Oh No--our First Case of Nits/lice!!

Don't freak out to bad. It just makes it worse! I have 4 kids and "dodged the lice bullet" until my daughter came home with it @ 15 years old after a camping trip! Do everything that the other responses told you to to do as far as washing AND putting EVERYTHING in a hot dryer. Bagging everything for 2 weeks also. One awesome trick that FINALLY got rid of them after using everything including Ovide which is a prescription hair wash is to go to GNC or any health food store (whole foods too) and get a bottle of tea tree oil. You can also buy tea tree shampoo and conditioner in a lot of stores (trader Joes) I put several drops of the oil in the bottles of shampoo and conditioner and our whole family was lice free. If you do get the Ovide from your pediatrition, you really have to be vigiliant about using the nit combs also. DON'T USE THE SAME COMB!!! I bagged them up each time and threw them in the outside garbage. I probably went through 15 combs for everyone but it was worth it to get rid of them. Either way you may be pulling the nits out for quite some time. I HATE LICE!! We still are all using the tea tree shampoo and conditioner just to keep it away!! It really works. WOW, I'm scratching my head just thinking about this!! Good luck

Ok so first order of the day. Stop and breath. Its not so bad and your daughter will get a worse complex if your freaking out about it. We had a go round of it only once time when my kids were in grade school. So here is what we did. First take all the sheets and pillow cases, blankets etc to a laundry or your washer if its big enough. run them in the hottest water you can with soap and some of the liquid lysol stuff. they make a fresh scent one now not the nasty medicanal one. All stuffed animals need to be put into bags and sealed up tight for at least 3 months. (that came from the nurse at school) there is some spray you can get at the pharmacy to spray the backs of your couch cushions, and car seats. also spray the mattresses. do her coats and any clothing that has come into contact with her. and tell her that the lice can come from several places. if a friend had it in their hair and then touched her hair, or shared a comb. or how scary is this it could have come from a hair dressers comb that was not sanitized. if she tried on a hat or scarf at a store. she didn't do anything wrong. a point to make with her so she doesn't get a bad complex or go back to school and say "you gave this to me" something else you need to do is let the school know that you have had a confirmed case. they will send out a note to the class. your name won't be on it but it will let other parents know to look at their kids heads. at the catholic school they do head checks a couple times a year. its a nasty bug but it is a regular one and is a pain but is not hard to get rid of. (we did just pitch most of the stuffed animals and dolls as i was a little freaked out about them.
S.

My stepdaughter is overly friendly with everyone and every time the school gets them we get them. We're pretty clean overall but with such a big family it is slightly annoying. We shampoo everyone's hair with that special shampoo. If I remember correctly it's got to stay on for a while. After it's rinsed out I like to use the hair dryer because lice can't take the heat. Then use that little comb and be VERY THROUROUGH. Some of the eggs (nits) are sticky little things so you may have to scratch them off with your finger nail.
I'm slightly OCD about keeping the house clean so after the shampoo all sheets get washed, all floors get vaccuumed and I use the lice spray to cover the mattresses, couches and inside the vehicles, too. I also wash coats and any hairties.
Last but certainly not least I wash all the combs and hairbrushes in the house. I boil some tapwater and then when it's cool enough but still pretty hot I pour some lice shampoo in it and let the hair stuff soak.
I do all this and I still manage to get lice every couple of years - so it has NOTHING to do with being dirty.
Let your daughter know that lice have been evolving to live on our heads since the dawn of time (there are cavemen remains with lice in their hair) and they will probably always be around. They are annoying and disgusting and very fast - you can get infested just by hugging someone if one happens to run across and get in your hair!
And DONT FORGET to rewash everyone's hair after ten days just in case a little nit was left - although if you were throurough enough with the hair dryer all eggs should be dead .... but you never know ....
This is all stuff I remember off the top of my head - there's a lot more you can learn off the internet.
Hope my mindless rambling was helpfull!

We had good luck using this treatment: http://nuvoforheadlice.com/

Buy the best comb you can find - I like the one that comes with the LiceFreee product (which is a nice, non-toxic treatment you can use on her and on others in your family as frequently as you feel like using it.)

Today's lice are often resistant to RID treatment. Not saying don't use it, but don't count on it. You'll have to comb thoroughly. And don't overdo the rid - it is a toxic pesticide. The spray stuff they sell is nasty and poisons the environment - also unnecessary. Just put pillows, etc, in the dryer for 20 min. Lice eggs don't like dry heat.

Put everything soft, dress-up clothes, etc., in plastic bags for 2 weeks. Lice eggs don't live long off of humans, and lice don't jump, they crawl. As long as you are vigilant, she won't spread it and it will all be fine :-) Tell her that lice like clean, washed hair - so getting it probably speaks well for her hygeine! After treating her, use braids, hair gel, and hair spray to prevent a recurrence.

Here are a few more links that might be of interest:

What to do http://www.aap.org/publiced/BR_Lice.htm

AAP PDF document on lice treatment http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/pediatri...

I've been through this three times and it seems like you'll never get rid of them but you will. You've gotten lots of great advice, but I wanted to add that I used a small halogen desk lamp and put on my glasses to go through my kids' hair. You really need a strong light to see those little things! Once you find one the best way to get it off the hair shaft is to hold it between your fingers and pull it off and then wipe it onto a white paper towel. That way you can keep track of them (the nits). Go through her hair every night for as long as she can tolerate. It's miserable for her and for you, I know. Also, let her know that lice like CLEAN hair. They don't really cling well to oily, dirty hair. So people who get lice are actually the cleaner people! Maybe that will make her feel a little better.

V.,
I feel so sorry for you. I have not had to deal with this yet. However, I have three sisters who have. Some of them more than once. It is sooooo important to bag up stuffed animals, pillows etc. for two weeks. I saw that someone said 48 hours. New nits take 7-10 days to hatch and then I think they can live longer so that is why two weeks is recommended. Every morning wash her sheets in hot water. Throw her pillow in a hot dryer as well for about 20 minutes every day. Throw away all hairbrushes and start fresh. (don't forget snow hats etc.) You will probably have to do a second treatment after about a week. I would do a treatment on everyone in the house as well. It is better to catch it early. Vaccum everything that you can and then throw the vaccum bag out. It is true that lice are becoming resistant to the usual treatment(rid) so it takes longer to get rid of them. To help her to not catch this again, you could try spraying her hair with hairspray everyday. My mom swears by this. She also has heard that using shampoo and conditioner that does not smell too much(fruity and sweet) helps too. Please make sure you call her friends or kids that she has been playing with and let the parents know. Even though it will be embarassing, you would want to know if it was you. Good luck!!!!

Well I don't have any advice for you because gratefully my son has never had it but if it's any consolation, I have read on the internet and heard from Dr. Sears on TV that head lice isn't a problem of hygiene or dirty-ness. You might check out this website, it seemed to have a pretty thorough description and discussion about getting rid of them. http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/common/lice.html

Oh, I'm itchy thinking about it! Good Luck!

My friend was told to use olive oil. You have to pour olive oil all over your child's head and then cover their head with a shower cap for about 15 to 30 minutes before you can rinse the oil out.

Hopefully you explained to your daughter that this is the reason she is never to use anyone elses comb or brush...not even her best friends. Get the lice shampoo and use as needed. The whiteish sticky eggs cling to strands of hair so you must go thru her whole head of hair with the baby comb (teeth are close together to catch the eggs) tiny groupings of hair at a time. You must wrap her head in a scarf or something all day to keep her head from rubbing the sofa, her pillow cases, her sheets, towels, etc. You'll be doing laundry every day. These little stinkers cling to a towel thread so be careful. Good luck.