Got Lice?
I’ve received a few e-mails this week from moms saying that their child has brought home the “someone in your child’s class has lice” memo- again. One mom mentioned that her child said a friend didn’t get sent home because she just had lice eggs, not lice. I’m not a lice expert, but isn’t that kind of risky? And, well, wrong.
We need a no nit policy. Comments are on.
11 Comments to “Got Lice?”
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While I realize the situation sucks for the poor kid with lice and/or lice eggs, I totally agree there needs to be a “no nits” policy. I have no idea why this condition is so pervasive in UP, but it is and I’m tired of it!! My family has been very lucky and never had it (knock wood), but we have certainly dealt with years of lice checks where my poor kid (who has a GIANT amount of poofy hair) is upended under an interrogation-style lamp while I paw through her locks like a mother baboon on crack. Letting kids stay in school who have nits is adding to the problem! Just one mom’s opinion.
We’ve got LICE! And, yes, I thought we’d be the last people on the planet to acquire them little suckers. Tons of laundry, hair checks and “why me?” Interesting, though, that we were the first to report it at school and stay away. Is it safe to say my child had to have acquired it from another who was either unnoticed and/or unreported. Either way, that’s scary!
Actually, the cleaner your child’s hair is, the easier it is to get lice. Lice like to attach their eggs to and feed on clean hair and scalps. I guess in some backwards way, it’s a testament to your cleanliness if your kid gets them.
When I was little, and my family and I first moved to Texas, I managed to get head lice a record 4 times in 4 months. My hair and scalp dried out badly after the first couple of passes with the de-lousing treatments. I would suggest also talking to your hairdresser about a good post-treatment scalp and hair conditioner for your kiddo, or you’re gonna have one hellacious case of dry scalp to deal with, too.
Ironically, my captcha words are: Scratch friend.
Just heard an interesting home remedy and thought I’d pass it along (and BTW, sorry to Scrubs for your troubles). A friend told me that her pharmacist buddy said lice hate the smell of Listerine mouthwash. This mom of 4 swears by putting the hair in a ponytail daily and running her Listerine-covered hands lightly over the ponytail and scalp. She has managed to dodge the lice bullet with four kids (!) and feels this remedy is a big part of her success. Hey, even if it doesn’t work, your kid’s got a minty fresh scalp and who doesn’t love that, LOL???
I’ve also heard that Listerine works as a preventative - looks like I should stock up before the shelves are empty at the inner-city Tom Thumb.
Another tidbit I’ll pass along: Pediatricians are saying Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser works as well as RID or mayonnaise. You coat the hair and scalp then sleep in a shower cap. Apparently it suffocates them. The best part is that there are no pesticides and it apparently rinses out in a snap, even much easier than the shampoo.
Here’s my question though - How would you ever know if your child is totally nit free? My kiddos have so much hair that I think it would be impossible for me to ever be certain that all the nasty nits are gone before sending them back to school. I love the idea of a ‘no nit’ policy, but is it really possible? IJS
I have no idea if this works….
http://www.liceguard.com/robicomb.aspx
I propose making shower caps part of the school uniform. That way kids with lice will not miss any school and the kids without lice stay lice free.
Seriously, if Crocs and Uggs (both at first glance are quite unattractive, but practical) can become fashion statements, I’m sure we can figure out a way for cute coordinating shower caps to be fashion forward accessories.
Or - we could try to resurrect Sinead O’Conner and bring back the shaved head look.
I just read about the Cetaphil trick recently and this is how it goes: coat the hair with Cetaphil cleanser then blow dry hair. The dried Cetaphil shrink wraps the hair and is supposed to suffocate the lice. Leave it on overnight and shampoo out the next day. As a double-whammy, I’d recommend rinsing the clean hair with original flavor (brown) Listerine (that’s the flavor that’s good for everything that ails you, according to “The People’s Pharmacy.” Then go through the hair with a nit comb. Also, I believe that as long as there are no live crawlers, you’re good to go. Good luck! My neck hurts just thinking about the days I spent combing through my daughters long, thick hair a few years ago!
And don’t forget about bedding and stuff…you can kill most anything crawling around in pillows, comforters, stuffed animals, etc. by putting them in garbage bags, then using the hose attachment on your vacuum to suction out the air. Let them sit for a while - and by a while, I mean days and days.
Or buy the spray. Or all new stuff.
As for hairbrushes, etc. They’re cheap. Throw ‘em away and buy new. If you are sentimentally attached to one, boil it.
I’d also like to point out that if we all keep posting to this thread, it has a very real danger of becoming the most popular thread of the month.
One of my children had head lice. We used the OTC pesticide shampoo and followed up with a thick treatment of mayonnaise capped by a showercap that she slept in overnight. Not only was her hair soft, she hasn’t had any nit sightings since then (over three weeks ago) so it appears to have worked.
Hooray, one week later we are nit free - or so we think. Though we are a very clean family - subjective, I know - our pad has never been cleaner. It was like staying in a hotel all week. We washed all bed sheets, clothing, etc daily. I think we are tired now!