My poor DD has had lice for at least two weeks now and I never knew it. She was scratching and I was checking, but I missed them. They've had all that time to multiply now so I'm totally stressed out and feel horribly guilty. I bought the Rid but I'm wondering if I should look into the natural products out there. Rid comes with a plastic comb and I'm hearing that metal is better. Her hair is extremely thick and it's impossible to comb her whole head in small sections and pin them up! I'm worried I and my other DD will come down with them especially as my other DD has slept with her sister for over a week now in the same bed. If you child has had this, did you find your whole family came down with it? I feel like things are walking through my head but my husband and mother both swear they can't see anything. Of course I couldn't see anything on my DD's head either, until the doctor showed me. Please help!

By Happynerdmom on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 01:58 pm:

(((Hugs))) My dk's had lice several years ago. DH and I didn't get it, but my head was crawling, too! I used Rid, but bought a separate metal comb. I don't have any advice for the thick hair, maybe someone else can help you with that. It does take a long time, thick hair or not.

Don't stress, and for Heaven's sake, don't feel guilty! It happens. My kids had them quite a while before I caught it, too. It's a pain in the butt, but it will be fine.

By Annie2 on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 02:15 pm:

I agree, don't stress. I used Rid on my kids, numerous times but also bought the metal comb. My dd has very thick curly hair and I had no idea she had lice until one day we saw one crawl across her forehead!
She had many but the other kids never caught them. It is alot easier to see the nits outside in the sunlight, instead of in the bathroom.
Make sure to wash everything. That is a huge hassle, too.
When my son caught them we just shaved his head. So much easier!
Also, notify her school and friends otherwise it can be a circle of infestations.
My kids have had them, never at the same time and dh and I never had them even though the kids often slept with us.
Good Luck!

By Kaye on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 02:57 pm:

One of my children got lice. The others stayed lice free. I washed bedding, towels etc. But other things, like throw pillows, etc, I just put in the dryer for awhile.

I did not use rid, long story. We washed his hair good, then slathered it with mayo. Used a shower cap and left it on for about an hour. then we rinsed his hair, washed his hair, rinsed with vinegar, then more shampoo, this time with rock salk (helps dry the nits and help break them out). After than we combed, and combed. We only found one live bug and removed several nits.

By Tarable on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 03:29 pm:

My dds got lice a long time a go and it was horrible.. I ended up with it too.. And I did everything everyone told me to.. We even did rid then used the mayo thing that Kaye did and all of that. My older dd has very thick and curly hair and it took hours to comb through it. Best way to do this for me was to have her sit in the living room and watch a movie (actually 2) that she liked and I moved around her so she didn't have to stop watching tv, she was only 5 at the time.

Good luck.

By Truestori on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 05:47 pm:

My daughter had long thick hair past her waist and caught lice. It was hard to get rid of but we did. The most helpful thing I did was treat her hair with rid, comb through in the sunlight to catch the nits, wash all bedding and then put it all in the dryer every morning. I didn't have the time to wash a zillion sheet sets. After the intial Rid treatment, I would wrap her hair every night with a mixture of olive oil and Tee Tree oil. It smells but it also kills the louse. We would sit in the backyard and de-lice her daily. It is a chore but all of the nits have to go. I never believed that the Rid killed all of the nits, so the wrapping of the hair everynight and picking nits everyday really did the trick. HTH's

By Marcia on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 10:39 pm:

We have dealt with lice several times, in a house with 5 girls. One of my foster kids came home with it, after a visit with her natural family, last month. The best and easiest treatment we have ever used is conditioner. Soak her head in a full bottle of dollar store conditioner, put a shower cap on, and let her sit like that for at least 2 hours. I left it in E's hair over night. That will suffocate all live lice. Repeat it again a week later, to kill off anything that hatched afterwards. I've never found anything alive after the first treatment, but have always done at least one extra treatment.
I also use a good, metal comb. The plastic ones are useless. This was all advice given to me by someone who deals with lice every day, and it's the best live advice I've ever been given!
Good luck!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, September 3, 2008 - 11:50 pm:

Sarah got lice from the babysitter's house, when she was two. I was pregnant with Emily. I had it, too. She just had short hair, so getting rid of nits was easy. Plus we washed like crazy, vacuumed like crazy and put her stuffed animals in plastic bags for 2 weeks. I also got my long coat dry-cleaned.

Thankfully we have never had them since. It was somewhere between the end of June 1991 to March 1992, but I can't remember specifically where in there it was.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 02:15 am:

Been there done that, several times.. It takes a lot of time to treat the child. I had to do 6 one day, my four kids and two of the kids I baby sat for. Took me darn near all day.. Not fun.

Another suggestion, bowl/pan of hot soapy water to rinse the comb in, the lice get caught in the suds and can't jump out of the pan. Dump your sweeper bag and all trash with anything with the nits or lice in it or on it needs to be taken out of the house..

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 02:16 am:

You can always do a conditioner or mayo treatment on your other daughter, just to be safe. They are non toxic and it is often better to just treat then it is to wait for a sign..

By Kernkate on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 10:56 am:

I have dealt with lice with my daughter she seemed to be a magnet for it
I tried everything and the last thing I tried worked the best and we have been lice free since.
Saturate the hair with Listerine(yes mouth wash) and cover their heads with a shower cap leave on for 2 hours. When you take off the shower cap you will see the dead lice in the cap. Rinse the hair then apply white vinegar leave on about 45 minutes to an hour then comb thru with a nit comb, metal ones work the best. The vinegar lossens the glue on any nits so they come off the hair very easily.
It does sound crazy and it does take a few hours to do it but I swear by this ...its a little smelly but it was the only thing that worked for us.I was told of this treatment by our doctor.
Best of luck I for one knows how frustrating it is.

By Anonymous on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 12:31 pm:

Sigh. I just found out that one of her best friends had it two months ago and it was a bad infestation. I'm doing research that says you can go several weeks to months without itching, which means she could have gotten it from this girl. When I found out my DD had it, NATURALLY I called her friends' parents and would you believe the mom of the girl who had it earlier did NOT check her DD for it after I called?? During the course of the conversation while she told me about her own DD having it two months ago, she made several comments that made me think she was pretty uneducated about it all so after mulling over the conversation after we hung up, I grew quite suspicious and called her back to say I had forgotten to ask the most crucial question of all. Had she checked her DDs? She said no! She didn't realize she needed to!! WHY did she think I called her? It's not really a typical conversation piece! You only disclose if necessary! So based on her many comments and based on my new and quickly amassed knowledge I think she really did get it from this friend and my DD could have easily given it back to her. They didn't notice it on her friend until she looked like fleas were walking around on her head, so it got pretty bad before they noticed so my DD could have easily given it back to her and they never noticed, or it could never have really gone away in the first place with the friend. I'm really angry she didn't bother to tell me or the third friend's mother (they are a trio) since the girls played together for hours and hours every single day this summer.

I'm off to the store for more vacuum bags as I ran out.

Kernkate, how much vinegar did you use? Thanks everyone, for the support and advice. This is awful.

By Kernkate on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 07:58 pm:

Anon, I just took her out side with her head back and poured it on, or you can use a spray bottle and saturate the hair. I swear by this.
I now check her head every single day...I know what you are going thru especially with the friends part. BTDT Don't worry yourself over it.
When my daughter first got them we were at the hair salon getting our hair done because we were all in my best friends wedding. And the girl spotted the nits....talk about embarassing But we treated her before the wedding and she was ok only to get in 2 months later ...After I used my Listerine they were gone ...now for 6 months. And I now spray her hair 2 x a week with listerine before she gets her shower. Seems to be working. Now is a bad time with back to school. Our school checks all the kids the day they go back and I am sooo happy she is lice free.
Good Luck!

By Melanie on Thursday, September 4, 2008 - 08:28 pm:

When there is an outbreak at the kids' school, I add tea tree oil to there shampoo to help prevent them from getting lice. If the rest of your family are currently clear, I would suggest doing that to help keep it that way. And once you get your dd clear, add it to hers, too, in case it is circling in her group of friends.

Good luck!

By Pandamamaoo4 on Friday, September 5, 2008 - 12:13 pm:

How much tea tree oil to the shampoo? We are lice free so far this year...DSD has had it before and she has long blonde hair... really hard to find the nits.

I have used this when I find them:
12.5oz Dawn(BLUE ONLY!)
2oz tea tree oil
4oz white vinegar

Mix it all together..then put in a bottle then on hair.Leave on hair for 10 min. Rinse hair well and put conditioner on it rinse well.
I keep a bottle of this mix under the sink in the bathroom all the time. I check her hair all the time.
Think I will get some LISTERINE to have on hand .

By Kernkate on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 08:24 am:

I now always have listerine and shower caps on hand. Everytime I go to the Dollar Tree store I am picking up the cheap shower caps. You never know when the lice are around.
I will have to get some tea tree oil as well.
Last year Alissa just seemed like a magnet for the darn things. But no one else in the family got them.

By Kernkate on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 08:24 am:

I now always have listerine and shower caps on hand. Everytime I go to the Dollar Tree store I am picking up the cheap shower caps. You never know when the lice are around.
I will have to get some tea tree oil as well.
Last year Alissa just seemed like a magnet for the darn things. But no one else in the family got them.

By Anonymous on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 11:31 am:

How long will she continue to itch?? Her itching doesn't seem a whole lot better. Is it normal to continue to itch?

By Kernkate on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 12:26 pm:

With my DD the itching stopped after the treatment...unless her scalp was irratated by the treatments??? Just check her and check her to be sure you got all the live ones, and be sure to get all the nits if not it will reinfest her. After the first treatment it is recommended to retreat in 7-10 days.
Hope that helps...I do feel for you...but it treated you will get rid of those nasty critters.

By Tarable on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 06:38 pm:

When I got them from dd I itched even after I didnt' have them anymore.. It was in my mind. It was like i could still feel them crawling on my head. If i think about it too much right now my head will itch.

By Karen~admin on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 07:13 pm:

Ditto Tara. I got them from the kids when THEY had them, in Pre-K. The very THOUGHT of it makes me itch. I remember feeling like things were crawling on me for days, when in fact, there were no bugs around.

However, continue to check for nits and bugs - if you didn't get them all, you may need to treat her again.

Good luck - I know how distressing this is.

By Kaye on Saturday, September 6, 2008 - 08:20 pm:

I found putting a leave in conditioner or a gel helped with that itching feeling. The itch from lice comes from them crawling on your scalp. So if they are dead it is either an irriated scalp or mental I found some wet cold stuff helped that feeling for all of us!