LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

never had to deal with this but i live in a smaller town with twin 7 yr olds boys... and a 2 yr old girl... who is in daycare. Not sure who got it first but one boy and my girl got them... the baby has it worse (though i spent 2 hours combing her hair so i did get alot done with her) what do i need to do to the house to get rid of these horrible little creatures!!! ive never had them not have my kids before and am getting info online how todeal but would like anyone out there who has gone through this to give me pointers (things im doing tomorrow... cleaning house top to bottem, washing sheets in hot water, putting dolls in plastic bags with lice spray for a week, vacuming *anything more then that*) thanks yall!!!

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

There were lots of good answers the last time this was posted here, so search for "lice" and you'll get step-by-step instructions, including a great ehow.com link.

Personally, I'm not a fan of neuro-toxins like Rid or Nix because the lice have grown immune, and the kids haven't. I used the old fashioned mayonaise treatment and it worked.

BTW, it's the dryer than kills them, not the hot water wash, the spray does nothing to kill the eggs. You can just bag up everything for 2 weeks and you'll be sure they're dead.

If you live in a nice hot climate, put the teddy in the car, in the hot sun and the lice will die during the day. In a frigid area, freeze the little buggers.

I wish you the best, and yes - that overwhelmed what-do-I-do phase is normal. When our school was infested (50% of the girls in one class had them!) I took lots of tearful calls from parents.

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

stop stressing. All the things i researched said that you just need to wash the pillow case and bed teddy in hot water and then in the dryer on a hot setting. I also soak the brushes and combs in boiling water for 1 hr.(tip boiling water on them then let them drown. They can hold their breath for 40 min).

All the rest is overkill. They cant survive more than a few hours without blood. So they will die if in the carpets and things.

I know how you feel about the hair. My daughter has blonde thick long curly hair last time she got it. Two and a half hours to go through it. Then had to do it the next week and several times after that. Blonde is the hardest hair to find them in. I had to treat every 7 days for 6 weeks the first time(the stuff I was using didn't work. Changed to a different type which worked great, two treatments and it was gone). Last time it took two treatments. I got better at it and used the same stuff that got rid of it last time

two weeks ago she had it cut off to above shoulders. Hopefully if she gets it this year it won't take as long

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

I know this sounds totally weird, but if head lice shampoo doesn't work, use dog shampoo. When I was five I got it SO bad, and we tried every lice product, and finally someone suggested dog shampoo, and it worked! You just have to wash everything in it.

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

here are some sites to check out. hope these help. good luck

http://www.nixlice.com/

here is an actual hotline with alot of good info for ya.

http://www.headlicehotline.org/?gclid=CN...

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

Ok you definetly do need to wash anything that has come in contact with your childs head up to 3 days before the infestation was discovered. Make sure you follow the instructions on the lice shampoo. I would recommend shampooing the carpets where ever your children have close contact with the floor, especially their bedroom/playroom. Also if you can steamclean the upholstery it will help prevent the spread from couch cusions. The lice may not be able to live long with out blood but they can live long enough to transfer when one child gets up and someone else sits down shortly there after. You dont need to put dolls away for a week. 3 days is long enough. Nor do you need to lice spray the toys. Just being without a food source is enough. If you live somewhere where it is cold this time of year place the toys in the garage or basement to aid in the killing process. Also if you feel like spending the money you can buy a nit comb called the Robi comb. It is an electronic comb that zaps the lice, eggs and nits killing them instantly as you run it through your childs hair. The comb also emits a beep when it kills something so you know it is working. If you choose to use a regular nit comb make sure you dunk it in HOT soapy water after each pass. The soap is necessary because it breaks the surface tension of the water so that the lice cant just float on the surface.

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

I worked at a school where head lice was a big problem. I put tea tree oil in my shampoo and conditioner (you can get it at health food stores) you need just a few drops and I was never bother even though I had close contact with many of the children that had them. Put mayo in hair to help remove the nits.

LICE- oh my gawd! my children came down with this problem...?

your doing all the right things and the advice offered so far is spot on.

but may i recommend for your daughter.....once you have combed them all out, buy a spray bottle.

Fill it an inch from the top with water, add tea tree oil and lavender oil, mix it up well and spray her hair with it every morning when you brush it.

My little girl went to a school where they had major head lice issues and she was constantly coming home with it. This concoction absolutely works in preventing them from returning as they cannot survive the mixture, it also has added benefit of making her hair smell nice.

Also..as weird as this sounds...head lice DO NOT like CLEAN hair...only wash your kids hair a couple of times a week, this prevents the lice from clinging to hair and breeding.

this advice is from personal experience and i have found nothing else works as well as this. And my daughter hasnt had one single dose of head lice since i started spraying her hair with it.

Tea tree oil is a miracle with this, you can even add it to your washing machine when you wash linens...it really will help.

Make sure you wash all pillows and cushions aswell....anything that has contact with their heads.