How to deal with persistent lice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op - what frustrates me is that I spent a ton of money at the end of the school year at the lice clinic. Got rid of lice. We were gone from school all summer and had no problems. Back at school now and immediately lice is back!

The parents of a close friend of your child's aren't as diligent as you... so it keeps jumping back to your child's head.

I'd ask your kids if someone in their class or at recess seems to be itching their head a lot.

Kids can't help but scratch, they can't hide that they're doing it and they'll be constantly complaining about it.

You can also ask their teachers.
They won't tell you who it is, but they'll probably tell you if someone in their class is scratching a lot.

[Anonymous]

Tea tree oil cleared my kid’s lice up immediately. The has super thick hair that I spent hours several times per week combing for nits without successfully getting rid of every last bug. I mixed some tea tree oil with a cup of conditioner and slathered her hair in it. Left in in for about an hour while I combed. Found a few dead lice on that round and never any more. Whenever there’s an outbreak at school, I now get tea tree oil shampoo from Whole Foods and use it for prevention.

[Anonymous]

We used the Nuvo/Cetaphil method when DD got lice. It was faster than looking for nits and totally non-toxic. We used it for all three of us because mom and dad had lice, too. You don't have to find each egg, this method coats the adults and makes it so they can't breed, doing it multiple times kills all the adults that hatch from remaining eggs and eventually there are no more eggs and no adults capable of laying eggs. The blow drying is a pain, but much faster than looking for tiny eggs. We had success with this.

Cetaphil/Nuvo method

Apply Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser to dry hair, coating the head from scalp to hair tips
Wait 2 minutes
Comb out excess Cetaphil and visible nits
Blow dry your child’s hair thoroughly
Leave the dry Cetaphil on the hair for at least 8 hours
Wash the hair with a regular shampoo
Repeat this process twice at 1 week intervals

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used the Nuvo/Cetaphil method when DD got lice. It was faster than looking for nits and totally non-toxic. We used it for all three of us because mom and dad had lice, too. You don't have to find each egg, this method coats the adults and makes it so they can't breed, doing it multiple times kills all the adults that hatch from remaining eggs and eventually there are no more eggs and no adults capable of laying eggs. The blow drying is a pain, but much faster than looking for tiny eggs. We had success with this.

Cetaphil/Nuvo method

Apply Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser to dry hair, coating the head from scalp to hair tips
Wait 2 minutes
Comb out excess Cetaphil and visible nits
Blow dry your child’s hair thoroughly
Leave the dry Cetaphil on the hair for at least 8 hours
Wash the hair with a regular shampoo
Repeat this process twice at 1 week intervals

So, instead of combing for nits, you were.....combing for nits"?

[Anonymous]

OP are you using the Licemeister comb?

https://www.licemeister.com/

Definitely the best one.

But yeah, if you are positive it is a reinfestation, not just that you missed a nit and it reproduced...

you need to cut hair, braid it, and be positive that your kids aren't sharing any headphones or headgear or anything at school. Make sure the school keeps headphone separate, no hats for dress up, etc.

And likely one of your child's friends has repeated lice infestations and isn't getting rid of it thoroughly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend w 2 kids in mcps went through this exact same thing. After spending a fortune getting her girls hear treated each time, she became more aggressive. After a lot of volunteering in the school (where she saw active lice on a child), she saw that in one classroom they had all of the kids hang up their hoodies and jackets and backpacks on a wall where they were basically overlapping. She worked with teacher and kids were then given the option of putting their outerwear on the backs of their chairs and backpacks under their desks. I know they say lice don’t jump, but it sounded like everything was overlapping enough that there was spread. Once they changed where they stored things, she had no more issues. I’d say investigate the school (although they’re not into winter clothes yet but maybe from backpacks), heat treat your kids and then braid or tight buns w/ lots of fairy tales shampoo and spray daily. Remember you don’t want really clean hair bc life love that

Yes - that is likely what is going on here OP.

[Anonymous]

Do you take them to the lice clinic every time?

[Anonymous]

I always tell parents to throw hoodies/jackets and backpacks (that have been worn in past 24 hours) in the dryer for 30 minutes after child has been treated.
- school nurse

[Anonymous]

OP were your kids in camp over the summer at all? I took my DD in for professional treatment in August and they said you need to assume they get it every week at camp (not just sleepaway) and do an oil and comb over the weekend. It is a giant pain in the butt but I too do not relish spending 400 bucks a pop on family lice removal so I'm doing it. In your shoes, I'd take them in for professionals treatment to level set and then do the weekly treatment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blow dry and get the spray. But the kid it keeps coming from a blow dryer as well

*buy the kid it keeps coming from a blow dryer as well.

Usually poverty is the issue if the other kid can’t afford a dryer or product get it for them. Will be way cheaper and less annoying than dealing with live trust me on that. Got the other girl a $10 dryer from Target and problem has been solved

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tea tree oil cleared my kid’s lice up immediately. The has super thick hair that I spent hours several times per week combing for nits without successfully getting rid of every last bug. I mixed some tea tree oil with a cup of conditioner and slathered her hair in it. Left in in for about an hour while I combed. Found a few dead lice on that round and never any more. Whenever there’s an outbreak at school, I now get tea tree oil shampoo from Whole Foods and use it for prevention.

That stuff is amazing. I use it as a bubble bath when I have “issues”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used the Nuvo/Cetaphil method when DD got lice. It was faster than looking for nits and totally non-toxic. We used it for all three of us because mom and dad had lice, too. You don't have to find each egg, this method coats the adults and makes it so they can't breed, doing it multiple times kills all the adults that hatch from remaining eggs and eventually there are no more eggs and no adults capable of laying eggs. The blow drying is a pain, but much faster than looking for tiny eggs. We had success with this.

Cetaphil/Nuvo method

Apply Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser to dry hair, coating the head from scalp to hair tips
Wait 2 minutes
Comb out excess Cetaphil and visible nits
Blow dry your child’s hair thoroughly
Leave the dry Cetaphil on the hair for at least 8 hours
Wash the hair with a regular shampoo
Repeat this process twice at 1 week intervals

So, instead of combing for nits, you were.....combing for nits"?

Nope, we just combed through the hair with a regular comb. No effort to remove eggs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used the Nuvo/Cetaphil method when DD got lice. It was faster than looking for nits and totally non-toxic. We used it for all three of us because mom and dad had lice, too. You don't have to find each egg, this method coats the adults and makes it so they can't breed, doing it multiple times kills all the adults that hatch from remaining eggs and eventually there are no more eggs and no adults capable of laying eggs. The blow drying is a pain, but much faster than looking for tiny eggs. We had success with this.

Cetaphil/Nuvo method

Apply Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser to dry hair, coating the head from scalp to hair tips
Wait 2 minutes
Comb out excess Cetaphil and visible nits
Blow dry your child’s hair thoroughly
Leave the dry Cetaphil on the hair for at least 8 hours
Wash the hair with a regular shampoo
Repeat this process twice at 1 week intervals

We used this method, too. Worked like a charm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP were your kids in camp over the summer at all? I took my DD in for professional treatment in August and they said you need to assume they get it every week at camp (not just sleepaway) and do an oil and comb over the weekend. It is a giant pain in the butt but I too do not relish spending 400 bucks a pop on family lice removal so I'm doing it. In your shoes, I'd take them in for professionals treatment to level set and then do the weekly treatment.

I did this over the summer after the kids got lice at camp one week. After the first infestation I did the lice clinic. Then every week I did a conditioner combout. Once, about 6 weeks after the initial infestation, I found one live louse on my daughter's head. And then after that nothing. So I think I actually managed to catch it - I imagine the louse got transferred a day or so prior and either didn't lay eggs or I got any eggs out with that combing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tea tree oil cleared my kid’s lice up immediately. The has super thick hair that I spent hours several times per week combing for nits without successfully getting rid of every last bug. I mixed some tea tree oil with a cup of conditioner and slathered her hair in it. Left in in for about an hour while I combed. Found a few dead lice on that round and never any more. Whenever there’s an outbreak at school, I now get tea tree oil shampoo from Whole Foods and use it for prevention.

That stuff is amazing. I use it as a bubble bath when I have “issues”

... what kind of issues?