Head lice

[Babydoll2271]

Hi my daughter gets head lice often and  i was reading some of these posts    One person stated that they cannon live on bedding hats etc    they are surely mistaken   lice can live for up to 2 days off the head      thats why its recommend that you bag all stuffed animals for at least 2 weeks and wash all bedding in hot water and dry for at least 20 mins

Lice are becoming really resistant to everything going  even tea tree oil   

[phathui5]

We had to deal with lice about five years ago. We shaved all the guys' heads and doused dd's head in olive oil to suffocate them. We also washed all the bedding and combed, combed, combed. It worked for us.

[Ragana]

Apart from washing all bedding/clothes and bagging stuffed animals, we rewashed pillow cases every day and put plastic bags on the car headrests until they were gone. Also treated the entire family's hair with oil, then used tea tree oil shampoo. They went away and haven't come back. Knock on wood.
 

[Tapioca]

If they only last for 2 days off the head why do the stuffies needed to be plastic bagged for 2 weeks?  I don't understand. 

[meemee]

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/116/6/1612.2.full

this is what helped my dd. no more picking and freaking out the whole house. just dryer and cetaphil lotion. 

[Ragana]

Tapioca,

Because there can be eggs as well as live lice on them.
 

[purplerose]

we never had to wash linens, that seems overkill. i used mayoannaise covered with plastic wrap for 3-4 hours, then did it again 2 days later and that took care of it. i didn't even have to use the lice comb.

[Ragana]

Originally Posted by purplerose 

we never had to wash linens, that seems overkill. i used mayoannaise covered with plastic wrap for 3-4 hours, then did it again 2 days later and that took care of it. i didn't even have to use the lice comb.

Lucky! I think we were just so set on getting rid of them for good that what we did was probably overkill, but it worked.

[rdinde]

Ughhh! I just noticed my son scratching his head profusely and upon examination found head lice! Of course I immediately looked online for home remedies as it was late evening.  Upon doing research I discovered you can pour Listerine on the hair and cover with saran wrap - leave on for 2 hours, then wash, comb out nits. This worked very well although I am not sure about reinfestation. Further research and I have found zippity doo shampoo for lice prevention and fairy tales leave in hair spray and conditioner. I have ordered these so if anyone is interested check back with me! As soon as it arrives I will let you know how well it works!

[karkli]

Originally Posted by rdinde 

Ughhh! I just noticed my son scratching his head profusely and upon examination found head lice! Of course I immediately looked online for home remedies as it was late evening.  Upon doing research I discovered you can pour Listerine on the hair and cover with saran wrap - leave on for 2 hours, then wash, comb out nits. This worked very well although I am not sure about reinfestation. Further research and I have found zippity doo shampoo for lice prevention and fairy tales leave in hair spray and conditioner. I have ordered these so if anyone is interested check back with me! As soon as it arrives I will let you know how well it works!

Did you use the Fairy Tales? If so, I'd love to hear your review.

My two daughters and myself have just dealt with our first super fun case of head lice. Since going through it and talking to other parents about it, I've heard a lot about Fairy Tales. Unfortunately, not from anyone who has actually used the product - Only people who have heard about it from people who have heard about it from people, and so on.

Typically, I assume that "preventive" products like this are sales gimmicks; however, after the week we've had of treating, washing, and combing, combing, combing, I'm willing to open my mind a bit!

[NiteNicole]

I use Fairy Tales on my daughter.  I also use Suave rosemary mint shampoo and J/a/s/o/n lavender conditioner.  Lice has gone around her classroom a few times this year.  She has very VERY long hair so I wash with the Suave, condition with the Jason.  During the week, I use either a "dry" shampoo or L'oreal Elnett hair spray, depending.  I try not to wash it unless it really needs it because the product build up actually helps deter lice.  I try to spray the Fair Tales really heavily all over the scalp before I braid it and pin it up.  I hate to tempt fate, but so far...

My daughter's kindergarten teacher recommended Fairy Tales.  She says there's also something you can get at most drug stores - yellow and green bottles?  They make a spray, shampoo, and conditioner.  It REEKS of Citronilla.  She says that's what she uses when lice is going around and so far she's never had it.  Last year, we were at the point of making kids put their jackets, hats, gloves, and back packs in huge Zip Loc bags in the hallway before coming in the classroom.  Nap mats also went into bags.  Fair Day is always immediately followed by Lice Month.  The girls knew it was serious when they were told no more bows till further notice.

I don't think things like mayo and olive oil actually work.  How do you "smother" an egg?  I'd rather just suck it up and deal with the RID, clean everything, and be done with it.

[mamazee]

I threw everything her head touched in the dryer to kill anything on it, and doused her head in olive oil, and then spent five hours with a magnifying work light picking out every single nit. Then a week later, I doused her in olive oil again to kill any nymphs (just in case i'd missed a nit.) That did it. Now I spray her head with a spray that I put tea tree oil in. She hasn't gotten them again, but then she also learned not to allow her coat to get piled up with other coats anymore.

[beanma]

The mayo/olive oil/whatever method of "smothering" doesn't actually smother the eggs, but it does smother the nymphs that can hatch from the nits before they can get to reproductive age. Lice have a 2 week gestation period in the egg (nit). Then it's one or two days before they are old enough to mate and reproduce. I don't think there are any shampoos/creams/etc that you can apply to the hair that will kill the nits. There are some new UV-type zappers that might work. I haven't tried those. So if you're using RID or one of the other insecticides on your or your child's scalp, you will need to retreat periodically to kill any nymphs that hatch from the nits that the shampoos don't get rid of. When we had lice we did the goop in the hair method overnight (in a shower cap) for 3 weeks. It got old and toward the end I let the kids go every other night, but it completely killed 'em all. It is super hard to get every last nit and the empty egg cases can still stay attached to the hair strands so it's really not necessary to get each one, but if you use the goop method you do smother the nymphs as they hatch. I got where I used conditioner overnight in the shower caps and then it rinsed out super easy in the morning.

Good luck!