Head Lice - Yonkers,NY

My GD has had head lice many times. I usually use Rid, but this time I got Nix. It is completely different. It worked the first time. It's really thick and you put it on and immediately comb through the hair and when you're done combing through, shampoo. The hair will stay "greasy" which is good because if there does happen to be one of the little boogers left alive, it can't attach any eggs to the hair shaft because of the "grease". That breaks the life cycle which is what you want.

After the last treatment and daily since then I have been putting Coconut hair conditioner in her hair. It's greasy. It will keep any lice eggs from attaching to her hair shaft so even if she is exposed again, she won't have a "break out" because once the live bugs die off, there will be no eggs to hatch.

Don't panic - this is very common and just takes some time and diligence to get rid of.

tea tree oil is what I have used when we got it. I mixed it with regular cooking oil cause it's strong. Just a heads up you might want to check your hair and anyone else in the house. Cause if she had it most likly everyone has it. I would do the tea tree oil right next to the scalp and then oil up the rest of the hair and comb through it. Any stuffed animals she has that you could not wash you can stick in the freezer.

Good luck and God Bless!

If you feel you can't get all the nits and lice yourself, and you're willing to pay someone and travel to Brooklyn, we have found Abigail Rosenfeld amazing (google "Brooklyn lice lady). I was stunned at the bugs and eggs she found in my daughters' hair AFTER we used the chemical shampoo and did our own comb out. She will get everything out and teach you her technique. She'll also sell you the best lice comb you can get. We found her to be totally worth it.

Whatever you do, don't forget to vacuum your daughter's car seat along with everything else.

Good luck!

You simply have to smother them. Rub olive oil or any other oil you have on hand into her hair, making sure to get the scalp really coated. Them plop a shower cap on her for the night. Wash it out in the morning and repeat in about 5 days.

Your vaccum cleaner is your best friend right now. Vaccum everything, her toys, mattress, under the bed then toss the bag. That should do it.

One thing we did was we put an old sheet in the bathroom where there was good light. Every night for like a month, DH combed through SD's hair and braided it (in your case, maybe pin it back or not bother, since it's shorter). He picked out any nits, new or old. Then the sheet got bundled and washed in hot water. I never got lice from SD.

Please remember that it's common and treatable.You may add tea tree oil to your daughter's shampoo or buy special tea tree oil since they don't like it.

You'll have to treat her again in a few weeks. It's just breaking the lifecycle.

Remind her not to share combs or brushes or hats or hair accessories. And if she was recently with a friend or family member, give them a head's up. None of SD's friends ever go lice from her, though.

go to headlice.org.

They give good common sense instructions that are not old wives tales. Many many many of the stuff people do for head lice is so out there and has no possibility of working.

I wash the kids hair with regular shampoo and conditioner. Water stuns the critters so they will be moving slow if at all and they are easy to remove with either tweezers or your fingers. I put them into a glass of water.

I have a magnifying light that I bought at Staples, it attaches on my desk. If I don't use that then I out on a head gear that we use for cutting stones. They can be bought at Hobby Lobby.

Section the hair off with just about an inch of hair to go through at a time. I start examining the scalp and hair shafts. I take my time and always either pull the hair out that has the nit or clip off the single hair. That way I get each and every one.

Yes, it can take me an hour to do because her hair is waist length and thick. But once I am done she is done. We have only had one relapse where she forgot to change her pillowcase and I forgot to clean her hair brush. One of us did the deed so when I checked her head 2 days later I could see more nits.

I NEVER EVER put pesticides on the kids heads. I think it is a horrible idea. I am also allergic to rag weed and that is the main ingredient.

By going through the hair inch by inch you are making sure the bugs are gone and the nits are removed.

Here are some links to head gear that may be able to make the job easier.

http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/magnivisor-605717/

http://www.apogeekits.com/magnifying_glasses_light.htm

We just went throught this 3 weeks ago. We treated everyone in the house even though I only found it in 1 of my daughters hair (but I babysit a girl who we got it from). I did Rid the first day and then an olive oil treatment the next day( olive oil with tea tree, peppermint, lavendar and one other oil I cant remember) leave it on atleast an hour to smother the lice, then comb throught again. 9 days later did the chemical treatment again and the next day oil treatment. We didnt have anymore lice. Also I combed hair with the lice comb a couple times during the week to get any extra eggs I missed. We cleaned the whole house. I bagged up stuffed animals, dress up clothes, barbies and dolls for 2 weeks. Vaccuum everything couch, mattresses, floors and throw away vaccum bag and then vaccum every day. Wash all bedding including pillows and then I bagged them up and only used 1 pillow sheet and blanket per person and washed them everyday. There is a couch and mattress spry you can buy which I used and a prevention spray also. When we got it my friend came over and helped me and we cleaned everything in the house and I mean everything. I thought she was going alittle crazy on the cleaning but she had it last year and could not get rid of it for like 2months so we went the whole nine yards and it was gone by the time I did the second chemical treatment. Good Luck.
Also I threw away hair elastics and bagged up any cloth headbands and bows and threw away some brushes and everything else got cleaned in rubbing alcohol every time we used it and alcohled inbetween each persons head

Years ago, when the school my kids attended had an "epidemic" of head lice, I put them on garlic tablets. Even though the school still had major outbreaks, my kids never got them again, thank God! I used the Shaklee garlic tablets since it didn't make my kids stink of garlic. My niece recently had them, and my sister put her on the garlic tablets too, and she hasn't had anymore problems either. I bagged up everything I could, except for essentials, and threw it into the garage until we were lice free.

I am sorry you are going through this..my daughter who is in kindergarden came home with head lice I was dreading this day. Since she is very sensitive to alot of products I didn' wantt to use the lice treatment they sell at the store. I researched online and this is what worked for us. I put Listerine in a spray bottle the yellow kind and sprayed it in her hair and put a shower cap on her for 15 mins. then I bought suave coconut shampoo and put 15 drops of tea tree oil (I found it at walgreens) into the shampoo bottle and then i washed her hair with the shampoo followed by the suave coconut conditoner..I then combed though her hair while it was wet. I read lice do not like the coconut smell or the tree oil I then used the hair dryer to dry her hair.. I also bought the Robi comb which I believe every parent should have it is 29 dollars at walgreen. It make a buzzing sound when you run it though the hair and if a bug has hatched even a tiny one it will stop buzzing and you no you caught one. I now comb through her hair everyday when she comes home with the robi comb to make sure all is well. Oh and I also vaccum her room and the mattress on her bed and washed her bedding and sheets in hot water and put her pillows in the dryer for 15 mins.. After one treatment of all of this all is well:) If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2010/...

Check out the above link - a research paper published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Bottom line, treat now with Rid or Nix. 9 days from now, treat again. That's it, that's all, nothing else that you need to do. Don't worry about the "chemicals" in lice treatment - they are actually made from the Chrysanthemum flower, so it's actually a fairly natural product already. Obviously you do need to follow the application directions though.)

Lice won't willingly leave a healthy head (which is why adults don't tend to get it - we don't put our heads next to other people's heads like kids do). Lice don't jump off of kids' heads onto carpet or bedding like fleas do. They won't live more than 48 hours without a scalp to live on. So that makes it easier - you don't have to take extreme measures, you really don't. Wash the bedding, keep any hair bows off of her for 48 hours, and you'll be fine. My kids had lice about a year ago, we followed the procedures listed in this paper and successfully eradicated the head lice. We have not had any problems since.

Good luck!