Omg Lice!...

[JungleMama]

Okay here's the issue, my 5 yr old daughter keeps contracting lice I've had to deal with it off and on for a year now. At first I though it was the school she was getting it from and then... my neighbors kid came to the house again (shes my daughters best friend and like another member of the family) and shes itching her head like craaaazy!!! I look in her hair and see she is fully loaded "to the nines" with lice!! I sent her home and did the lice cleaning ritual that has become as normal as breathing lately. When I talked to her mom she says "we've been washing her hair, she doesn't have lice" but I know what I saw! So here is the question:

How do i deal with this??!?! Do i tell her parents that shes not allowed to play here until she is completely clear of lice? I hate to be rude, but in all honesty this has had a huge impact in our house. I just can't deal with this anymore!

 

[mom2many]

I would tell her mom that if she doesn't deal with it her daughter can't come over. I battled lice for over a year once also and it SUCKS! Or you could offer to help her out with her DD. Does she go to school? You could call the office and have them do a check, just a thought cause I am surprised they haven't caught it yet.

 

[stjohnjulie]

First of all, my head is all itchy now Just the mention of lice does that to me!

I think that keeping the girls apart until the lice is gone is what has to be done. Getting rid of lice is a HUGE ordeal. Getting it off the kids is only a tiny part of it, as I am sure you are well aware of.

Now, I would suspect that the other girl's parents are embarrassed about it. Nobody wants to be told that their kid has lice. So, maybe you can come up with a way of telling her parents in a more gentle way what needs to be done.

"My daughter had lice, and she may have given it to your daughter, so I checked her hair when I saw her scratching and saw that she had signs of lice. It is not a lot of fun getting rid of it from your house, but I have had to do it more than a couple of times and would be happy to give you some pointers. As soon as both of our girls are clear, we can let them play together again. I would appreciate it if you check my daughter's hair if you see her scratching and let me know if you find anything."

I'm thinking you wouldn't send your daughter to someone's house if you knew she had lice. And I know they wont let kids in school if they have lice. So I don't think keeping the girls apart until it is taken care of is out of line in any way.

Good luck!!!!

 

[JungleMama]

Thanks! You're right, I don't send my kids out when they get it, and when they do I pull out ALL the stops! I use my nails to pick them (prefer to use my nails, easier on childrens fine hair) and douse her hair in mayo and cover it with a plastic bag for the night to suffocate the little then use the lice shampoo to wash it out in the mornings, and tea tree oil conditioner to soften her hair, and a flat iron to hopefully crispy anything left over XD (a little over board? maybe but all safe ways of removal and I like the better safe then sorry method). As for the house well its a top to bottom clean fest from vacumming to laundry (which can take up to a whole day ) It's just a huge hassle and my poor daughter has to suffer through it all repeatedly because this family won't even recognize the problem let alone do something about it.

But I will have to tell them that until their daughter has a bug free head, she wont be able to play here.. not looking forward to that convo.

 

[Jeremy+3]

Junglemomma, head lice can only survive a couple of days without their host, you do not need to de-lice the house, plus head lice fall off the host a few days before they die.
I find the best way is to just put loads of conditioner in their hair and then just use a nit comb on each area, it has got rid of everything first time every time we have done it.

 

[bssage]

Seems kinda simplistic to me Jeremy. I beleive they leave eggs and such. We have dealt with it simular to how JungleMamma does. But I would guess Xero would have to be our expert on this. No not because she has kids but because of the animals she works with I would expect it to be something she has dealt with more than most.

I can't think of ever hearing conditioner/nit comb and done. I am not saying for sure that your wrong. Just that it is not how I have been taught to deal with it.

 

[lil mama]

I wish there was an easier way to get rid of those buggers. And i hope your conversation went well. If she doesnt understand that is rediculous and maybe u should find a new best friend. Good luck hope things get better for u

 

[Jeremy+3]

Seems kinda simplistic to me Jeremy. I beleive they leave eggs and such. We have dealt with it simular to how JungleMamma does. But I would guess Xero would have to be our expert on this. No not because she has kids but because of the animals she works with I would expect it to be something she has dealt with more than most.

I can't think of ever hearing conditioner/nit comb and done. I am not saying for sure that your wrong. Just that it is not how I have been taught to deal with it.

Headlice are not fleas!

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Treatment.aspx[/URL]

 

[bssage]

e

Bug busting

The Bug Buster kit is designed to treat head lice and remove nits. The kit is re-usable and only one is needed for a family.
The Bug Buster kit includes four different combs, and an illustrated guide and instructional booklet. You can buy the kit from some pharmacies
or by mail order from the Community Hygiene Concern website.



Head lice can sometimes be difficult to treat due to a high re-infestation rate and their ability to develop resistance to traditional insecticides contained in some medications.
It is thought that head lice will not develop immunity to the newer silicone- and oil-based preparations because they have a physical rather than a chemical action on lice.
After a head lice infestation has been confirmed, you can treat the lice at home by wet comb using a head lice comb or medicated lotions (see below).
However, neither treatment method will protect against re-infestation if head-to-head contact is made with someone with head lice during the treatment period.
Wet-combing method

The wet-combing method involves removing the head lice by systematically combing the hair using a special fine-toothed comb with a spacing of less than 0.3mm. Your pharmacist can advise you on which combs are suitable.
No medicated products are necessary for wet combing. This can be beneficial because head lice are becoming more resistant to the insecticides that are commonly used to remove them.
However, the success of the wet-combing method depends on adopting a painstaking approach that involves regular and thorough combing.
The wet-combing method is described below.
<LIST>

• 
  <LI>
• Wash the hair using ordinary shampoo and apply ample conditioner, before using a wide-toothed comb to straighten and untangle the hair.</LI>
  <LI>
• Once the comb moves freely through the hair without dragging, switch to the louse detection comb. Make sure that the teeth of the comb slot into the hair at the roots with the bevel-edge of the teeth lightly touching the scalp.</LI>
  <LI>
• Draw the comb down to the ends of the hair with every stroke and check the comb for lice.</LI>
  <LI>
• Remove lice by wiping or rinsing the comb.</LI>
  <LI>
• Work methodically through the hair section by section so that the whole head of hair is combed through.</LI>
  <LI>
• Rinse out the conditioner and repeat the combing procedure in the wet hair.</LI>
  <LI>
• Repeat the procedure on day five, nine and 13 in order to clear the young lice as they hatch, before they have time to reach maturity.</LI>

</LIST> The time that it will take to comb your child’s hair will depend on the type of hair that they have and its length. For example, short, straight hair can be quickly prepared and can be fine-toothed combed in a few minutes, whereas longer, curlier hair will take longer to comb.
Medicated lotion or spray

Medicated lotion or spray is an alternative method for treating head lice. However, no medicated treatment is 100% effective. Your pharmacist will be able to recommend an over-the-counter lotion or spray.
Medicated treatments should only be used if a living (moving) head louse is found. Crème rinses and shampoos are not thought to be effective and are therefore not recommended

this is in the same article. I didn't copy the whole thing.

 

[JungleMama]

Lol Jeremy I know what you're saying, but you arent understanding me it seems.

I'm saying that my neighbors daughter has never been cleaned, the adults she has has laid nits and they grow and the cycle is never ending. I DO control and manage the lice in my home. And yes my house "de-licing" is over exessive, but the other little girl brings it in all over again repeatedly cause shes not properly treated.

And bssage wasn't saying they are fleas, but perhaps saying that by treating fleas there might be other options I haven't tried that can be used against lice. Don't be so quick to snap, it was just a suggestion

I hope that helps clear things up.

 

[Xero]

Haha, actually its quite the contrary! I have very little experience with lice myself. I have never had lice in my life, I have always wondered if I was like... immune or something. Even weirder, DH has also never had lice in his life, and so far DS never has either. Who knows what will happen in the future though, once he starts going to school and spending time with friends. (eek lol)

My sisters got it like CRAZY though, two of my poor sisters must have had lice like ten times in their lives for some reason. We were always an extremely clean family, my one sister has always been the type to wash her hair twice a day actually. You should tell that other mom that cleanliness has nothing to do with lice, lice actually have a much better time clinging to nice clean hair than they do dirty greasy hair. So suggesting a child has lice, is not suggesting that he/she is dirty or doesn't wash his/her hair. I don't understand why someone wouldn't get their kid at least checked out, out of concern, if someone said they were worried they had lice??? Confusing to me. If someone thought they noticed lice on my son's head, I'd get it checked out ASAP! Anyway, my sisters kept getting them back and getting them back. There is NO WAY on EARTH that using conditioner and a lice comb would have gotten rid of lice with my sisters (not saying it wouldn't work for other people, or that it doesn't work for you Jeremy, you're lucky that it does that's all I'm saying!). My mom had to get special treatment kits from the doctor, and the the doctor told her to wash bedding and stuffed animals and sterilize hair care items and everything! She did this and went CRAZY with it every time, and those freaking things just kept coming back and getting my sisters! I felt so bad, they were just miserable. Its funny because all the while, every time my sisters would come up with lice, I would get called down to the nurse at school so I could be checked and potentially sent home as well, and they would always be surprised to find that I didn't have a trace lol. I have no idea how I managed to live with them that whole time and never get the lice from them myself. Weird! My mom eventually got rid of them though, and I think she found out where my sisters were getting it from (spending the night at a mutual friend's house who had them) and she wouldn't allow them to go over there anymore and I think that stopped it.

So yeah I unfortunately agree that the girl needs to be kept away from your family until her parents get her treated for the lice. You're doing the right thing. I also think you should maybe call the school nurse and just mention that you believe so and so has lice, and should be checked because you are concerned. Nobody should be made to live with lice day to day just because they have proud, rather uneducated IMO parents. :/

As for animals and lice, yes they can get lice, although fleas are more common as Jeremy felt compelled to point out, but I believe that "dog" lice are actually a different species from "people" lice if you know what I mean. They even look different. Plus we don't have a wide variety of things to treat them with like we do fleas. Basically you just need to use an 'insecticide' like Frontline or Advantage, and I believe they have some shampoos out there that should do the trick as well. I would use the Frontline though. But enough about dog lice lol, we aren't dealing with those now are we!

 

[Jeremy+3]

this is in the same article. I didn't copy the whole thing.

I do know what it says, if I hadn't bothered reading it I wouldn't have posted it.

 

[Jeremy+3]

Also, if you catch any adult lice when you kill them by cracking them between your nails, that is the most satisfying thing ever! I get head lice quite often as I work with children, so hunting for lice is a sport in our household. Putting tea tree on your hair is supposed to stop you getting them, but it has never worked for me.

 

[mom2many]

I was going to add that adding Tea Tree oil to your shampoo will also help keep the little buggers from coming back, Jeremy beat me to it but it was the one thing that got rid of them in my house.

 

[JungleMama]

Well my house is relatively lice free again, and talking to the girls parents was... interesting. They grinned and beared through it when I told them that their daughter had to be cleaned up before she came back over, but the looks in their eyes told me that they were by far impressed. Also I informed the school about it to.

Oh well, my house my kids my way. If they can't remedy their problem then this will have to be the way it is. It sucks but my kids are more important to me then their pride.

Thanks all for the removal tips, I too dont find the tea tree oil to work but use it anyways just to soften her hair cause the nit shampoo makes hair really tangley. I did find however that using a straight iron on my daughters hair works awesome! I'm going to keep doing that while I comb through her hair, just to be sure ^^

 

[stjohnjulie]

I bet that was an uncomfortable conversation! But you gotta do what you gotta do. Hopefully they take care of it and the girls can get back to playing together again and the other little girl can be a lot more comfortable!

 

[Xero]

Awkward!! haha... Well good for you, and hopefully they finally get her lice treated. Its not okay for her to have to live with them.

 

[sarahdef]

I hope it clears up!

 

[still]

Explain them the situation. They will probably understand, it's nothing to be ashmed of, i know from personal experience.

 

[emergencydentis]

First of all, my head is all itchy now Just the mention of lice does that to me!

...

I'm thinking you wouldn't send your daughter to someone's house if you knew she had lice. And I know they wont let kids in school if they have lice. So I don't think keeping the girls apart until it is taken care of is out of line in any way.

Good luck!!!!

My head is itching the same way. I have a sister who has lice, only that they're not so many. I don't know where she got it but the best way for you to get your child off of lice is to not let her near your neighbor and not let her play under the sun, this causes too much lice..iwww!!