Niece Came over with Lice.... Unknowingly.

Lice can happen to anybody. They are a big pest, but not really dangerous if you catch them quickly. Comb everyone's hair with a fine-toothed comb. Look under all the layers in the back (my daughter's hair is very thick and they were hiding back there really well). Don't feel like you need to wash their hair every day, lice prefer a clean scalp.
Pack away any pillows, cushions, stuffed animals your niece may have come into contact with. Put them in big plastic bags and seal them up for a week. Lice don't survive long without a host, so that sould do it (also, if you find lice do the same thing again).
I've heard that tea-tree oil is a natural way to fight off lice, so you may want to use that for a week or two (except on the baby). And don't forget to check your own hair too!

If you do get lice, the lice shampoo is really the most effective way to get rid of them. I would call the doctor to see if there is any specific thing to look for or avoid, and how to treat the baby. Only treat those who actually have the bugs, and follow the directions, especially the follow-up treatment a week later. Over use or not doing the follow up can lead to bugs that are more resistant to it. And you can always call your doctor for any questions.

Get some RID shampoo for your older girls and wash their hair with it. The baby just watch closely. Don't be too upset about it, lots of kids in school pass on head lice to others. If you find that the baby has it, then being very careful wash her hair with RID as well. You'll find that the most traumatic thing about this whole issue is that you have to go to the drug store to buy the RID, but head lice is so common that no one bats and eye about it these days.

Everyone in your house can get it. Vacuum the couch , the floor , stuffed animals , beds, everything with cloth. Continue looking in hair for the 2 weeks especially for nits. If it happens - and I hope it dont- ask your pediatrician for a recommendation for a shampoo and use the nit comb at least twice a day ( very time consuming) and vacuum vacuum vacuum . Put all the pillows in the dryer for at least 20 minutes every day and change pillow cases every day.Get on a website for other tips.Hopefully everything will be ok . You sound like you are a strong woman and you and your daughters can handle anything.

Don't panic too much on this...I did hair for 22 years and saw lots and lots of this. So just keep checking your girls behind ears, and necklines they tend to go where children sweat....look for eggs, they look almost like a grain of rice,and hard in texture..if you find them you need to go to drug store and buy a lice remover...its important to get the eggs. unless the baby was around your niece alot she should be fine....good luck, hopfully nothing will show up, but it is very contagious..if you find them, you will want to clean most of your bedding and blankets..little inconvience, but like I said getting rid of the eggs is most important. hope this helps, K.

Wash all sheets, especially pillowcases, everyday. Put all stuffed animals or anything else that can't be put in the washing machine in a plastic bag for three weeks. Vacuum carpet everyday. Wash clothes. Lice will die without a host so keep anywhere they could live sanitized.

Unfortunately when I was growing up we had the same problem. Someone brought over lice, except it wasn't so unknowingly:( My mom offered to watch a little girl to help out a working mom and the mom knew but since she was working she didn't have time to deal with it so she let my mom deal with it. When my mom discovered it she covered the girls head with a nylon and called the mom and said you need to come get her right now and deal with this. She didn't come until after work and then brought her back saying she had dealt with it. i think she used a shampoo but did no follow up and then just brought her right back.
It was a total pain. Total!!!!

I have five brothers, they were easy. My mom just shaved all of their heads, no problems. Us girls had to treat our hair a bunch. We used lice shampoo, I don't remember which brands. They have these combs that zap the lice as you comb through your hair, my mom liked those.
Look for the lice eggs too. They look a little like dandruff except that they stick to the hair and you really have to pull them off. The combs that you use for lice are really dense and they might hurt a little. Treat yourself too.

Lice is very very contagious. All your little girl had to do was stand next to your niece. the little buggers can jump, and that is one of the ways they spread. Act like your girl's have it already. Don't expose them to others. Your little one should be good unless she has a lot of hair. I would call a doctor before using any kind of shampoo on your newborn, because they are like pesticides.
I'm sorry because I know how much this sucks, especially with a newborn. O my gosh, i can't even imagine. Good luck.

Tea Tree oil.

Lice HATE tea tree oil. I think you can get it at the grocery store now in the vitamin section. Or you can always get it at wild oats or call around.

ANYWAY....add a teaspoon of tea tree oil to your kids' shampoo (and yours). I do this every time there's a lice worry at school. It works even if the lice are already there. It stings them, and they leave. It also gets rid of those phatom itches you're prolly experiencing now. I wouldn't put it on my baby--just look closely...how much hair does she have?

You can also bag up all the toys they were by....leave it in the tied off bag for 48 hours. The lice can't survive that long in the bags.

Walmart has a comb that gets rid of lice in one go by electricuting the little eggs. I don't have a link....

Yes your newborn can get lice. We had a lice problem in one of my children's classes where the parents were never notified. We were at Disneyland when I noticed Lice on my 9-mo-old daughter. She barely had any hair but I could see bugs crawling around in the light. I treated her with the Rid shampoo. You are not supposed to use Rid on anyone younger than 1 or 2. The description and packaging information does not tell you this. I read it all. I was searching the internet for information and read it on line. For the follow-up treatment I called my pediatrician and asked what to do; she told me to cover her hair in Vaseline, cover it and let her sleep overnight like that. The lice never came back. There is also a spray to treat your carpet and mattresses. All stuffed animals need to be bagged up for a certain amount of time also. Most of this is on the internet. The good news is that not everyone in the household got it. The ones that seemed to get it were the ones that shared a room or a comb. If you find it please report it to your child's teachers at pre-school, day care, school, or church. They can let other parents know to check their children. Otherwise you keep battling it. The child who was in the class with the problem got it twice. I had to threaten to call the health department before they would send out a letter as they didn't want to cause a scare at the school. I was furious, unless everyone is treated it can spread and it can keep coming back. All clothing also needs to be washed in hot water. It is rumored that if you use gels and hairsprays that the lice do not like it. Also a hot blow dryer is supposed to keep them away as they do not like the heat. It is also necessary to get all of the eggs out or they will hatch and to follow the treatment schedule. Good luck!

I teach preschool and we go through this about once a year in our classroom. Its not too bad. Just bag up stuffed animals, pillows, (we put them in a dark room for 2 weeks). Wash any blankets that they may have had contact with. Vacuum the floor or couch. Then just be alert and watch the hair of your girls, we do checks on the kids every day for the next two weeks if we find it in the classroom. good luck :)

http://firstaid.webmd.com/lice-treatment

I truly hope this helps you. Wish you alot of luck with this problem.

First off, don't panic!!!

There's a lot of advice that only serves to exhaust you, lets avoid that.

http://www.headlice.org/

Head lice prefer very clean scalps. The more you process the hair the less friendly a place the scalp is. So, for your two older girls use the blow drier daily for the three weeks, use hair sprays and gels, and have them in up-do's. Also lots of swimming in the public pool with all that high chlorine content will help, too...and the drowning affect...the little buggers need to breathe.

Avoid the temptation to burn the house down and start from scratch. :)

Your new born is the easiest to monitor, she doesn't have long hair, so breathe easy with her, rubbing the regular lotions and baby oils on her scalp should be enough to create an unfriendly place for lice.

If you do find lice, the best thing to do is simply comb them out. The adults are easy to get out and the nits are not affected by the poisonous shampoos that absorb into your child's skin, so just cross the shampoos off your list--they're really more dangerous, stinky, and expensive than they are worth!(they can burn, and irritate the scalp which is counter productive since they're looking for blood any survivor will be nursed back to health)

If it'll make you feel better, vacuum the couch, but really just focus on where your niece actually spent her time rather than scouring other rooms that have no real reason to be.

Everything will be ok...this is the best time of the year for lice if you're going to get it...because of the sun, the swimming, the lack of hat wearing, the lack of coats and scarfs, make it so much easier to resist and avoid.

And from me and my hubby, to you and your hubby: HOORAH!!!

I had an episode with lice (it wasn't pretty, my daughter got it)but I learned the hard way what to do. if it hasn't yet showed up just wash everything you think she touched which you did good job. If it shows up DO NOT buy over the counter stuff absolutely a waste of money.And lots of chemicals YUCK. Just get a fine toothed comb and olive oil( you can also add Eucalyptus essential oil to the olive oil but you don't need very much). It suffocates them and they die. You will have to do this a couple of times to make sure you get them all. And watch for the eggs. That's why you need to do it a few times to get the ones that hatch. My daughter was the only one in our house that got it.GOOD-LUCK