Lice!!!!! - Duluth,MN

Believe it or not -- use cetaphil gentle cleanser as a shampoo. my pharmacist told me. He even threw out all the chemical shampoos!

I've not had to try this yet - but olive oil! Got that from some gma's that I'm in a group with and it was suggested as one person was having fits getting rid of them! Also blow dry their hair some, too - lice don't like heat.

OK calm down. Its almost a natural thing for kids to get lice when their young. Do not use RID or any other lice shampoo on your kids hair unless they get it. It has chemicals that are really bad for the scalp in it. Teach your daughter not to rub her hair around other kids's hair and not to share ponytails or clips. Lice like clean hair so if she does end up getting it at least you know her hair is clean. I have herd of people using mayo or oil with a lice comb as an alternitive to the chemicals.

Tea Tree Oil is great for keeping the lice away.

This is a recipe that a friend gave to me when you do have head lice:

How to get rid of Head Lice:

Mix together and leave on hair for 45 min. to and hour.
10 drops of each oil -

2oz sweet almond oil

rosemary
eucalyptus
geranium
lavendar

Rinse and can condition if want to and then put tea tree oil in shampoo (enough to smell it - it doesn't take much)

OK, so I haven't had to deal with this yet, but some of my co-workers are full of advice. This may seem counter intuitive, but evidently lice really like clean hair, so if you are concerned, lay off the shampoo on your kid for awhile and let her hair/scalp get a little greasy (maybe only use shampoo on fridays when she will be home on the weekend?). You can still wash her hair with water and maybe a little lemon juice or vinegar so it can stay clean. Evidently shaved heads (boys) and braids (girls) can reduce the chances of lice as well. Good luck. It sounds like you are doing the right things.

I think every child will get lice at some point but it doesn't matter how much the school cleans and disinfects. Lice like hair to feed off of to live, so once off the body, they won't live long. As gross as they seem, I would send your daughter back to school. I am sure they have discussed NOT sharing clothes, coats, hats etc. I am not sure you can 100% prevent lice, but I suggest tea tree oil. Lice hate it, put a few drops directly on your daughters scalp and more drops in the shampoo. It does have a weird smell but it great for getting rid of lice (among so many things, it is very multi purpose).

My preschool son's class had the same thing happen a few weeks ago. I washed the clothes on hot and checked his hair just as you did. We went ahead and did a RID shampoo kit just to be on the safe side! No one else in the class ever had a problem, so don't freak out too much. You can bet the school is literally scalding and bleaching that classroom right now, so it should be fine tomorrow.

Head lice isn't a really big deal,it's something everyone gets. I recommend that you go to:

headlice.org

Read the information there. There are LOTS and LOTS of old wives tales and false information out there about how to deal with lice, the shampoos are poison for your children, don't use them, use the method in the webiste. i bought a magnification glass that has a light in it and hooks to a desk so I can magnify the head and hair and see much better. We did not use the shampoo but did pull the nits out and removed the bugs and after one time we did not have any more. We checked every day and not one single bug more. No shampoos, no oils, no nothing.

One method of prevention is to add a drop or two of Tea Tree Oil to their normal shampoo, no more than that, it is very oily and stinky. The bugs don't like oils, they can't stick the nit to the hair shaft and they die off.

Ive always heard to wrap your hair in mayo ( blue plate kind) is what ive used. And wrap it up good in tight, with plastic for 4-10 hours. It works!

Your daughter will be fine, even if she does get them. We went through that here a few years back because an infected child's coat was hanging against our daughter's coat. Apparently, that's why the school now has changed how the outerwear is to be stored while the children are in school...it wasn't just us that happened to. You prevent lice by teaching your daughter not to share hats, combs, etc., keep the coats away from each other, no head-head contact. Remember--lice CAN'T jump. They LOVE clean hair. IF your wee one does come down w/ a case of them, there are remover kits that you can get at walmart or your local pharmacy...and you need the LONGER, CLOSER-set toothed lice/nit combs, NOT the short ones. IF she is infected, she will most likely only have the nits right now, so comb out the hair VERY well, making sure to remove every nit off the comb w/ a toothbrush before you go back through the hair or you will recontaminate. She WILL be fine! Promise!

Make sure to explain to your daughter that sharing hats, coats, headbands,etc is not allowed. IF she does get it the best thing to do is wash all clothes and bedding in hot water, put any pillows and stuffed animals in a hot dryer for about 30 min or in a tied plastic trash bag for a few weeks. As for her hair, use 3/4 cup white vinegar mixed with 1/4 cup mineral oil (you can get this at any drugstore). After using a Nit Comb on her hair to remove any eggs, apply the solution to her hair and tightly wrap with SaranWrap. Have her watch her favorite TV show for about an hour then rinse and wash her hair with Dawn dishsoap. You can repeat this step if you want. Your daughters hair will be a little smelly but sleek and shiny as ever! Good luck!

I love the vinegar and olive oil ideas, I'll have to keep those in mind in case it ever happens to us. To prevent it, like a few others have said, tea tree shampoo or just a few essential oil drops added to the regular shampoo will work. They hate the smell of it, your child will never get lice if her hair is always washed with it. I also LOVE avonmom's recipe here, I'll have to save and print that one out just in case.

We just went through this a couple weeks ago with my daughter. We tried the Listerine/white vinegar method it worked great. Use the regular Listerine and put in spray bottle, spray on dry hair until drenched then put shower cap on head for 2 hours then rinse out you will see all the dead lice just fall out. We then washed hair with Suave Coconut Shampoo which I've read they also don't like. I then towel dried it as best as I could then put white vinegar in spray bottle and drenched head with that and put shower cap on for 2 hours. Then went through hair with fine tooth Lice comb the vinegar helps loosen the eggs glue like substance on the hair. Then rinsed and rewashed hair with Denerox extra strength shampoo. The next day I used the Lice M.D. (its gel like) just as a precaution to get anything I may have missed. She has shoulder length hair so I used half the bottle plan on using again this weekend just as a precaution all it takes is one egg left behind and you have them all over again. I really like the Lice. M.D. because it doesn't have the pesticide in it. Hope this helps. I used the Listerine/Vinegar in my hair also even though my hubby didn't see any and he shaved his just in case.

something i do with my daughter to limit the chances of lice is i put an oily "something" in her hair, something that makes the hair slippery, oily, and "dirty". this doesn't guarentee that she wont get it but it DOES help, my daughter has had lice once a year since she started going to school, and so far...nothing this year. i personally have NEVER used the comb because 9x out of 10 i don't get the nits with the comb, but instead pull the hair out that has nothing on it. i'll go through my daughter's hair a few folicles at a time, takes a while, but usually don't miss. i would treat EVERYTHIGN that went to school, wash her back pack, coat, etc in hot water however, don't treat her head unless you find signs of lice..not good for the scalp to do that

Chances are she won't get them so don't panic until it happens. My sister got lice in junior high from wearing an infected persons hat. She never told my mom, picked her own nits. I never got the lice even though we shared a room. The lice eventually went away and no one in our house even knew until she told us years later.

sorry, no amount of cleanliness levels keep lice away; they are like ticks, you just pick them up.

but chances are you have nothing to worry about, as long as your daughter isnt one that shares hairties, hats, combs/brushes, etc. :)

Schools and daycares have policies that don't allow infected students back until they are nit free. I taught for several years at a residential school where lice were a HUGE problem. Evening activities were a lot of times scheduled around nit combing. Our students had even built up a tolerance to the chemical shampoos. Vasaline worked great, but is super messy. Saturate the hair, sleep with a shower cap on, and wait a couple of days before washing and combing. More than likely your daughter won't get them. I was exposed to them more times than I can count and never got them. Our daughter was exposed to them a couple of weeks ago and never got them. Just be sure you wash everything that was at daycare. Things like pillows you can seal in a plastic bag. You can also freeze things. Just be glad there are all these options. My grandma remembers her mom using turpentine on her head!

Well, my daughter came home from a friend's house with lice and it was horrible to get rid of, so, just tell your daughter not to share hats, coats, mittens, etc. You don't have to tell her it is because of lice, just tell her that's what grown ups do, don't share clothes. And lice doesn't care how clean the pre-school is, lice doesn't care about anything but spreading. I know it's yuck, but please don't think anything less of this other little girl, I've been in that mom's position and it is embarassing. We are a very clean, tidy family and it still made it into our house. Good luck not getting it!

Below someone said that lice don't like heat - that is completely NOT true. They thrive in the heat, that's why they hang around the nap of your neck and behind your ears, that is the warmest place on a person's head.

My pediatrician said to french braid (or braid) their hair very tight. Then spray tons of hairspray. I do this when a classmate has lice.

Get your daughter a Bug Bag asap. It is the only product I know that prevents head lice form spreading. My son came home w headlice FOUR times before someone finally told me about this product.
www.bugbagusa.com