Ewww! She Has Cootie Bugs!!!!

Oh K., I hear your frustration!!! Last September my son came home from his 15mth shots and to my dismay I discovered the head lice. He has beautiful long curly shiny black ringlets and when I was combing out his hair I noticed the lice. I was in absolute denial thinking it was maybe a fruit fly. Long story short...It was the week from hell, but I learned more about lice than I ever wanted to. My son is afro-american and it is unusual in our culture because of our hair texture and the fact that we use a lot of oiler products in our hair. I had to get over the gross factor very quickly and get to work. I did everything you did, plus I had to sit him in his high chair (in front of the tv with snacks I would never normally give him) while I went thru every strand of hair to comb out the nits. I discovered where the expression "nit picking" came from. They are the hardest things to see because they look like lint, except they literally stick to the hair folicles. Lots and lots of patience... shockingly no one else in the house had lice. The nits are your biggest demons. One lice can lay over 50 eggs/nits a day. One thing that helped me was I poured a big glass of water and once I got a nit off, I would put it in the glass and I noticed that if it was a nit, it would float and magnify it... and if it was a piece of lint, then it would sink to the bottom of the glass..... I know the whole thing is just disgusting.... I took it very personally because I consider myself a neat freak and germ phobic!! My husband wanted to cut the hair off, but I couldn't let it go without a fight. I also used the nit shampoo three weeks in a row just to be sure. Very challenging with a toddler, but he kept his hair and is nit free. Your going to have to grit your teeth, but you will get thru it and feel like the Super Mom you already are!!! Best of luck!

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from experience - once you get her clean - use tea tree oil shampoo. lice HATE IT!!!! and they stay away. i had a terrible time keeping my daughter clean because my sister would not sit down and pull all the nits out of her daughters' hair.

now to avoid all the chemicals, next time - soak her hair and scalp in regular rubbing alcohol and then wash it out with your regular shampoo. then soak her hair and scalp in vinegar (white or apple cider - which ever you prefer). then rinse it out with plain water. put the conditioner in her hair so you can comb it out easily. sit down and pull all the nits out (and dead bugs that didn't wash out).

you can do the same with your son. these are natural remedies that won't hurt him like the NIX and such as.

these remedies work. i used them on my children and myself when i caught it from my children.

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I have the cure! There is a neighbor of mine that goes to my church and because they don't clean their home of the bugs they re infest themselves all the time. Lice are small parasitic insects that feed on blood. You need to shampoo with Naturals melaleuca oil shampoo and bathe in a tub of hot water with one ounce of Sol-U Mel and 1 oz of Renew bath oil, after rub scalp with t36-c5 melaleuca oil (tea tree oil)to soften and dislodge the nits. Comb the hair and wrap your head with a hot towel for 10 min. Repeat if necessary. You can add 2 oz of Sol-U-Mel to 16 oz of water and spray the entire house. And you can add 2oz of Sol-U-Mel to your laundry. If you need assistance finding these products call me###-###-####. Even RID has poison in it that should not be absorbed in to skin.
Best of luck!
Amy

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Hi K.,

First, let me say you are NOT alone. We never had any run ins with lice until my daughter started kindergarten last year. We were lucky enough to dodge the bullet until the middle of 1st grade. This school year alone, we have received the wonderful letter someone in her class has lice atleast 5x. Searching the internet and finding out how dangerous the typical lice treatments are brought me to a wonderful Wellness Company with safe, natural products most based on tea tree oil. I've pasted an article below. Since using a tea tree shampoo, my daughter has not had any problems. If you would like more information you can email me. Head lice is indiscriminate. Clean, dirty, rich or poor, we all are the same to them. Good luck.

Dear Melaleuca friend,

I recently came across the following article in "USA Today" regarding Lindane,
a regularly prescribed lice treatment, and a sharp warning the FDA issued to
drugmaker Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals. The drugmaker recommends that two
applications of Lindane are required (several days apart) to effectively treat
head lice. What's frightening is the FDA's statement that this is, "extremely
alarming given that re-treatment with Lindane shampoo can lead to increased
exposure and possibly death."

If you've read any of our materials on head lice, you're already aware of
this problem, but it’s good to see it reported in the mainstream press.
Click on the link below to read the article:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-01-30-lindane_N.htm

I offer up one word of caution regarding the article. You'll see that "USA
Today" offers alternatives to Lindane. Unfortunately the alternatives are
dangerous pesticides as well. In our book, "The Melaleuca Wellness Guide" we
offer safe alternatives to the standard prescribed treatments. Additionally,
our "Head Lice Research Report" has important information on Lindane, Malathion,
and the other chemicals commonly prescribed for head lice. Click on the link
below to access this free report:

http://www.rmbarry.com/research/lice-melaleuca-oil.html

Sincerely,
Richard M. Barry

Try to have a great day!

G.

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Stop using the over the counter stuff. You are putting poison directly on your child's skin and letting it sit there for 10 minutes. It isn't safe.

There is great advise already given to you in the posts. What worked for us was to wash the kids hair then load it up with as much conditioner as we could. It took an entire bottle for my daughter's long hair, but it worked. Let it set for 10 minutes or longer and then rinse. You will then need to go through their hair and pick out the nits every day for a few weeks. We invested in a metal nit comb. Well worth the money.

You don't need to spray either. Just vacuum daily and keep the stuffed animals put away for a few weeks. Lice can be treated without the poisons.

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DAWN DISH SOAP!! put very little water in her hair, soap her up with dawn, put a shower cap on, then let it sit for about 20 minutes. rinse it all off and then pull out all the bigs and eggs. i promise this works. my mom had such a problem with me when i was little because i don't sweat much and my hair isn't oily so it stayed very very clean. lice can't live in dirty hair so the cleaner your hair the easier it is to catch them. my mom would get rid of it and a week later i'd have it again. my friend's mom told her about this and we tried it. i swear to you, i NEVER had lice again...even when i was constantly surrounded by kids that couldn't get rid of lice.

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You Poor thing! I have been there many times myself. I am native american and allowed a needy child to spend the night with me years ago and I got lice for the first time in my 45 yrs. It is a night mare. First of all, did you take a lice comb and do small locks at a time to comb out the eggs? This is a must! I had long hair and it takes hours to do this. You must check and recheck to make sure you got all the eggs which kind of look like little grains of salt stuck to the hair shaft.When 1 is found and the special comb will not get it out, use your fingernails to run down hair shaft and pull it off and dump it down sink, toilet what ever is handy that won't let it hatch, I put them on a white paper towel until I was done and then flushed them. They look like little slivers on something white after you pull them off. Then comes the lice shampoo or I have used dog flea shampoo on myself also and let it stay on much longer than the 5 minutes they reccomend for dogs. I washed everything and hung it on the line. Wrong! It takes the heat of a dryer to kill them so I got them back. UGH! Take your pillows, mattress pads and bedding and use a dryer. Blankets everything. Also use the spray on the other furniture she has come in contact with. Check yourself and all other members of the family for nits (eggs). They stick to the shaft and hair collects dust so if it comes right off it isn't an egg, if it is stuck to the hair, it is. You also must go thru this routine again in a week to 10 days as an egg or 2 might have been missed or not killed by the shampoo. Also alert the school as she may or the other child may have passed them on to other kids whose parents don't know and she may have become reinfected that way. Schools will refuse to allow an infected student back until all lice are gone. Hope this helps as I well know the night mare you are facing. My mother told me that if you wash your hair in pert or prell at least once a month, you won't get lice. I have never tried it myself but they say there is something in those two shampoos that lice don't like. Good luck!

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I would be afraid to use any chemicals on the baby, and the hair may be more fine so the NIX comb might not catch the eggs adhering to the hair shaft - for the baby I truly think it would be easier to cut all the hair off.... The only way I have seen all the nits removed is to first do the vinegar rinse to swell them, mixed with oil to make the hair slippery; then part the hair off, in rows, about one-sixteenth inch deep sections about 3 inches wide. Hold a white 3x5 card under each section with the thin strip of hair held tightly across it and you can see the nits. Then you can scape each one off the hair shaft with the fingernails of your thumb and forefinger , like you were picking it off after sliding it down the shaft. This was the ONLY way we got my one child lice free and it took me 10 hours to do it...We tried everything else first. It was the nightmare of my life.... This may be harder with very curly hair; my daughter's hair is very straight, but also very long.

1 mom found this helpful

My oldest daughter got a really bad infestation while I was pregnant with the youngest baby lasty year.

She has thick hair so silly old me at 5 months pregnant, standing 5 hours a day trying to extract these bugs was insane. I tried every product in the market for my oldest daughter, but the school nurse gave advise on olive oil. I used to have the instructions but I have no idea where they are but I research a little on the internet and found this. You have to battle the incubation process, but you can be successful, trust me I was going crazy but we won this battle.

The website I found is this one:

http://www.essortment.com/all/naturallicetre_rigf.htm

Hope this helps. I don't know about the Dawn soap, I never tryied it. I would use the baby shampoo instead, that what I used. Hope this helps, C.

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Lice: the very word horrifies parents. Many lice myths exist and create shame for kids and parents alike. The truth is that lice actually prefer clean heads over dirty, so lice is not a sign of poor hygiene. Also, like many insects, lice seem to be building up a tolerance to some of the chemicals used to kill them. So while it seems to be easier to get lice in our crowded classroom conditions, it also seems to be tougher to get rid of them. Plus, lice killing pesticides have begun to be scrutinized by parents – how safe are they? Do you really want to be dousing your young child with pesticides, especially since most lice infestations seem to require treatment again and again?

Actually you can rid your child completely of lice without commercial lice killers – in fact, without pesticides at all. All you need is a big bottle of olive oil, a bottle of Dawn dish soap and a nit comb.

First, dress your child in old clothes as olive oil can leave oil stains. Tuck a paper towel collar around your child’s neck to catch drips. Sit your child in a high seat (perhaps using phone books or plastic covered cushions to raise seat height) over the sink. Then, slowly saturate hair with oil working on one small section at a time. The scalp must be very oily.

Then, leave the oil on the hair for about 30 minutes. The oil covers the lice and eggs, preventing them from breathing. Unlike pesticides, suffocation does not seem to be something lice can build up immunity against! If you are working with long hair, you may want to put it up in a clip during the wait time.

After 30 minutes, comb hair with a regular plastic comb. If you are working with long hair, section it and put the sections up with clips. Then, with a metal nit comb, (found in most drugstores) comb through the hair in one-inch sections. Rinse your comb often in very hot soapy water. Watch for lice trying to escape the oil by coming to the surface or hanging out around the hairline.

After combing completely with the nit comb, wash hair in Dawn dishwashing liquid to cut the grease. Rinse hair and then wash with regular shampoo and follow with conditioner. Repeat the oiling every other day for two weeks. You will not need to use the nit comb during these subsequent oilings.

At the end of two weeks, repeat the first olive oil process, complete with the nit comb. If no live lice are found during this comb out, you can consider your problem cured. You will need to eliminate any possible infestation of pillows, bedding or soft toys also. Lice cannot live away from a host for more than 48 hours, so toys can be treated by placing in a large plastic bag and secured tightly for two days. Also, lice can be killed in pillows or bedding by washing in hot water and drying in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes.

Check children weekly for possible re-infestation from contact in school. Early detection makes lice killing much easier. Teach you child not to share hairbrushes, combs and hair decorations or hats…but if lice do happen, don’t panic, just get oily.

1 mom found this helpful

The best way to pick nits is too go outside in the sun.The nits shine and make it easier to pick them out.Especially on dark hair it really helps.Take a comb and go thru every lil bit of hair.The nits are the problem,because left unpicked they hatch.
I had this when my daughter was in pinellas county schools and I used tea tree oil with baby oil.Vinegar helps to wash out and a good blow dry.
Best of luck,
R.

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Hi K.,
I know how you feel! I'd never come across it before, and then my daughter (with beautiful long auburn wavy hair) got it 3 times in 3 years. The only thing that worked for us was a natural method using olive oil we found in a book we got from the library called "Head Lice to Dead Lice" or something like that. It's a great book b/c it explains all about lice, that they prefer CLEAN hair to dirty and don't like hair coloring (hence, I've now highlighted my hair to be immune!), hair gels, etc. and it outlines the method for cleaning your house to get rid of them (ie: putting away all stuffed animals, etc. in dark plastic bags for a couple of weeks), etc. Also, it explains that products like Nix don't work on many lice anymore b/c they've become immune.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. It's a long process, but you will get rid of them eventually.
good luck!
L.

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I would highly recommend trying some of the natural treatments first because it will be much safer for your young children. Once you have treated them, I would start using a shampoo with tea tree oil for your whole family to avoid re-infestation. Tea tree oil is a natural way to keep lice away! Prevention is the best way to deal with lice. Much less work that clearing up an infestation. I do carry a botanically based shampoo with tea tree oil in it. If you are interested in trying a sample let me know & I can mail it to you. You can also check it out on my website at http://www.naturalsolutions4you.myarbonne.com the product is Item#: 760 Arbonne Intelligence Daily, Self-Adjusting Shampoo with Tea Tree Oil (18 fl oz) $25.00 It is very concentrated. I have long hair and a bottle lasts me almost 6 months. If you have any questions feel free to call me at ###-###-#### or email me at ____@____.com Good luck!
R.

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I have been through this myself, many years ago..as far as your 6 month old all you can do it oil and pick it out. When I was going through this I got to the point that you are at and it is hard. I found the best thing is oil treatments with a shower cap on the head for 5 to 7 hours and then comes the process of combing and picking. They have some good lice combs at Walmart that are metal and you can disinfect and save. I stopped using the chemical based shampoo's when I heard it caused seizures in some children because they are actually pesticides. If I can be of any more help please feel free to write me. My name is I. and I have 4 children 3 are grown with their own and 1 is in high school, I also have 2 grown step children and 9 grandchildren between my hubby and I so I have been there more than once! My email address is ____@____.com.

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I suffered with lice with my daughter at school. The cleaner the hair, the more likely to get lice. I found that treating my daughter's hair weekly with tea tree oil kept the lice bugs away. You can find it at almost any drug store. I hope this helps you.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi,
My name is E. and I am a Kindergarten teacher in Italy and am used to this uneasy situation... (caught them myself last year...) Unfortunately there is no prevention to lice and the only thing to do is to go through the treatment (regular shampoo, never heard of dog shampoo but if it works well better!) and then check the child's hair daily and remove the lendins. Either you use a very thin comb or simply by hand. The lendin won't detach unless you "unthred" it all along the hair. This is something you should do daily until you find none are left. Just to make you feel a little better: they found out that lice only go on clean hair...
ciao!
E.

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