Seeking Information on Lice

Dont wait till it happens, start now to prevent it. I have gone through this 3 times and I know you dont' want to do this. Get Tea Tree Oil. In shampoo form or just buy the oil. WalMart should have it. You can put some drops in a spray bottle with water and spray your childs head every morning before they leave the house. Doesn't smell great but its better than getting the lice. I usually started my daughter on it before the school year and right through until winter. They don't like the cold. If you do get it into the house, anything they come in contact with has to be washed. I changed sheets and pillow cases daily. Even if one egg falls off and gets back in their head, they can lay up to 100 eggs in a matter of minutes.
If you have stuffed animals and small toys that might be affected, put them in a plastic bag and put in the freezer. All affected toys should be taken away for at least two weeks.
good luck and hopefully you won't have to deal with it.

Hi S.,
I would just try and check your grandson daily.. (which I'm sure the school nurse is now doing.. for the entire class, if not the surrounding classrooms.) You would want to catch it early.. for an easier and quicker way to erradicate it. Once it's in the house, it could easily spread to the other kids, pets, pillows and mattresses. it's a real pain in the neck, so I hope it doesn't enter your home! Lots of laundering in HOT water, just about everything, clothes, bed linens etc. This is a worst case scenario however. You can go online to find tips for lice control etc.. I heard hairspray (over a clean head)could keep them at bay. Local pharmacies also have special shampoo and combs. Ask the school nurse if she has any tips as well. All the best to you! L.

boys are easy - shave his head. lice don't like short hair, they can't get a good hold. and you will be able to pick out any nits that do get a hold much easier than if he has long hair. there are a few different shampoos at the drugstore you can get if he does get them too..

My daughters have lived through tons of these notices - and, knock on wood, so far we've come out unscathed. First - really sit your child down and explain to him how to avoid it (no sharing hats, etc., etc., etc.). Second, the very second I get one of those notices, I immediately wash their hair in the lice shampoo even if they don't have it- it can act as a preventative for up to 30 days I've been told. Then each morning I spray them with hair spray. Also make sure the schools use methods to avoid spreading lice - they should not have the kids coats piled on top of each other, no sharing hats, etc.. I also have a friend who won't let her child back in the house until she has thoroughly checked her for lice - and really thorough, don't simply glance through the hair - separate each section and look carefully at the scalp. She has so far found her daughter come home 3 times with lice - but at least it didn't get into her house because she checks her as soon as she's off the bus. Good luck!

Hi,
I taught for a long time and these bugs always show up!
If your grandson gets lice, you'll need to keep him home until he is nit free. The school nurse will check him on the day he returns to school.
Doing a very short haircut for a boy if he gets lice is the easiest as you need to apply RIDX which doesn't always work (the little bugs are getting immune from the stuff!)

I've had friends who have had great success with coating their kids heads with mayonase and then wrapping the head in saran wrap..really... it smothers them supposedly. Then you wash the hair and proceed to come through removing the nits and eggs they lay.
The eggs are stuck to the shaft of the hair with a sticky substance so it takes a while to comp through... you can see now why boys are easier...girls hair you really don't want to shave down to a crewcut!

You'll also want to wash any and all bedding, bag up stuffed animals and pillows in large trash bags and secure for a few days... they can't live that long off a host body.
Wash the bedding and pillows in HOT water.

Good luck! Hope he stays nit free!

put loads of hairspray in his hair before he goes to school in the morning. THe lice will have a harder time adhering to him and he most likley won't get it.
If he does get it it is a huge pain to get rid of. (I was a preschool teacher, believe me!)

Hi S.,
Oh, how I remember those days...especially the first week of school and the kids have come back from camp! Keep checking their heads for nits and react as soon as you find any. The local pharmacy with have a whole section of products. Complete the cycles or it will come back.

In the meantime preventing it is the best solution and Tea Tree Oil can help with that. Arbonne Self Adjusting Shampoo with Tea Tree Oil is excellent. It cleanse while minimizing dry scalp. More info available at my website www.kellymcinnis.myarbonne.com

I'm scratching my head now just thinking about it..lol!
Please contact me if you have any more questions.
Good luck,
K.
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hi there. 1st, knowledge is power! Talk to yr grandson about not sharing caps/hats, if their floor is carpeted, (at school) do the kids lay on it for reading, story time or playtime?? {if yes, ask if it's been vacuumed). Here is a great website I found after my dau got lice(not sure how, but found it after attending a bridal shower and getting a call 3 days later, that a 2y/o had lice), and I found 2 live bugs, other family was asking me what it looked like, etc. email me if you want <____@____.com>. BUT that site address: www.headlice.org, lots of info, pictures, etc.
Hope this helps!!

what a way to begin! In addition to the other good advice about educating him about not sharing combs, hats, etc., I'd add that a lot of lice are resistent to the over the counter meds. What is effective 100% of the time, if you are vigilant, is checking for nits, and then coming then out. The Licemeister comb, which you can google and buy on-line, is the best, because it is very fine toothed. When my daughter got lice last year and the over the counter meds didn't work (we treated everyone in the family, laundered everthing, bagged things that coudn't be washed - we were vigilant)- we researched, researched, and ended up going the combing only route. Every morning, every evening - we'd sit my daughter in fron of a video on our laptop at the kitchen counter, where the light is brightest, put detangler on her long, long hair and meticuloulsy comb until we didn't see anymore nits. Took only a few days until there were no nits, but we checked for two weeks, to make sure. Takes time, but it's non-toxic and effective. And by the way, lots of schools will let kids in school with nits, as long as you're treating, and lots of school nurses understand that lice are more an more resistent to meds and accept combing as an appropriate treatment.

Good luck! Hope you don't actually have to do any of this, but if you do - it's only time, no one is sick or in pain, and it will pass.

A.

Lice don't like dirty hair. Wash it less often, use gel & hairspray. Good luck

Our homeopath recommended we use a cup, or more depending on hair length, of olive or veggie oil with a drop of Tea Tree Oil (optional. Lice don't like the smell though the olive oil does the job of smothering just fine) mixed in with it. Cover the head and hair with this mixture and then cover the head with a plastic shower cap. Leave this on for at least half an hour then shampoo. The dead lice will come out in the shower. You can do a final rinse with Apple Cider Vinegar being careful not to get it in the eyes. This will help loosen the nits that you will have to comb and pick out of his hair. I found that shining a flashlight on the hair helped to find the nits. They reflect in the light.

Repeat this every 3 days after that about 3 more times. This will assure you that any nits you missed won't hatch and lay new nits.

This method worked great when my oldest was 2 and got lice at his daycare. The over the counter products you can buy are a pesticide. They don't work all the time and why risk adding that chemical to you little ones head when olive oil works just as well.

Good luck! Hope you don't get it!

I've heard tea tree oil is a good natural solution. You can buy Paul Mitchell's tea tree shampoo or add tea tree drops to your kids shampoo.

You could even start using the tea tree shampoo now as a preventative - it is not made specifically for lice removal...it just works for that too.