Seeking Advice on 9 Year Old Niece Coming to the House with Head Lice! Yikes!

Remove all stuffed animals and bedding items that are not absolutely nessessary. Then, let's have a "shampoo party" with the special shampoo and itty bitty comb! Make it fun and the kids will have no idea it is for lice!

I think anyone who has gone through it would say, don't go at this time.

Here is one product that I heard works.
http://www.fairytaleshaircare.com/catalog/default.asp?cat...

You do not want to get Lice! It is a huge pain! I know your neice is sweet, but, treating lice once, doesn't always get rid of it. If your neice is coming over, your kids including you too will most likely get lice too. Don't do it. You will regret it if it infests your family.
Especially in the winter. All the coats and hats will need to be washed after wearing them each time. You have to change the sheets on the beds and vacuume everyday until it's gone. You will even have to vacuume your car everyday that the infested person has been in the car. I've delt with this once, and NEVER ever want to deal with it again. It was a living nightmare.
Good Luck saying NO!

do you have to go. i wouldn't, everyone with any sense would understand.

We went through this last year at preschool, thankfully we never got it. Anyhow, I know someone posted the fairytale shampoo info. They also recommend using tea tree oil shampoo, which neutrogena makes, and is sold at walmart. Or other strongly scented shampoo. Burt's bees also has a bar shampoo, I think it rosemary and lemon or tea tree oil. Smelly, but supposedly lice do not like the odor. Our walmart has been carrying lots of burt's bees, and some hallmarks have a little bit.

A lady at our preschool used this: WWW.NATURALGINESIS.COM for her older daughter. She said it really worked.

I agree with another mom who says you should leave. I would leave or you could all get lice. Your niece's parents need to be picking nits out of her hair every night for at least 5 days to get all the unhatched ones. And they also need to be washing her bedding in hot water every day, etc. And do the parents know for sure they don't have lice as well? When my daughter got lice years ago, we all got lice. (The problem is that if you're all sitting on the same furniture and hanging your coats together and riding in cars together, that's the way they spread. They don't jump from person to person, but they crawl, and they look for a warm body. If she has any unhatched nits on her head that they have missed and they hatch and land on furniture, etc., you have a problem.)

Put lots of hair gel and hairspray on your childrens' hair. If it's long enough, keep it in braids for the visit. Put away anything cuddly or that goes on their heads - stuffed animals, throw pillows, blankies. Put away all dress-up clothes. Make sure you launder their stuff separately and don't let the kids sleep together.

I've dealt with lice and it was painful, but if the parents are treating it and you are careful and your kids know not to share ANYTHING for their heads, I think it will be OK. Lice don't jump - they have to have direct contact. My kids have been around recently treated children quite often (and my son went to daycare during his treatment) and no one caught it.

Edited to add - I know it's a little late to add to this, but I've read some of the other comments and all I can say is that many of you are really kidding yourselves if you think that people are keeping their kids home from school because of lice! They're annoying, but they aren't a health hazard at all. No working person is going to keep their kids at home for 2-3 weeks because of lice, and no, schools do not require it. At the rate lice is going around these days we'd have to shut down our schools if none of the kids ever went because of that.

OH this is a tough one.
I can personally say one word RUDE!

No way should you let the kids play if she has lice. Until its all gone, she needs to stay at home. Its not about being mean, trust me you don't want to deal with lice. I would go back to my own house and reschedule a visit later, not much else you can do....sorry. I am surprised the little girl's parents are okay with bringing her around with the lice, that sounds irresponsible.

I have heard horror stories about getting lice out of your house. I would never let someone in my house that has lice. I would never send my kids anywhere knowing they had lice. If you use the shampoo it gets rid of the live ones but there are still eggs on her head that will hatch and unless they pic out all the eggs it will keep coming back. (I know its hard because it isnt your nieces fault) Your inlaws are going to have to treat there house and I heard it is a pain--good luck on what you decide

Hi K.,
I know it's gross because my twin 9 year old daughters got lice this past summer from the neighbors daughter. The best advice I can give you is to make sure and ask her parents what kind of treatment did they do for her? Did they use Rid or just apply vaseline like my neighbor!! Then if they treated her properly, than I would make sure and have her sleep in one room only and make sure to clean her pillow case and any bedding in hot water every day that she is there just as a precaution. Or you could wash everyone's so that it doesn't look like your just washing your nieces. Make sure that the children DO NOT share brushes, hats, jackets, etc... The other best precaution also is you could have your children rinse there hair with the Rid shampoo once your relative has left. I know after I did the treatments on my daughters and I sent them back to school, after the 7th day I re-did their hair with the shampoo just to make sure. I also did my hair with the shampoo even though I did not get it. My husband did to just as a precaution. Good Luck!!!

I'm surprised the inlaws are having infestd childre come to her house. That means cleaning sheets and pillow cases every day. Blankets encluded. That mother should be keeping her kids at home while the eggs are still live. They could go visit in a few days or delay the visit for another weekend when the children are healthy. I would probably explain to my mother-in-law that I can't stay any longer. Lice are too contageous and you're not going to risk it when the kids go back to school in a week. Let her know you love her but if the kids come there, you and your family have to leave. Sorry.

1. Counsel the basics.. No shareing combs, hats..etc. 2. Spray everything that they will be playing on or with IE couches..floors... chair backs... things you can't fit in a wash machine.. spray them with the lice killing spray to prevent any lice or eggs missed in your niece's treatment.. If if I remember correctly.. lice treatments should be done a second time, so many days after the the first one..to catch any hatchlings.. But if they've "treated " her right, and themselves ( because they may also be carriers now.) the first time, the risk itself should be minimal.
P.S. I'm told Lice like a clean head.. so your neice is probably a clean kid to start with. And .. the second thing I'm told.. if you have school age kids, sooner of later, you will probably wind up haveing to deal with this lice problem yourself. Not your fault..or your niece's..it just happens. Relax.. and do your best..Or reschedual the visit. Lice ARE a real pain in the neck to get rid of.

You don't have many options unfortunately. As longs as there are nits present it's contageous. Personally if my child had lice I would not put them in contact with other kids.

I would not let anyone come to my home with head lice. You don't just need to treat the child's head, but bedding, stuffed animals, rugs, carpeting, sofas, etc. My sister-in-law thought her children were lice free for a couple of days and then found out that they didn't clean enough of the carpeting and sofas. The result was that they found more lice and stayed home for Christmas. There is a reason schools require you to pick up your kids immediately!

We had this over the summer -- and the only good thing I can say was that at least we weren't missing any school. It was awful! I spent hours every day combing through hair and picking out nits, only to find more at the next combing. I wouldn't wish it on anyone -- and I wouldn't knowingly expose someone having gone through it. But...if you are going to be exposed...and it sounds like you probably are...here's what to do. Check your kids constantly. The baby should be easy since hair is short. I don't know if the older kids are boys are girls or what their hair is like. If one of your kids does get it, I think I would treat your whole family at the same time (adults too, although the shampoo is really hard on your hair.) Lots of other posters had good suggestions on how to minimize transmission, so I won't repeat that. Good luck.

We have never had it at our house - but it just recently went through one of the elementary schools in our town. My neighbors daughter got it. From talking to her mother - it's AWFUL. Not only do you have to change bedding everyday - you have to vacuum all of the carpet, wash rugs, towels, clothes, etc...and this is EVERYDAY! Apparently if you miss just one nit - they multiple so rapidly that you have full infestation again within a day or two. It is so contagious too. I'm so surprised they are even coming there. It's very selfish of them to make the visit if she is still receiving treatment. One thing you can do it pull your girls hair up in a tight pony or do tight braids (My neighbor did that for her 2nd daughter & she did not get it) Apparently lice does not like that... Good Luck.

I too am shocked to hear someone would knowingly bring lice into a house. One of the kids at my daughther's preschool had them and to hear what that family had to go through to get rid of them...it's horrible. I would NOT stay at that house if I were you. You're right, your poor niece...but things like this happen in life. Don't subject your children to such an awful thing because you feel bad for your niece. And your poor in-laws! It puts them in a terrible position. Good luck-hope it all works out ok.

I agree with the previous poster Anne. It sounds like your niece's parents are acting very irresponsibily. Their daughter should not be in contact with other children. If this were a situation at a school your niece would not be able to attend due to possibly infesting the other children. Just because this is family it is no exception.

How do your in-laws feel about this? I can't think that your MIL or FIL would be very pleased at the thought of having to clean their entire home top to bottom every day just because their child (your SIL/BIL) will not reschedule a visit.

If you are still there visiting your in-laws, I (very honestly) would pack up and leave. I would not want to subject my children to head lice for unnecessary reasons.

Hi K. - I do believe that prevention is the best medicine. Done tactfully, I think rescheduling a visit sounds like the best option. She might be lice free, but unless her parents are treated and all are nit free, you are taking chances. We had gone through a lice infestation 3 months ago and it was not fun picking nits, constantly washing and vaccuuming for hours every day for how many days. The only thing is, 4 of the children in my child's class also had lice and this lasted over a period of 3 months...so far...hopefully it has ended. If you have no other choice than to stay, you'll all have to keep your hair oily because those buggers do not like oily hair, they LOVE clean hair. A mix of coconut oil and tea tree oil works great and is natural - make sure you search on-line for ratios because tea tree oil is too strong on its own. Coconut oil breaks down the exoskeletons. After our infestation, I used it on my children as a preventative measure during school. It didn't look good but so far it has worked and it made their hair soft :-). Good luck....

Perhaps you can't tell your niece and her family that they can't stay with you at your inlaws, but you can certainly pack up and leave. It's probably heartbreaking for the kids to have to miss the visit, but sometimes doing what's best for your kids means they have to face some disappointment. I can't imagine what her parents are thinking by bringing her to someone else's home and risking the exposure to other small children, not to mention the house itself! And what a horrible position to put the inlaws in. Is this girl at the end of treatment and they know with certainty that she's free and clear? If not, I'd be running like the wind! Maybe you can alleviate the disappointment by rescheduling the visit as soon as you can, or promising to do something really fun with your children when you get home. Good luck!

I must be getting very old. I can't believe anyone would knowingly bring a lice-infested child into another home. Believe me, you don't want head lice if you can possibly avoid it. And thinking you can "prevent" it is really naive. Reschedule the visit. This is one time you need to say, "No."

J.
PS And don't think your children are the only suceptible ones--anyone, adults and children, can get it.

A simple solution that worked for drying the eggs and keeping the buggers from jumping off.
Spritz hair spray (must have alcohol base)and a shower cap.
Spray your neices hair with the hair spray generously at the scalp and roots to about 2 inchs from the scalp. After applying, cover with a shower cap. This suffocates the lice prevents them from escaping and dries the eggs. Let her sleep with the cap on, too. Shampoo and condition thoroughly every day and redo procedure directly after. Saves money and work, and it's safer for the child.
Towels and bedding used should be washed immediately following use. Don't forget to use a lot of heat when cleaning any equipment used for hair care- Boil combs and brushes. hot water for towels and drier,etc.