Neighbors and head lice what to do??

I used to babysit and we went thru quite an experience with the head lice. I did not blame any parents as I also did not want to be blamed. There was no way to pinpoint it and blame any one child. I reached a point where I was checking each child's head as they came into my house each morning. If a kid had them...they stayed home from school and I did their head. Still the problem persisted. The problem was that at the school the nurse was checking only one or two classrooms a day. If I called and said I was keeping jimmy home for lice...that would be the classroom checked. The fact is jimmy would leave school and hang out with kids NOT in his class and so the problem is being spread as we treat jimmy. In the end, a friend and I took a day and went up to the school and helped the nurse go thru each and every classroom! It was an epidemic! You can't blame the kid or the parents. Unless you are 100% sure that the mother is not dealing with the problem, it could be that they are just going round and round. I would not just assume the parents don't care.

I just posted this in another discussion adn thought you'd appreciate the info. This is information off a Tv show called What's Good for You. It's about what to do to get rid of head lice and actually explains that you don't have to wash sheets etc to control them. Head lice only live in hair where there's a plentiful supply of blood, but you can't catch head lice from dogs or cats because lice only live on a diet of human blood. Meanwhile, Marae's mum, Rhonda has freaked out and flung herself into the usual damage control frenzy; stripping beds, and vacuuming floors and anywhere she suspects the dreaded lice might be lurking. Is she doing the right thing? Can head lice live in pillowcases and bed sheets? "That's another misconception actually, because the head lice can't live on doonas and pillowcases and things like that," says Dr Webb. "You're much better trying to spend the time removing the lice from the children's hair rather than overdoing the laundry and cleaning the house." In fact, lice can't last a day off a human head. So what's the best way to get rid of head lice, once they have moved into your child's hair? There are stacks of head lice treatments to choose from, but Glenis says that the best treatment of all is — wait for it — ordinary old hair conditioner. "You put lots of conditioner on," says Glenis. "Just get a cheap one and put a lot of conditioner through the kid's hair." Apparently, the slimy conditioner clogs up the lice's breathing apparatus and stuns them for about twenty minutes. "What we're looking for is not so much the eggs but the live critters themselves; the adults, the louse," says Glenis. "You'll see them when you start to comb through the hair." Coated with conditioner, the poor old lice are too dopey to swing like Tarzan from hair to hair and you can catch them with a fine-toothed comb. Very fine combs with long, rounded stainless steel teeth work best. Comb every part of the head four or five times. "You just wipe the comb on some kitchen paper and if they've got eggs or lice, you'll see them," finishes Glenis. How simple is that? Better still, you can do this for every head lice attack because it's so chemically mild, the hair conditioner won't harm a single hair on the child's head. "The comb and conditioner method is the one we prefer the most because there's no chemicals involved," says Dr Webb. "It's a bit time-consuming, but studies have shown that it's really successful

ohh girll..i think that is one of my ultimate fears..just the thought and it makes me itch my head!..lol..i dont know what all u can do if she refuses to do anything..i would certainly tell her untill she does somethign about there heads they arent aloud in ur house or around your children..thats just bullsh*t..i dont know if theer is anyone u can report her to..or if there is anything else u can do..but i sure in hell wouldnt let them around my children untill she does something about it..and if she doesnt..well at least this way your kids wont get it from them..i wish u the best of luck..and take care!

Do her kids go to the same school as yours? If so, contact the school nurse and express your concerns. Usually, that's enough for a school to do a lice check. Most schools will send home information to all parents about treating head lice, and the children who have it should be sent home and not allowed back until it's been treated -- at least that's how it was done when I was a kid. Either way, it'll alert the school that there might be a problem. If that doesn't work... it might seem mean, but I would consider calling child services. Clearly the children are not being kept clean. If the mother won't do anything to treat the problem on her own, then maybe the threat of having her children taken away will encourage her in the right direction.

I would contact your local childrens services agency and ask them about it. Also if they are in school the school needs to know to prevent other kids from getting it. It is sad that people dont care about their kid's well being. Make some phone calls, let other people know what is going on.

wow, I just can't believe that she chooses to do nothing about it! This is surprisingly hard to answer.. You might want to call up your local child/community service centre and see what sort of rights etc you have, if there is an obligation, other than, of course, ethics and common decency. I'd once again take your neighbour's children and do a headlice treatment all together, as well as asking your neighbour once more if she could atleast monitor it, or, if you wanted, chip in some money towards the treatments. (i'm getting itchy just at the thought of this) obviously if the kids are all friends, it would be unfair to stop them seeing each other over this, but both sets of parents have obligations as such. I wish you the best of luck!

First of all when the kids are in school some one should call the school nurse and let her know because your kids probably aren't the only ones recieving the unwelcomed gift. I worked with kids in my church and we had a family whose kids were always infested. As a worker (with a lot of hair) I was always getting infected too. I hated it. We as a church did everything we could including buying all the stuff they needed to get rid of them several times. Finally after the family moved into another home and did thier hair again the problem was solved. Some people do not believe that head lice is harmful and they don't believe in using chemicals (some use mayonnaise which does not work)to get rid of them. Good luck to you.

I understand and sympatize with you as I have gone through this myself . I wish I knew what to offer to help but have never found a way to get parents to understand this is just gross and they have to treat their children . My daughter came home with lice a couple of years ago and it was a big job to try and get rid of it and like you said totally disgusting . The one's in our area who have children with lice all the time actually send their children to school with it and this is why they can never get rid of it in the school . They have been reported for doing this but nothing has ever happened as a result and every year when school goes back in , it is a big thing because their is always head lice going around and yet we have no way to protect our children . Like you I always have extra lice shampoo around the house , just in case .

maybe you can recommend the shampoo for head lice..just tell your neighbor that the kids are one who make the sacrifice by scratching their heads..i agree with you that you didn't allow your children to stay with your neighbor's kids because they maybe get the lice..and it's sooo itchy..do take care with your children's health..

I would think that it would be necessary to get child protection services involved in a situation like this. Head lice is something easily taken care of, and the fact that she's been aware of this issue and has done nothing to help her children is neglectful, if not outright abusive. She has a responsibility to take care of her kids. I understand that there's a lot involved, what with having to boil all the clothes and fabrics in the house and comb out the eggs, etc. It can be quite an undertaking. Still, she has an obligation to do it. You could contact the school nurse and ask them to call CPS, because I'm sure they're aware of the problem, or you could call and see if you can do it anonymously, if you don't want her to know it was you that called. My mother told me about a home remedy that works as well as the expensive shampoos--mayonnaise. If you coat the child's head in mayonnaise and put a shower cap on it for like, an hour or so, the lice will suffocate. Then you can comb them out after you rinse the child's hair. Luckily I haven't had to deal with this at our house yet, but I'll give it a try if it ever does happen.

Have you tried calling the health department? I think I can try to do that or try to call the kids school that might help also. I went through that also. My son kept getting lice from a nieghbor finally she did something about it. Good luck

Sounds like to me you can't do much to help her kids. Guess she really can't be bothered. But you can help your own kids to avoid this problem. I would suggest organic apple cider vinegar rinse. Yes it will work. Braggs or any other organic brand will work. If you can't get that.. just get some vinegar, and put it in the hair. Rub it through the hair and let it sit a bit. Then rinse out well & condition the hair.

Contact child services. Or maybe contact the school. Here in Nova Scotia Canada you can't send your kids to school with lice and they will be sent home. My son got a bite from a flea once and we found out he is allergic to them. He gets totally covered in hives, every inch of him. My kids have never had head lice but I wouldn't want them near it.

Hi, I dont know as to what to do to get your neighbor off her a$$ and taking care of her childrens head, but something you can do to kinda keep the headlice at bay is to have your girls to blowdry their hair after every washing. The lice are annoyed by the high heat of the blowdryer and find it better to leave. Now I'm not saying to quit doing the lice shampoo treatments, continue doing this, but once they are gone help keep them gone by blowdrying their hair.