A Louse in the House :(

[yomama]

Thanks mamas! This sucks so much! Sitting here with a shower cap on while letting the treatment work as we speak...yuck!
Not sure of all the same treatments would be available to us here in Canada but we went with what the pharmacist recommended. I have a steam cycle on our dryer, so just steamed and then high heat dried all stuffies and pillows while washing everything we sleep in, wear and towels on hot. This is such a PITA!!!!!
Yes, and we better get a metal comb. We are all hairy, shaggy beasts and the plastic comb does not work at all. My kids hate having their hair touched in the first place, especially my fussy 2-yr-old dd
Thanks for all the advice and support, keep it coming!!!!

[mommyfrog]

Just google "tea tree oil and lice".

[isabelsmummy]

My dd had them a few months ago. It was sooo much less difficult to get rid of than people had told me.

First of all. Lice can't live away from a human host for more than a couple of days. So yes, wash your sheets, coats etc. but as for the stuffies, we put the favourite two through the dryer and the rest went in the garage for the week. No need to go crazy with the house cleaning, they aren't like bedbugs that hide and live forever.

The shampoo we got from London Drugs was the one everyone in the neighbourhood had used. White bottle/box. I can't remember the name but I'll check at home tonight. It was expensive but worth it. We did it as directed, wet combed for a few days (the Licemeister comb is WAY better than the others) and never saw them again.

[llamabeans]

My DD got them when she was 9. I did the shampoo and the combing for 2 weeks.
Those things are nasty!!!!!
I vacuumed her room, threw her bedding in the dryer and all her stuffed animals were in a bag for a month.

The nurse at her school said against popular thought, they don't jump, never leave the head unless introduced to another head (head to head contact) and that people usually over do it.

I wanted to burn my house down!!!!

[yomama]

Originally Posted by llamabeans I wanted to burn my house down!!!!

I can totally relate to that !

I am so glad that I have this awesome steam cleaner. It gives me the feeling that I am sanitizing everything without having to go crazy and use chemicals that I try to avoid at all costs!

The other trick the pharmacist recommended was putting anything that cannot withstand the heat of the dryer in a plastic bag and stuff it in the freezer for 2-3 days. Although I don't think I want to do that to my kids' stuffies, sounds too psycho serial killer to me?!

I feel so yucky and sorry for anyone who has to be around me for the next little while. I am a little embarrassed to tell people but feel it necessary to give people the heads up, so they can decide whether they would like to stay away from us for a while (it's the same I do when we have the flue or sniffles...!).

Glad to hear that some of you did not have as tough of a time with it!

[sesa70]

My dd had headlice she picked up from school, and I TOTALLY agree with the pp that said it was hell. She was 5 and it was still hell. I washed all the sheets/blankets on hot once a week for four weeks. Left all the stuffed animals and dolls in plastic bags in the garage for four weeks. Vacuumed every three days or so to pick up any stray hairs that may have fallen with an egg attatched, so that we ensured they do not hatch. Combed through her hair every day for two weeks, took an hour at a time, while she whined, cried, pulled, and tried to run away. Ya, not my idea of a good time.

We used the treatment that kills a percentage of the eggs (forgot the name) and to be safe we treated all of us in the house. Left the stuff on twice as long as the directions said, and repeated in two weeks. I was a bit physico about it i admit. During the week when dd was going back to school where I knew the infestation was still not under control, I slathered her hair in olive oil and put it in a bun or braid. I heard that the lice cannot attach to the hair if it has oil on it.

We used baby shampoo for the weeks inbetween treatment, and a tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner before and after.

[mrspnut82]

Ok this thread is scaring me. Dd starts kindy in the fall. How can I prevent them? I think my mil told me once about a shampoo you use a few times a year to prevent. Anyone use any preventative measures? I've dealt with fleas before (lots of pets) but this sounds worse.

[yomama]

Originally Posted by mrspnut82 Ok this thread is scaring me. Dd starts kindy in the fall. How can I prevent them? I think my mil told me once about a shampoo you use a few times a year to prevent. Anyone use any preventative measures? I've dealt with fleas before (lots of pets) but this sounds worse.

I think I find fleas worse, especially if you have a real infestation of them. Simply because their bites are extremely itchy while I don't find the lice very itchy (not to the degree of driving you insane, kwim?). Fleas also survive on your pets and from what I have read so far and learned today, lice really don't stand much of a chance to survive if you follow the procedures. I think that's why everyone here is going through all the trouble and saying it is hell, as they really want to make sure they gotten rid of them.

Yes, both my kids are not happy one bit about me combing their hair for 30min at a time but the metal comb works so much better, thanks for the tip! Sadly I had to discover the odd crawly still being alive after applying the treatment today. I can't tell you how much laundry I have done today - insane!!!! At least we are going camping for a few days tomorrow, so maybe when we come back here on Friday all the critters are dead, dead, dead!!!

Maybe this is just another of these parenthood initiation things, like being barfed on, pooped and peed on etc....???

[Christylkeller]

We had lice a couple of years ago. I didn't want to use the pesticides that are sold at the pharmacy, so I looked for natural treatments. We did a mayo, white vinegar, tea tree oil mixture, slathered it on our heads, wrapped our heads (not face) in plastic bags and left on for 2 hours. Then we washed our heads with blue Dawn and slathered coconut conditioner (lice are repelled by coconut) and started to comb our process with the metal lice combs. Once we were combed through we rinsed out the conditioner and applied Denerex Max Strength shampoo, left on for 15 mins (really hard, since the chemical fumes were strong) and rinsed out. We washed our hair every day for 2 weeks with that shampoo followed by the coconut conditioner. As for treating our furniture, rugs, vehicles we did a tea tree oil/water mixture and sprayed everything down. We washed bedding on our sanitary cycle and dried on high heat all of the lovies and pillows that couldn't be washed for 2 hours. It was an all day process, but worth it in the end as we never saw another egg, nit or bug after the first day. The rest was overkill, but worth the peace of mind!

[yomama]

So, more questions about lice:
Have seen more crawlies on dd's head, so now I am trying other things. I want to wait the recommended 7-10 days before I use the chemical stuff again but need to do something here. Not sure I can handle the mayonnaise in our hair. Anyone have experience with Coconut Oil? I read it's supposed to help. I have our hair slathered in it and kids are sitting there with shower caps on.
Has anyone made their own solution out of oil and essential oils? Is the coconut oil by itself enough or do you have to add the Tea Tree, etc. for it to do anything? The Tea Tree Oil is mostly a repellent, isn't it?
I also bought Tea Tree Oil shampoo for after...

Any thoughts?