My granddaughter's school and grandson's daycare have had an outbreak of head lice. My son and daughter-in-law think they are rid of them and then they pop up again. They have treated everything but whatever they are using isn't working or they are missing treating something. Help!
Hi there!
Unfortuantely I caight head lice when I was in high school from a hotel! It was awful so I knwo exactly what they are going through. The only thing that worked for me was coating my entire head in olive oil and sleeping with it in a shower cap with the olive oil in my hair. I am telling you it works! The oil suffocates the live lice and makes the eggs (nits) slide out easily when combed through the next morning. Make sure that you are using a lice comb to comb out the eggs the next morning before they shower it out. It may take a couple of shampooings to get the oil out but trust me it will work. Best of luck to your family. :) Bless their little hearts.
I saw this one a message a few weeks ago and saved the website incase we ever get lice. I remember having them when I was little and it took forever to get rid of them. This website looks like it has a guarantee, I would check it out:
My daughter just got through them and I found that Tea Tree Oil worked the best. I first washed her hair with the RID lice treament kit, washed absolutly everything possible, and there is a spray you can buy now to spray your couches, car seats, etc. After a week I noticed she still had some eggs so I bought tea tree oil and the tea tree oil shampoo. It smells really strong but it is also recommended to add a few drops of the oil to all your shampoos just even for proper scalp care and prevention of lice. I havn't seen any since. The biggest hassle is washing everything...bed sheets, clothes ,coats, toys. Hope this helps..
Hello Sondra,
have them use a shampoo with tea tree oil or rosemary oil in it. they could be missing some nits or play re-infestation at school... most likely the latter. so send the kids w/ very oily scalp and hair to school for the next few weeks and check their heads after school. did they check their car/booster seats? Good luck! ~Carmen~
We had them at school last year very bad. So this is what our pedi said and it was the only thing that worked. Get vasaline and coat your hair in it as long as possible over night if possible. Then wash hair with dove dish soap. Your hair will be very greasy for days but it will kill them. You have to wash everything everyday. It is horrible, we had it for months. Also use the tea tree oil in all shampoos as long as possible we still use it daily.
Check out these guys http://www.cedarcidestore.com/cedarproducts.html the products work for everything imaginable and are all natural.
My kids and I caught it from their daycare. I used Texas Lice Squad. One treatment and everything was gone. We haven't had any problems since.
I HIGHLY recommend them.
You've gotten a lot of great ideas about the products to use - but I don't think people mentioned the process. First thing, all pillows that have been used should be tossed. Replace them all - you can wash in hot water and dry but it is best to just replace. Vacuum often - at least once a day. Change bedding every day until you aren't seeing nits anymore. Comb out the hair every day with the nit comb - if it is long hair, this can be a tiring process and may take an hour or so but it is worth it to have them gone. All stuffed animals should be washed in hot water & dried with hot heat. If they can't be washed, put them in a garbage bag for at least a week. Buy the spray and spray the car & the furniture and anywhere else a head lies. It is an exhausting process and can be expensive but it is well worth it when it is gone for good. Good luck.
They need to make sure they are washing the clothes they are wearing. And also wash their bedding in hot water.
PAM
Call their pediatrician and get a prescription treatment, it will knock them right out.
try liberal amounts of mayo. it smothers the lice and is good for the hair. They have sleep in it so get shower caps. Do it one night then repeat in about a week to get the new ones. I would use the rid comb and comb through their hair in the morning. My friend did this with her daughter and it worked. wash the sheets and all just like you would if using the other stuff.
We've gone through this and lice these days don't respond to the tried and true remedies of the past. 1 - I used a Tea Tree oil (Central Market carries it) to treat for lice - its expensive but under $20. There is also a Tea Tree shampoo that is a great preventative to use after you've gotten rid of the nits because they can't attach to the hair shaft its by Thursday Plantation - after using that we have had no further trouble. They wash once a week with that shampoo. I also found that at Central Market.
Good luck.
Dry Hair with a hairdryer on hot.
Also, put tons of conditioner on hair and comb thru with the NIT comb. EASY.
I hated the 'treatments' and combing thru with the treamment.
Two above items got rid of our lice issue.
If you have access to a sauna I would try that. After 10 minutes, adult lice die at 125 degrees and eggs die at 130 degrees. That is what we did when my granddaughter brought lice home from day care.
We threw all her pillows/blankets etc into the sauna too.
Her sleeping bag we stuck in a plastic trash bag and tied it up for 21 days. That works too.
If you do sauna, make sure the kids are well hydrated so they don't get dehydrated in the sauna.
Otherwise, it's toxic chemical lice treatments and tons of hot water washing.
We had this problem when my youngest son was younger.
What I found is best for us was vaseline. You coat the hair and scalp (it does not have to be goopy but a nice layer), cover their pillow with a towel and let them sleep overnight. It takes a couple washings with baby shampoo, but it kills them and it also makes the nits come off the hair much easier too. Some say mayo will work (we have not tried that)
She needs to make sure she washes all pillows, cases, sheets, blankets, stuffed animals and clothing they have worn or used in last few days (lice do not live more then a day or so away from a host).
If she has animals she may want to get a good flea dip or ask the vet for special shampoo for lice. (we have had pets and did not have to treat them).
Vacuum the beds- and perhaps buy plastic covers for the beds, vacuum couch and then throw out the bag or empty and throw away the contents of vacumm.
She may need to talk to the day care and find out what they are doing to be proactive. Do they allow the kids to bring things from home (blankets, stuffed animals)... are they checking heads each day and sending home those who have active, alive lice.
I find it tends to happen more when birds are migrating- they carry lice.
The lice could be resistant to the pesticides. That is becoming more common. They might be treating everything.
Good luck. That can be beyond frustrating.
Coca cola, the soft drink. It gets rid of the lice and the eggs. You willhave to lean them over sink and just pour it over their heads for about 5 minutes.... It has to do with the fizz, which is why it can't just soak on their heads....hope this helps! Best of luck to your grandkids and you!
I just read in the Readers Digest magazine about a new treatment for lice. It's a thick cream called Ulesfia, like Vaseline or mayo, but it works differently. You have to leave the others on for so long because the lice can close their breathing apparatuses (called spiracles) for hours. Ulesfia prevents the spiracles from closing, so they die within minutes. You still have to treat again in a week and wash everything but I think it would be better than having greasy hair forever. It doesn't tell how to get it so you might have to google it to see. I also use Lice Free Zone shampoo and leave-in spray from Circle of Friends for preventative. It's a professional product to get at salons but I can get it for you if you want. Hope this helps!
We had a horrible year one year, my children's school had a lice epidemic that lasted all school year. It seems there was one family who never tried to get rid of it and they kept having slumber parties. My daughter had it 7 times, my son once. Finally in desperation, I prayed for wisdom (it should have been the first thing I did). Garlic tablets were my miracle. I ordered several bottles of garlic tablets from Shaklee (they have spearmint and rosemary extract to mask odor, I didn't want my children to smell as if they were warding off vampires). My children took them 3 times a day, and WE never had lice again. Lice DO NOT like garlic when they eat. Eventually all my friends had their kids on the garlic too! Keep in mind your grandchildren could be picking it up from the school again and again, jackets hanging next to each other or piled in a pile on the playground during recess, pillows and blankets at nap time touching, girls doing hair at recess, etc. At the house, follow the directions from the website given by other posters.