February 2017 Moms

Lice

I'm really on a roll today with gross, humiliating posts. Another TL;DR: Anyone know a safe and effective way to get rid of lice while pregnant?

The stuff I'm reading online is scaring the crap out of me talking about chemicals and pesticides. It's all very conflicting info too. I had planned on getting the shampoo stuff and just going through the process of combing it all out over and over, but now I don't know. I also don't know how effective all these "natural" home remedies would be either. I put in a call to my doc this morning soon as they opened and I'm still waiting to hear back. Receptionist said they might write me a prescription? In the meantime, anyone have any ideas?

DD got it a few weeks ago from the playgroup I was taking her too while DS attends summer school and I thought I was in the clear, but apparently not. Jaws will probably drop when I say this, but DH just went ahead and shaved her head. She was thrilled. She has been begging us forever to do this because she always says she wants to be a boy and wants to look like her dad and brother. I don't make her feel bad at all about wanting to be a boy, but said no to the buzz cut thing. Until the lice appeared. Then I allowed it to happen (just went in the other room and cried while it was happening haha.) It took so long for the hair she had to grow in! 

She had really short, fine hair to begin with so it really wasn't a huge difference appearance wise. My extended family reacted horribly as usual. I wasn't happy about it either, but they overreact to everything so I just expect it now. Last time I checked hair grows back, but anyway. I had to warn them all that if they make my kid feel bad for even a second or treat her differently I will kill them. And I'm as conflict avoidant as it it gets. So far, so good. 

I'm not going to shave my head however as DH suggested I should so we can all be the same HAHA he was serious. Between that suggestion and his disgustingly smelly feet that make me want to vomit lately he's on thin ice. I am freaking the f out though because I've heard horror stories about how long it can take to get rid of this and I have long, super thick, curly, frizzy/dry type hair. This sucks! 

Re: Lice

  • Fairytales!!! The whole brand is pretty natural. Or soaking the hair in white conditioner then combing out.  We learned about lice the hard way in kindergarten. Brutal little fuckers. 
    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Thanks! I will try it. Do you know if it's sold pretty much anywhere or does it have to be ordered online or something? 
  • Loading the player...
  • I doubt it's natural but I had it in kindergarten (I remember now many years later haha) my mom used NIX and a lice comb. She combed and combed my hair for days and treated a few times. Bagged all my stuffed animals cleaned everything. It went away. 
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Yeah that's what I was planning to do, but now I'm worried because all the labels say not safe for pregnant/nursing women or kids 2 and under. It's probably still what I'm going to do, but my damn doctor still hasn't called me back. I might try the fairytales brand that starfish113 recommended. I'm just praying whatever I do is going to get rid of it quickly! So gross. 
  • Oh crap sorry:( def get a lice comb to go with so you can get the eggs out!
  • I think you can get fairytales at a lot of salon type stores. I know Ulta has it! Maybe Walgreens? 
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    I got the combs ready and the little light things that make it easier to see them haha I've just been indecisive about which product to use. Thanks for the sympathy, it helps!
  • My grandma used olive oil on me and the gang of cousins when any of us got them. You have to repeat treatments until all the eggs have hatched, but it's very effective!
  • This is my biggest fear and has made me scratchy! My son's daycare had an outbreak. I got lice in 3rd grade and it was so hard to get rid of. It ruined school for me so I get nightmares because of it. Seriously, one of my biggest fears is getting it again. Especially while being pregnant. I hope you don't get it.

    We have two sleeping beauties in heaven.
    Jack gained his wings on 09/02/2016. 
    Kali gained her wings on 07/28/2015.
    They will be forever missed. <3
       Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Good to know about the olive oil MrsLittleMac. Bdesterhouse, I DO have it!! Yuck. Managed to go my whole life without getting it and poor DD has passed it along. So frigin gross. 
  • Yeah I think you can get it from any pharmacy!
    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Oh good thanks!
  • I think coconut oil, coat your hair in it and wear a shower cap over night. The oil is supposed to plug up their breathing holes? Then come furiously the next day.


     <3 DD1- Aug11 <3o:) Angel Baby- June13, said goodbye Oct12 o:)<3 DD2- Aug13 <3<3 DD3- due Feb17 <3

    Lilypie Pregnancy tickers

  • I can't advise on anything to kill the living bugs, because I have no clue.  DD got it a few months ago and I honestly think the biggest thing was to very thoroughly comb out the nits for the full recommended time (I think it was 7 or 10 days) and treat everywhere they could live- pillows, pillowcases, stuffed animals etc.  

    My understanding is that the topical stuff kills/paralyzes the live bugs so that they are stationary and can be then be removed, but it does not kill the nits, so by diligently working on the nits everyday, even if they hatch, you will get them combed out before they're big enough to lay more.  It amazed me how by the 3rd and 4th day I was still finding nits in DD's head and I had only found maybe 6 actual bugs.  Those little buggers are so so tiny!

    Also- go ahead and by the metal combs, the plastic ones are useless.  They come with little brushes to clean them out with, but I mostly dipped the combed in water (with a lice away essential oil in it) to clean it out.  This also let me look from the bottom of the glass and better identify whether I'd gotten any.

  • Make sure you repeat whatever treatment you use in a week, and then again a week later. 
    Like PP mentioned, the eggs don't get killed and you have to kill the new hatchlings. 
    Take all soft toys/pillows/ etc and either HR wash and hot dry them, or wrap them TIGHTLY in trash bags and put them out in the sun. High heat kills them. 
  • FromAstaraelFromAstarael member
    edited July 2016
    As a fellow curly girl, you should slather your hair in mayo, put on a shower cap, take a hot shower to steam, and when you get out run the hair dryer over your capped head. The point is to bake the little buggers, so hair dryer as long as you can stand it. Then wash as usual. Bonus: your hair will be all lovely and conditioned when you're done! You'll need to comb out the lice and nits, but the mayo treatment kills them (through suffocation I think)My 3 sisters and I, plus Mom, have very thick curly hair and that is what my mom did when all of us got lice as children. Worked like a charm, no pesticides involved! Also bag the clothes, bedding, soft animals and put in the freezer or if you have a big dryer in there.

  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Thanks to all of you who just responded, some excellent ideas. I took note of coconut/olive oil or mayo in a shower cap, repeating any treatments, bagging everything up and killing with high levels of heat, combing over and over etc. silvercamaro77, I did get the metal combs that come with the tiny brush! I feel slightly better about tackling this now, thanks guys I appreciate it. 
  • I also suggest putting on something entertaining while you comb, like a movie, podcast, audiobook, etc.  It helps the time go faster.

  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Great suggestion, I love watching movies so this wouldn't be hard to do. :) the doc finally got back to me and said they sent some type of prescription shampoo in to the pharmacy for me, but they said to try mayo with a shower cap if I was worried and wanted to stick to natural. 
  • Another option maybe in addition to what's been suggested: Do you have a place near you that gets rid of lice? The place near us is pricey, but was well worth it for our neighbors who went through the natural remedies and NIX. Just a thought! Good luck, I'm sympathy itching!

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    I don't know, I'll have to look into that though. I don't really have tons of money to spend for something I could try and handle myself, but I wish I did because what a PITA!
  • Jab3 said:
    I don't know, I'll have to look into that though. I don't really have tons of money to spend for something I could try and handle myself, but I wish I did because what a PITA!
    Totally get that! Sorry - what a pain to deal with. :(  

    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker

  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    That's alright thanks for mentioning it! I'm still going to look into anyway just in case ;)
  • We have not had this battle here yet but my family was infected once while i was growing up... kids bring everything unwanted home, lice, colds, the flu. Anyway I also heard about the mayo under a shower cap, it seems like oils would work similar. Most others suggested the right things by saying to throw stuff in the dryer and bagging stuff up. My daughter has crazy long hair, to avoid lice I always have her hair done somehow, usually a French braid since it's simple, but as long as it's tight it's supposed to help prevent them from digging in. Hopefully that can come in handy once your daughter's hair grows back out. I've seen teachers in the schools put some oil in their hair, then put hair up in a bun to try avoiding catching them themselves... I figure you still check the hairs growing back but if not you should, the nits can still be attached unless hair is completely down to scalp. Goodluck :)
    Pregnancy Ticker
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    I heard that, about them sticking to even tiny hairs. I'm just glad even if she does get them again while I'm trying to get rid of mine that we'll be able to see them much easier, like it will be blatantly obvious. I've been OCD about checking both kids since this all started. I'm still up trying to pack stuff to go to the beach tomorrow while everyone else sleeps peacefully so I'm getting very irritable and jealous of everyone sleeping and grossed out again about the lice. What are you up to? 
  • We used this. Pharmacist approved. Had lice when I thought I was first pregnant. My hair was down to my bum and curly at the time. My sister in law was amazing. She did all the hard work for me. It's an all natural spray. Worked great. We had no returning of the bugs and only did one treatment for each of us. Vacuum everything and wash everything that you can. They aren't supposed to live long off of ones scalp. Anything soft that can't get laundered should go in garbage bags for a few days. We did a week for the toys that couldn't get washed. No one else in my house has much hair so it was easy to check them a couple of times after treatments. Good luck!
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Thank you! I ended up doing the mayo/shower cap thing overnight last night and then blow drying my hair on high in the morning until my scalp was so hot I couldn't stand it anymore. Then I've just been combing it repeatedly with the metal combs since. I picked up the prescription my doc sent in for me and it looks something similar to what you suggested! It's not a spray though it's like a cream rinse, but we do have a spray as well. I'm going to try it tomorrow when DH is home to really help me. Makes a big difference when someone can help, you're right! 
  • A doctor i work with always says mayonaise 
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    Good to know! Yeah it really seems like it might have done the trick, but I'm also going to use the prescription cream just to play it safe. Nervous Nelly right here. The mayo made my frizzy hair really moisturized looking too. Better then any product I've used in a while!
  • I remember an episode of the Office where everyone got lice & they all put mayo on their heads. Good to know such a harmless treatment might work. But I don't think I could stand that smell on my head right now!! :(
    Best wishes on getting rid of them ASAP! Ick!!
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • jab3-2jab3-2 member
    HAHA I know it was pretty gross, but I was willing to try anything that might work. It seems to have done the trick, but I'm still using this cream rinse stuff prescribed by my doc (supposed to be safe even for babies 2 months and up) just to play it safe. They're going to check for me to make sure it's all gone at my next appointment on the 4th too so that's good. Tough for me to tell because I tend to have an itchy dry scalp anyway, but I'm not seeing anything anymore when doing comb throughs. 
Sign In or Register to comment.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"