Lice Outbreak in School

There is really no need to keep her home. Treat her with tea tree oil or some other OTC lice treatment (don't use RID, I think lice have built up an immunity to it!). Then, put her hair in a braid and send her to school. Lice cannot jump. The spread from the lice crawling from one head to another. They have lice deterrent products you can put in her hair or you can put other products - hairspray, mouse, etc. Lice don't like products in hair because they cannot attach the nits (eggs) to the hair shaft if it has product on it. Use the lice spray and spray her mattress and pillow, wash all bedding and dry at the hottest setting. Spray any cloth chairs, couch, etc., even car seats. Put all stuffed animals and other cloth things that can't be washed in a garbage bag for a couple of weeks. Goggle the life cycle of lice - if you do a follow-up treatment in 10 days as recommended, you should be okay. Lice eggs hatch 7 days after laying and lice cannot lay eggs for 5 days after hatching so if you follow-up in 7 days, you get all the baby lice that come from the eggs that you missed when you treated her hair the first time, and they won't have time to lay more eggs so that pretty much does it. It's not that hard if you just take the time to do it right.

No need to keep her out. We just went through all of this and its really a pain, but you can actually prevent an infestation by using a Terminator comb preventatively. There are oils that supposedly repel live bugs too, like sage,eucalyptus, rosemary, and peppermint. Just tell her not to hug her friends for a while, wear hair back, and if you are really freaked, buy the Terminator comb on-line and use it once a week or so to prevent an infestation. Its hard to get rid of if the infestation goes unnoticed for weeks, but if you catch it early, its not too bad.

My kids both got lice once a few years ago. I suspect they got them from wearing go-cart helmets without using a shower cap underneath. Anyway, it was so not a big deal. I bought the shampoo from the drug store and a metal nit comb. I washed their hair with the shampoo, changed their sheets and pillow cases, combed through every day for a week, used the shampoo again, washed bedding again and we have never seen any lice since. My husband or I never got it. They have always worn the shower caps under the helmets ever since.

Lice don't jump or fly, so keep long hair tied back and tell you daughter not to share hats etc. Lice also don't live much more than 24 hours, so bagging stuff up for a week will insure that there will be no lice.

Wow! Be grateful they're checking and informing. In our school, it's not considered a health hazard or a problem. Children are allowed to stay and parents are not notified and children are not checked. In fact, teachers can get in trouble for checking. We've dealt with lice 4 times. I always keep my child home when they get it until I know they are lice free, but not just because I'm worried. They'd never go to school - there is always SOMEONE in the school who has it, even if you don't know about it. But seriously, be grateful.

I have two daughters who have long hair and never had head lice yet( knock on wood). They send about 2 or 3 papers home since school started about a child in my kids class who had lice and asking parents to check their kids at home etc. I use hair spray every morning and spray their hair and pull it up in a pony tail. I spray my son's hair also, even though his hair is short. I think it something your child will get or not, and there's not much you can do but if they get it then take it from then. My kids picked up so much from things from school. My 5 1/2 year old son had mono this year and nobody else in our family picked it up, thankfully. Not everyone will get it. Yes some will but doubt everyone will. I know where you're coming from. I worried about it all the time they send a head lice paper home.

I would not keep my child home from school. Lice is very common for elementary kids, if you kept her home every time there was an outbreak, she'd be missing a lot of school. Keep hair back in pony tail if her hair is long and check her head daily. They are not that hard to get rid of, it is just disgusting and nasty but nothing you can really do. Tell her not to share hats, gloves, coats, combs, brushes....etc..... You will be ok.
Good luck.

My girls have very long and never had lice. I would tie back your daughter's hair as suggested and also spray it with hair spray. Lice like clean hair and I think the hairspray helps keep them away. At least it has worked for us.

I know lice sounds horrifying and scary, but it's really not that bad if you're diligent. You can buy tea tree oil at your local organic grocery store (sprouts, whole foods, etc) and add it to the shampoo and conditioner. We put it in leave in conditioner and sprayed it on their hair every day. Don't wash their hair every day, lice like clean product free hair. Talk to your daughter about not sharing hats/combs and not laying down on the carpet at school. Both my kids had it in late elementary, neither their dad or I got them and we even shared brushes/pillows/blankets. I attribute that to the fact that DH shaves his head routinely and I wear a bunch of product in my hair.

Do not keep her out. Tie her hair back (braid or bun if possible). Lice (I think) like clean hair, so maybe just wash her hair every other night.

Also, if there has been a major outbreak, the teachers are doing what they can on their end to keep it out of the room. Tell your daughter not to share hats, hair ties, hoodies, etc.

It is actually not that easy to get lice. Most kids have it for a full month before they or anyone else notices it. (Truly - this is in the American Academy of Pediatrics report on the subject.) That being said, IF your child does come down with lice, it is truly not that difficult to get rid of it. When my oldest had it in third grade, I read the AAP report on head lice (read it here: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/2/392.f... )

In short, the recommendation is to treat with 1% Permethrin (brand name of Nix, or just use the generic drugstore brand), and then 7-10 days later, re-treat again. That's IT. You do not have to comb nits (unless you feel like it), you do not have to go insane sterilizing everything in your house. Just treat with Nix on day 1 and somewhere in days 7-10. I promise it's not the biggest deal ever. It's just not. Use the available scientific research and follow it.

And really, since your child doesn't already have lice, just tell her not to share brushes, headbands, hats, scarves, or jackets with her friends. A louse will not leave a healthy head willingly. They don't jump like fleas. Kids actually have to touch heads, or share items that have touched their heads, in order to spread lice. Lice don't voluntarily live in pillows or on stuffed animals or anywhere like that - and they can't survive long without a host.

It will be okay. Try not to worry! I know it's creepy sounding to have lice, but they are truly not that hard to get rid of.

I agree with all the other moms. Let her go to school, keep her hair up :)

If you kept her home every time you get notices about lice at school, she'll miss a lot of school over her childhood!

The one thing I will add (or 2 things) is that it's very hard to see nits on blond hair sometimes.

My sister works on a pediatrics team and they suggest having a very strong light (my sister used one of those spot lights you use for painting) when you check. Also, she stood her kids in the tub - so that while she combed (with the spot light) any nits fell into the tub and washed down the drain when she cleaned the kids off afterwards.

Good luck :)

You don't keep your child home from school because of a lice outbreak. In our district, that would be considered an unexcused absence.

Be proactive, follow the guidelines the school gives you.

Our elementary school had a number of breakouts when my now 20 yr old was in school. Not once did she get lice!

I had a set up in my laundry room with sink and when there were outbreaks, I checked her BEFORE she came in the house and BEFORE she left the house to make sure she was cleared. That way, if she came home with them, then my major concern was the clothes she had on and everything with her at the time.

Follow basic rules, no sharing of brushes, combs, caps, hats, headbands, bows, etc. Lice like clean hair... I usually skipped a day of shampoo for daughter and I had a lice repellent spray I sprayed on her hair every morning before she went to school.

Since I did that, there are several essential oils, tee tree shampoo and other things lice do not like that you can use safely on your child's hair and do your best to repel them.

Bottom line, lice are not picky about who they inhabit. They go for the rich, the poor the middle, it does not matter and does not make you dirty if your child gets them.

This is not an excuse to skip school. You wouldn't have her skip school if some kids had the stomach bug or bad cold would you? Just be smart about it and be proactive.

take sensible precautions.
if your number's up, take the necessary steps to get rid of them.
go on about your life.
khairete
S.

You don't need to keep her out. If none of you have it, then go to either Great Clips (Lady Bug line) or Ulta (Fairy Tales line) and get the spray that you put in your hair. I did this with my daughter after we had them 3 times in a row last year, and they crawled out of the RID onto her pillow after I did her hair. These lines are natural using Rosemary, Tea Tree, and Citronella oils. The lice don't like the smells, so they don't go to those heads. Since we have been using it, we have not had another outbreak. When it was going around school again this year, I just sprayed both of my kids with it, and sent them on their way. It is awesome! I used the Fairy Tales line from Ulta and I think the bottle was under $15 but close to it. The Great Clips line is supposed to be cheaper I think. Totally worth the money.

Don't keep her out of school. Just follow the instructions. The reason this outbreak is spreading is that not everyone is fully treating their kids, and because lice can be tough to eradicate. But she's already exposed so you have to go through all the steps anyway! Follow all the precautions in terms of not sharing towels and hairbrushes to protect your own family, get some good advice from the school nurse, the public health department and your local pharmacist on both chemical treatments and things like mayonnaise (friends of mine just went through this and used both, with 2 "rounds" to get full eradication), and just soldier on.

You just can't avoid every possible thing by keeping kids at home every time there is a problem (flu, lice, colds, etc. not to mention what happens when the unvaccinated issue comes up). When I was teaching in 2 different schools, and when my son was in school, we'd see cases of lice but certainly not everyone got them. Besides, even if you kept her out for a week, then what? She'll go back to school with kids who may or may not still have lice. Then what? Another week off? It never ends. So you just do the best you can, take precautions, and deal with what comes.

We have outbreaks at our school all the time. It seems a big pain in the butt to get rid of them, but people are successful. I've had numerous friends go through it and do just fine without a crazy amount of effort. So I wouldn't be overly fearful, but at age 5 it wouldn't be the worst thing to miss a week of school... We have dodged the bullet year after year and while I'm not sure of the exact reason, here are things we do when we hear there are lice at school: emphasize no hugging, no sharing hats or brushes. We wash hair with a tea tree shampoo (lice are supposed to hate tea tree oil) and put my daughter's hair in a single braid. I then spray it with hair spray (they're supposed to hate sticky hair products). And finally, I take straight up tea tree oil (you can get it at Whole Foods or other health food/natural stores) and dab a L. behind her ears, at the nape of her neck around hairline. So far, so good. Good luck!

I wouldn't keep her home.
Last year there wash recurring lice problem in my daughters Kidnergarten class. The teacher took matte to her own hands and provided each child garbage bag to store their coat/backpack. She kept a spray bottle of coconut and anise oils on her desk and asked the girls if they would like some for their hair.
I looked it up when I got home and found several studies about the effectiveness of these oils, then went to the health food store and bought some. I can't paste on my device, but if you google coconut oil and anise oil you should find the studies.

I second Fairy Tales hair care .... Target, Ulta, Amazon all sell it.

http://www.fairytaleshaircare.com

Don't keep her home, that really is overreacting. Follow the instructions from the school, use some of the treatments mentioned below (we use Tea Tree Oil on a regular basis to keep them away), and just be preventative about it. :)

Prevention is better that missing school, unless you plan on home schooling. Use a lice prevention spray, Fairy Tales was mentioned. Just saw another one at Target over the weekend.

Keep your daughters hair up all the time, use the spray before school and teach her to not use other kids combs. Buy the Terminator comb, and comb through her hair on a regular basis. Anytime your kids are in school there is the opportunity to be exposed to lice.

Basically, prevention is your best cure. During school, YOU should be checking your kids for lice and using a spay. Using the terminator comb weekly is the fastest way to keep in check.