We have never had an issue with this, i have never even had it, even though all my sis got it as children. but my dd 8 has it! i have no clue where she got it, we dont go anywhere but church. i havent found it in anyone elses head but hers, so we are going through all the hassle of cleaning and spraying and shampooing and such! im just shocked! i mean we arent too good to get it, i just mean that she had over 20 live bugs!!! she always washes and brushes her own hair and for some reason last night i did, and thank God!! that is when i found them. of course im trying not to freak out, and im itching everywhere, lol, but she has never been exposed to the stigma, so she isnt too upset, just hates sitting while i look through hair. i guess my ? is, should i treat everyone with shampoo, even though we havent seen any on us? i dont want to get it back!
Just treating her lice properly should solve it for everyone. Make sure you treat her, wash all her bedding, stick any stuffed toys from the bed and hair supplies like brushes in the freezer for a day or so. My daughter got it when she was 4 and I still have no idea how. I found that it was pretty easy to deal with and with the proper cleaning and hair treatment it disappeared readily. I guess you could shampoo everyone but it only really works best with combing and picking anyway so if anyone else had lice you chance not properly dealing with them if you're not doing the whole treatment. If no one else has them then it's a waste of money.
You poor thing!!! Unfortunately, I can say I've "Been there, done that!" more than once!!! Take the stuffed toys and put them in a trash bag for TWO WEEKS. Wash all bedding. You can buy spray to spray the mattresses, if you wish. Here's the thing: Most shampoos kill only the LIVE lice. It doesn't do much for the eggs (nits). Now, there ARE shampoos that will kill the nits, too, and I would really suggest you get them. Of course, they're more expensive. Basically, you kill the lice, and try to remove all the nits with a nit comb (that will come with the shampoo). The nits are actually "cemented" onto the hair shaft; the comb will remove them, but sometimes you have to actually pick them off individually. Any nit you miss will hatch in two weeks, and start laying more eggs. So this really can be a long, drawn-out process. One thing I've found to help is an electronic nit comb. It makes a humming noise. You run it through the hair, and when it hits a live louse, it actually electrocutes it. You know, because it disrupts the current and the hum stops. Also, THIS DOES NOT MEAN YOU AREN'T CLEAN!!! ANYONE can get lice!!! What it DOES mean is that your child was playing with a kid that had them, or you kid tried on someone's hat that had them, or the person who sat in theater seat before your child had them.
buy new hair brushes and comes did she use a hair brush or comb at church or try on a hat in a store??
I'd personally let the head of the church know so they can warn that "someone had lice and you may want to check you children." I'm sure they will be understanding but the problem won't go away unless the person who gave it to your kid gets treated too. If not it can just reoccur. GL I feel your pain, I got it all the time as a kid (in K) because the public school I went too would only check my class not the other kids that I played with on the play ground. It was a fourth grader that gave it to me. My mom reported them to the health department and they got fined.
I used to work as a hair stylist. One way that you can check your other children for lice is to use 2 craft or Popsicle sticks.(this is a trick we sometimes used) Run the sticks down the hair. If there is lice, there will be spots of blood on the sticks. This is especially usefull on fairhaired children. Check under the hair around the nape of the neck, this is generally the first place lice appears. Your child could have picked it up by something as simple as sitting in a church pew that someone w/ lice had previously sat in. It really is that easy to get. LR
Lice is so bad in our county that the health dept. has a lice specialist. I am not kidding. It is her job to educate and help people get rid of them. When we did foster care it got so bad that I refused to take a child until they had a lice check. That may sound harsh but when you have to treat the whole family a few times because a child brings in lice you will understand. We had to treat everyone in the house. Once we had 5 kids from one family who were immune to the treatments the county handed out at the health dept. because they had used it so often. We were having a horrible time with one of the kids in particular and someone told me to try Rid Mousse Foam. It did the trick and we got them killed out. I itch every time someone mentions lice. Behind the ears is where I usually found them on the kids. One poor little boy had them so bad they were in his eyebrows and eyelashes. Oh and as far as cleanliness, we were inspected regularly back then by the health dept. like a business and always passed with flying colors. Lice like clean hair!
thanks girls, should i use the shampoo on myself? i called church, so they know, and i treated both my girls,and picked through with the special comb. i did go ahead and treat my 18 month old. i called the after hours nurse and she said anyone 2months and older it was safe to use on. i prob would have been ok not treating her, but she moves so much, i wanted to be sure she didnt have any live bugs, bc she had been itching this week. i attributed it to a sweaty head, its so hot here, but just in case. i saw no nits on her at all, but i did check as best as i could. i treated my dd 8, the one with the bugs, and made sure to pick off the nits is could see. i guess i will check her every day, and then retreat in a week. im washing bedding, spraying chairs and couches, vaccuumed everything, washed all stuffed animals in HOT water, i turned my water heater up last night in preparation of this. i guess i have got it covered, im washing all her clothing in hot water as well. i guess if this is the worst that we get this summer we will be good! it is just a tedious thing looking through all her hair. it isnt too long, but soooo thick!
As Jackie said, most shampoos only kill the adult lice so if the point behind you shampooing your own hair is "just in case" but you DO have lice you really won't achieve anything. There will be another generation of eggs ready to hatch. If you think there's a chance you have lice have someone check it out.
you got some good pointer, I been there and done that its a pain in the you know what. To check yourself bend over the bathroom sink and comb or brush out your hair in the sink, if there's anything there they will fall out. Yes, throw all brushes and combs away go get new ones. Shampoo and shampoo is the best and comb it out. Now I found a brand one from our local store it had a hair cap you put on the child hair they had to wear for 25 to 30 mintues after you shampoo them you put the cap on ( I think now don't take my word but I think you put it in the microwave for 30 second and then put the cap on the head for them to wear. My girls did it, it was the best thing I could find out and it work great. Clean, clean, clean all stuff animals and everything she has been on. I would shampoo everyones hair and then again in a week everyone again. I did. Save you time. ((((((((HUGS)))))))))))) lots of them.
Well, you might achieve something. If you DO shampoo yourself, even if you only have one or two, they will die and that will mean there's less nits laid. So the problem won't be that big of a deal in two weeks when they hatch. This spring, Phillip had lice. Somehow I managed to find out RIGHT AWAY, and was able to get a jump on it and prevent it from spreading. I was treating the girls and myself when it probably wasn't necessary, and checking the girls' heads regularly. My cousin came over and gave Phillip a buzz. But your own peace of mind might be well worth the cost of the shampoo.
We have had it once here and we know where it came from. All but dh got it. A good product is Lice Ice and I can't stress enough that the most effective way to get rid of them is the most tedious and that is to constantly check the hair and pick out the live bugs and the eggs. My oldest has such thick long hair and it was such a pain in the butt.
thanks girls! i did go ahead and shampoo! i think we will survive,lol!we will just keep checkin and picken , i think we look like a bunch pf monkeys picking our hair,lol
Tea Tree Oil swabbed around the hair line also helps prevent them from returning (they hate the oil ... it smells somewhat like menthol or minty). If it comes back bad enough you can also run some of the oil through their hair (everyone in the house should probably do it) so any live lice will not even attempt to jump into their "foul smelling hair" (foul to the lice, it is actually a nice smell to humans). GL
When my neighbor got it YEARS ago, the pharamist told them to put pillows & things in the dryer on HOT for about 15-20 mins. Also one of my profs in college said to put a little olive oil in your hair after you wash your hair to prevent them. I never did that though.
