EW! Head Lice prevention advice please!!

[sleepymommy]

Well this was only the first full week of public school for ds7 and we've already received a note in the newsletter about lice being detected in a couple of classrooms :eek ! Ugh, this is definitely one of several major downsides to PS!!!

 

It didn't say which classes but I would hope that if it were in his the teacher would let us know.

 

As a precaution, I've washed both of my boys' hair with TTO shampoo with a couple extra drops added in. Stripped their bed linens and they currently in the washer.

 

Is there anything else I can do to try and prevent any infestation here or in the future?

[Trish]

My sister works at a school as a reading teacher. When the staff hears of an infestation they use extra "product" in their hair -- things like gels, mousse, sprays, different styling products. It's a deterrent.

[stripe]

Lice don't like greasy hair. It smothers them. I got rid of lice once purely by oiling my head and then combing them out.

[seraphina]

Coconut scented shampoo. Sauve has a cheap one.

[Xanadu]

Coconut scented shampoo. Sauve has a cheap one.

 

:iagree:

 

Suave Coconut Conditioner (as a leave in) and Peppermint Essential Oil doctored detangling spray kept both of my kids lice free through several classroom infestations when they were in public school.

 

(To make the spray: Add a few drops of Peppermint EO to a bottle of premade de-tangling spray...it will TINGLE so don't use much!!!!!!

Or make your own spray by adding coconut conditioner to water w/ a few drops of the Peppermint EO in any old spray bottle...I go through so much de-tangler around here its easier to make my own..lol)

 

Lice hate the scent of both coconut and peppermint....Peppermint was often used during the middle ages to treat all kinds of critter problems.

Edited September 17, 2011 by Xanadu

[Ria]

Well this was only the first full week of public school for ds7 and we've already received a note in the newsletter about lice being detected in a couple of classrooms :eek ! Ugh, this is definitely one of several major downsides to PS!!!

 

It didn't say which classes but I would hope that if it were in his the teacher would let us know.

 

As a precaution, I've washed both of my boys' hair with TTO shampoo with a couple extra drops added in. Stripped their bed linens and they currently in the washer.

 

Is there anything else I can do to try and prevent any infestation here or in the future?

 

Yup. Shave their heads...just leave a bit of hair.

 

Most lice shampoos do nothing these days. You can slather the boys' heads with an oil-based substance and cover it overnight (showercap) or close-crop their hair and hope for the best. Most shampoos do nothing for lice, even the lice shampoos.

 

FWIW, this is not a PS thing. I've seen it in homeschool co-ops, too.

[sleepymommy]

These are great tips! Thank you!

 

I have some peppermint EO and I'm going to make a spray tonight. I have regular old coconut oil maybe I could just put that in their hair?

 

Off to make that spray now :)

[gingersmom]

Yup. Shave their heads...just leave a bit of hair.

 

.

 

You can still have lice in that teeny tiny bit of hair left.

 

Slather Cetaphil soap in the hair, dry with a blowdryer and leave overnight. Rinse in the morning.

 

Its the only thing that worked for us (oil did nothing, lice shampoo did nothing, paying someone $500 to remove the nits did nothing but cost me a lot of money).

[melik]

I've heard that using a hair dryer helps. They don't like the heat.

 

Meli

[Ria]

I have to tell you guys this. When I first started working in the pharmacy, I had a customer come in with an rx. He was very well dressed. Professional guy. He had to fish around in his pocket a bit to find the rx. Finally found it, handed it to me, I wrote his birthdate and phone number on it, etc. I never actually looked at what drug the rx was written for.

 

He told me he'd be back in 30 minutes and left.

 

I had been holding the rx the entire time. Then I really looked at it. Read it. It began to concern me. I spoke to a pharmacist, just to make sure. Yup. I was right. The rx was a lotion for body lice. Not just head lice...the all-over, everywhere even in those icky places lice. *ACK!!!*

 

I typed up the rx. I did my job. I then spent the next 10 minutes sanitizing (Purell), cleansing (Joy detg) and washing myself almost raw in the bathroom.

 

Shudder.

 

I was fine. Physically. :D

[Sevilla]

1. Lice has become resistant to the chemical treatments, so I would not consider those a first-line-of-defense option the way it was when we were kids

 

2. Get this comb to have on hand should you have an infestation - it's peace of mind that if you do find the bugs, you can start delousing everyone ASAP. Terminator Comb. If you google you will see why this is the top comb for lice treatment. Having it tucked in the back of a drawer 'just in case' has brought down my anxiety level about lice :).

 

3. Tea Tree Oil. You can put it into water/spray detangler. What I do is rub a few drops on my fingers and then rub it into the kids' heads and behind their ears

 

4. Talk with them about never letting their heads rub other kids. They likely won't follow it, but it will plant the idea in their minds to be more careful.

[Sevilla]

I have to tell you guys this. When I first started working in the pharmacy, I had a customer come in with an rx. He was very well dressed. Professional guy. He had to fish around in his pocket a bit to find the rx. Finally found it, handed it to me, I wrote his birthdate and phone number on it, etc. I never actually looked at what drug the rx was written for.

 

He told me he'd be back in 30 minutes and left.

 

I had been holding the rx the entire time. Then I really looked at it. Read it. It began to concern me. I spoke to a pharmacist, just to make sure. Yup. I was right. The rx was a lotion for body lice. Not just head lice...the all-over, everywhere even in those icky places lice. *ACK!!!*

 

I typed up the rx. I did my job. I then spent the next 10 minutes sanitizing (Purell), cleansing (Joy detg) and washing myself almost raw in the bathroom.

 

Shudder.

 

I was fine. Physically. :D

My guess is that it was an STD prescription...for p*b*c lice. *****shudders at the thought of critters down there*****

[teamturner]

I agree with those posting about a spray w/tea tree oil, mint, etc in it. The other thing I do is to have a really good lice comb and comb out my kids' hair with it for up to a week after exposure. I do it in larger sections right after they washed and conditioned it. It doesn't take very long. I think I may comb out the girls hair once a week. Even though we homeschool, we've had lice 3 times because we are around so many kids.

[LBS]

Had one child bring this home from school. It is everywhere. Lice LIKE clean hair, supposedly, so putting stuff in your hair (heavy conditioner, mousse, hairspray, detangler, etc.) is the same as dirty hair, and they don't like it. The chemicals in lice shampoos and treatments are very toxic. I worked very hard with a nit comb, my fingernails, and greasy stuff in his hair (Crisco works my mother in law says, but I used olive oil).

 

Also, I've heard lice like red hair best, its got more to grab onto, something about more cuticles? The cuticle is easier to grab in clean hair, conditioner and other additive smooth the cuticles, and make it harder for them to grab. No expert, but my mother in law was the sec. to the principal in a rural elem school for 25 years, and she'd have to do head inspections and before they used rubber gloves to do this, they'd use forks. Amazing. It was not the kids who did not wash often who'd get head lice either. Just the opposite.

 

Making me scratch my head to think about it.

[twoxcell]

I've heard that using a hair dryer helps. They don't like the heat.

 

I have heard that too, but we have never had lice.

[seraphina]

I am itchy now. Dd got lice once several years ago, it was awful, I felt like the worst mom in the world. One thing I instituted with my kids in school is that they are not to hang their jackets or sweatshirts on the hooks in the coatroom. I always had them put their jackets inside of their backpacks. Nothing major but I got so paranoid after my dd got lice, I was a freak for months.

 

Good luck just keep an eye out for his hair. It's easy to check for them in the sunlight too.

[Sevilla]

Good luck just keep an eye out for his hair. It's easy to check for them in the sunlight too.

I will admit that I check my own hair and my kids' hair for nits all the time - and we've never even had lice! But it's a habit I got into back in college when it went around the restaurant where I waitressed, and it's stuck with me ever since. If you catch an infestation early it's a lot less icky and faster to get rid of (hopefully!) than if you discover it after weeks of the bugs multiplying in their hair.

[justasque]

In our homeschool world, when lice is a threat we braid and cover. (Some of us usually cover anyway, but in lice times, we all do.) All the kids wear headcoverings of some sort, and girls with longer hair braid it and put it up under their headscarf. There's always quite the array of bandannas, baseball caps, and scarfs of all kinds. It becomes a fashion trend in itself!

 

I know some schools have rules about not wearing hats and so forth, and then there's the fashion, does-it-look-cool issue. But a barrier method seems so sensible to me, and I'm always surprised that schools don't encourage it, especially now that lice are resistant to chemicals and schools are not supposed to exclude kids on the grounds they have lice.

Edited September 17, 2011 by askPauline

[EmilyinND]

My guess is that it was an STD prescription...for p*b*c lice. *****shudders at the thought of critters down there*****

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but my husband refers to those critters as "cr*tch crickets" Everytime I hear that term it makes me :lol: I don't know why, it just does.

[Bassoonaroo]

It seems like I saw an ad somewhere for some sort of lice prevention shampoo in a magazine. Family Fun maybe?

 

Also remind kids NOT to share hoodies, hats, wigs, etc. Be careful about padded reading corners in schools (bean bags, piles of pillows) and nap mats.

 

 

Ewwww

[sleepymommy]

Yup. Shave their heads...just leave a bit of hair.

 

Most lice shampoos do nothing these days. You can slather the boys' heads with an oil-based substance and cover it overnight (showercap) or close-crop their hair and hope for the best. Most shampoos do nothing for lice, even the lice shampoos.

 

FWIW, this is not a PS thing. I've seen it in homeschool co-ops, too.

 

I will probably go ahead and shave their heads if they get it. Ds4's birthday is this week and I just don't want to do it until I get some pic's of him though!

 

I have to tell you guys this. When I first started working in the pharmacy, I had a customer come in with an rx. He was very well dressed. Professional guy. He had to fish around in his pocket a bit to find the rx. Finally found it, handed it to me, I wrote his birthdate and phone number on it, etc. I never actually looked at what drug the rx was written for.

 

He told me he'd be back in 30 minutes and left.

 

I had been holding the rx the entire time. Then I really looked at it. Read it. It began to concern me. I spoke to a pharmacist, just to make sure. Yup. I was right. The rx was a lotion for body lice. Not just head lice...the all-over, everywhere even in those icky places lice. *ACK!!!*

 

I typed up the rx. I did my job. I then spent the next 10 minutes sanitizing (Purell), cleansing (Joy detg) and washing myself almost raw in the bathroom.

 

Shudder.

 

I was fine. Physically. :D

 

EEEWWW! I would have done the same thing!

1. Lice has become resistant to the chemical treatments, so I would not consider those a first-line-of-defense option the way it was when we were kids

 

2. Get this comb to have on hand should you have an infestation - it's peace of mind that if you do find the bugs, you can start delousing everyone ASAP. Terminator Comb. If you google you will see why this is the top comb for lice treatment. Having it tucked in the back of a drawer 'just in case' has brought down my anxiety level about lice :).

 

3. Tea Tree Oil. You can put it into water/spray detangler. What I do is rub a few drops on my fingers and then rub it into the kids' heads and behind their ears

 

4. Talk with them about never letting their heads rub other kids. They likely won't follow it, but it will plant the idea in their minds to be more careful.

 

I agree with those posting about a spray w/tea tree oil, mint, etc in it. The other thing I do is to have a really good lice comb and comb out my kids' hair with it for up to a week after exposure. I do it in larger sections right after they washed and conditioned it. It doesn't take very long. I think I may comb out the girls hair once a week. Even though we homeschool, we've had lice 3 times because we are around so many kids.

 

I'm going to order that comb! Even if they don't get in now, it will be great to have on hand.

 

I am itchy now. Dd got lice once several years ago, it was awful, I felt like the worst mom in the world. One thing I instituted with my kids in school is that they are not to hang their jackets or sweatshirts on the hooks in the coatroom. I always had them put their jackets inside of their backpacks. Nothing major but I got so paranoid after my dd got lice, I was a freak for months.

 

Good luck just keep an eye out for his hair. It's easy to check for them in the sunlight too.

 

I'm feeling itchy too! I go into total girly girl mode when it comes to bugs and even the thought of little critters in my hair or the boys' makes my stomach turn.:tongue_smilie:

 

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but my husband refers to those critters as "cr*tch crickets" Everytime I hear that term it makes me :lol: I don't know why, it just does.

 

:lol:

 

It seems like I saw an ad somewhere for some sort of lice prevention shampoo in a magazine. Family Fun maybe?

 

Also remind kids NOT to share hoodies, hats, wigs, etc. Be careful about padded reading corners in schools (bean bags, piles of pillows) and nap mats.

 

 

Ewwww

 

I hadn't thought about the "reading corner". Now I've got paranoid thoughts of critters everywhere.:ohmy: