My son's daycare called me today and told me they have had a mini lice outbreak and found nits in his hair. They didn't see any bugs, only the nits. They told me I needed to treat him before he could come back. Ok, no problem. After I picked him up, I did a check of his hair and couldn't find anything. Granted, I didn't have a comb or anything, but I wasn't finding what they had identified.
As a precaution, I got his hair buzz cut extremely close to the scalp and you can definitely tell there aren't any bugs. Now that I am home, I have done a thorough check of his hair and also cannot find any nits or any evidence of bites, scratches, or cuts throughout his scalp. I also compared what the daycare found to pictures of nits online and they don't really look like the same thing, although there are some similarities. I checked the bedding and don't see any dead bugs or anything around there, but I'm not sure if that means anything.
So, my question is, now that his hair has been cut and there is no evidence of nits, should I still treat his hair with the medicated shampoo? I would prefer not to, but if it would help I will. I am also washing the bedding in hot water and spraying the furniture, just in case. Also, should I treat my hair? I will lay down with my son in his bed on occasion (and have recently), so it's possible I have been exposed. I don't have anyone to check my hair tonight. If I shampoo his hair, I'd prefer to do both of us at the same time. Help!
I would do the shampoo just in case. The daycare may have overreacted but better safe than sorry.
So far as I know, and I have never seen lice up close and personal, they are hard to see.
If you've shaved him and there's no hair long enough for a louse to live, I think you're ok. You can get away with just nitpicking without chemicals and completely clean a head so if you'd rather skip the poisons, you'll be fine.
For him I would say buy the Rid metal comb (I got mine at Kmart) and run it through the little bit of hair he has left. It should only take 10 minutes or so for his hair now that it's buzzed. Run the comb under hot water or dip it into a bowl of hot water between each pass. Do that every night for the next several days. You can usually spot the nits in the teeth of the metal comb. In my situation, once I buzzed my son's hair it was pretty much the end of the lice, but I still ran the comb through every night until I was sure.
As for you, I would totally recommend using the medicated shampoo and the Rid comb too. I picked up the lice from my son and it was much harder for me to get rid of it.
Don't forget there are 2 different types of lice shampoo. One only gets rid of the adult lice and needs to be applied 2x. The other apparently gets rid of the nits too. That kind wasn't available when we had it. I think there was a run on the store.
Best of luck! Be glad you have a boy and can buzz his hair.
NO
Please go to headlice.org and read up on the facts.
Old wives tales run rampant and they are a waste of money and your time. I would wash all his bedding and vacuum his bed, change out his pillow for a couple of weeks, etc...but nothing more than basic cleaning.
If the hair stylist that cut his hair saw nothing there was probably nothing to find.
Wow! THIS is one I have become quite an expert on over the years, too many kidz, too many schools, too many nits!
As someone who has gone through this I would not have cut his hair but, I am a 'long hair' person, since 'buzz cuts' are fashion now it's cool & you DID get rid of the nits that way. If you don't really know what you are looking for they are hard to find espcially on light colored hair, the nits are nearly opaque & attach themselves to a strand of hair, they MUST be pulled off from place of origin to end of hair strand, if in doubt use a magnifying glass to locate & destroy the monsters!
You are doing the right thing by washing ALL the bedding, you also should buy the spray @ the local drugstore & spray any furniture that has a clothe covering including the mattresses (yours & his), any stuffed critters must be treated as well.
For your hair & further infestations that may be brought home via the school you need to purchase the shampoo made specially for that problem & do your own hair. (If you haven't been ITCHY on your scalp chances are you don't have the monsters but ALWAYZ do YOUR hair too!) Don't bother using the plastic comb that comes in the kit, buy a set of two metal combs that are in the same area in the store, you will pay 7-9 bucks for these but you use them for years to come & they are the ONLY thing that can get the monsters really well. Before treating your hair, bend over in the sink with a white towel laying in the bowl (next time you can do this to your son as well) brush your hair out vigorously all over & when you straighten up you can see if any monsters have been dislodged cuz' they will be crawling on the white cloth, flush them & immediately wash the cloth. Now you use the shampoo & then your normal conditioner (if you try to comb through the hair w/o conditioner you will nearly crumple down from the pain the stuff really works on tangles) if the instructions are to comb it through then do so prior to shampooing & conditioning, if you buy the kind that is a 'leave in' (the best I think) you use your comb now (even if it says you don't have to) while the medicine is on your head. Keep a glass 1/2 full of HOT water next to you & each time you comb clean the comb off in the hot water & another clean white cloth, the clean white cloth is so you can see the bugs, cuz' sometimes that is the ONLY way you will know if you have got them all and that they are dead (if you have bugs you will now be able to see them) after the shampooing & conditioning of the hair, COMB through again! This is a MUST DO! I don't give a S - - - if the directions don't tell you to! Use the glass of hot water method again with the cloth & break out the blow dryer! Get your blow dryer on it's highest setting & blow the hair bone dry & use the comb again...NOW & ONLY NOW can you be certain you have killed them all on your head for SURE!
I alwayz keep an extra bottle handy, cuz' you NEVER know when there will be another outbreak @ school, if you see him scratching his head abnormally or you see red marks behind his ears or the edge of his scalp where hair ends & it's only skin then chances are he has gotten another case & you will want to treat him again.
You didn't say if you told the barber that he may have lice (?) if you took him straight to the barber & he DOES have lice you may have spread the outbreak, next time treat his hair 1st THEN get his hair cut or do it @ home yourself, no need to help these monsters along, they do just fine by themselves!
Hope you do fine & all is well!
