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School-Aged Children
marissa422
member
Head lice! HELP D:
marissa422
member
I just recieved a call from the school nurse that DD has acquired nits but no live lice and its at the beginning stage so it was caught at a good time! She's sending all the info on how to treat it.
I'm freaking out because she uses my brushes as well as my one year old!!! Is there any way I can prevent us from getting it?! Also I've read good cleaning is obviously in order, I'm on bedrest so I'm so overwhelmed right now! Should I have my husband come home from work and start washing, vacuuming and disinfecting? I've never dealt with this before please give me any info you have! Thank you
I'm freaking out because she uses my brushes as well as my one year old!!! Is there any way I can prevent us from getting it?! Also I've read good cleaning is obviously in order, I'm on bedrest so I'm so overwhelmed right now! Should I have my husband come home from work and start washing, vacuuming and disinfecting? I've never dealt with this before please give me any info you have! Thank you
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Re: Head lice! HELP D:
Hi -- I've survived two rounds of head lice in my home, and there is a TON of mis-information about it.
A great resource is the CDC's website: https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/treatment.html
There is some cleaning to do, but it should not be the main focus. The most important thing you can do is get the nits out of the child's hair. I found that the best way to do this is to go through the child's hair with a lamp or bright light and/or a magnifying glass handy. Have the child watch a video or play with your iPad/phone so there's something to keep her busy while she sits still. It will probably take about 3 hours to do her whole head, depending on how thick her hair is and how many nits you find.
Nits are hair-colored or sort of clear/white and are attached along one side of the egg case to the hair strand, so they kind of seem to point diagonally down the hair shaft. Check google images with "head lice nits" for some pics. Many of the pictures show far more lice and nits than you will find on your daughter's head, if it's caught early.
Divide her hair into sections and hold the sections you're not working on with a scrunchie or hair clip. Then work through, strand by strand, pulling any nits off with your fingernails. It helps to stick them to the back of a 3m sticky note, then seal the sticky notes in a ziploc bag and then throw them out.
Vacuum your furniture and the upholstery in the car. Wash all the bedding and dry on high heat. Lice and nits can be killed by 30 minutes in a dryer on high. So when in doubt, put stuff in the dryer. Professional cleaning is not necessary.
Getting the nits off the hair is THE most important thing. Washing the child's hair with Rid and cleaning are secondary. The little purple comb that comes with Rid will NOT remove nits, despite what the instructions in the Rid bottle say.
Oh I could not see anything at all in her hair! I sat in bright light but could not see them. Only feel, what felt like, small knots and saw what was coming off in the comb bristles
My daughter had it twice....The first time I was so overwhelmed that we got a professional service come in to treat her hair and comb it out...It was costly but well worth it.....Till this day, my daughter knows not to play with other kids hair, share brushes...Try on their hats....
I would recommend combing or picking at your daughters hair each day for a couple of days...I got a great comb off amazon that works wonders(nit comb or something similiar)..I would condition her hair inthe shower, then use the comb getting all strands....READ reviews on comb...Excellent..
I was neurotic with my house but you really dont have to be...I would vacume/chg her bedding/wash clothes in hot hot water....I did put all her stuff animals/dolls anything that similiar in a bag for two weeks(we ended up tossing at the end as she didnt even miss em)..
Hang in there...It will get better
Is the comb getting out dead lice or nits? Lice will look like... well... small bugs.Nits are really tiny. My DD's hair is so fine that hair shaft + nit could still slide right through the comb. If your child has thicker hair, the comb might work.
I found that the best bet was to have the school nurse check to see if I was all clear. In my kids' school, they won't readmit the child to school until the nurse gives the "ok" anyway. I found the school nurse to be a great reference. She's the one who told me about using the dryer and about the sticky notes. Maybe get the nurse to check your DD out Monday morning!
Good luck!
I just got to go through this with 5 and 6yo SD's last night... getting ready to do it again to be sure I got them all out. I was checking 6yo SD's hair every day for about a week and a 1/2 b/c I noticed her itching. I saw nothing. I finally called the school to see if the nurse would check her hair.. I was told they had her down to check her 2 days prior and she saw nothing. Here I am almost 3 weeks later dealing with it.
I am also supposed to be on bed rest but DH doesn't know what he is doing. lol.
I hope you got yours all taken care of!
My Loves= SD 18 SS 16 SS13 DD13 DS10 SD6 SD5