Kid Scoop
It’s So Lice to See You Go!
I’m not going to pretend like I know what I’m doing when it comes to lice. I’m still freaked out by the little critters even though one hasn’t been seen around these parts since Thursday morning. It turns out that when it comes to things that everyone has advice on? Lice treatment is one of them. I thought there were a lot of opinions on how to send yourself in to labor or how to get your milk to come in, turns out there’s just as many (and some just as crazy) as the ones I tried to get my babies here or my milk out.
I started with a prescription product that wasn’t exactly natural or child friendly, the word ‘neurotoxin’ was seen several times in my research. Wanting to skip as many harsh chemicals as possible but still kill the little critters led me to mouthwash and vinegar. Other methods like mayonnaise and olive oil were suggested, but with Addie’s curly hair and dislike of water in her face I figured the heavier salad dressing ingredients weren’t the best to start with.
I did use the prescription cream rinse on day one. I washed her hair and slathered it in the pinkish goo and let it sit for ten minutes. I then went through the first of seven (SEVEN) nitpicking sessions. I got a lot of adult bugs out with the first but I noticed that some were still moving. No good bugs, no good. Later that night I combed through her hair again only to find a bunch more bugs that were still very much alive. We were both exhausted so I sent her to bed with a resolve to start fresh in the morning.
Thursday morning I dumped an entire bottle of original (gold colored) Listerine on her head, wrapped it all up in plastic wrap, topped it with a shower cap and plopped her in front of classic Tom and Jerry for 2 hours. (Judge her TV viewing habits on this particular day and I will MAIL LICE TO YOU.) After two hours I took the plastic wrap off to find dozens more lice, only this time they were dead. We washed out her hair and again, I combed through every last strand picking out the bugs and nits. Later that night I combed through again and found some nits but no bugs. NO BUGS!
Friday morning I decided to try vinegar to help dissolve the nit glue as her school has a ‘nit-free’ policy before she could return, besides, it’s just common sense to get all remnants of bugs out of your child’s hair. The vinegar only stayed in for a few minutes and smelled awful. She complained of it stinging (she has super dry skin) and being stinky but she was a trooper. We washed it out, and again, I combed through her hair picking out every last nit I could see. I didn’t find a single bug. Whee! We dropped her off at school where the nurse did a complete check of her own and deemed her eligible to return.
Saturday I combed through again and today I washed her hair (which still has a slight vinegar odor, if anything is going to keep bugs away it’s that) and did a complete combing again and didn’t find any evidence of nits or lice. *phew* We’ve all been using a spray with rosemary and tea tree oil in it to prevent any bugs hopping on board our follicles and we all sort of smell like eau de roast chicken with the liberal use of rosemary.
The biggest news is that as of today, there is no evidence of lice. I’ll check her again each day for another two weeks and after that I’m clocking out of the lice game for a bit. (Then again, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to just let her hair “go” without checking it obsessively at least once a week if not more. *sigh*
Post Traumatic Lice Infestation Stress. I have it.
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9 Comments
Jessica commented on Jan 22 12 at 10:07 pmSo glad that you were able to get rid of them! Reading this made my head itch too! Another thing to think about – throw her pillow away! My daughter went through 6 weeks of lice on and off. It was due to staying at her dad’s house every other weekend and him not getting a new pillow. Best of luck keeping them gone!
Hotpinksocks commented on Jan 23 12 at 6:52 amCongratulations on beating the bugs!
I remember my primary school years were largely lived out hiding the fact I had lice. NOTHING we did could get rid of them. Until my goth phase and I dyed my hair black…I don’t blame them for running away from that!
(some people can pull off black hair. As I had light golden blonde hair at the time, I could decidedly not.)
Traci commented on Jan 23 12 at 7:13 amWhen my daughter had it I was so over it that I would have paid someone tons of money to clean her sheets every night, treat her hair and entertain her during the process. Made me think I should open a business called “De Louse the House” but the thought of doing that everyday made me want to vomit.
goddess commented on Jan 23 12 at 7:51 amOlive oil and nit-picking worked fine for my daughter- who had thick, long curly hair. But it was a 3 week ordeal. But it left her with gorgeous, unshorn hair!
LogicalMama commented on Jan 23 12 at 1:20 pm(Knock on wood) we haven’t had to deal with this (yet!), but of course, plenty at my kid’s school have! People swear by “product.” It’s the kids that have a lot of product in their hair that don’t get lice– gel, mousse, hairspray, etc. Keeping it dirty actually keeps the lice away! Also, as for girls, no more hugging each other, no sharing of brushes, combs, barrets, hair ties or even sweaters and of course, hats!
Listerine sounds like the way to go, though! I’ve also heard good things about the olive oil.
It’s big business out here. There are a few lice removing companies. They charge about $90.00 an hour, but people pay and say it is worth it! They use all natural ingredients and offer free checks and re-checks! They guarantee their work and I’d probably go for it if we had a bad infestation!
Susie commented on Jan 25 12 at 5:18 pmWe just went through this (I posted before) and, apparently, I am terrible nit picker because she didn’t pass the nit test to go back to school. I ended up paying a lot of money to have her hair treated by a professional using a LouseBuster (a patented hot air machine). I HIGHLY recommend this treatment if you are having trouble ridding your child of lice. It is 99% effective and uses only hot air to kill the lice. I believe it is the only treatment that kills the lice and its eggs. We followed up with tea tree oil and mint spray. So far, so good. And yes, new pillow cases for everyone.
Krista commented on Jan 27 12 at 10:44 pmI have never had to deal with this (knock on wood) and as I only have boys at the moment hopefully not for awhile… but when I was in high school I had waist length relatively curly hair and got a ride to school with the neighbors (who had 7 kids) only to find out later that day that they had lice. You better believe I didn’t sleep well for a few nights… ew!!!
Glad to know there are so many more natural options out there! And best wishes for no more in your house for a very very long time! (like maybe never!)
Kari commented on Jan 28 12 at 8:07 pmSo glad you got rid of them! To help prevent them from ever coming back, put a few drops of tea tree oil in her shampoo and on her winter wear –
Jenny commented on Jan 30 12 at 1:28 pmI had lice when I was in second grade. My siblings had it too and pretty much the rest of the school. My mom used the chemical stuff on our hair and my brother and sister were good to go. Me I had fine, light brown hair and the nits would not come loose. She ended up using vinegar and combing my hair strand by strand to get them out. To this day twenty-five years later I still dislike the smell of vinegar and can’t use it.
Luckily we never had the issue with my step-daughter. And hopefully we won’t when we have kids either. Glad you were able to get rid of Addie’s.
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