Dave1977w

Any tips?

My daughters have lovely long thick blonde hair, often full of nits.
My stbex wife, doesn't like me using the lotions, because it damages their hair.
I respect her wishes! is there an easier way to de lice other than using a comb for hours on end?

Old wives tales?

suki44883

They are getting the lice from somewhere, probably school. You should inform the school so they can advise the other parents that their children have been exposed to head lice.

So far as the stuff sold at the store, I don't know of any other way to get rid of the lice. Ideally, the entire family should be treated as it is very contagious.

Here's a link from the Center for Disease Control...

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/treatment.html

FireSprite

Oh Dear God. We've gone through lice episodes 3x when DD was in Pre-K through 1st grade.

NOTHING except the OTC shampoo worked on her thick, curly hair. And you HAVE to follow up with the 2nd treatment to catch any nits that you missed the first time around before they breed again.

Honestly, at one point she was so loaded with nits & so tender headed from all the combing that we started pulling every 3rd or 4th nit/hair out instead of dragging that lice comb over her head one. more. time. She'd had 2 incidents of lice within months of each other & it was just weeks of agony for her.

We tried the old wives tales of coating the hair with mayo, etc to smother the lice. It was gross, took just as much time (if not more) and wasn't effective. Tea tree oil does work really well to deter them in a preventative sense, but I don't think it does anything to kill the existing.

You can also buy sprays OTC that you can use to treat their mattresses, your couch, car seats, etc. Wash everything in hot water - all pillows, blankets, etc. Bag up their stuffed animals from their beds (if any) in large garbage bags, tie them shut & leave them for 30 days. There's all kinds of info online for this kind of stuff too.

Going forward - we learned that lice LOVE clean hair and consider any kind of hair product "dirty" so we started using a leave-in conditioner in DD's hair every day. At school she also wears a lot of ponytails so that if she gets too close with another student, her long hair isn't flying around & touching theirs. The school nurse suggested this because she said lice don't fly - they walk/jump so you have to be close together to transfer them. Pulling the hair back as much as possible can help cut down the possibility, but not prevent it.

involved

I am a hairdresser...dito what firesprite said! There are no short cuts and the follow up is so important! As is the spray for bedding and furniture! Its a lot of work but it must be done. ..there is a product called fairytails. Welcome To Fairy Tales Hair Care that is supposed to be good to repel (once you have cleaned up) dont know how effective it is but its pretty popular. It is usually sold in salons. Good luck

KateL

They are an absolute nightmare, my youngest daughter had them time and time again. We used the chemist lotions but I hear tee tree is good and that's quite natural xxxx

involved

Another tip is if your kids play baseball, they sometimes pass the helmets around. Those little buggers spread fast that way! Shareing hats and brushes and jackets hung near each other at school is also a way they spread. Sleepovers is another way!

Rosiepetal

Sympathize, I went through long thick hair lastnight which was luckily clear but they're in the classroom so must keep checking.
I find that adding a couple of drops of tea tree oil to normal shampoo/conditioner draws the nasty critters out when you're looking for them, just make sure the kids don't get it in their eyes as it stings.

MissFixit

There is a local salon here that advertises lice removal. I bet London has to have a lice removal salon.

Dave1977w

Yeah it's tricky, my soon to be ex wife is a hairdresser, so it would upset her to take the girls to another salon. I don't want to upset her.
As I mentioned in court, she can dress hair for royal weddings, but not de lice her own daughters hair....
(That's very sad to write)
Thank you all for the tips. I'll be on the case tomorrow.

AnvilheadII

you need to strip and wash all her bedding, all clothes recently worn, TREAT her scalp, probably twice with long hair...and of course check all other heads. the poor thing. definitely notify the school.

Bernadette777

Hi,

At my summer job, it's a camp! We adults use hair dye to wipe out any possible lice & use hairspray & keep hair on updo to protect ! I think over counter stuff helps for treatment of lice tho. Good luck!

LDT

My daughters, with their very long hair, came home from school with lice and promptly gave it to me, with my own very long hair. It was a nightmare. We went through the conventional treatment....twice.....but it was too toxic and damaging and we still had lice. So we ended up pouring a very thick coat of olive all over our heads, rubbing it in, wrapping our heads up in Saran Wrap or some other cellophane, let it stay on our hair for about an hour, and THAT is what finally killed the lice. We did the olive oil treatment at least twice in one week over a period of 2 weeks. The result was no lice and very shiny, healthy hair.

This is what worked for my family, and also another family of long haired gals. Good luck!!

Lyssy

All non-washables (pillows, stuffed animals, etc.) Put in heavy duty garbage bag and seal tightly. I think we did it for over a week (maybe two). PIA to get rid of, but like others have said, it must be done. Be sure to educate the girl too. No sharing brushes, hats. Also, be sure to treat headrests in the vehicles.

Don't feel bad, my stepsons mom was hair dresser also and refused to treat him. I went through it twice with him.

Rent a few good movies, put down sheets on the floor and make the best of it for all involved.

applecake

Gosh, Dave, I'm sorry you and your girls are going through that. I do not have personal experience with this remedy, but I know a mother with three school-aged kids at home who recommends saturating the kids' hair with the original amber-colored Listerine, then covering the hair with a shower cap for two hours. Be sure to comb the nits out. She said it works beautifully, but you need to re-treat weekly for four weeks to prevent re-infestation and give all the other parents time to eradicate the buggers on their end.

Spinner-007

I read a recent article that mention head lice is on the rise because of selfies.

People putting the heads together sometimes never come away with any better ideas, just lice! (Yes, bad joke but I'm so tired right now!).

Lulu39

I am the head lice queen

I bought an electronic lice comb which I use to detect the lice. I also use it, once they are detected, to kill as many as I can (it has two settings - detect and detect and kill). After that I use cheap hair conditioner and a lice comb.

BoxinRotz

Um Dave... If your STBXW refuses to treat the girls then YOU DO IT by whatever means is available to you and with whatever treatment will kill the lice!!!

If Princess can't handle it then that's tough sh!t!

Dave1977w

Thanks boxinrotz
That's what I needed to hear!!
I will deal with it tomorrow, my way, with the lotion recommended by the local pharmacy.
It's never harmed there hair before, just makes it look greasy for a few days.

Thank you all.

BoxinRotz

No problem Dave.

24Years

Is anyone else scratching their head while reading this?