Head Lice

Hi K.-

I am a teacher and have had to have my room cleaned because of lice on several occasions. I know you said you cleaned thoroughly, but here are some things to check just in case:

-steam clean furniture and carpet
-wash everything(all clothes, bed linens, etc. in HOT water)
-put anything that can't be washed in hot (like stuffed animals) in a plastic bag and seal it for at least a month
-clean all hair brushes/hair accessories

I also learned that lice like to live in clean hair. I have known people who have put a little bit of product like mousse or gel in the child's hair before school. Also, baby oil works well. It's also best to keep her hair pulled back in a ponytail or braid if possible.

Good luck!
-L.

I know how you feel I just went through this at the end of the school year with my 8 year old. I was so frustrated and upset I cried everynight for a week. I checked the internet night and day trying to find anything and everything that would help. We found the best thing was to wash her hair with Denorex shampoo everyday and after shampooing go through it section by section looking for nits and the best thing to do is when you find a nit is to pull it off with your fingers and then squash it to make sure to kill the egg that is inside it so that it doesn't attach to the head again. We also used vinegar mixed half and half with water. I put it in a spray bottle and wet her hair real well and then put a towel on her head for thirty minutes make it damp with the vinegar also so that the hair doesn't dry out. This helps get the glue off that makes the nits stick to the hair. I used this method twice it helped with picking the nits out then after picking through her hair I rinsed the vinegar out with water and then washed her hair with Denorex. Hope this helps, good luck!

I would be contacting the Daycare to see if they took any precautions for it. My daughter caught hand and mouth disease at her daycare and it was because of poor sanitation due to the teachers.

It sounds like you treated your house, but did you think to treat your car and daughters car seat? If they can survive in stuffed animals and carpet, they could probably survive in the car, depending on the weather.

K.,
My daughter recently had head lice and having never had to deal with that situation before I enlisted the advice of pharmacists, drs, and a local hair salon. I was given many different home remedies, but the one that I chose worked wonderfully!! After shampooing her hair with Nix, I covered her head in Mayonnaise (sounds gross, I know) and then covered it in plastic (put some paper towel along the front, it does drip some) and let it sit for 2 hours. After the 2 hrs wash out some of the mayo, take a very fine tooth comb, like a baby comb, and comb through the hair. You will be amazed at how many eggs and dead lice will comb out, and with the greatest of ease. The mayo also acts as a conditioner to start repairing the damage to the scalp and hair that the treatment shampoos do. In doing this to my daughter, thankfully, we have not had a problem with the lice reoccurring!!! Hope it works for you too!!!
P.
P.S. The mayo will stink very bad by the time the 2hrs are up...nose plugs are wonderful things!!!

I highly recommend going to the healthfood store and picking up a tea tree oil shampoo. My 3 yr old had lice last year and I used the harsh, expensive store treatments on the whole family. After shampooing her I found bugs still crawling on her head along with plenty of eggs. I found out about tea tree oil from a friend and decided to give it a shot since you can't repeat the other stuff for atleast a week. I used the shampoo for several days and it definitely worked, and was much less expensive than store treatments. You can also delute tea tree oil (the oil, not the shampoo) with water in a spray bottle and spray surfaces in the home. I still had to remove the eggs from her hair (I checked daily for several days). I bagged up stuffed animals (we have since down-sized our collection drastically) and took the other usual measures around the house. I swear by tea tree oil for treating lice! It is also great for lots of other things.
One last warning: be careful with whatever sprays or treatments you use. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation. I read that Lysol works to kill lice so I went crazy around the house with it. I went through 5 bottles in 2 days. I ended up with a chemical burn in my airway. It was really painful to say the least. Good luck!

When my oldest started school she had that problem. we had to put olive oil in her hair overnight and put a shower cap on. then in the morning we had to sit for several hours and comb out all the nits and lice. then of course was the hair really good. this seemed to work better than using just the shampoo. i guess the olive oil suffacates the lice and make the hair greasy so that the eggs are removed easier.

Hi K.:

It sounds like the nits weren't completely removed the first attempt. Try the shampooing again. (RID) Also, purchase the lice removal comb at Wal-Greens. Following the shampoo comb gently through her hair from root to ends to remove any and all of the lice and eggs. This process will take awhile but it is very effective.

Lice is extremely common, and she's probably getting it at daycare. Make sure she doesn't share hats, combs, hair ribbons/head bands, etc.

Also, you could try to put her sleep toys or pillow in a plastic bag for 2 weeks. This will kill any lice that might be attached to something.

Personally, I think the lice need the head for food and warmth to survive, once removed from that environment they die. I don't think that they survive on furniture or carpets etc.

Good Luck with it!!

~K.