lice first-timer here, with questions

[Anonymous]

First off: EWWWWW!!! Now, to business. This is our first time with lice, so please bear with me. I've searched the forums already and I found the helpful lice-lady AMA thread and a few others, so I feel like I know what I'm doing with respect to nit-picking our heads and washing/drying all of our bedding, towels, clothing and jackets worn in the past few days, etc. Now I have three remaining questions:

1. Car seat -- how to treat? Should I just wiggle a plastic trash bag around it and leave that on for a few days? If we don't even use the car seat for a few days, the lice will just die, right? In that case, is doing nothing an effective treatment?

2. Eyeglasses -- going on the assumption that I have lice too (EWWWW!!!) should I do anything to treat my eyeglasses? Boil them? Douse them in alcohol? They're prescription or I would toss them in the trash, which is where I'm going to put all of our brushes and hair ties.

3. Backpacks and purses -- since these travel near our heads, do I need to do anything special to treat them? Or if we just don't use them for a few days, is that enough to rid them of any wayward lice that may have fallen there?

Bonus question: Am I missing anything? Do you have any helpful advice to share as I embark on this lice-eradication plan tonight? I'm trying to think beyond the usual things I would throw in the laundry after any old illness (never mind an infestation of bugs...EWWWW!!!) -- any helpful tips are much appreciated. Thanks, DCUM!

[Anonymous]

Wash those stuffed animals and put them through a hot dryer! Yes, lice don't live off the head, blah blah, but lice EGGS can live on a stuffed animal for day or two, then they hatch and boom! A louse! Snuggled on the stuffed animal that your child sleeps with... so louse moves over to the head and....

Sigh.

Burn the house down. That's my best suggestion.

Then call The Lice Lady.

And comb and comb and comb and comb and check and pick nits and pick nits for weeks. Because an egg hatches in something like 6 days (hey, everyone, I don't remember and I'm not going to look it up, so don't yell at me if it's 5 or 7 days) so the ones you see now, that you pick out, but you'll miss a few, and you'll miss a louse, which is busy laying eggs, so... . just know it's not a one time treat, comb and ignore. It's treat, comb, comb, comb and comb and pick every day for a week, then retreat and do the combingand checking and picking every damn day for another week!

Oh, it's so much fun.

[Anonymous]

Car seat cover and backpacks, just put them in the dryer on high heat. Eyeglasses, wipe them down and if you have a spare pair, wear those for a couple of days, Lice can't live more than a few days off a person....then comb, comb and comb, don't let up for at least a week to make sure you get all the nits. If you find any live bugs then repeat washing the bed linen etc.

[Anonymous]

Either of your plans for the car seat or purses are fine. Or just brush or vacuum them. Just rinse off your glasses. Lice are not agile when attached to anything besides hair, so If there are any lice on your glasses, they would readily fall off.

By far the most important thing to do is diligently remove the lice and nits from your heads. Lice are not like bed bugs. If there happens to be one on your carpet or something, it's just going to die there. They can't jump and as I noted, once they're not on hair they are not very mobile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wash those stuffed animals and put them through a hot dryer! Yes, lice don't live off the head, blah blah, but lice EGGS can live on a stuffed animal for day or two, then they hatch and boom! A louse! Snuggled on the stuffed animal that your child sleeps with... so louse moves over to the head and....

Sigh.

Burn the house down. That's my best suggestion.

Then call The Lice Lady.

And comb and comb and comb and comb and check and pick nits and pick nits for weeks. Because an egg hatches in something like 6 days (hey, everyone, I don't remember and I'm not going to look it up, so don't yell at me if it's 5 or 7 days) so the ones you see now, that you pick out, but you'll miss a few, and you'll miss a louse, which is busy laying eggs, so... . just know it's not a one time treat, comb and ignore. It's treat, comb, comb, comb and comb and pick every day for a week, then retreat and do the combingand checking and picking every damn day for another week!

Oh, it's so much fun.

I'm pretty sure this is wrong. Lice eggs need a nice warm spot to finish growing and hatch -- they even prefer the top of the head because that's where most of the heat is. (The lice themselves will hide out at the nape of the neck, but they lay their eggs topside.) I don't think the eggs would successfully develop and hatch on a stuffy, unless the stuffy was cuddled or left on top of the dryer or something. The lice can, however, snuggle into the stuffies' fur and then crawl back out in a few days time. Putting the stuffies into a plastic bag for a week will kill them (they can't live that long without feeding), or putting the stuffies through a very hot wash/dry cycle will also kill them.

I would just vacuum the car seat, or remove the cover and wash it on hot. (It's probably due for that anyway). I've never really worried about the backpacks, but you could wash/dry them as well. You can see the lice if you are looking closely on something that doesn't have hair.

I think people spend too much time vacumming carpets, and not enough time doing the diligent comb thru. Just keep combing at least every two days until you've gone at least a week with no live lice. (Every day is probably better, especially in the beginning.) Because the medicine doesn't kill the nits, it's important to keep doing it so that you get them as they hatch.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- thank you for this helpful, calming advice! Though I will admit, burning the house down did cross my mind as a rational solution

[Anonymous]

You need to wash clothes, bedsheets and towels. Also car seat cover in your case.

I was very unfortuntate in that I caught head lice volunteering in my then 1st graders classroom. He didn't get them, nor did anyone else in the family, just me.

I have treated hair (color) and they were hard to get rid of. The spray in treatment worked. I had to do it twice. once to get rid of the big bastard and then again 3 days later for his off spring (or hers, whateveR).

THen I had to comb a lot.This ruined my hair and I had to have most of it cut off.

So now my kids are sprayed daily with Lice Off - their backpacks, coats, heads and shoulders - all, daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to wash clothes, bedsheets and towels. Also car seat cover in your case.

I was very unfortuntate in that I caught head lice volunteering in my then 1st graders classroom. He didn't get them, nor did anyone else in the family, just me.

I have treated hair (color) and they were hard to get rid of. The spray in treatment worked. I had to do it twice. once to get rid of the big bastard and then again 3 days later for his off spring (or hers, whateveR).

THen I had to comb a lot.This ruined my hair and I had to have most of it cut off.

So now my kids are sprayed daily with Lice Off - their backpacks, coats, heads and shoulders - all, daily.

Oh, this PP, ugh. I'm SURE you seriously considered burning down your house!

[Anonymous]

Honestly, we have dealt with lice numerous times over the years and this is what actually works (I've boiled it down to the minimum compared to the first few times we had it).

If kids are young and your car seats are cloth, vacuum them around the head area the first week. Throw pillow and bedsheet in the dryer for 40 minutes if you feel inclined the first couple of days. If kids have stuffed animals, bean bag chairs, store away in trash bags for 2 weeks.

Buy Sally's generic tea tree shampoo and conditioner. Have everyone use it. Buy lavender and tea tree oil, mix it with water in a mister and spray on pillows before bed.

Run out immediately and buy a Robi-comb. Use it several times a day on each kid and yourself. Do not let kids share brushes and perhaps store all brushes and make them use combs (dollar store packs). You can see them on combs as well as wash them more easily.

Run out and buy a flat iron and use on anyone with enough hair. Get as close to scalp as possible, kills nits.

I do not sterilize brushes, glasses or anything like that. They really don't seem to move far from the scalp.

[Anonymous]

Check the Lice Happens web site for q&a. And anything you can't wash, wrap it up in plastic and/or put it in the freezer for 24 hrs. Godspeed!!

[Anonymous]

Put soft things that are difficult to wash in large garbage bags outside on porch to freeze for a few days.

Get one of those Ott lights win the magnifying glass to help with combing out- they are always on sale at Jo Anne's.

If you have them- call the Lice Lady to come your hair out- in my experience husbands aren't the most diligent/ skilled at this.

Have a glass of wine so you don't start itching thinking about the lice eggs everywhere while you are doing all of the combing.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

In addition to the above:

Get a good comb (check Amazon and next day ship for a professional lice comb) and lots of conditioner. Buy the cheap stuff and use liberally to comb the hair.

Use a hair dryer everyday. The heat will help kill the lice and nits.

[Anonymous]

Good comb is key. Use daily for first week or so, then once a week. Put tons of conditioner in kids' hair before using comb. For whatever reason i have found that trader joes spa conditioner is best a killing/suffocating lice. use tree tree shampoo for awhile post lice.

[Anonymous]

Terminator comb everyday makes lice go away