Lice Advice!

Try some kind of oil. (like baby oil) Also, put a towel or like plastic hat over that. Hope it helps.

When my children were little, we had this problem. My mother put Skin So Soft (from Avon) on their heads and massaged the scalp. Then we braided the girls' hair and left the SSS on overnight. I was able to comb out the lice & nits the next day with no problems.

Also, Pert shampoo or any apple based shampoo seems to have a good effect to get rid of lice.

And remember to spray down everything the children have come in contact with and wash all linens in hot, soapy water, etc.

Lice tend to like heads that are clean, so if you're able to get away with keeping something oily in the children's hair for a couple of days, this may help.

If you do not already have one get the metal comb. You can use olive oil instead of medicated expensive treatments. Don't forget to wash all the hats or dispose of them. S. M

IN the past I lice twice , both times the over the counter treatments did not work. I went to the Dr and he give me a perspiration for something stronger then the over the counter stuff. I believe it also is not just shampoo off stuff , I believe I kept it on longer. Also make sure you get all the eggs the little black spots in their head pull out. Make sure you wash everything that they have touch sheets, blankets,clothes etc. The stuff you get from the Dr is expensive unless cover with the insurance. I help thins helps some.

We recently had a program on tv called Grow Your Own Medicine and it had a completely natural remedy for getting rid of head lice. My friend watched this particular episode and said that the lice were practically jumping off the heads of the children when applied.

Neem lotion for headlice

Makes enough for 5-10 doses

20 tbsp (approx. 100 g) fresh rosemary leaves
20 tbsp (approx. 25 g) fresh lavender flowers
200 ml neem oil
200 ml almond oil
6 garlic cloves,minced
2 tbsp tea tree oil

1. Strip the rosemary leaves and lavender flowers from their sprigs.
2. Combine the neem and almond oil together in a measuring jug.
3. Crush half the rosemary and lavender in a mortar and pestle with a little of the oil, to help ease the crushing process. Place the mashed-up herbs in a saucepan. Repeat with the second half of the rosemary and lavender, again adding a little oil for crushing.
4. Place the crushed herbs, neem and almond oil in the pan, and add the chopped garlic. Heat gently for about 20 minutes.
5. Strain through a sieve lined with muslin. Add the tea tree oil to the reserved oil, stir, then filter into a sterilized 500 ml bottle.

USE: If using immediately, apply to dry hair, making sure that the hair is completely covered and that the oil penetrates to the scalp. Cover with a towel and leave on for at least 1 hour, or overnight if possible. Then wash off with two applications of shampoo. Apply conditioner, and comb through with a nit comb. Use the next application 7 days later, to deal with any nits that may hatch during that time. Comb through with the nit comb every 3 days.

STORAGE: Keeps for 6 months.

Worth a try.

My daughter had lice last year and we used the regular lice shampoo. I spent about 6 hours combing every strand of her hair, washed everything that could be washed and then put EVERYTHING else (even purses, stuffed animals, bows--anything) in plastic bags for a few months. I never saw another lice after that first day.

My neighbor tried everything with her daughter and couldn't seem to get rid of them. She finally decided to "smother them" by covering her daughter's head in vaseline, making her wear a head cover for the weekend, and they were all gone by school on monday.

Either they're continually getting them from someone...or you're not treating them/the surroundings well enough. You have to pick out the eggs (nits) for weeks afterward.
You will hate it, they will hate it...but it's necessary.
Otherwise,they'll just keep hatching.
Blessings,
Hs

We went a half a school year battling those vermon. I had boys so I could just give them a buzz cut. They slept on plastice covered pillows and mattresses for over 6 months. I ended up going to the doctor and getting a salve you put in the hair and leave in over night. When I sterilized the home I would use lysol in the brown bottle. Does not have a very pleasant smell but it worked. Also to help with the cleaning of the hair get a black light-light bulb they glow and you can see them better. Good Luck!

I cleaned my house from top to bottom. Get large trash bags and gather up stuffed animals, pillows, coats, backpacks - anything the kids may have worn and hung back up. Strip all bedding off all beds. Bedrooms, living rooms, etc should be down to hard surfaces (plastic toys, wood dresser), and carpet. Vacum and spray all surfaces. Only add back in items that are washed in hot water in washing machine. I left many trash bags in garage for weeks (any lice will die in bags) with stuffed animals etc... This way if lice come back there is much less to clean AGAIN. It is a miserable and expensive experience.

hey my mother used beer on my hair when i was little

When I had a child care center I had one family that could not get rid of lice. The mom was a nurse and worked the evening shift. The kids went to my center and home. They rarely had time to go anywhere else. So, of course, the mom blamed the child care center. Not one other child, out of 48 kids, had any infestations. This mom even shaved all 5 of her kids heads, she had even bought new bedding, got rid of all stuffed animals, took out the curtains, and vacuumed all the carpet and furniture in her house every day. Nothing worked! She eventually just kept their heads shaved for a few months. Thank goodness the girls were under school age. I had to stop watching the kids because of this. I did everything I could but they just couldn't come to my center with head lice.

So I did some research. I called the local Health Department. The RN told me that Head Lice are at epidemic levels across the United States and that schools have nearly stopped even checking because they would have to send nearly every student home every few weeks.

I found that headlice.org has the best information. My granddaughter had head lice once and I choose not to use shampoos or sprays. The head lice are getting resistant and these products really don't work. I bought a magnifying lamp from Staples that clamps to a table. It has extreme magnification. I would wash her hair with regular shampoo and conditioner and towel dry it a bit. Water "stuns" the head lice so it is easy to see them when the hair is damp. I had a glass of water by my side. I laid her across my lap on a large towel and started looking through her hair and pulling out nits and bugs and putting them in the glass. I did this every day until I didn't find any bugs or nits anymore. Washing the bedding and vacuuming the mattress, washing stuffed animals. etc.... I vacuumed the furniture and carpet every day too. We got rid of them after a couple of weeks with no more problems. I think that my diligence in going through her hair and removing the nits and bugs at least once every day was what worked for us.

In my parent resource center at the front of my center I put out copies of some of the research I did. Several of my parents had battled lice and said they did the Tea Tree Oil in the shampoo too. They had not had a problem since.

Yesterday on "The Doctors", a newer show that comes on tv, they had a section on head lice. One of the doctors children had been infested and the lice had also got in the doctors hair. They told the statistics on lice. Lice is the second malady that children have commonly. The common cold is first. The bugs like clean people, the cleaner the better. This says something about you that is good. So in a back hand kind of way this "problem" says you have a clean home and clean kids.

Good luck getting rid of them. I honestly feel diligence in going through the hair is the best solution.

A friend told me that she had the same issue. Someone told her to use Olive Oil. It worked.

There is a product called lice ice that worked for us. Make sure you check your child's hair in the sunlight. You can see the eggs so much better. Hope this helps.

My daughter had a case that multiple uses of Rid and repeatedhouse treatments could not get rid of.
I finally bought a bottle of Adams flea shampoo and washed her hair with that - killed every last one.
The active ingredient in Adams is the same as that in Rid, and it's a lot less expensive. Adams also has coat conditioners in it, which kept my daughter's hair from drying out, which was a major problem with the Rid.

Wow, you have really gotten a lot of excellent advice here! (In fact I plan on printing it out for our parents and staff!) I work in a Head Start program, and we deal with head lice quite often. This year we have a child who has had it repeatedly, and no matter what the parents did they couldn't get rid of them. We have a Robi Comb here, and we simply started going through and combing her hair out with it 3 or 4 times each morning, every day for a week, then once a day for a few weeks, and she's been doing much better. Robi Combs are available at Wal-Mart, K-Mart & the like, and around here run $25-$30. It runs on a AA battery, and when you are combing though the hair, it makes a humming sound. If it comes into contact with and egg, nit or louse it shocks and kills it and it stops humming to let you know. Brush the teeth of the comb off and go some more. AND, it won't shock you - I've tried! My advice to you would be to try some of the suggestions here (tea tree oil in the shampoo sounds effective) and also get a Robi Comb to use afterward. Then you can use it as a simple way of making certain that she stays lice free. I think the Robi Comb was about the best thing invented. I have been amazed at how many teachers (even here at my school) who have never seen lice yet would send a child home for having it, then it turned out to be severe dandruff or even just dirt and sand. The Robi Comb has stopped that problem here and made life easier all around.

one of the problems is what you are using Rid is the best but you must treat everyone in the house hold even if they don't seem to have lice also you must wash all the bedding on every bed and all the close the children have on at the time of finding them also treat the car seats and the furniture they sit on also boil all the comes and brushes if you children are in school head lice is very common Rid has sprays for the mattress and couch and car seats and you might have two treat everything twice before you get rid of them also if someone else that the children hang around with may be getting them from your kids and them giving them back to your kids good luck

I will tell you what worked for me. My daughter had it for awhile and we tried several things, but the best was we put about 3-4 drops of tea tree oil in the shampoo we used that night and let it set for a minute or so and then blow dried it. The heat did something to the eggs and after about a week they were no more. We did also be sure to wash everything too. Good luck

Hi K.,

Winning the lice war is a challenge. We don't want our children to become eggheads.

With three children, it could very well be reinfestation. It is very much like a flea problem.

As you may know, the internet is loaded with advice. This head lice information sheet at the Harvard School of Public Health and the The National Pediculosis Association are great sources of detailed information on head lice infestations. It's a long link but don't let it scare you.

http://pediatrics.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/X...

Lice have developed resistance to some treatments, so that they occasionally no longer work. Sometimes treatment failures are because parents didn't remove all the nits, or even that the child was misdiagnosed.

Check again...the main symptom of a lice infestation is an itchy scalp from the bites. The bites can become infected, and appear red or crusty. It may lead to them developing swollen lymph glands in the neck.

If you continue to find live lice after treating with a remedy, then it likely means it didn't work, or your child was reinfected.

See your pediatrician before treating with multiple remedies. I would personally fear a 'nuclear explosion' with all the chemical exposure offered out there. If there is success though, it may have to do with motivation and parent power behind the effort - rather than any particular concoction. Be careful of the word 'natural'.

If you think your child has lice but you don't actually see any live lice, see your Pediatrician to confirm the diagnosis.

You didn't say if you did this or not, so to be sure, wash their clothing and bedding in hot water and vacuum to remove lice and nits from furniture, carpets, stuffed animals, etc. You really only have to clean in the 24 to 48 hrs before treatment.

Put anything that you can't wash in a large plastic bag for a few wks if you are really concerned that it is infested.

Good luck in de-lousing the louse. It does take time.
Sincerely___________

You have got to have someone stripping the beds, pillow cases, cleanning carpets, the couches, you can even bug bomb your house. But have someone to do that will you have the kids in the bathroom getting rid of it , the best medicine for it is RID that is what my mom used when we were kids and that is what i used once when my daughter got it. Good luck, I hope I have helped,P.S. You may have to cut there hair.

Here's a recent, thorough article: http://wondertime.go.com/learning/article/how-to-treat-li...

Be sure to wash all things that the childs had has touched .Like toys, bedding, Over the counter hair produets are ok for the head,but if you don't treat the source you may be wasting your money.

Best bet is to take them to the doctor. If everything you are trying on their heads isnt working then see a doctor. Also make sure you have taken care of all the stuff in the house and car(s) to get rid of them in those areas as well.
In Oct we spent 3 weeks battling those things.
Also add some tea tree oil to all the shampoo in your house. Depending on the size of the bottle of shampoo depends on the amount you add. This is suppose to help keep them away.

Not only do you have to treat your children, you have to treat the whole house. This includes the couch, bed clothes, the bed,floors, toy's (stuffed animals need to be put in the washing machine). Treat you cars, car seats. Any thing that has fabric where the lice can hide and multiply. You and your spouse needs to be treated also.

Hi K.,

The over-the-counter lice removers are extremely toxic!The leading lice shampoo contains LINDANE which has been banned in 18 countries! The well-known physician and medical author, Dr. Andrew Weil, recommends the use of Tea Tree oils for treatment of head lice. The wellness company I shop with has the highest grade in the world! It is harvested in Australia. They also carry a shampoo to use on a regular basis that has this high grade tea tree oil in it. Please message me for more info. You have to be a member to shop there, but I can refer you.

K. C.
____@____.com

I used Lice MD on my girls last summer, and was really impressed with how well it works. It is chemical free (uses dimethicone, which is a type of skin and hair softener), and brushes thru real easily - so no more tears! You can also use it as often as needed - once a week until their hair is completely clear (and then another one for good measure). The home has to be completely cleaned and toys have to be treated as well. :]

If your kids go to school outside your home, public, private, etc. talk to the teachers, nurse, counselors. My daughter had head lice three times in her 2nd grade year. It was such a pain. We'd get rid of them and then a couple months later she would be infested again. The school wasn't doing anything about it. I was at a school program when I leared that four moms sitting at the same table as me had been going through the same thing.

Finally we got with the school and they educated their teachers to do bi weekly checks in the classroom. This year, third grade, has been a breeze, and NO LICE!! If they are going to a school outside your home this is the most likely place they are coming in contact with them.

GOOD LUCK As far as getting rid of them. I have to say "nit picking" is your best way to get them gone and doing daily checks and cleaning bedding, furniture, carpet and toys will help to keep them gone.

Both of my children got it realy bad last summer and they have realy thick hair. The lady at the hair salon told me to pore rubbing achol on their hair and put a plasit bag around their head (of course not over their face) and leave it on for 30 mins. (It is best to do this outside because the achol is so strong) Then wash and comb with a nit comb. It worked for us, it took me a week to get all the dead nits out of my daughters hair though.

Also put a couple drops of Tea Tree Oil (you can find it a walmart in the vitamin section) in the shampoo. They do not like the smell and wont come near the hair the first place.
H.

I saw a head lice shampoo at my local health food store yesterday. I'm under no illusions that it's completely non-toxic, but it's probably at least marginally better than the creepy conventional stuff.

You probably have an infestation in the house, and/or they keep getting them from/giving them back to other places that they frequent. Daycare, friend's house.... I don't know how you might deal with this. Good luck. I feel for you!

L.

This may sound weird, but it works. If you can, shave their heads. If they're girls, then you can cut their hair in a short little girl style that's easier to manage. Then dye her hair. Lice hate chemical stuff, and there's so many different colors of hair dye that if you want them to keep their natural color, you can find a color that's close if not right on. Also, clean clean clean! Wash all the linens every day until they've been gone a week or so. Vacuum and mop as much as possible, and keep everything as clean as possible. Last but not least, if they're in school, make the school do something about the other kids! They're supposed to do regular lice head checks and if the kids have lice, send them home until they're clean. I hope that helps. Good Luck!

You probably do know, but just in case, you must not just treat the heads of the wee children, but the sheets and pillows and their toys and caps and brushes and combs - and maybe your head, too, and your husband's. And you might try cursing them in the name of Jesus. Nasty little bugs! : (
nasty, nasty, hateful little bugs they are!

YOu need to bag up ALL stuffed animals and pillows that your kids have come in contact with. Place them in a trash bag and move them outside of the house for a couple days. The lice live off of Scalp/hair so as long as your kids have stuffed animals their scalp/hair is on it. Also wash your kids sheets/blankets in hot water. I hope that helps. If you don't your kids will just get reinfected with lice everytime they go to bed....
Hope that helps

My best friend tried everything too. She swears by the robi comb (sp??) She said you get it at walmart in the lice/shampoo department. You have to be consistent and use it everyday, but it works. Her little girl has long, thick hair and this worked on her. Hope it helps!

you have to clean your whole house too. couches carpet EVERYTHING if not yall will keep it.

Sounds like your home may be infested.
You may need to take the family out of the house for a few days to a hotel or something while you go in and clean the heck out of everything...or hire a professional to do this for you.

Wash all bedding, clothes, drapes, etc. in HOTT water.
You can even add some drops of tea tree oil to your wash.
Furniture and carpet will need to be de-infested (if that's a word) as well.

Neem is an excellent product for lice removal.
Tea Tree oil works well too.
Like another gal suggested, drops of it in your shampoo is a good repellent.
Try the least toxic approach as possible.
Like Liev, I'd suggest going to a health food store.

Let us know what works for you.

Blessings,
A.

p.s. I just did a little Google search and found this website with lice killing products that seem natural and effective with the very ingredients I spoke of above. They even have products for cleaning the house to rid the infestation. They give a satisfaction 100% guarantee.

http://www.licekiller.com/?bkw=lice&src=Google&ve...

p.p.s. If you use this and it works for you, please let us know. My little family hasn't dealt with lice yet, but growing up I did several times and it was a massive pain.

Oh I feel for you! I swear, my older daughter (now 13) was a lice magnet. It gives me the creepies just thinking about it (lol). My suggestion - over the counter lice killer, lice egg remover gel (which is WONDERFUL stuff that I didn't buy for the longest time because I assumed it was a waste of money) and time spent in natural light (sunlight) with you going through their hair inch by inch with your hands. I had to physically pull the nits and lice from their hair. I never had any luck with the lice comb. At one point I also bought an electronic lice comb (around $35 at the time). Sounds wierd, but you comb it slowly through their dry hair and it beeps when it hits a lice. The electronic signal (battery operated) stuns the lice and you can dispose of it. I wouldn't use it alone, but had great luck with it for follow-up care. Are you using lice spray in your house and putting away all stuffed animals, etc?

Good luck - I know how frustrating it is!

I have not used these myself, but it sounds like you'll do anything to get rid of it. This is from Family Fun Dream Team.

Picture this: a mother serenely brushing the hair of her two beautiful children after their baths. Storybooks are piled on the bed in happy anticipation of their peaceful bedtime ritual.

Little does this mother (ok, it was me) know, but something lies waiting beneath her son's tawny tendrils. Something shocking and vile. Something that will destroy any promise of serenity that the evening held.

When I first catch a glimpse of movement ("What the...?"), I merely think that my eyes are deceiving me. I blink. Shake my head. My hand goes to my own scalp almost reflexively because I'm suddenly itchy. And at that very same moment I realize that I'm staring at a bug on Henry's scalp.

And just when I think it can't get any worse, I see that the bug has friends. Everywhere. That's when my inner teenager comes out and I'm yelling, to my great embarrassment, something I haven't said in 20 years: "Gross me OUT the door!"

When things like this happen -- you know, disgusting things that appear out of thin air and have to be dealt with -- I wonder how I suddenly became the responsible adult in the room. Really? Me?

But there I am, with my sweet children, who are in need of a mother who can fix it all and make it go away.

Since lice is such a rampant problem these days at elementary schools, most school nurses are very experienced in dealing with it. I contact ours immediately and she is extremely helpful, explaining how to get rid of them and directing me to the website www.headliceinfo.com.

After I learn what needs to be done, I stock up at our local pharmacy for essential lice-removal kit items: olive oil, plastic shower caps, tea tree oil, Dawn dishwashing liquid, lint removal brushes, and Licemeister metal lice combs. After we treat the kids' hair and scalp with olive oil, we nitpick for many hours over the next few days until we're sure the little buggers are gone.

I learn so much about lice and re-infestation prevention that I'm sure I'm entitled to some sort of certificate. Now Henry has a shorter haircut, Julia ties her hair back, and they've both been instructed not to share hats or baseball caps. At any notice that lice is going around, I put tea tree oil in their hair before they go to school.

Like most things, once you deal with having lice, it's just another notch in your mommy belt. And to my mommy friends (who of course didn't witness my initial freak-out), I say, "It wasn't that bad after all. It's empowering. My new mantra is: Bring. It. On. I've conquered lice."

Are you a "lice survivor"? What did you find worked best to get rid of it? Click the comments link below to share ideas.
Member Comments On…
Lions, and Tigers, and Lice! Oh, My!
Comment on This Article Share Your Commentcancel Hello, katielynnsmom1Logout Not you?
Your Comment:
1000 characters max
Please enter a comment less than 1000 characters.
By clicking "Share Your Comment" you certify that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use, and that your comment does not violate our Terms of Use.

Thank You!
Thanks for sharing your comment. If it doesn't appear on the page right away, try refreshing your page.

Sort by: Date | Usefulness crystalrenees says:
Cute article. Funny. I have three notches in my belt, my children are twelve and nine, and we have gotten it three times over the last ten or so years...one time from a wig from auditioning for little annie play, everyone in the drama dept. got lice.
Once from boyscouts, and once from school. Oh the joys of motherhood.
0 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? Koopster45 says:
When I was 15 my two little sisters (ages 5 & 8) came home with lice, and dealing with the problem fell to me. We bought tons of the commercial lice shampoos and none of them worked, even with the HOURS of nit-picking that I did every day. Mom made us try baby oil but washing it out of their hair every day was simply overwhelming.
Finally we heard about Listerine as a remedy. I was at a loss for options so I decided to try it. The girls would take their baths around 7, so by bedtime their hair was dry. Then I would soak their hair in Listerine (we used the original kind) and let them go to bed that way. We nit-picked the next day and they were able to go to school again after that. We continued the head treatment for 3 weeks (to be safe, lol). We also added some to the rinse cycle of each load of laundry. They never got sent home again!!

Adding it to your laundry is actually a good idea to do all the time if you have kids, because it goes a long way in preventing an infestation.
7 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? cruisergirl22 says:
I worked in a daycare for 11 years and thankfully never had lice. I used tea tree oil in our shampoo and when my nephew started school I put it in his shampoo as well. So far he hasn't had head lice either. I just put a some drops of the oil in a shampoo bottle and shake well.
4 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? WDWPrincess_Angel says:
Then an older lady told us to cake vasaline on her hair and put a shower cap on, which we got both at the dollar store, and leave on overnight. This was the only thing that actually worked and it was a lot less expensive. The only down side to this was we had to use dawn to cut thru the grease when we washed her hair. I went thru her hair with the combs and got all the nits/eggs out again. Then two weeks later I repeated another treatment with the vasaline to get any possible eggs that might have hatched. Now I just put her hair in a pony tail or braid (Not in a bun) and comb through it everyday after school to make sure she hasn't gotten them again. So far, we have had no more problems.
2 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? WDWPrincess_Angel says:
My daughter had hair down past her bottom when she got lice from a friend at school this year which I found out that their policy is just to send the child home, and as long as they don't have "live" bugs, they are allowed back in school. This means that even if a child still has eggs which are live bugs that could hatch at any moment, they can return to school. The first time we got the lice shampoo. We made sure we got every egg and/or nit out, and they were gone. In hopes of preventing her from getting them again, I started putting her hair up in a bun and using hairspray. Well, at the end of the week I was checking to make sure she hadn't gotten them again, just to find out that she had, and there were eggs all the way through out her hair since they lay eggs close to the scalp and her hair had been in a bun. This time it was not easy. I tried three over the counter shampoos and two prescription shampoos, and nothing was helping.
23 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? TRoenker56 says:

One thing you DO NOT want to do is leave commercial products on the hair for any longer than directed. A family friend's grand daughter kept getting lice for years, not knowing any better her daughter put the medication on and left it on for a few hours, The child ended up with neurological problems, she had all kinds of test at Childrens Hospital in Cincinnati, and nothing can be done for her. It affected her motor skills. so use as directed if you do use the over the counter products.
We just use a good metal nit comb and apply cream rinse to the hair and comb through each night. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

2 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? TRoenker56 says:
My niece and nephew has had headlice every time they comes to live with us since age 1 and 3 , so it is obvious the buggers love their chemistry. They are now 11 AND 13 and have been her for the past 3 years. I found that using a nit comb with hair loaded with cream rinse to check for live buggers every night when washing their hair when infestation is going on at school. I read on a website a few years ago that the buggers do not like coconut, so I always have them use coconut shampoo and cream rinse and even with several kids each year in their classes we have been lice free. Of course if they do become infested, the hunt each night for eggs is the most important step. Good Luck
1 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? Wonderbug381 says:
Check out www.fairytales4hair.com
They have all natural, organic hair care products to repel lice and other insects.
We use the rosemary repel shampoo, but they have lots of products. And you can buy individual items or packages.
My 6 year old daughters hair is down past her rear and when there was an out break at her school i was so glad to be using these products, she never got lice! Also i keep her hair in tight braids. She knows she can have her hair down at home.
5 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? GwendolinThomas says:
The pesticides sold inthe store do NOT work. Buy Natural RID. It is a gel/oil that you leave on their hair and then you have to comb out and pick the bugs and nits with the lice comb provided in the box. My daughter had this a few years ago and I totally freaked out. The sprays are a gimmnick. You are just spsaying toxic fumes into your home. Bag up stuffed animals in garbage bags for 2 weeks and wash and dry everything else. I've been told that drying anything on high for 30 minutes in the clothes dryers works as well. There is a solution I bought over the internet that we use as drops into shampoo. It is called "NitMix" and cobines several essential oils lice do not like. Do some research on line, you'll be surprised what you can learn about these pesky parasites.
1 | I found this helpful Thank You! Your vote will be tallied soon! Not Acceptable? bjspino says:
Being Native American most Indians have long beautiful hair. Being a tradition to "not" cut Indian hair it's hard to get rid of lice. I found what works is doing daily head checks. If you notice lice or nits wrap a white sheet around your child and yourself and pick, pick, pick. Then do the lice treatment. Then pick, pick, pick. Vacuum, clean, dust, your home immediately. Notify your child's teacher so that they can do head checks right away. Keep your child's hair up or braided and off the shoulders. Tell them the importance of not sharing clothing, hair ties, hats, anything that could spread. I notice one thing that did work, Head & Shoulders shampoo. But the best thing is to have patience and pick, pick, pick!

You don't have to freak out and throw out toys, animals, etc, or wash every stitch of clothing in the house. This is because contrary to popular opinion, lice cannot live without a head of hair, and they do not live on pets. Stuffed animals do not have hair, carpet does not have hair, etc. That said, it's not that difficult to get rid of with the right products and a huge personal time investment. We did not want to use Rid - no chemicals, thank you. Three of us had it.

Here's what we did. We bought a box of Rid ONLY for the purple comb. They have the best combs. Then bought a product called used a product by Thursday Plantation called Zero Lice. You spray it on your head, cover it with a plastic hair net, using only 1/2 the bottle. Then I methodically combed out dripping wet single strands at a time, and using a TOOTHPICK (yes, a toothpick) proceeded to remove the lice one by one after each pass of the comb, and put them on a tissue to be discarded. If you don't get them off the comb, you have the potential to drag them back through the just-cleaned hair. Comb, toothpick, comb, toothpick, etc, until every one is gone, then wash the hair. Check the hair every day for the next week, scrutinize the entire head. You will have to reapply again a few days later and use the rest of the bottle. If you see one, an egg, nit, etc, get rid of it immediately. After a couple days, all lice will be gone, no problems, no washing the entire house, just heavy scrutinizing using a natural product, good comb, and a toothpick!

You should do all three kids at once, AND yourself - they may be passing it among the four of you, then (at the same health/organic food store) pick up a small glass bottle of Lice-B-Gone. You can mix three drops of this in your regular shampoo dollop every other day or so and shouldn't have a problem again.
Good luck!

My child had lice last year. Someone told me about Fairy Tale hair products (they have a website). They are all natural hair care products that get rid of and REPEL the lice. They worked great and no one else in my family got lice. My child's class had an ongoing lice problem the whole year, but once we started using the Fairy Tale products we were lice free.
There is also a product called Neon Nits if you child has thick hair. You spray it in the hair and it colors the nits a bright pink so you can remove them.Also make sure you have a really good nit comb, the ones that come with the kits are not good.