Since you found out it's cradle cap, here's what I used for that and it worked great. Buy a soft surgical sponge---the kind they scrub you with prior to surgery. You can buy them at the drugstore, and they are perfect for babies' heads (and road rash on older kids). A touch of baby oil is all you need before and after scrubbing. Good luck.
Treat now and decide later, it's a trainwreck if it spreads.
My head started itching just reading your post! lol :-) i would treat her hair just to be safe.
Hi S.,
I'm the owner of Discreet Lice Removal, a convenient mobile lice removal service located Northeast Ohio. I'm a registered Nurse and an expert on lice (over 20 years experience.) If your daughter did contract lice from a playmate, you would not see much yet. One adult lays about 8 eggs per day. They are deposited about 1/4 of an inch from her scalp and typically behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. They are difficult to remove because of the nit glue. The only way to confirm that you have an infestation is to put your samples under a microscope (otherwise, many children get misdiagnosed) or see a live adult on the head. We have FREE telephone consultation. Call me and I can give you some tips on saving time on laundering and vacuuming. Also, we can talk about exactly what you are seeing on your daughter's head. Don't panic! The fact that you found out this early is great. From what you are describing, it does not sound like lice eggs. Our phone number is ###-###-####. My business cell is ###-###-####. Call me if you want additional info on lice and over the counter treatment options.
C., RN
It sounds like "cradle cap" to me. My son had it terribly when he was a baby, but my daughter didn't get it until she was over a year old. She was like your child "late to get hair". She is now over 2 and has just enough to actually run a comb through it. We methodically combed her hair really well for a few weeks and it eventually went away on its own.
Go to headlice.org and look at the pictures. I never treat the kids hair with the pesticides that you can buy over the counters. Most places just recommend that you pull the nits out, remove any live bugs, and keep a close watch on their hair.
Two weeks ago, I got a letter from my son's school warning about a lice outbreak and I'm STILL scratching myself and we don't have it!
I think the nits attache to a strand of hair. So it looks like a little white thing ON the strand. I think it's a good suggestion to have someone look at her head--pharmacist or nurse at your ped's office just to be safe. Good luck!
