Ugh! Lice! Nasty little critters!

I had long hair as a little girl and I caught lice from other children, what my grandmother did, I would not recommend but she filled my hair with raid, and put a towel around it for a few hours, then she washed it out several times with lice shampoo and took a fine comb to get the lice out.

Yuck! Lice!!!! And to think that until I came to canada I thought they hardly existed anymore. I had never seen one and I didn't know of anybody of had them. Sure I know that in some places in the world they still existed but when I thought of it I pictured poor countries, lack of hygiene or means to have proper hygiene, etc, etc, etc I never imagined I was going to find them in here. WHen I started working in the schools I had no idea that I was going to be faced with those animals I had never seen. I couldn't believe when I saw the kids sending letters home because some kid had lice. WHen my kids went to school and I got my first letter telling me to check my kids I had no idea of what to do or what to look for. I had to ask hubby's aunt to check them. I was so spooked I washed their heads with the shampoo even after aunt telling me she didn't find any LOL THen I washed mine as well and hubby's, and I felt itchy for days :):) You're lucky though. In here the school does not give out shampoo, we have to buy it. It's crazy though. WHen I started in the school, the nurse would still comb and clean the kids hair when they were found to have lice. There was a case where the kid would be cleaned and then the next day would come up with more. After talking to the family and checking out what was happening it turned out that apparently - and I don't know what culture this was - in the grandmother's culture having lice was some sign of prosperity or something, so she would take them from her and put in the kids head!!!!!! I never knew if I should believe this or not, but that's what they said at the office. As for ideas or suggestions I don't really have any in special, I would just follow the instructions and that was it. I would wash the hair, comb , check and recheck even though I still am not sure how they look like LOL I would wash bedding in the hottest setting on the machine, put the pillows in the dryer, and some stuffed toys I would keep thing in an sealed plastic bag for a few weeks.

This was very informative to me as i have kids as well. Don't know much about lice so reading this discussion was very cool and a nice learning experience for me....thanks for all the great advice given guys.....love you all!!!

My son and I got it a few years ago so I used the shampoo from the store and then I put baby oil into my son's hair. If the hair is greasy the lice can't hold and lay eggs. Then I had to take all toys with cloth and put them in the deep freeze for 2 days and I washed all our blankets and bought some spray (kinda like the shampoo) for my furniture. You have to clean your home from TOP to BOTTOM otherwise you will get reinfested. It's sooo not fun so make sure you do it right the first time and you may want to repeat the shampoo in about a week and a half.

OMG lice.... i hate lice!!!!!!!! My daughter had it and we suffered for over a year struggling to get rid of it. I shampooed my house and our heads and everything but it would not leave!!!!! FINALLY i used some conditioner from the dollarstore.... i let it on our heads for an hour and it was gone ! I have not had it back. And we do get it back, i will scream ! it is the worst thing i have ever had to deal with !

I never had head lice ever; my mother had a secret which she passed on to me

My son had it once. Caught it from some kid at school. We used the shampoo and it was gone with one washing (thank god).

My daughter when she was younger had them and yes they are a PAIN to get rid of. I had to buy the shampoo from the pharmacy, the school not offer anything for free. I had to do my daughter's hair, my niece's hair, my mother's hair and they had to do my hair. A real pain and I am so happy I don't have to go through that again. Make sure you wash all bedding too.

Ughhhhhhhh! How I hate them myself. I remember in my own childhood, I used to have them quite often. The situation in India is just reverse to what you mention. Here head lice was quite common and expected in the early 70s but now people have generally become more aware towards all-round health and cleanliness. My school had quite a few girls who perenially scratching their heads and my thick hair was perfect breeding grounds for these pests. my mom had a real tough time. she had those special combs with very thin gaps in between and we used to sit on the bed with a while linen spread and she would comb my hair in reverse. Ouch how it hurt. And then we had that special medicine (the smell of which would turn any corpse in its grave) and she used to apply it and wrap my head in a plastic bag (to keep off the foul smell and also to block oxygen to the pests) and I had to sleep like that and shampoo it off the next morning. apart from the hair, the entire bed articles (sheets, pillow covers, bed covers) all needed a wash So it was more like a ceremony. Nowadays however we have this medicated shampoo which has a nice smell too and less bothersome. but thankfully my son has not had an attack till now and i think his much-preferred crew-cut has a definite part to play in it.

i had them once in my childhood. i was very young. as usual i got it from school. i think it really feels bad to have them. it was so crazy things with all that scratching and all.

You have probably gotten a lot of good advice already Karen. I would think living in canada where the winters get cold enough to kill of some of these pests is why you have survived this long without having an issue. here where I live we do not. and on yes darlin I have fought my share of head lice. Just remember if it has not been mentioned all ready ( i have not read all your posts) to wash bed clothes in hot water and hot dry. boil water and throw in all your combs brushes and what ever else you use in hair. What you can not heat, put in a sealed bag such as trash bags and leave for two weeks. In about 7 to 10 days wash everyones heads again....that should do it... Then forever and a day watch watch watch :))))))

I had never even seen a louse before I was 38 years old, then my one daughter came home from girl's camp totally infested with them. oh what a nightmare. I cut off her long thick hair to make it easier to deal with.... I gave her mayonaise treatments and daily combed out gobs of the critters.... I had her sleep on plastic that I could easily hose off, because I could not wash in hot water at our house (the supply too limited) I had her wear a hair net at all times if we had to leave the house and be in public - so that pieces of hair did not fall out and spread the trouble to another unsuspecting family. at home she wore a hair net and a scarf over it. It took a couple weeks before we were certain we got them all. it has now been a few years since then - and I have not seen another louse - but the child has been itching her head ever since she had them...I guess it is now a bad habit?

you ask your pediatrician the right kind of shampoo

hi. Headlice prefer to to choose heads that are hygenic. my family had lice once... my mum and sis got it except me even though i made head contact with her several times. its because im more dirty than the rest of my family and as i said... lice prefer hygenic heads

Lice seem to love my daughter. If they get within 30 feet of her she'll get them. There are tons of shampoos on the market. I've recently discovered a new non-pesticide one called Results that seems to work pretty good. I've also gone out and spent the $25 on the LiceMeister (sp?) comb. No matter what you use, you can't avoid the hours spent going through the hair and getting out EVERY nit. You have to wash everything that comes into contact with your child's head... jackets, towels, pillowcase, ect... The bigger stuff (pillows, stuffed animals) I tie up tight into a garbage bag and put it into the deepfreeze for 4 days just to be on the safe side. Vacuum the furniture (chairs, couches and such). It's absolutely no fun but someone's gotta do it... MOM!

Tea Tree Oil is a good preventative solution, but not sure it helps with live ones. Gel supposedly works. Give the kid a buzz cut then slather gel on the hair. Mayonnaise supposedly does the same thing (smothers the eggs and live lice), but I would think that gel would be easier. I have no idea if my daughters school offers free lice shampoo, I treat my daughters hair with tea tree oil shampoo (though I am fresh out right now).

Had it several times when I was a kid and it's probably one of the reasons why my mum decided to chop my hair off because of it. She bought special lice shampoo and combed my hair out. She washed out sheets and cleaned down the house and it worked.. until the next time I got it LOL. Same thing again.

I seen that a few told you about the tea tree oil. It does work. We use 9 drops per ounce of shampoo. I make my kids wash their hair every sunday with the tea tree oil shampoo and if there is a major break out at school I make them wash their hair 2-3 times a week for a couple of weeks. My daughter got lice several times about three years ago. I was going crazy and in debt trying to buy all the lice shampoo, furniture spray, and goodies to try to fix the problem for good. Someone told me about the tea tree oil and we have not had lice in this house since then. I am so thankful to because I was ready to make our whole house go bald to try to end the lice nightmare. I will 100% give credit to the tea tree oil because there has been several outbreaks of lice at the kids school and so far mine are still lice free.

EWWWW! You are right they are NASTY Critters for sure. And yes! My kids had them as well growing up. When one kid gets them they all get them. The are the most disgusting things in the world. It was really bad in my house because all of my kids not only had fairly long hair but, very thick hair as well. It took us and entire weekend to comb through everyone's hair, and then on Monday morning, I was on the Cleaning Frenzy of a life time. Bagging up stuffed animals to suffocate them, stripping my entire households bed linens, taking down all the curtains, washing all the clothing in the house, cleaning carpets etc... I found that bleach kills them but be sure to open all your windows in the house, so as not to make yourself sick. As if you are not sick enough, having to deal with this anyway.

We battle this alot too, thanks to neighbors that dont care enuff to treat their childrens hair. I have tried almost everything I was told, including kerosene. We are on our toes all the time. I am going to try the tea tree oil now. Hopefully, this will KEEP THEM NASTY BOOGERS AWAY :)