This has not been my favorite week.
Last Friday, we discovered that Zoe had head lice. I'd never had them before and my kids never had either, so I took her to the doctor to figure out why her head was itching.
She had a pretty mild case (the doctor had to look really hard to find any evidence), so at least we caught it early.
But even a mild case requires laundering of everyone's linens, plenty of cleaning and vacuuming, and worst of all, combing and picking through everyone's hair.
We did treat everyone in the house that same day, as per the pediatrician's directions, and I'm glad we did, because as it turns out, more than one kid had them.
(Mr. FG and I are still all clear.)
The good news is that because everyone got treated right away, no one's case got really out of control.
Everything I read says that no matter what you're treated with, nit-picking is quite essential, so that's what I've been doing.
Every day.
But ¾ of my kids have very thick hair, which means this process is super time-consuming and difficult.
I've been spending so much time on hair, the rest of my life is falling apart a bit.
(To wit: The other day I realized I had 88 library books overdue. I'd barely looked at my email, so I missed the due date reminder.)
I might have sat on my bedroom floor and cried for a while yesterday
(Not specifically because of the library books, mind you. It's just that the cumulative effect of the whole lice thing pushed me over the edge.)
Which I realize is a little bit pathetic because it's not like this is life-threatening. But still. It does wear on you after a while.
The last couple of nights, I dreamt about nit-picking, actually. Oy.
I know, though, that what would make this far, far worse is to not actually get rid of them the first go-round. So I am trying my darndest to take this seriously and to follow the lice-killing protocol so that we can get them out of our house completely.
Anyway.
Things might be sporadic here on the blog while we get through this slightly challenging time and I just wanted to let you know why.
_______________________________
P.S. I did clean out my fridge, so tomorrow I'll be back with a Food Waste Friday post (it's not gonna be pretty, believe me!)
P.P.S. It has occurred to me that with some time behind us, the fact that we discovered a lice infestation on our anniversary will be funny. But that time is probably a little way into the future. 😉
P.P.P.S. I considered not blogging about this, because I know lice have kind of a bad stigma attached to them. But the stigma will only continue if we refuse to talk about it. A lice infestation is pretty awful, but it doesn't mean your kids are dirty or that you're a bad parent (in fact, lice prefer really clean heads.)
We dealt with this once, about 4 years and I feel your pain!!!!! To this day, whenever my children itches their head I start to get nervous.
Ohhh, so sorry! Infestation of little bugs causing physical discomfort can cause a lot of anxiety! We had fleas and I felt just like you. I had a few bouts of cries too with the frustration of feeling like we would never get past the problem and that I wasn't safe in my own house. Be of good courage, it will pass soon!
Oh Kristen,
The first time is the worst!
And nit-picking, or using a special comb, is really the only remedy.
Actually, the first time I discovered them they lived on my own head...
So commiserations, and here's to hoping this will be the only time you've got to deal with lice!
Oh gosh...that would be awful. I'm feeling very fortunate that I'm still clear. I had a friend come check my head yesterday (that's a good friend, I tell you!) just because no one else is my house is very good at finding nits, and I can only check my own head so well in a mirror!
Oh no! I understand how you feel a bit. A couple of summers' ago our indoor cat ended up with fleas and we fought the flea battle for 3 months! It was 3 months of washing, vacuuming, flea combing etc. Nothing like having your 6 year old daughter be an expert at catching and drowning a flea she finds on her own leg! She was rather proud of herself and I was horrified. I cried many tears of frustration that summer and we spent our anniversary flea bombing our house. Just remember, this too shall pass!
You have my utmost sympathies.
Along with having had to tackle (again, for the first time) head lice in our home a few weeks ago (so I understand how that feels), I am having one of those weeks where many, many things, that should be insignificant in the grand scheme of things, are accumulating to form one big mass of stress.
And I too retired to my room to weep. So, you're in good company there.
I hope things get easier for you. For sure, picking the lice/eggs out is the most effective way to get rid.
Yes. Many small things start to feel like one big thing after a while! I hope your week gets better.
(Did you feel better after you cried? I felt slightly better.)
Though we haven't had head lice, we've had flea problems in the past, which involves lots of laundry and cleaning and worry.
I totally relate to feeling like you could just sit in the middle of the floor and cry. A few months ago I spilled two gallons of milk all over my kitchen floor. It went all through the refrigerator, under appliances, under the floor, and, well, just everywhere. And it was right in the middle of the before-supper rush. The saying, "Don't cry over spilled milk" kept going through my brain, but I really did want to just sit down and cry.
Keep your chin up. This too will pass.
I've had that exact same thought before when I've spilled milk! I want to cry, but then I think, "No, that's way too cliche. Hold it together."
😉
Funny thing is, that saying originated when milk was often (depending on where you lived) a scarce commodity. Milk that wasn't spoilt, at least.
I actually did cry. I spilled 2 gallons of milk on a day where my PMS was just horrible and everything was going wrong. Spilling the milk was the last straw. I burst into tears and then my daughter cracked herself up by telling me not to cry over spilled milk.
I think the only reason I didn't sit down and burst into tears was because between trying to salvage the supper that I was cooking and clean up the milk that managed to go EVERYWHERE I couldn't stop long enough to cry like I wanted to. But boy did I ever want to. The person who invented that saying never had milk run down the inside of their wall and into their basement....obviously.
Ugh. Lice are no fun! I once stayed up past midnight combing them out of a friend's waist-long, very thick hair. It wasn't funny at the time, but now it's an awesome story!
Yuck! We had them twice at our house when we were kids. Both my sister and I have crazy thick hair, so my mother can commiserate. Once my sister got it right before my birthday party, which obviously had to be cancelled. Hope you can clear them out!
We're getting a whole chorus going. Next up: "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to."
Oh my! Hang in there! This summer we've been overwhelmed with the dreaded whooping cough, plus a mommy with morning sickness (aka me). There's been a ton of throwing up due to both, and yes, food waste has been deplorable around here! Hard to dig through the fridge when it might trigger nausea!
Twenty two years of mothering and I have dealt with lice for the first time this summer. This is our method. Wet hair down til damp, not dripping. Spray apple cider vinegar into hair. The vinegar dissolves the nit glue. Really. It is the only thing we found that actually gets rid of the nits. Getting rid of the nits is next to impossible unless you use the vinegar. Let it sit for as long as the kid will tolerate. Smooth some conditioner (not too much) into the hair then comb out carefully. Repeat at least every other day. And when you think it's gone and you can't stand it another minute and you are tempted to pretend the whole thing never happened....comb them again.
Olive oil helps too!
I remember having lice twenty-plus years ago as a middle schooler, and I still sometimes freak out about it. In other words, it can be stressful for the kids, too. Maybe check on them and make sure they're not stressing about it, too! (I think you're an AWESOME mom, by the way. Don't take this as a criticism! Just perspective!)
Oh, I'm not offended! And you're right...this is no picnic in the park for them either.
(Although they do all feel that I've had the worst end of the deal since I'm the nit-picker. Ha.)
They're handling it fairly well, although they've shed a few tears upon the discovery of nits in their hair. I think I win the award for the most epic lice-related meltdown so far, though.
I've made sure that they know that this is not their fault and I'm not mad at them, and I try to reassure them that we're doing our very best to get them clean and free of lice as soon as we possibly can.
Amazing mom 🙂
I feel for you. Lice is never fun. My kids had it twice when they were in grade school. When lice comes to town, all your previously planned things/projects come to a screeching halt. It's been a rough week all around.
I feel for you all. That happened to Countryman and I when we visited his sister and nieces. Its soooo much wok and exhausting. I had to treat my son at home as well (just in cause) and clean everything too. good luck. PS I'm sure in the future it will make for a funny anniversary story.
Lice are such a common experience these days that I am surprised we have not had to deal with them at our house. I know there are businesses that will treat the infected for you, I understand they are very expensive and I can understand why.
I hope your coming days are more routine and you can enjoy the waning days of summer.
LOL. I'm a pediatrician, and lice brings ALL mamas to tears. There's something called Sklice (Ivermectin) that works almost 100% of the time without much brushing. Over the counter meds work just fine, but you really have to brush faithfully 3 times a day for 3-4 days at least.
My daughter got them when she was 8 -she's 18 now. Her hair was almost to her waist and very thick!!!!!! I refused to cut it - needless to say we had to get a prescription from the doctor to finally get rid of them. We did two rounds of over-the-counter stuff but it didn't work. Her brothers pretty much had very very short hair and no one else ever got them. As a mother of three -2 boys, 1 girl and my daughter being the youngest you will look back on this I'm sure in years to come and probably wish lice was all you had to deal with ;). Not trying to discourage you - but their is that saying - the bigger they get the bigger the issues you face. When they're young their is so much we can control for them but as they get older we have less and less control. Give me baby days any time - raising teens to adult hood and beyond is not for the faint hearted!!!!!! Hang in there ;). The little buggers won't last forever;)
^^ Same here, my daughter had them about 10 years ago and she has such thick hair and was waist long. But I did cut hers. While standing in the backyard (the sunlight gave me a clear picture (so to speak) of what I was dealing with). I put her hair in a ponytail holder at the bottom of her neck and 'snip'. Of course I had my cry out there in the middle of the yard because her hair was so long, thick and beautiful. I trimmed it up into a cut bob and wa-la, new look. And guess what, it grew back and it's still long, thick and beautiful, lol.
And yes, vacuuming is a necessity in getting the eggs up!
Oh Kristen, i feel for you. i had them (yes, me) after visiting my husbands cousins years ago. it took forever to get them out of my hair (I have natural curly hair and getting a comb through my hair on a normal day is difficult, not to mention the nit combs....ick!). it does take time, but you will get them all. Whenever my son scratches his head, i freak out inside.
I have heard that rinsing hair with Listerine helps. Also, i've heard that using coconut scented shampoo deters lice since they don't like the smell of coconut. (if you are wondering if i have coconut scented shampoo....i do!).
Good luck. Keep your chin up. lice does have a horrible stigma, but if no one ever got it, there wouldn't be lice products out there!
We had them a lot growing up. We would also put all stuffed animals in a black trash bag in the garage for a week so that if there was lice on them they would die. Hope you only have one round!!
Not much to add, except that I'm rooting for you to vanquish the little varmints!
Oh Kristen, it is such a tedious process for one child, let alone multiple children. It can drive even the most sane, even-tempered person to tears!
Saying an extra prayer for you and hoping things get " back on track" as soon as possible!
Ah, you're first.....
Here head lice are galore and we have had at least 10 time the joys of thoses little creatures.
What work well for us is put a lot of conditioner in the hair while you comb it.if you don't have any oil will do too.we do that twice a day for 2 weeks.
Put stuff in the freezer,teddy bear,big pillow ,ect , 24 hours in the freezer kill the lice and eggs.
On the plus side,the lice have a life circle of about 10 days, if you are digilent in you're chasing them, the end is in sight.
And you get to tell you're friend that lately you have been on a killing spree.
Oh my goodness! 10 times?? You poor thing.
You are right -- people should be open about this. Lice runs through groups of kids it seems at this time of year through mid-winter. It can happen to anyone. The school my children attend had so many kids with lice one year they brought in an expert team to help eradicate it. Investing in a top quality nit comb is well worth it, and I learned from the lice team at school that nothing works better than combing with a lice comb. Four years later I still occasionally run the comb through their hair for a check...thick hair is such a challenge! It certainly does make for a lousy (ha...) few weeks. My sympathies to you!
Obviously none of us think you're "dirty," as we're all sharing our lice stories. 🙂 I love how you keep it real!
When my daughter had lice (which meant that she missed that highlight of 3rd grade...the class Valentine's Party), I put my laptop under the brightest light I had, and we watched videos while I combed through her very long hair. Twice a day, for about a week.
Maybe you could sneak in some "school" in the form of interesting yet educational videos during this enforced together time?
Hugs to you!!!
Another good trick is to warm some olive oil ( about 1/4-1/2 cup depending on thickness of hair), soak the heat, wrap in a plastic bag, and cover with a warm, damp towel. Leave it on for 30 minutes, then wash your hair. Then comb it out. I like the small steel comb the best. The oil smothers the nit/lice and makes it easier to comb out. The worse part of it all is the laundry and cleaning. ( I've had it once, and my DD had it years ago). Among my friends they call me the nit picker because I'm pretty good at helping out and delousing their kids!)
Oh no! I got a car of head lice when I was student teaching, that was horrible. On the plus side, I lived in a small dorm room. Less to clean. On the down side the laundry room was down 3 flights of stairs and I had to pay for all those loads of laundry in quarters. Many rolls of quarters. I am now a teacher and I don't think my students have ever seen me with my hair down because I live in constant fear of them. My mother is a bit forgetful about the cats flea treatments so her house seems to get infested every summer. Ugh! Never underestimate the power of something small. Lol
I can relate, my son had lice 2 weeks ago. I feel awful because I couldn't see anything on his head when he was itchy! My eagle eyed daughter spotted them.
I gave him a buzz cut which got rid of the majority of them, then treated with olive oil and vinegar. (I prefer this over the chemicals in the commercial lice kits. It's just as effective)
Good luck, and remember to re treat 7 days after the first treatment to break the cycle in case you missed any nits the first time.
Oh boy! Been there, not fun. Have to say your comment about the library books almost made me spit my coffee all over. Things will get better.
I appreciate your honesty , thank you!
I guess now we know where that expression "such a nit-picker" comes from! Hang in there!
Oh Kristen. I've sat on many a floor, cried a wee bit, and left the house and most of life, including library books to crumble around me a little when we battled lice...for an entire summer. I feel you.
(Turns out it's a good idea that the parent with functioning eyesight be the nitpicker. And all this time I thought *I* was the chief nitpicker in the house. Turns out only figuratively.)
Ha! Mr. FG is a few years (7) further on in life than I am, and his super close vision isn't so great anymore. So I am the official nit-picker. Joy.
Oh! I feel your pain! And crying is totally normal. I seriously considered shaving my head when my daughter and I got them last spring.
Combing through hair is essential, yes. But what made it easier for us (particularly for me because I had to comb through my own thick hair--yikes!) was making sure the hair was wet and putting conditioner on it and not rinsing it out. Supposedly the conditioner makes it harder for any lice to move around if that's still a problem and it makes combing through SO MUCH EASIER.
Don't have anything helpful to add, as it is extremely rare for African Americans to get lice. (in fact I don't think it possible, because we add oils and moisturizers to our hair, and others wash it out)
Just wanted to say I'll say a prayer or 4 for you.
Keep your head up!!!
Yeah, that's what a friend of mine was telling me. She puts lots of oil in her kids' hair, and lice really prefer hair with no oil.
Please make sure to remember to treat the car it is often one area people forget...So sorry I hated lice when my kids got them from school....
Add a bit of tea tree oil to your shampoo and body wash, it will stop lice and other infestations before they start. A must for kids who go to public school or are around big groups of other kids.
So do you just put a few drops into a whole bottle of shampoo? We bought some tea tree oil, but I've been unsure of how much to add!
A friend told me about adding tea tree oil to your shampoo as well. I looked at some sites, and it does seem to be effective. I'm going to give it a try too. My daughter has had lice twice this past year!
Oh, for got to say if you have girls with thick long hair make sure to spray their hair every morning with pure vinegar and then put it in pony tail and spray boys hair to smell will go away but it is a deterrent for lice...This is a cheap and easy fix for future breakouts ...
4 kids, four different schools. Many bouts with lice.
I have a routine.
Buy the biggest bottle of the cheapest hair conditioner.
Slather on the child's head (it should be dripping off) and let sit for 30 minutes.
Comb out with a wide tooth comb, then with a narrower tooth comb and finally with the metal nit comb. This should take at least an hour.
Wash the hair, pour a glass of wine and repeat in a week.
Why it works - the conditioner drowns the lice and releases the nit glue. Same idea as olive oil or mayonnaise.
I add a few drops of Tea Tree oil to the family shampoo to deter reinfection.
I grew up in a house of six girls...let's just say there were many instances of lice throughout the years.
In fact I have fond memories of sitting in the bathroom and talking with my mom and my sisters as we waited to have our hair combed through.
Later in life my mother confided that whenever some one came home with lice she would go into her bedroom and shut the door and cry, so perhaps the fond memories are not shared by everone 😉
Just think - when this is over and normal life resumes, you will be so much more grateful for lice-free hair than you ever were before! 🙂
Been there, done that and I freaked out too! My exclusively homeschooled daughter got head lice when she was about 5. A friend had come to stay and of course they brushed each other's hair, shared hair brushes, etc. Well, several days later, her mom called to tell me that she was sent home from school with head lice. I checked my daughter's head and sure enough, found some nits. I did tons of research and found that the yucky stuff from the store to treat head lice is super toxic and dangerous. So...after much research I did the Apple Cider Vinegar treatment. I heated it in the microwave then put it into a spray bottle and thoroughly sprayed her head (she had thick wavy hair that was past her butt) then wrapped her head in plastic wrap and let it sit for 30 minute. Then the real fun started. I spent the entire afternoon combing through her hair with a nit comb while watching kids dvd's. She complained about smelling like pickles and I was exhausted. But I think we got most of them. I repeated the comb out the next day, but I didn't make her sit with plastic around her hair and I didn't heat the vinegar. Just sprayed it on and combed. Luckily we didn't find anymore on her head. Took all her stuffed animals and put them into the dryer. Then put them in garbage bags and set them in the sun. Back into the dryer. (did I say that I freaked out?!!) Washed all the linens, etc. Hairbrushes, hair clips, combs etc. got the vinegar treatment, but I boiled the vinegar then poured it over everything in the sink. I kept checking everything every couple of days until 3 weeks had passed. Thankfully we caught them early, but it was a pain. I highly recommend that anyone with a lice problem use the Apple Cider Vinegar. There is no reason to use the toxic stuff on your kids. Google it everyone, you'll be shocked. I was treated kind of bad at the pharmacy when I asked about a natural treatment for my daughter. They told me in no uncertain terms that IF I actually wanted to get rid of them, I better use the stuff they sold. I didn't buy it. Way too scary...Good luck Kristen, it WILL get better!!! PS I know you didn't say you used the dangerous chemicals, but I mentioned it in case anyone else needed to know, too.
Having dealt with lice (as a teenager with thick, waist-length hair, at summer camp) and fleas, I'd take lice over fleas any day. It is very easy to disrupt the lice life cycle and get them out of your house; not so for fleas. There was one year that the fleas were so bad that we'd walk outside of the house, fleas would jump all over us, and we'd track them back inside and give them to our indoor cat. It took a full year, plus different types of flea treatments for the cat until we found an effective brand, to get rid of the fleas entirely (we kept thinking they were gone and then they would come back).
If we ever encounter lice, I plan on using the method spelled out here: http://www.mostgladly.net/cj/2009/11/lose-your-head-lice-without-losing-your-mind.html
Heavens! I've never had a dog or a cat, so I had no idea fleas were so hard to deal with.
Just remember lice only like clean hair. I think many people think that only dirty people get lice but that is not true. I had them when I was young. Then my daughter came home with them when she was six. Our younger daughter did not get them but I did. I'm pretty sure I got them from snuggling and reading to them before bed. Both my daughter and I have thick curly hair. So it would take hours to treat our hair. Then afterwards we would both have terrible headaches from combing with a fine toothed metal comb. (Which would not glide through our hair easily.) So, I feel your pain.
That is a good point...I can be grateful that none of us has particularly curly hair. Wavy is about as non-straight as it gets in our house.
Oh gosh... I got lice when I was in elementary school. My mom was just looking at my hair one day and she went, "You've got bugs in your hair. WAIT. That's lice!"
She immediately went and got the over-the-counter stuff.
I had butt-length SUPER curly hair at the time. She cut it to my shoulders, then spent the time brushing through and nit-picking. She felt awful; I cried a ton because that darn small comb in curly hair HURTS.
My brother got lice too. So... go figure. Before that time, she had thought you could only get lice if you lived in certain conditions. Quickly found out just about anyone can get lice.
Feel your pain 🙁 Hopefully the kiddos (and you) are now holding up well!
Bless your heart! This can be soo stressful. As a former teacher, I have encountered this in the classroom and have heard 2nd hand (so far not first hand, but...that will come one day no doubt!) about what a pain it is. There are even services that will wash and pick for you. Can you believe that?
Thanks for sharing. You are right that we need to talk about it to lessen the stigma!
I relied on one of those services after failed attempts to get them out of my daughters hair. Best $100 I spent. She treated my son, my daughter, and even checked hubby and I.
I had them with 17 they must have been caught from someone on the bus or train. Til this day I freak out every time my head itches. Or if I just hear about a story. I agree with the apple cider vinegar and olive oil. I poured a whole bottle over and let it soak in. Than combed it out. It helped. The treatment I had from the pharmacy only killed the grown ones.
Good luck, and yes i cried too. The problem I think is that it takes so long for ppl to realize that the problem is there and they might have already spread it.
Mr. FG was at work when I told him about Zoe, and immediately, his head started itching. 😉
My kids got lice repeatedly when they were in Kindergarten.....we found out that the teacher was putting the head of the nap mats together and we think that's how they got them. We used the OTC lice treatments, but couldn't get rid of them. When my kids' scalps started to get sore (from the chemicals in the different lice treatments we had tried), I took them to the doctor. She said that some lice are actually becoming resilient to the chemicals that are being used....great! She recommended this:
Get a few bottles of cheap conditioner (any brand, doesn't matter)
Put the kids in the bath and completely coat their hair with the conditioner (from scalp to the ends)....ended up using half a bottle of conditioner each time to coat two long-haired girls.
Comb hair with a regular comb, and then a nit comb. Get a paper towel and wipe the nit comb to look for "evidence" each time you comb (and also to prevent putting the nits back in the hair).
Apparently, the conditioner prevents the nits from "clinging" to the hair shaft (and to some degree loosens any eggs).
The key though is that you have to do this every other day for a week. This way any newly hatched lice that weren't removed are caught.
Go ahead and wash or bag up bed covers, stuffed animals, etc. and vacuum entire house and sofas.
And the result.....after one week my kids had nit-free hair. Yes, the conditioner treatment worked better than the several different (and expensive) OTC lice treatments I had tried previously.
Big bonuses to this - cheap, doesn't rely on chemicals (that can hurt your kids' heads and make lice resilient), it really works, and the conditioner makes it so much easier to run the nit comb through the hair (especially long girls' hair).
After the treatment, I started adding one or two drops of tea tree oil to a spray bottle filled with water. Spraying the kids' heads with this prevented any re infestation at school.
Headlice sucks. The boys were easy, I just got the clippers out and cut their hair really short. The lice need hair of a certain length. My girl is hard though 🙁 It feels like it takes forever to get rid of the lice.
Oh and I forgot, heat helps too. I used a straightener on my daughter's hair the last time and it worked a charm. It burns the eggs dead.
Oh, you poor thing! Every year we get at least one notification from school that a fellow student has head lice and we need to do a head check. I just had my kids get a back-to-school haircut and the salon woman tried to sell me a "preventative" lice treatment. I went home and Googled it and all the credible sites say that the best prevention is to avoid head-to-head contact or sharing of hats/hair doodads, etc. I've heard rumors that hair spray helps deter lice, but couldn't find any scientific studies to back it up--although most sites DO say that lice prefer clean hair, so perhaps the hair spray dirties hair up enough to make it harder for them to cling to the hair shafts?
My friend, whose kids have had lice twice, swears by the olive oil treatment that others have mentioned. It was interesting to read the pediatrician's comments, above.
Hand in there, and if you need to cry, you do that! Gotta deal with the stress somehow!
Oh, I know the feeling. We discovered lice in our house on Good Friday this year! Totally changed our plans for the day!!! It feels like a never ending project. And don't be surprised if every time you see your kid scratch their head, that you do a quick check. I still do it months later!
I never had it as a child, but I have a friend who's son's class was dealing with lice for half a school year! It really requires ALL of the children's parents in a class to be super diligent to make sure the lice gets knocked out. Unfortunately, not all parents are willing or able to take the time to fully deal with a lice problem.
It must have been the week for crying on the bathroom floor! Mine was just a general feeling of being overwhelmed, but it happened. Praying for healing and a return to normal for you guys!
We had them in May for the first time in 13 years of parenting. It was quite traumatizing. To this day, my girls roll their eyes at me for checking their heads any time their heads are close to me. I can't help it! One piece of advice: we used the drug store OTC lice stuff: it did nothing. We used the RX lice stuff. It worked, but was pricey. We used a super duper lice comb overnighted from Amazon called the terminator. It worked very very well. My cousin had to hire a professional nit-picker (future career alert...oh wait, nope) and that is what she used, not even any chemicals, just combing like crazy. Good luck!
Infestations are just miserable. I had lice as a kid (we didn't catch it for a while, so digging out was a SLOG), and we recently had to get rid of The Fleas That Would Not Die here in FL. There's something about dealing with a problem with lots of tiny legs that makes it so much more draining than other kinds of problems...
So - thank you for posting, even the not-so-good stuff, because it helps us know that we're all in this together! And you've got my sympathies for the stress that builds up with all of this. Here's to getting through it quickly, yet thoroughly.
I feel for you, sister. Every year at this time, I seriously consider shaving my kid's heads. Our local school district has a serious, endemic issue with lice, and my kids get it about every other year. There's nothing you can do, short of locking them in a box. One year, many years ago now, we didn't find the infestation until all SIX of us were heavily colonized. I was fighting that battle for six weeks and I sat on there floor and cried many, many times.
I am right there with ya so I can feel your pain. We are on our second outbreak of fleas and it is horrible!! It's not lice, but it still requires constant washing, vacuuming, bathing, more vacuuming, and checking all the animals. Hopefully you will be rid of all the little bugs soon!
I feel your pain...our oldest daughter got head lice when she was in the third grade and it was my birthday. I went to the school to pick her up and as the school nurse explained that they had found lice I started crying. At which point the nurse and the principal and the secretary tried to console me. I wasn't really worried about me I just didn't want my daughter to get made fun of. As you said, there is a certain stigma that is placed on head lice. The other children had no idea that it was wierd that she was leaving early since oddly enough she was going to get out early anyway for a dentist appointment. We made it through though and thats all that really matters and she was back in school the next day. Never a dull moment in the life...thank gosh I wouldn't want to get bored or anything! LOL
Poor girl! That is a big deal. You sound like you are on top of it though. Keep up the good work 🙂
I wanted to lay on the floor and cry after dealing with lice on my childs head. It's not a dirty thing, and it's very common. I know how frustrating it is. My child case kept coming back which means I missed some nits. I finally concorded it with Tea tree oil. I now add it to our shampoo once a month to prevent it from coming back. So far so good.
I read your post and completely sympathized with you! We went through the same around 4 years ago. I nearly lost my mind! Only one child had it, parents were clear, but you tear your house apart, you vacuum everything, you wash all the bedding, clean the car seat, and then there are all the stuffies.....SIGH. Was such a difficult week. We ended up calling in some professionals who did a heat treatment on my daughter's hair and guaranteed their work (not cheap but my sanity was well worth it).
Good luck, hopefully you got those rotten bugs the first go around!
When my kids were in school, they had lice 2 or 3 times. We found if you wash their hair and then load up on the conditioner (to the point their hair is really slimy), it's very easy to pull the nits out. My youngest daughter had waist length hair so once I figured this out I was very happy!
Head lice.....one the most overwhelming moments (of many) as a single mom.
Another experienced mom, here. My oldest daughter got them five times -- most of the schools had carpeted floors and lice were endemic. The funny thing is, even when she slept with her younger sister sometimes before I discovered the lice, the younger one NEVER got them. A school nurse told me it might be the difference in their hair shafts -- the lice sufferer has wavy/curly hair, the non-lice sister has stick straight hair; both had very fine, clean hair (meaning no gels or sprays used). I never combed, because the nit combs simply slid right over the nits in our case and so were useless. I used scissors and cut every hair I found with a nit on it, and put the hairs in a large paper bag, which I then burned when done. I treated her head once, checked and cut every day and washed linens on hot, used the dryer on the stuffed animals, etc., and vacuumed more often, but that's it, and we never had a recurrence problem -- it would be years between outbreaks. Now that I have a granddaughter who's had lice (same schools), her mother, my younger daughter, follows my example, using pesticide-free treatments and cutting the nits out, and it works for her, too.
Here's hoping you are nit-free in no time!
Oh, and I live in Florida, too, and I can tell you, one doesn't need a pet to get fleas in the house here. I'll never forget my friend coming to pick me up in her car, pulling up in my drive and leaping out to brush off the biting fleas that she'd picked up walking through a "nest" of them somewhere in her yard, and she had no pets. So we sat and picked fleas before going on our outing. What fun.
oh man, I feel your pain. This summer, I discovered my daughter had lice about 30 minutes after my husband left for a week-long business trip. I actually didn't cry until I realized I'd transferred a bug to myself during the comb out.
Did I mention she has crazy thick waist length hair and mine is nearly that long as well? Yeah, lice is pretty traumatic which seems completely crazy until you've had it and then you really understand. Hang in there.
My youngest daughter is 37 years old and I still vividly remember the day I found out she had lice. Like you, I did massive cleaning, taking things that couldn't be cleaned by me to dry cleaners (the bill - oh my...), and treating everyone. My daughter was so embarrassed - she cried and cried (she was 8). My sister is a retired teacher and tells me horror stories related to lice infestation and what happens when parents are not thorough. My sympathies to you and yours. Hang in there. I am sure that some day you really will laugh about it. Some day....
I feel your pain. I had a bed bug invasion few years ago and had to get rid of complete beds and other furniture and then had to dry every article of clothing linens etc on high heat in the dryer for what seemed like days. Even after my apartment was treated, I dreamed about bed bugs for months and slept on a small cot in an empty room to afraid to get a new bed for fear they would return! Little critters like lice and bedbugs are a pesky problem and no fun at all.
Oh, no! What a nightmare. And the library books on top of it! You don't say how far overdue they are, but I have found librarians willing to "settle" the debt for less than owed, especially if you're a regular. Bring back the books (or as many as you can find) and make them an offer. Like only have x dollars in your wallet--that worked for me :-). Good luck!
Ugh, I'm so sorry. Lice are rampant here in SoCal. And resistant. Cetaphil, by FAR, has worked best for me and my friends. And you don't have to pick! I'm linking you to the NYTimes article. Seriously, my SIL tried other methods for three weeks and couldn't get rid of them, but the Cetaphil worked. Good luck! http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/the-alternative-medicine-cabinet-cetaphil-for-lice/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Oh, no! Don't fret the head lice! I can say that now, I'm a veteran of the things. My ONE daughter had them 5 times in one year! One year! Not to mention that she gave them to her sister, her brother, and the next to last time - Me. Horrible, horrible, horrible! But here's my advice. Relax! They're not so bad! I feel that I can say that now. When I went to get me done by a professional at 9:00 at night, I was freaking out. I was sick to my stomach. I was crying. And exhausted, because let's face it, 5 times around with all of the shampooing and stressing and washing and picking and vacuuming and combing and drying and the quarantine-ing and the dishwashing all of the hair stuff.... on and on and on. Here's my story - the woman who had the business was so friendly and, I hate to say it, but NORMAL looking. She was not frazzled in the least. She said that I was just getting the start of them, but she treated me and I was done in like 40 minutes. But that's not what I want to tell you! She was so calm about it, and made me see that it wasn't all that bad, simply by her demeanor. Her advice - don't freak out trying to wash and disinfect everything, like I was doing. Over and over and over and over and over again. The best work that you can do, if you do nothing else - just comb the victim's hair and change the pillowcase. That's it. I was going through their hair about 3 times a day, but she said just do it once. I got an awesome lice comb (that she had in her shop, but it's the fabulous metal one with tight spaces), and just comb through the hair once a day. Repeat the next day. The comb removes the huge vast majority of them, you're just on the lookout for recently hatched monsters and doing away with them. Since having my hair done that one time, my daughter has had them one more time. I've got to get back into the habit of once a week eyeballing everyone's hair, but I have gotten lazy since summer started. And that one time, I sat her down and did what I had to do without uber stressing, and her head was completely clean within 2 days. And I didn't do a lick of extra laundry or whatnot.
we feel your pain.i had lice once as a child ,and i remember what we went through.my mother did everything.washing my hair, going through my hair to see if it was still there, washing all the bedding,day after day.it was horrible.thank god i never got it again.we both still remember how awful it was and its been about thirty years.so i wish you luck and hope that the lice have a speedy exit.
We just received a welcome letter from my son's new teacher in which she wrote "we are going to have a fantastic year together and become a close nit family." My first thought was no, no, there will be no nits! (I won't mention my second thought...;) We can *kind of* laugh about the two times our kids had lice, but I think until they are fully grown and moved out of the house I will still be holding my breath... and itching. Hang in there.
Oh my gosh, I feel your pain. My kids both have THICK hair and the combing would take me an hour each night. Here's a tip I found out a little too late . .. comb DRY hair not wet conditioned hair. The nits can slip through. Of course then you have crying children as you yank on their hair for an hour. 🙁 Good luck, it WILL be funny in hindsight.
We've had head lice in our house more than a couple of times-about 5 to be exact! My kids go to a fairly large urban public school-hate to say it but head lice infestations are a common issue every year,usually in the younger classrooms. My go-to solution is the cetaphil method. I find toxic OTC solutions don't work that well.I heard about this method through our school nurse. I'm a nurse practioner and had not heard of it before. After using this method with lots of success I told one of the docs I work with about it when she had lice in her house and she said it worked like a charm.
Depending on how many heads you are dealing with, purchase a couple of bottles of Cetaphil (I usually just do the target brand). While hair is dry you rub cetaphil through your hair from roots to ends. Comb excess through hair dry with blow dryer. Make sure you get it really dry, you might have some crunchiness going on but it really won't look like you've got anything in your hair once you dry it. We do this before bed, then wash it out in the AM. I usually repeat the process about 4 days later, then another 4 days after that. But you are correct, the most important thing is to do the nit picking. I check my kids hair at 1-2 x per day for at least one week after I've seen the last nit. It only takes one nit to hatch and restart another infestation.
Thankfully, it now been a few years since we've had to deal with any of this!
While I have no experience with head lice, I'm familiar with the stigma of infestations that are beyond your control. I live in an apartment building and due to another tenant who loved dumpster diving - I (and several of my neighbours) ended up with bed bugs. It took more than 5 months of treatments before they were finally exterminated. There were days where I sat down and cried out of frustration and helplessness.
So - no judgement here, just sympathy and the hope that this time of challenge for you will pass quickly.
We've been through it three times in three years now, and I feel like I'm an expert. My daughter has waist length hair. I felt awful the first time, but after that, I just felt annoyed (especially when she gave them to me the last time - ugh).
There is a local service that uses an FDA approved heat treatment (followed by some very thick enzyme glop that they leave on for 10 minutes and takes forever to wash out, even with dish soap). You repeat the glop a week or so later just in case they missed a nit because it will suffocate any little bug before it's old enough to lay eggs. It works! (And it's a very lucrative business apparently.)
Things I've learned some interesting things though . . . lice trapeze between people. They don't fly, they can't jump, and they are pathetic when they're on the ground because they can barely move - they have to use their lobster claws to try to pull their bodies along. They prefer CLEAN hair, and they hate eucalyptus smell, so adding some of that to your kids' hair when they go to places where there are lots of other kids can help keep the lice away.
They can hold their breath for a long, long time, so washing things is not how to get rid of them - it's heat. Putting things like bedding, cushions, etc. in the dryer on high for at least 30 minutes is all that you need to do (I usually set it for 45 minutes excluding the heating up and cool down times). The lice people recommended using a lint brush on clothing, car seats, and couches, etc. Putting things like headbands in the freezer for 24 hours or in a bag for 48-72 hours if they are too large for a dryer is all you need because they can't live without food for longer than that. I've read that people spend more energy on sanitizing the area than on nit picking, but nit picking is more important.
My favorite part about the heat treatment is that you only need to clean once. I'm not good and nit picking, and you only need to miss one to have the cycle start all over again. The treatment is around $150 in my area, but it is cost effective for us. The first time it happened, there were several parents that had spent more than that after trying to treat with over the counter remedies several times first before going to a doctor - along with the constant cleaning and re-cleaning. The last time it happened we discovered it on vacation (which was not a happy event), but we were able to stop and get a treatment before going home. We'd been gone a week, so there was no home clean up required. I tried the over the counter remedy while we were on vacation, and I combed through with thick conditioner and a nit comb every night after that. I'll be darned if the staff at the lice boutique didn't find a couple of juveniles, so it was a good thing we let them take care of it.
If you have a black light, that will help you see the nits better.
And keep reminding your kids that they are not alone - the lice came from someone else. I've always tried to remind my daughter that there are many things in the world that can hurt her, but lice aren't one of them. They are just an annoyance (but I still cringe when I see helmet sharing for rock climbing, etc.).
Good luck!
Hi,
I know the feeling as well, having gone through this with my kids.
A little trick that helps a lot is once you have finished with cleaning their heads, put a few drops of lavender essential oil on a comb and comb the hair. Lice hate lavender! I did this a whole school year for my daughter when there was an infestation at her primary school that lasted almost 5 months. It worked and she never got them again!
aw, BIG HUG!!! So sorry about the lice thingy! I'm sure you are exhausted! I had lice 3 times, lol! Once from Daycare as a child-another from my cousin as a toddler (which my dad chopped off all my baby curls that reached down to my hips (mom cried), then when I teached at a Daycare, go figure... I know what you are going through. Since I was young and fallen the victim, hahaha, I let everyone around me take care of my hair so for me it was easy -peasy. No one at my house ever got it though and last I got it I was preggo with my first child and my hubby NEVER got it, lol. I went to get my hair up-do for my baby shower, lol. And the Salon Hair styler (after complaining of dry hair :O) said I was filled with eggs!!! We laugh now! I ended going to the shower anyways and treated my hair only after I got home, lol... My mom was my helper and she kept itching her scalp while doing my hair, lol. BUT it never spread..... huh... It was quiet funny... Think right, stay positive, a tleast it isn't life* threatening, as you said. Just focus on what you can do for now.. 🙂
My daughter as a senior in high school got lice for the first time. She has super long, thick, curly hair and it was a nightmare plus lots of money to eradicate them. I used Nix, Rid, ACV, LiceMeister comb and RobiComb. We finally did the Cetaphil Method found on the internet and it got rid of them in a very gentle way. The Cetaphil Method took about 3.5 hours (because of the hairdrying) once a week for 5 weeks but hallelujah they were gone! I definitely feel your pain because I cried too!
I've tried to read most of the comments so I don't repeat too much. I've dealt with lice with my daughter. I ended up using a company here in Canada called The Lice Squad - I learned a lot from them! Basically, chemicals don't work - they don't kill the eggs - so you keep re-infesting yourself. You need to comb out with a lice comb - on hair dampened with water and hair conditioner. (and not the combs that come with the treatments - a real lice comb that is metal with grooves!) They are about $25 here) And also - the hair shaft has 4 sides! You have to comb from the forehead to the back of the neck - then reverse. From one side of the head to the other, then reverse. I think especially if you have thick hair this is the most important tip!
Yes! I've noticed I'm finding nits when I look at the hairs upside down rather than just right side up.
The first time we dealt with lice we did the chemical treatments and my husband and I visually nit picked with bright lights for what seemed forever - and they still came back! Very discouraging! Doing the combing 4 ways a couple times a week (comb, wipe on paper towel - you'll be combing out the conditioner too - and look for nits and eggs) ...and you should be rid of them pretty soon. You just need a serious metal comb with grooves - a louse trap comb. My head is itching just thinking about this! Good luck!
I just want to second this comb-comment.
I can't even admit how long we dealt with the lice issue and reinfestation and the amount of tears shed and stress. All the extra cleaning on top of the bed-wetter in the house (so extra sheet washing which backed up my laundering groove). I tried a few different types of shampoos and every time they came back. I felt like I was the worse parent in the world.
Then I wised up and ordered the metal comb. Let me tell you, those cheap plastic combs they give you in every lice shampoo kit are useless. One was spaced too far apart and another 2 had prongs that were spaced too far apart.
Three days in with proper comb and I never saw another louse. Although I think I might be worse for the wear from the whole experience. The worst part is how emotionally drained you feel as a result.
oh gosh, this post made me do a full body shudder!!
It's been years since we have dealt with lice but I still remember the 6 week stretch where, every night, I used Suave conditioner on my daughter's hair and patiently combed through Every. Last. Strand till I was completely, most sincerely sure there were no nits left.
And yes, there were tears amongst the piles of extra laundry to be done, and re-done.
All in all, not an episode I want to relive! Sorry you are in it now!
Ouch, library fines. Earlier this year I discovered the wonder that is the Seattle Public Library. Unfortunately, they don't allow you to keep the books as long as my usual library does so I forgot to return them, and their fines are much steeper. Because of this, I ended up with 45 dollars worth of library fines...I couldn't believe it. Definitely promised myself never to do that again. Oddly, SPL doesn't cut you off at 20 dollars of fines like most libraries do. Now my sister and I have a spot next to the calendar for 'time sensitive material' like library tapes and coupons.
Lice can be so frustrating. We lived with my MIL for awhile and her granddaughter, who lives with her, had lice. Hours were spent trying to get rid of those little suckers. I don't think people realize how utterly consuming it is. I don't doubt that you had dreams about it. You will get rid of them soon if you haven't already.
If you want to feel a little better--one of the service coordinators that I worked with in the past got head lice right before she had her baby and went on maternity leave. She was breastfeeding, so she could only us mayonnaise on her head to kill the lice. She said, after having it on her head for three straight nights in a row, with a shower cap on, that she will probably never be able to eat mayonnaise again! I do truly feel your pain, though, and I hope that everything gets cleared up soon!
We dealt with lice twice, and to add to the Amen chorus already in play, yep, picking out the nits daily, and looking for weeks, if not months beyond what you think is the end, is the only way to really and truly end the infestation.
Don't be surprised if your head itches a lot during this process; mine surely did even though I never, ever got them. Just the idea made my head itch!
What still makes me mad, even some twenty years later, is that the first case involved my child being invited to a sleepover at the home of a child in the midst of a lice infestation. Her hair was wet when she answered the door, having just gone through a de-licing treatment. So, clearly her mom knew, invited my child to spend the night anyway, and never said a word. Can you even imagine????
The second time involved my 16 year old working at a day care center, giving a child a piggy back ride. Their heads met at some point during the ride, and the rest was history. She was mortified, but I kind of thought it was a cute story. However, after we finally got rid of them, she began putting her hair up into braids before reporting to work. Plus, unfortunately for the kiddos, it was the end of the piggy back rides. 🙁
I was 30 the first (and so far, only) time I had head lice. My sister, a teen, brought it home from a sleepover. At the time, my mom was recovering at my house from major cancer surgery. I was the first to find it on my head, and was totally freaked out. We had to treat two houses and 6 people total. In the end, the only two who had an infestation were myself and my teen sister, the two with long hair who always put their hair up in a ponytail wet, where it would remain that way most of the day due to our hair being so thick. We spent Super Bowl Sunday in front of the TV, combing each other's hair and looking for lice.
It is amazing how irrational we are about those little creatures. All it truly means if you happen to have them is that you were somewhere and a bug jumped on you and decided to stay and make it its home. 🙂