NOW I understand nit-picking....

Took little one to doctor today for ANOTHER ear infection. Just when I thought we were out of the woods...nope. BUT, ear infection wasn't only problem found.... I had no idea she had headlice. Most beautiful, thick hair you ever saw.... Been picking nits for about three hours and keeping washing machine humming. Ugh! Way to divert attention from difficult child's issues....
 

Lothlorien

Active Member
Oh Gosh! That must be a job! Fortunately, (knocking on wood all over the house) we've never had that. When I was in my son's class the other day, I saw how the coats are basically so close and on top of each other and I cringed. I thought lice could easily jump from coat to coat. I hope you get rid of them soon.
 
The good news is that the 2 dogs appear to be exempt. I was so afraid I'd have to figure out how to use that stuff on 140 lb of dog. And that groomer would tell me to find a new groomer. Vet says I'm okay tho. Whew!

So far I'm trying to be positive and look on it as a little holiday humor. If not better tomorrow after all work tonight, though...no more funny. I am TIRED!!

Glad ear infection took us to doctor though. I would not have found this until way too late. TINY!! But so many....
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
Lice are species specific so you don't have to worry about cross-infection.

Applying mayonnaise and rubbing it in well and then wrapping scalp in plastic wrap for an hour will suffocate the nits and dissolve the glue that holds them to the hair shafts.
It also makes it a lot easier to use the fine toothed comb to comb out the little buggers.

Once you are done combing out, you can wash again in a pesticide shampoo.

Lice themselves can only live off the body for a short period of time, so you can kill them off by putting clothing/bedding in sealed trash bags for two weeks.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
*shudder*

Reminds me when K brought them along when she came to live with us. OMG, by the time I discovered the lil buggers everyone had them bad! That was a chore and a half. Got everyone cleared up..............Only to find out later K had not done her shampoo properly.........and had to redo everyone 2 weeks later. Needless to say, I did K the second time, regardless that she was about 20. ugh!!!
 

GoingNorth

Crazy Cat Lady
I got them in my very late teens from sharing a riding helmet with someone else. At the time I had long, thick, waist length hair.

Poor (not yet) husband had to help to de-louse me properly. I couldn't reach the back of my head and that is where the hair is thickest.
 

Wiped Out

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Brings back memories here. When difficult child was about 3 months old, my niece brought them with her when she came to visit. The kicker was I was the only one who got them. difficult child had no hair and because of the product we used in easy child's hair they didn't get to her. husband had exactly one. I ended up covered and had long thick hair. husband had to do the nit picking. Finally got rid of them and another niece brought them. I remember sitting down and just crying-another niece and I got them so this time husband had two heads to pick!
 
Does anybody know of a remedy that's not pesticide based? It was good to hear the mayo tip, but still sounds to depend on follow-up with the chemicals.

Label is loaded with warnings for people with respiratory issues, and I'm still feeling after effects today. She seems to have fared better, but no way can she do it herself if another treatment is necessary. I was going to treat myself too just for prevention but now think I maybe should wait and see. We've found nothing but nits (although she sure had a lot of them) but the school nurse has found nothing on me after checking three times.

Ideas?
 

mstang67chic

Going Green
I was thinking I saw something here but I'm not sure. Either way, I saw something recently that you apply like the mayo (which may not get all of them) and it suffocates the lice somehow. You still have to do two treatments because of eggs but I don't THINK it was too bad as for the chemicals. I'll look around and see what I can find.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
We went through this when Miss KT was in first grade. She had very long, beautiful hair, with natural golden and red highlights, and every single strand gleamed like an egg was on it...yuck!

My sympathies...it's no fun at all.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
There is an organic pesticide called Neem oil. It is from some sort of nut I think. It will kill most bugs and is safe for humans. It is used on organic food crops. It will kill them and disrupt their life cycle so the nits don't mature. You can get the oil on ebay.

I recommend getting the oil and mixing it with shampoo. Wash hair really well with that and then use the oil mixed with conditioner to keep hair wet while you comb the critters out.

It is easier on the system than the OTC or rx lice products. It doesn't smell good, but it doesn't hurt.

Do NOT rely on the plastic combs to get the nits out. Get the metal comb set (I got the one sold by RID for about $10 for 2 combs a few years ago) and use that. It works better because the little plastic comb fingers can bend and let the lice and nits slip past them.

I have thank you use a little neem oil in a shampoo about 2-3 times a month because lice hate the smell and it will keep them away.

Barring that, getting the bugs and nits out by combing is really the only way to get rid of them. Sit a child with damp hair down on a stool in front of a video. Stand behind them with the combs and saturate their hair with cheap conditioner. Use lots, adding more each time the hair seems to dry out. Also keep a water bottle handy to mist the hair as needed.

Using the metal combs and a big box of kleenex, divide the hair into sections and comb through. Wipe the comb on a tissue to get the conditioner and lice/nits off of it after every pass through the hair. Keep a garbage bag handy to drop the tissues in. If the fine comb goes through the hair smoothly it is probably clean. If it pulls then you need to keep combing and wiping until it is smooth.

I repeated this daily because my kids ahve about the thickest hair you can get. I once did it without the neem oil or pesticides and the combing worked just as well with-o the OTC or rx treatments. It was MUCH better when I had the need oil, but if I didn't have that I would probably just skip the RID except for the car. I would put pillows in bags or the dryer on hot, and wash bedding.

For us, the OTC and rx stuff seemed to be a waste of $. It didn't work well, cost a fortune and it still took all the labor that using nothing but conditioner and the combs took.

The neem oil meant I only had to do the comb out 2-3 times in a week. No nits hatched and I checked thoroughly.

If your kid has an eyeclops toy they are great at helping you see if what you are combing out is a nit, a louse or dandruff. It entertained Tyler during much of the process. Especially when I would shudder each time I looked at the image on the tv.
 
Thanks, Susie. This sounds to me like the way to go.

FYI, about the same time I posted here, I also phoned the pediatrician's office to see what they'd say about the problem. The nurse told me there is a very new prescription alternative that she would recommend we use in about 2 weeks, and that it would be a lot gentler to the system. (Grumble, grumble...I'm thinking--and WHY was that not offered yesterday??) Never mind. What's done is done.

I didn't ask what it was called, but just did a little surfing and am guessing it must be the benzyl alcohol lotion that just came out. Sounds to me like it still carries more risk that the neem oil and may not be as effective.

YES. Those plastic combs are so useless. No nit is going to get trapped in there. I'm picking them all off with my finger/fingernails and just using the comb to separate the hair. I'll be out looking for better combs tomorrow.

Got more nits out tonight. Still no bugs found, so that's good. I'm SO hoping I'm not infected. Can't figure out how I'd pick out my own nits. Finally....I miss my ex....
 
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