Help Me Keep This LICE Away

Boy you have your hands full. You need to wash all her bed clothing any toys she sleps with in very hot water, sun dry or a very Hot dryer. I would also treat couch cushions and other furniture that is of any kind of cloth with a liquid or powder multi bug killer. I had what we thought was fleas, but it wasn't then we thought lice but it wasn't .I was the only one being bitten and was miserable. I was only bit at night and sure enough it was bed bugs but you couldn't really see them they only came out at night to feed off of my blood.Do It Best Lawn and Garden Insect control concentrate finally got rid of it pernamentally.But that you can not put on your child but you can spray as directed on funiture and carpets to stop reinfestation.My home has been free of it for 2 years now. Found out later my boy friends buddy had them in his home and they traveled here on his clothing. I itched so badly I thought I was going to go crazy.BE SURE TO FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BOTTLE.

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Bless your heart. My daughter only had lice one time, but getting rid of it almost gave me a nervous breakdown. You definitely want to be careful with using Rid, it is extremely toxic and you don't want to overuse it. Walgreens has a Lice be Gone treatment that I used, (after the initial round of Rid) but I think it was finally the mayo treatment that got rid of them. Tea tree oil will help keep them away, you can either add it to your current shampoo, or there are shampoos out there that have it in there. I use Arbonne's, and I am happy to give you a sample if you wan to give it a try. Also, lice LOVE clean hair, so skip a few washings and see i that helps. Good luck dear, take a deep breath and try not to lose your mind. I feel for you!

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K.,
Best of luck to you in your fight against these little critters. I use california baby tree tea oil shampoo on my daugthers hair for every bath...you can find some at Target. I need the tear free so i buy mine from drugstore.com. The bugs do not like the smell and it helps prevent from getting lice. My daughters school has had an out break every year and (knock on wood) she has not had it once. I also add mouse to her hair when they do have it active in the classes as an extra saftey measure. they liek clean hair and the mouse makes it hard for the nits to attach to the shafts of the hair...good luck!

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I am a noon monitor at our public school. A third grade girl told me she had lice over the summer and they found that Listerine worked the best. She said buy RID, use the comb and throw out the product because it really dried up and gave sores on her scalp.

I know there is an east side place that specializes in treating lice and following up with the lice to make sure they are all gone but I don't remember their name. You could probably google them.

I typically don't promote products, but since having a run in back in the spring with lice after my daughter stayed the night w/ my sister.... I talked to my stylist about what she would recommend. (My sisters stepdaughter came home with lice every single time she visited her bio-mom, which was typically once a week!!) She recommended trying Fairy Tales hair care products. She had used them on her own daughter & was so impressed with them she started selling them in her salon. They have a whole line of all Natural, Organic preventative products from shampoos, leave in conditioners to gels and even the removal products too! I bought the shampoo & leave in conditioner that day, seeing as I had already struggled with the de-licing the night before.... and started using them immediately. I actually used the leave in conditioner to get the last few nits out of her hair. They recommend using a couple of the products in combination to get the maximum benefits. Since my childen are not in daycare or school... I typically only use the shampoo a couple times a week and then use the leave-in conditioner in between. I also use the leave in conditioner to spray down hats, jackets, carseats, etc on occassion. I also had my sister use the products & she hasn't had problems with her SD coming home with lice since she began using it!!!!
Anyways, a lot of salons are starting to carry the Fairy Tales products. They are kinda pricey, but well worth it in my opinion. They also have a website www.fairytaleshaircare.com If you go to their site you can sign up for their emails & they will occasionaly email you coupons to use when you order from their site as well.

You talk about everything you are doing to remove them from her hair but what are you doing about her bedding and your home? You need to make sure there are no nits there as well. It's a pain, I know but it is true.

My daughter had got this several times from her cousin and it was a nightmare! Her pediatrician actually prescribed a shampoo for her after all the over the counter treatments did not work, the over the counter stuff only kills the live lice NOT the eggs. This shampoo actually kills the eggs. I had to bag up all stuffed animals, treat all bedding, furniture, carpet, and carseat. It truly was a nightmare I wouldn't wish on anyone. Once we got the shampoo though it went away for good. Keep the left over shampoo though just in case. I can't remember what it was but it was a prescription shampoo, my daughter is eight and she was four when she had this. Good Luck!!

Everything and I do mean everything that the child may have come in contact with has to be washed or put into black garbage bags, tied securely for at leaswt a week. We had to do the pillows on the bed and on the couch, all of the stuffed animals, vacuum the mattress, the furniture, carpets etc. There is a spray for the carpet and the furniture I think. After vacuuming the vacuum bag or the material from the bagless cleaner needs to be removed immediately. We found that there were things that we ha not even thought of that needed to be treated. Anything that the child's head may have come in contact with must be treated and every single strand of hair must be picked for the eggs. If one egg is left it will hatch and then here we go again. Hope this helps. I contacted the lice from the children so I have been there and know the frustration.

Hi K.,
Sorry to hear about your plight. My guess is you have never completely gotten rid (pardon the pun) of your lice problem from July. I should know, I'm an RN and a Lice Removal Specialist. I own a company called Discreet Lice Removal, located in Northern Summit County. We're on call 24/7 to help parents, like yourself, solve this problem safely and effectively. If you like, I could easily identify the bug. Call me @###-###-#### and if you're close, I'll drive over and give it, and your daughter, a check. Feel free to check out our ____@____.com use not-toxic and hypoallergenic solutions as well.

Looking forward to helping you.
C., RN, BSN
PS. We drive regular vehicles. No unsightly bug antennae or signs.

My daughter seemed to be a lice magnet too! What finally worked for us was olive oil and daily nit combing.
You saturate the hair with olive oil and wrap the head in plastic overnight. We used a trash bag and tape to keep it on.
Wash the hair in the morning and nit comb under a bright light. I put sheets of white paper down and wiped the comb onto that. You have to nit comb every day and then repeat the olive oil treatment after 7 days. If no nits or bugs after the second week, then you can stop.
seal up any stuffed animals and pillows that you cannot wash in plastic for a couple weeks and of course, wash everything else that may have come into contact with the child. Don't forget the car and the car seat.

I know it is horrible, but keep doing it, they will finally be defeated!

Besides treating her hair, you need to make sure that you are treating the things she has come in contact with. You need to wash all bedding in very hot water (change the temperature on the water heater). You also need to dry it in high temperatures. In terms of pillows, stuffed animals, etc., you need to put them in big garbage bags tied up tight for about 3-4 weeks. Make sure to vacum your carpets (daily) while she has the eggs or nits, the furniture (couches, etc) and her car seat. Good luck and I hope things clear out soon.

Did you wash the beddings and clothes in hot water? Did you put all her stuffed animals in tight bags and stay there for 30 days? Did you vaccum everything like couch, car seats, floor where your daughter sits and lays on? My son had head lice once, and it was not funny! I had to wash clothes and bed sheets everyday. I also had to vaccum everything where my son lays and sits on everyday. I had to check for lice in my both sons' hair every nights just to make sure that lice don't come back. It was crazy weeks for me. Lice is gone now. I surely hope that my kids don't get head lice anymore.

K., go to www.headlice.org. It's the national headlice association, and their website is great. Explains how lice are drug resistant now, why Rid and the other heavy chemicals are bad and actually dangerous, why those manic house cleaning frenzies and bagging everything up are not necessary, etc. The most important thing is to get a good lice comb and comb through religiously and super carefully. You can't miss a single nit. I've had luck in the past combining the comb with a product called Lice-B-Gone which I got online...it supposedly loosened the "glue" that holds the nit onto the hair shaft. But the most important step is the combing and nit removal. Once you're pretty sure you have them all, wait a few days and comb through again, then repeat again a few more days. Hang in there!

Make sure you have washed all her bedding and clothing in HOT water. Bag up any stuffed animals for at least 2 weeks. If she goes to day care, keep her stuff in a plastic garbage bag. Vacuum her mattress and all the carpets and upholstry in the house. (I also sprayed everything down with the Rid spray). There is another treatment you might try.
1. put baby oil or mineral oil in her hair, wrap it with plastic wrap and let it sit at least 3-5 hours or overnight.
2.wash out with dishwashing liquid.
3.shampoo
4.using warm vinegar and a good lice comb (metal fine set teeth) comb through her hair to remove any nits. (nits look like dandruff, but stick to the hair).
5.check hair daily for any other nits/lice

Use Herbal Essence shampoo, it is an excellent repellent against lice.

Once you get rid of them in her hair, keep hair spray on her hair for some reason it acts like a deterrent. Good luck!

Put vinegar in the cream rinse.
continue to brush with fine tooth comb
bag stuffed animals
Best wishes been there done that

Wash her bedclothes (sheets, pillowcase), spray all fabric covered furniture, put all her stuffed animals, dolls, anything that could harbor lice in plastic bags for two weeks. I am guessing you are not getting rid of "all" of them in your house. It is sooo hard to do but necessary if they truly are lice. Do you put her hair in pony tails? Don't let it lay down her back, keep it up.

I wish you the best in figuring out this frustrating situation.

i am sorry but i dont see anything here about how you are treating the whole house yes for lice.also there are a few grain bugs from flour and from dry dog food that resembles lice.also she may be picking up the lice from someone else who isnt taking care of the problem.watch to see if any of her friends seem to be itching their heads frequently.or check with the daycare where she is going to see if any other child has this.K.

It would be the lice that are resistent to the rid, not the child.
Have you looked up lice online? Seen pictures of it? Normally it's pretty clear to tell.
You can try a different chemical from the store. Another trick I have heard is to use a shampoo with a certain acid in it, I can't remember what it is. The lice don't like the acid. If she can handle it, don't wash her hair daily, only every other day. They like clean hair!
Also, her pillows need to go into bags over night or for up to 48 hours. Along with Blankets and sheets that can't be washed in hot water. They could be in a chair or something in the house and therefore she gets reinfested as soon as you get uninfested. Also hang out in a bush, so either throw them all away and buy new ones or boil all of them.
Vacuum off all furniture she sits in.
They can live off the human body for up to 24 hours. Making reinfestion easy if you don't do all these steps every single time you find one.
She could be getting them from a play date that doesn't knwo they have them, school, or whatnot. Make sure everyone she is around on a regular basis is checked, even yourself and other close family memebers. Just because your an adult, your able to get them.
Best of luck!

http://blog.cleveland.com/health/2008/02/chris_stephensth...

He also goes to the home. My friend's 4 daughters including her had it and couldn't get rid of it. He went to their house and took care of the problem. Everything he uses is non-toxic. His number is at the bottom of the page in the user comments section. Good luck!!

When my daughter was I believe in the third grade she had them horrible for three months. She is allergic to the shampoos cause they contain ragweed. I would have to pick through her hair for hours and hours at a time. We used Vasoline and kept it in her hair over the weekend and washed it out on Sunday night. You have to make sure you wash ALL bedding, and spray all furniture she comes in contact with. Also anything that has cloth needs washed. But to keep them away once you are sure they are gone in your household and she is getting them again from outside your home, keep hairspray or gel in her hair at all times. The lice don't like that and actually only go into clean hair. The more gunk a person has on their hair, the better when it comes to lice. Hope this helps.

It sounds like your school is having a hard time with it. Here is a way to keep it away. Wash all bedding and spray everything with the spray they have out. Put any stuff animals in a plastic bag for a month. Make sure that you change the vaccum bag when you are done. There is a Haleena conditioner that I use to get at the dollar store that you can get for a couple dollars. You put the conditioner on the hair with a plastic bag for as many hours as you can and it kills it all. Only thing it really softens the hair. no harsh chemicals. Then before she goes to school put baby oil in her hair and put it up in piggy tails. Wash her hair at night. I know baby oil can stain because of the oil but lice can't breath in it. So they can't live. Its also better the dealing with the nit picking all the time. Good luck to you!!!

Hi K.,
I am sure you are frustrated. It is really un-nerving to deal with this issue!
Be sure to wash all the bed linens in hot water, vacuum the entire house and put all her toys in bags for up to 3 weeks. If you want to be sure to get rid of them for good you should be very thorough. She may be getting it again and again from your home. They can live off the human body for a pretty long time.
Good luck.

I know how you feel with the lice, I have found this product at the health food store and they have shampoo and a spray that works wonders, it got rid of the lice with no harsh chemicals. It works really well. Go to your local health food store organic store, (to be honest I am not sure what store excactly it was, but it was one of those it was in fremont indiana) It works wonders.

K.,

You don't mention the endless hours that you have spent combing her hair with the nit remover comb. I would suggest that you buy a metal one (they are better than the plastic ones that come with the kit.)

If you are doing the treatment right, this is the element that will stand out to you. HOURS and HOURS of combing, removing every last nit, several times a day, over the course of a week, and then again after you repeat the lice treatment. You need to comb every single strand of hair, even if you don't see nits, because they are tiny and you may be missing them. Really, I cannot stress enough how important this part is.

The shampoos and mayo will not do it alone, combining is the primary way that you end this problem. It is not that you can't keep them away, you just have not gotton rid of them yet. All it takes is one missed nit, and they are very, very small and are attached to the shaft of the hair but will not be removed unless you physically remove them with a comb.

You will have lice until you do this. Vacuuming and washing her bed linens is also necessry, but you don't have to pay too much attention to cleaning because the chances of a nit on a hair having direct contact with a head is very remote, unless it is in a bed.

Good luck, get a comb, and spend a few hours today, tomorrow, the next day, and the next combing.

M.