It’s lice season – What you need to know
It’s the note that fills parents with dread: A student in your child’s school (or worse, classroom) has lice. If lice have a season, this is it. Kids congregating and co-mingling, working and playing with their heads close together, and letting their coats and hats share the same space … well … it’s a lice paradise.
Itching is the number one clue that your child might have lice, but because the itching is caused by an allergic reaction to the bites, a child may itch little, if at all. Lice and their eggs (nits) can also be spotted at the nape of the neck or behind the ears. Nits are round and “stick” to the hair.
Keep in mind that while lice are a major headache, they aren’t a health threat, so don’t panic. Lice shampoos (which are actually pesticides, so read directions carefully, do not overuse, and keep out of reach of children) are a common form of treatment. But while a shampoo will kill the live lice, it won’t destroy the nits. It’s important that a child with lice is checked every single day for nits, and that the nits removed by hand. I know. A major headache, remember?
Many parents are concerned about the safety of lice shampoos and want to try a non-toxic home remedy. Dr. Greene has some suggestions for parents, but it’s important to note that these remedies may not actually kill the lice, but instead force them into a dormant state. So if you do try one of these methods, be sure to use a lice comb every day to rid your child’s hair of dead or dormant lice and nits. The lice comb is now your best friend until this ordeal is over.
As HeadLice.org points out, any home remedy used after a pesticide treatment may alter how the chemical treatment works and should be avoided. Basically, do your research well before you choose your lice removal method.
Read more about lice prevention and tips for treating an infestation, including the mountains of laundry you’ll now be doing. And take a deep breath … soon, this will all be over.
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And yes, I can’t stop scratching my head after reading this
post.
I can remember being in primary school (in Scotland) that the
‘nit nurse’ would come around checking everyone’s hair to see if
they had lice. Now though, this has been banned because it may harm
a pupil if they are found to have lice….. I can’t believe this
excuse, surely if it’s treated quickly it would stop it
spreading.
One of the mom’s in our class had her children stripping down on
the front porch each day and washing everything in hot water each
night along with twice daily lice checks. Wow, some people are
vigilent. Her son got lice anyway so it just proves that there is
not much you can really do except to be aware and check
frequently.
We have just had a case of head lice in my house this
weekend.
My son had been complaining of his head itching last week. I
checked him when he first complained and didnt see anything. I told
him to use conditioner, I believed it was dry scalp since I didnt
see anything.
Friday after I sent him to bed he came to me and said my head is
really itchy. I asked if he used conditioner and he had. So I
started to check his hair again. I found he had lice eggs.I
expected lice to be white like people say but it was a light color
brown. the eggs were too, the eggs were a little reflective too. My
sons hair is brown too so it was actually a little difficult to see
the bugs and the eggs.
I went out got the lice treatments and stuff. We immediately
treated my son. Because it was hard to see the lice we chopped off
his hair. We checked the other kids and everyone else in the house.
No one else had it. My sons been grounded for the last 2 weeks so
he must have gotten it from school. I immediately informed the
school of everything and the circumstances also. Just in case we
also informed all the neighborhood kids & their parents.
I would like someone to make a quick “how to” video on head lice,
what they look like, what to look for, how to treat, how to use the
lice comb etc. for parents who have never dealt with it before. I
know that I would be interested in purchasing it in a second if I
could get all the answers in one place from a knowledgable
source.
She did howeve recommend tea-tree shampoo and said that for some
unknown reason the lice don’t like the tea-tree in it. So, the
local shops were raided and we now have an ample supply of the
shampoo in the cupboard.
The school looked like a sci fi scene where all backpacks were
sealed up in giant zip lock bags every day and there were parent
volunteers checking every child’s hair, every morning. In my
daughter’s class, there were 17 out of 21 students who caught the
nasty bug. We were one of the lucky 4 that did not catch it. We
used the Lice preventative shampoo from Cool Cuts 4 Kids and it
seemed to ward them off. The shampoo has tea tree oil in it which
is a natural lice deterrent.
I remember a year ago when our little one was the one with lice
so we were the cause of the note. Still do not know where or when
she got them but, we found a great comb that worked wonders for us
after the store bought shampoos did not do a thing (and their cheap
plastic combs may as well just be thrown away).
Excellent recap. We just got our dreaded note for our
kindergartener, that someone in her CLASS has lice. Then found out
this morning that it had been going around the school for a few
weeks prior, and all the kids had already been getting checked
daily!
One other point: If your child has long hair, ponytails or even
buns are a must! They provide much less surface for the bugs to
climb onto in the first place.
My mom and mother-in-law told me a few other ways to get rid of the
lice without using the usual chemical treatments. My mother used to
pull back my sister and brothers hair and coat their hair with gel
everyday for a week. It smothers the lice and their eggs.
My mother-in-law said that you can use mayonaise. She said not
miracle whip but mayonaise. Apparently the oils in the mayonaise
also smother the eggs and lice. You have to leave it on for at
least an hour.
It is so hard not to panic when you get the dreaded call or
email from the school. My daughter’s first grade class just had a
massive outbreak of lice and it was all throughout the entire first
grade.
We got that note a few weeks ago about my daughter’s preschool
– luckily it was that the sister of someone in another class had
it. But ever since then, MY head has just been itching, with that
icky crawly feeling where you just KNOW you have the little buggers
(but really don’t).
I now have a sone, aged three, who mixes with loads of other kids
in nursery. I went to the local chemist and asked for some shampoo
but was told that because he didn’t actually have any head lice
there wasn’t any shampoo they could give.