Hi all! I have a beautiul little girl who just turned 8. She is constantly getting lice .My home is very clean and I go through the routine every time she gets it.Use the shampoo for lice nit remover and comb through it .She has very long spiral curls so it takes hours ! We usually both end up crying ! I wash everything and clean everything . The problem is she gets it from her fathers house (we are no longer together ) ,and there is nothing I can do about it ! I called childrens services and they said they cant do anything ,I was even gonna take him to court over this ,but was told that Berks county courthouses are so packed with serious issues they will laugh me out ,and throw the case out. So I am left to find a treatment that WORKS and something that will keep these nasty critters away! Any suggestions I will try ! My husband and I are tired of going through her hair all the time !
I don't understand why child services can't/won't do anything. I would be sure to document each occurance and perhaps persue legal advice. It surely can't be a healthy place for your child to go if she ends up getting lice.
Good luck!
Hi Laura,
I'm not sure how often she goes to her father's, but if its possible you can try. and load up her hair with gel and hairspray. It will give her hair a coating and the lice will not be able to grab on to anything. Maybe you can try and also have her wear a cute hat or something over her hair until you can really solve this problem. Although these are only temporary remedies maybe they will help! Make sure you document everything she comes home with. I'd imagine after so many times of you having to go through this it would have to be something the courts or social services would have to look into. Good Luck!
Hi,
There is a website called lacetoleather.com/keepliceaway. They have natural remedies which involve things like putting lavender oil in your shampoo. They list some things that I guess lice don't like so they just stay away. This might be worth a try. It didn't sound too hard. As for what to do about her father's place, if she keeps getting lice from there, how clean is it otherwise? Sounds a little iffy. Good luck!
Lice can be very hard to get rid of. My step-daughter is 10 and she has had it a few times. I thought we acutally got rid of it the first time but even one egg left can cause them to multiply ALL OVER AGAIN! She used someones brush at school.
Can you talk to your husband and explain to him he REALLY needs to clean his house from top tp bottom and get rid of them. If not, I would not let her go over there anymore! RID worked good for us, we also used the furniture spray and washed everything in hot water. HTH. Good luck.
Hi Laura,
When my oldest daughter was young, she got lice from school and I was horrified, the nurse told me that lice actually attracts to clean hair, well once she got it it was sooooo hard to get rid of. Then we had a girl visit our house from out of state and she had it so anyways to make a long story short I started putting essential oils like lavendar and there were a few more ( it was awhile ago) in our conditioner and she never got it again. You could go to an aromatherapy website or buy a book and they will tell you what oils to use for different ailments. You have to be careful because some oils are harsher than others especially using on a child but lavendar is a very mild oil. I used a mix, sorry I wish I could remember what it was, if you are really interested I could dust off my books later tonight and try to find it, just e-mail me at [email protected] luck, hope this helps, worked for us.
i call the board/dept of health on your husband. Tell them the situation. You can tell them you have tried ccs and you were told nothing could be done.
2 Hairspray, gel, mouse, etc. Kids her age don't use them and that's why it's so common in elementary schools but drops off there. It's not common in jr high or high school because most of the kids are wearing hairspray, gel, mouse, remember they only like clean hair!
Hi, finally someone else that can relate. My daughter used to get it all the time from school. I tried everything even the doctor gave me a presciption and I even did the mayo treatment which did work. What I do now to prevent it is I pull my daughters hairback everyday with a little gell.
Hi Laura! I know exactly what you are going through. I am a SAHM to 3 kids (girls ages 10 & 7, and a boy 2 1/2). It seems like every place we move to, my kids find the one family that has lice and plays with them! The first time we had to deal with it, I searched the internet for hours. I am really big on this because there is a wealth of information out there! Anyway, here is what I came up with and it worked wonderfully!
Both of my girls had very long hair, one straight, one wavy. I didn't like using the chemicals in their hair so much so I found that if you use rubbing alcohol, it will work just as well, if not better! The reason that the natural remedies work better is that the lice are getting immune to the chemical treatments. The other thing I found is tea tree oil. You can even buy it at Walmart! It is located in the ethnic hair care section. Anyway, use the rubbing alcohol as the treatment. Pour it in their hair and cover with a shower cap or plastic bag for 20 minutes. Yes it does stink so she will need to stand near a window or a fan. Also, give her a towel to wipe the drips with. (note: I was worried this would dry their hair out...it doesn't! It actually made it feel better than before) Then, comb it out the way you normally would with the chemicals, being sure to get all the bugs and the eggs. Then, put the tea tree oil (about 5-6 drops) in her shampoo bottle and shampoo her hair as you normally would. Treat again with the rubbing alcohol 10 days later. It is VERY important to treat at 10 days because this is the gestation period of the eggs. Any that you didn't get out of the hair will be hatching or will have already hatched at this time and won't be mature enough yet to lay their own new eggs. If you wait much longer than 10 days, you will have to treat again because the ones that hatched will have reached maturity and laid their own eggs. The treatments don't kill the eggs. You have to comb them out or kill them when they hatch. Continue to use the tea tree oil in her shampoo for normal bath time. This will help to keep her from getting the lice. There is something about this oil that keeps them away.
As for sending her to her father's house....don't wash her hair before you send her. Everyone has mentioned that they only like clean hair. This is VERY TRUE!! Also, put her hair in a ponytail and spray it with hairspray. The reason they don't like "dirty" hair is that the lice can't get a hold on the hair shaft when the hair is dirty. So, if you spray her hair with hairspray while it is in a ponytail, you are spraying the base of her hair, which is the most important part. Try to get as much as you can. This will also help insure that her father keeps it in a ponytail because it will look horrible down with all that hairspray. :-) Then, the day she comes home, wash her hair with the shampoo/tea tree oil combo and GO AHEAD AND COMB IT (with the nit comb)!! It can't hurt to comb it out as soon as she comes home. This could keep her from getting a full blown case of lice. You may stop it before it has a chance to start. It only takes one!
Of course, nothing will guarantee that she doesn't get it there again. He really needs to de-louse his house. But in the absence of that, these tips should help.
I wish you the best of luck!
Tanya
If it were me and I had spoken with my ex about the situation and they have done nothing to rectify it, I would not allow her to go over there until he does. IF you have court ordered visitation and he gets mad about it, he will threaten to take you to court, which is where you want to go anyway. Let him initiate it , or clean his home of the lice. Sad part is that if she is getting it every time she goes over there, the others in that home have it as well, and dont seem to care. How awful for you daughter to have to be subjected to the torture on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, this is a basic hygiene problem on your ex's end. I don't know what kind of situation you have with your ex, but is it worth it to, say, hire a cleaning service to go over there and clean/bleach all of their bedding and generally clean up (or even do it yourself)? Unless she's using a clean pillow and pillowcase, she's just going to pick up the lice again.
And lice can't get resistant to the commercial products, they're not like antibiotics, they're like pesticides. Which sounds gross, but have you ever heard of ants getting resistant to ant spray?
The whole essential oils in her hair products thing can't hurt, though.
Just a suggestion. He might want to buy a bug bomber and try and use it to get rid of the lice in his home. No guarentee it will work though. Lice like clean hair so maybe everyon eis his house should be checked for lice as well.
Hi Laura,
I have a friend who's kids end up getting it as soon as they are around anyone else with it. Lice actually cling to clean hair, so it's not a dirty thing (even tho some people are ignorant and think that). I feel for your little girl, I also have long curly hair since childhood. Have you discussed this with her father,, as in, how horrible it makes her feel and all the crap you guys have to go through when she gets it? I can't believe childrens services won't do anything, that is just wrong.
Next time she gets it, have him come over and go through all the work, see how he likes it. Has your daughter said anything to her father as in , I don't want to come over anymore because of it?
I wish I had better answers, but I don't, but I am a good listener if you need to vent.
Lori
Hi Laura, I had this same problem with my 12 year old when she was 8 as well. She kept getting it from Summer camp. There isnt anything you can do as Lice Like Clean hair. If you skip washing her hair a day or 2 it really wont matter. Try Talking with your EX husband as well about this. I have gone over this with the school nurse as well. No matter how clean ur house is your child can still get Lice. It is not a dirty disease and no way should u be ashamed of it. I finally went to the pediatrition and they gave me a prescription for something called OVIDE 2% You do have to be careful apply it as it can irritate the scalp, but it stays on the hair for 48 hours or something like that, and let me tell ya it works wonders. I used to use the Store bought remedys and Nit removers and i could still stand over her head and see them just by looking at the top of her head because i became a expert at spotting them. They also tell you that the sprays for mattresses do not work either. Just wash the sheets and bed clothes in the hotest water possible, and store any stuffed animals for a week in dark garbage bags.
The State wont do anything because its not child endangerment. Does she go to school at your house or at dads house there may be somewhere else shes getting it. Including a friends house especially if there is comb borrowing, hat or hair band borrowing, Trust me ive seen it all. My 4 year old has been in daycare since she was 2, everytime they have a break out of lice in the daycare say its on weds, I dont let her wash her hair till friday evening when she isnt going back to school, and you know what??? SHes never got lice.
As one more point, Pple of color do not get lice because of the greases they use in there hair, a friend of mine even went so far as to add a small amount of oil/grease to her daughters hair because she was getting it from another daycare she attended, and she didnt get it again.
So good luck and mention OVIDE to your childs dr you might be pleasently surprised at how good it works.
Melissa C
laura ive been threw this as well , it dont matter if your clean or not ,, use SCOPE ,,,yes it works its been yrs sents we have had them ,, use nix as the cleaner for your hair , let it sit for a little while then use the comb,, then later on use the SCOPE , wash your hair and let the scope set in your hair like a condioner .. then comb it good .... i still to this day use scope in my hair every other day some times twice a week ,, ive not had them sent ive done
this best to you all ....some times cutin hair a little short or havin hair thined out helps too .wash with rain water also with scope helps .. good luck
As far as your ex is concerned I'm not sure what to tell you to do about that. But when my step daughters came over with lice three different times we actually used the NIX brand hair conditioner. At first we tried RID but that was just a shampoo and the girls ended up crying when we combed through their hair. Then we purchased the NIX and it seemed to make combing through their hair a lot easier than the shampoo. The girls didn't cry at all. Sorry you're in such a difficult situation. Good luck!
Hi
I worked at schools and have seen this alot. i feel so bad for your daughter. It may be hard to prevent them but: lice hate dirty oily hair which is the reason for a decreased incidence for african americans due to the oils they add to their hair.
A few at home remdies less harsh and could do prior to going to Dad's: Leave olive oil or mayo in hair for 45 minutes and comb through and rinse out and shampoo. Do this everyweek even when she does not have it. Always put gel and hairspray in her hair, and have her wear it up. Tell her why and she will want to do it. Ensourage her not to wash her hair at Dads so it stays dirty( I know gross but it will prevent the lice at least a little) Hairspray and gel make it dirty and in NC where I lived and worked as a counselor I always had it in my hair b/c no freeze for weather = no end to lice season.
Also, they are right about the social services and court thing....we have had kids miss more than 50 days b/c of lice and it is not a social services issue nor a court one and they are all excused absences. The children are the ones suffereing at the hands of adults. Also, srya the seats if not leather of your cars and sofa esp. if you p/u her from dads so she does not keep bringing it in the house aqnd causing more work for you...also, treat her with the mayo or olive oil when she comes home too.
Good luck and I feel for you.
Heather
Eastern Shore, MD
Hi Laura. I can sympathize with you. My daughter's father used to live in a fashion that was not to my liking. I told him that if he did not clean things up, I was not going to let my daughter visit him anymore. I also told him that I would come clean his house for a fee that was considerably less than commercial, and he agreed. I don't know what kind of relationship the two of you have, but maybe he would agree to let you come spray the house and wash all the linen. As long as he pays for the chemicals(which are outrageously expensive). Sometimes men just don't know where to begin when it comes to a mess that's been overwhelming them. Good Luck!
Hi Laura,
I am a licensed cosmetologist.I recently read about an alternative lice treatment. It may save you some money. It involves the use of heat to kill the mites. Just thought you'd be interested. It might be worth a try. BTW lice actually prefer clean hair.
Love , Tori
Hi, Laura --
Boy, lice are the worst. But preventing them should be easier than getting rid of them, if what I've read is true. The lice-remedy sites say that lice eggs don't stick to hair covered with oil gel, conditioner, or hair spray. I don't know how long your daughter stays with her father, but when she goes ... glop up her hair and make sure it doesn't get washed while she's there. (We leave a thick conditioner like Pantene on for a couple days. Leaves hair soft and shiny!) You might want to braid her hair to make the experience more pleasant.
Don't know if this discourages the live lice, and you'll still have to wash all her clothes, but it's worth a try. I've read that lice hate certain substances, including tea tree oil and the smell of green apples. Someone also said lice were repelled by Avon's Skin So Soft. Try googling "lice remedies" for more.
Good luck! And if you find anything that works, please let us know.
Wendy