My DD Has Lice :(

My moms bestie nannies for a family that had a nearly year long bout with lice with their three kids! Kept passing it back & forth.

I learned that you can put bedding, pillows, stuffed animals, etc into sealed garbage bags for a week and that will take care of that stuff.
(Knock wood) I've avoided it this far -- my son is almost 10.
He does use tea tree shampoo which supposedly repels lice.

Good luck!

Wash everything-including stuffed animals in HOT water. I would treat the entire family. You don't want to mess with that. I had it once. I NEVEr want to go through that experience again. Clean/vacumn twice a day.

Covering your hair in mayo and wrapping your head in a plastic bad does work. So does vinegar but it is not always good for the skin.

The best way to get rid of lice is Tea Tree Oil. Wal-mart and Walgreens carry a shampoo and conditioner called Organix Tea Tree and Mint (green bottle), works great.

My oldest got lice when she was 20. This girl has enough hair for 3 heads, I found out by accident that if you put some rubbing alcohol in a bottle of water and spray the hair a section at a time then going through with a nit comb the nits come out easier. The rubbing alcohol takes the sticky stuff off the nits. Also have a bowl, such as a margarine bowl, with very hot water handy. Every time you go through the hair dunk the nit comb into the hot water. This kills anything that comes off the nit comb. It took me over 6 hours to go through her hair in one sitting.

Now to treat the house. Vacuum EVERY surface. Mattresses, sofas, chairs, curtains ect any covered peice of furniture even dining chairs, inside car ect. Wash all pillows, stuffed animals, sheets, blankets, bedspreads, comforters, throw blankets in hot water, rinse with vinegar, dry in medium to hot dryer. Anything that cannot be washed put in a plastic bag and freeze for a month. The really icky thing about lice is an adult louse can live in your carpeting for a month and not need to feed, then when it needs to feed it will crawl up to the head of the first person it finds and start feeding again. ----- So make sure you clean completely.

Also make sure your child's school or daycare is told you found lice. She got it from someone. She could have gotten it from someone in a store. if a person had lice and got close to her one louse could have jumped from that person to your daughter. But her school or daycare needs to know.

Been there with my kiddos - I think you've done a great job so far. I would just add (and repeat what others have said) that a retreat of the entire family in 10 and then CHECK hair in another 14 days (you may need to treat again - we did).
Good luck - OH! and lice don't like dirty hair, so inbetween treatments, try to limit washing of your kiddos hair (and yours). Shower, but keep hair up, etc.

Do not treat anyone who doesn't have it.

I suggest you save your money on stuff that literally has zero effect on lice. Also that stuff you washed her hair in is nothing more than pesticide. So stop.

Go to headlice.org and follow their advice. Run the sweeper on all fabric surfaces. Wash the bedding and dry it.

This is how I get rid of head lice and maintain it.

I wash te girls hair, it's nearly waist length and pretty thick.

I condition it then comb it out. Rinse out the conditioner but don't towel dry it.

I sit her down in front of me and I use a rat tail comb to part her hair off.

I use a magnifying head gear that I got at Hobby Lobby. I use a good lamp.

As I part her hair I do a section of about 1/4" - 1/2" of hair maybe 3"-4" long. Then I comb it all the way to the end while examining the hair with the magnifying glasses on my head. I can see if there are any nits on the hair shaft because wet hair lets them show up better.

Then I examine the hair close to the scalp. I look to see if there are any live bugs. They are stunned from washing the hair and as long as the hair is pretty wet they don't move very fast. They breathe oxygen just like we do. So being doused in water traumatizes them.

If I see a live bug I pinch out or use tweezers. I drop it into a glass or cup of water. It drowns quickly. If I see white nits I don't worry, they are hatched eggs. They pose no harm at all. If I see a nit with a dark center then I either pull that single hair out, snip that single hair with a tiny pair of scissors from my manicure set, or I use my nails and slide the dark nit down the hair shaft then drop it in the cup of water too.

If you do this every other day as long as you find any eggs or live ones you are maintaining the outbreak. If you are finding a lot of new ones then you need to do this every day.

Once you have all the little critters gone do this every week. We do this every Saturday morning. It's just our routine for my granddaughter to get up and go take a long hot shower. She will come out when all the hot water is gone.

I am so used to doing this that I can do her entire head in about 5-7 minutes. I am used to seeing the difference where a bug is and where a nit is. It takes practice and knowing what you're doing.

I swear that the magnifying head gear is my secret weapon! I can see her individual hair shafts and can see even the smallest baby on her scalp.

I have, even after all that I do, had to treat her once. She was going to a friends house that had lice every time. I used Lice MD on her head and it was the best thing ever. It's not a pesticide and it did the job where most everything else doesn't do anything.

So if you have done everything and you still have them try the lice MD.

BUT 99% of the time simply not using that waste of money called lice treatments and special products to get rid of them will get rid of them anyway.

Those products say they get rid of the lice but I truly believe it is the combing and working through the hair, pulling off bugs and nits that actually get rid of them.

Sam, I haven't had to go through this, but just want to say how sorry I am that you're having to. Hugs and hopes that one or some of the ladies' tricks here will work!!

Dawn

i J. watched a funny episode of office space where they used mayo. it probably doesnt work but it looked funny=)

I had lice in the 5th grade. Got it after having to share a batting helmet with a girl on my softball team that had it and didn't tell anyone till after several of us got lice. Chemically treating the whole family is the best idea. If you have pets, they needs to be treated as well, there are sprays you can buy designed for pets. Wash everything in the hottest water, vacuum twice a day, if you have the Space Bags put the comforters, sheets, and blankets in them after washing and drying to suffocate any remaining adults or larvae. Buy all new hairbrushes, too. We were all so creeped out when I had it that I went and cut my hair as well. But that is an extreme measure. Ugh, just thinking back is giving me the willies.

Well do you want them to come back& have to redo the process all over again?Chemical treat everyone theres several kinds to choose from Walgreens has one in a tube that smells minty less harsher,vacuum everthing twice a day,wash stuffed animals & wash bedding daily,rinse all brushes/combs even if you don't have them under hot water or a soapy soak,wash her coat hat gloves back pack when she comes in from school & have her take her shower when she comes home till you know your daughter has gotten rid of them.There is a spray you can use on her for a few days when you send her back to school to hep prevent them.When she returns if she usually doesn't wear her hair up put it up for a few days.My kids have been checked numerous times last week but not just them the whole school..

Peppermint Oil is a deterrant and can help alot. Make sure you check everyone's heads daily and I wouldn't treat them unless you see nits or eggs. Good luck!

Lice cannot live off of human hair for 24 hours. If no one else has gotten it, most likely they won't. Watch heads for a couple of days and if there is "dandruff" if it can flick away it is dandruff, if it cannot flick away it is lice.

It sounds like you've done a good job. Just be sure to follow-up with another treatment in 10 days.

Also, I put Blue Magic Coconut Hair Conditioner in my GD's hair on a regular basis. (It's kind of like vaseline). It keeps the hair slick so that even if she is exposed to lice and gets a live one in her hair, the nits cannot attach to the hair shaft so if the lice lays eggs, they come right out so there is never an infestation. I started doing that after going round and round with her having lice for almost a year!

Good luck!

Nix doesn't really work anymore. The bugs have a resistant to it. We had to take her to lice center. They comb through the head with a magnifier and cut out any eggs they see. Then they use these new herbal natural stuff for the head. My daughter had it done in elementary school. They put on like 3 disney movies and went to town.

Lice are fast. There is a product that you put on the hair that is like sand and slows them down so you can find them.

Pick thru the hair 3 times a day, then when you don't find any pick once a day, but if you find some then start at 3 times a day again.

I say stay away from pesticides that is what RID or NIX is actual pesticides. These chemicals go into your nervous system and can cause neurological damage.

There is NOT one product that gets rid of nits, do not believe any product or anyone that tells you there is such a product.

You may want to go to a place that specializes in getting rid of these pests.

Use a "lice-away" spray on your kids. Put her hair in a braid and spray away. Also spray the kids backpacks and coats, collars.

Good luck - hope it's gone in one shot!