not again

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-02-2004
not again
6
Thu, 09-08-2005 - 4:01pm
Hi all I'm usually a lurker here, but I need some moms to talk to. my daughters have only been in school 1 week and my youngest came home with nits in her hair. I treated her and her sister with lice shampoo last night. I went through this all last year with her... it was a nightmare. She has long stick straight hair and they must love her, cause she got it in preschool last year something like 6 times. Most things I handle with grace, but this just leaves me a wreck. I can't handle another whole school year of this. I went through her hair again this morning and still found nits, I combed her hair last night with the special combs. Her sister has thick curly hair and I usually put some kind of gel in it to conrol frizz, so she has never had them, but I treat her hair anyway. I just feel so helpless. I do everything I am suppose to and I still feel afraid that they are everywhere and I will never get rid of them. I have never actually found a bug on her, always just nits. I just am so stressed and sick ot my stomach about it. I was told that tea tree oil helps to repell them ,any suggestions would be great. Thanks so much.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-21-2004
In reply to: rayjr2
Thu, 09-08-2005 - 4:54pm

I imagine this must get to be a pain in the butt! I did some research but there is not much out there about preventions besides checking every week.


You can always homeschool! *Sort of kidding since I am a homeschooling mom*


Here is a link I found http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/Mosby_factsheets/head_lice.html


Sorry I am not much help.


Traci

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iVillage Member
Registered: 04-08-2005
In reply to: rayjr2
Fri, 09-09-2005 - 12:02am

Hello, I think I can help. The last day of school this past school year guess what my middle dd got? Yep, lice. How wonderful to finally go on summer vacation and get lice..lol. I told her that was her little gift from her friends..lol. Lexus was staying with my mother for a couple of days after school ended and she was the one who noticed that Lexus had lice. So she started to nit pick her hair and remove them. BTW...that is where the word "nitpicking" came about cause of lice. Well we are on a very tight budget and I was so worried how I was gonna afford to buy any kind of lice treatment that I got on the internet to try to find home remedies for it. Turns out I found a GREAT website with all the information you will ever need. It turns out that those shampoos and medications do not work sometimes. The lice have pretty much become immune to them. So I did what this website recommended. I did the olive oil treatment and it worked wonderfully!!! After doing the treatment you have to check the hair daily "nitpick" and remove any nits that are left, but let me tell ya that Lexus did not have any after that first olive oil treatment. There is so much information on this site that is very useful and they work. Good luck to you and your girls and keep me posted to see how it worked.
Plus, you don't have to spend any money if you already have olive oil and a good nit picking comb...lol. BTW (again)...lice LOVE clean, straight hair cause they can move about freely. They don't like anything in the way like dandruff..lol. That is what Lexus has very clean, fine, straight hair. I told her that's what she gets for keeping her hair so clean..lol. You'll read that in the article as well.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/Publicat/PaperPubs/lice.htm

Olivia

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&nbs
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
In reply to: rayjr2
Fri, 09-09-2005 - 10:09pm
I use a shampoo called

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-13-2004
In reply to: rayjr2
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 6:38am
I battled nits in DDs hair for ages. In the end I cropped her hair very short. It worked wonders being able to get a comb through it easily.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2004
In reply to: rayjr2
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 11:27pm
Never use lice shampoo on your dd that doesn't have nits. Lice shampoos lose effectiveness when they're used too long, you want it to work if she actually gets lice. Anyting oily in thier hair will work - tea tree, vegetable oil, mayo, etc. After you wash or treat thier hair, put something oily in it and use a shower cap if you're worried about the mess.
I knew one lady that did this with her dd's when they got lice. AND she used hot rollers on their hair several times a day, I guess the heat helps get rid of them too? Don't wash thier hair for a few days, it won't hurt them to miss a few shampoos and lice can't "stick" as well to oily hair.
I'm sure you're already doing this, but you need to clean everything, everyday until there's no lice for at least 24 hours. You need to do this for everybody in the house, including you and dd. The beds, pillows, bedding, carpeting, clothing, toys, furniture etc. There are special sprays that can be used on furniture and such, but they're expensive. You can just vaccuum, or better yet steam them if you have a shampooer or steamer. Anything that can't be washed in HOT water must be sealed in dark garbage bags for at least 2 weeks, if not longer to kill the lice. If you vaccuum your furniture and carpets, empty the bag outside and leave the vacuum out there, or at least in the garage if you can. Lice can crawl in and out of vacuums.
If her lice doesn't clear up soon, take her to the dr. They have treatments that work much better than the OTC stuff.
My odd has been exposed to lice at least a dozen times. I skip shampooing, wash everyting everyday, vacuum, etc. She's never gotten lice and she used to have hair all the way down her back. You may want to consider a haircut if they have long hair. I've heard it's harder for kids with shorter hair to get lice, and much easier to deal with if they do. I don't know if it's true, but many ppl swear by it.
GL and let us know how it's going.

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-08-2004
In reply to: rayjr2
Sat, 09-10-2005 - 11:34pm
One thing I forgot to mention is your vehicles. Shampoo or steam them everday, especially carseats or whever your dd's sit.