almostthere Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 My bf's exw called this morning and said her kids have lice. They were over at our house for the night Saturday and Sunday. Me, my bf and my kids are fine. Since lice can only live up to 48 hours without a host are we safe? Its been 4 days... We are supposed to have them over next Sunday. The websites say to avoid contact with other people as much as possible for at least two weeks. Should we skip the next visitation?
whichwayisup Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 Vaccuum like crazy, wash ALL the sheets, towels and it won't hurt to get that lice shampoo for your bf's kids...Just incase. By next Sunday all should be fine. Anyway, if you're not sure about lice info, when indoubt, GOOGLE!
alphamale Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 By next Sunday all should be fine. I disagree...wait a few more weeks.
2sunny Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 eeeeeew! just the word alone prompts me to start scratching!
quankanne Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 I'd hold off a visit, too ... ya don't want to tempt the little suckers, but check with the school nurse or your pediatrician for a better idea of quarantine. I've been told that a mayonnaise treatment is still the best method of getting rid of headlice, because it smothers them, and I suppose because there's really no such thing as building up a mayo tolerance :p DH says that warm olive oil treatment works the same ...
Storyrider Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 I would add, don't use the harsh shampoos unless you're sure you have them. I once used some of that shampoo after exposure to lice, just as a precaution because I was paranoid. It messed up my scalp and made my skin super sensitive for a long time.
melodymatters Posted April 19, 2007 Posted April 19, 2007 Oh Lordy !!! When My daughter was in 2nd grade I signed her up for T-ball, and ALL ther kids used the same batting helmet : Guess what !!! To top things off most lice is now totally immune to the shampoos they sell. Tried the mayoniase, lived by the washing machine, nothing worked. Finally, the only thing that DID work,and it sounds like a job for the kids mom, NOT you, was to buy a lice comb, slather the hair with conditioner, and manually pick out every louse and every egg. After doing this daily for a week, they were finally gone for good, but what a major pain, I still freak out when I hear the word, and since then have NEVER tried on any hat, wig or head gear, anywhere, ever !!!!
quankanne Posted April 20, 2007 Posted April 20, 2007 Tried the mayoniase, lived by the washing machine, nothing worked. Finally, the only thing that DID work,and it sounds like a job for the kids mom, NOT you, was to buy a lice comb, slather the hair with conditioner, and manually pick out every louse and every egg. :D my mother once told me that the only thing that would work on me was my grandma's dog's flea shampoo! But, whatever works best, right?
Citizen Erased Posted April 20, 2007 Posted April 20, 2007 kerosene works too... but I doubt you want to use that on the kids
justpassingthrough Posted April 20, 2007 Posted April 20, 2007 my mother once told me that the only thing that would work on me was my grandma's dog's flea shampoo! That's what worked for us the year my children went to a lice-ridden elementary school (and, yes, the lice were the reason I pulled them out). We combed each other's hair nightly. Coats came off at the door and went directly into the dryer. I ran the sweeper every day. There were no stuffed animals and NO neighborhood children allowed in the house. It was a horrid nine months. But, yeah, the flea comb worked. If I depended on the shampoo, I would have had to buy it weekly. But back to the OP's question: wait a few weeks.
amaysngrace Posted April 20, 2007 Posted April 20, 2007 kerosene works too... but I doubt you want to use that on the kids What are you saying? To ignite the children's heads? They'll look like little troll dolls. Or Heat Meiser.
boshemia Posted April 21, 2007 Posted April 21, 2007 We've done the lice thing three times... but we seem to have been pretty lucky. The first time was when oldest was in pre-school. She had her head on my lap, and I found them, I treated her and treated myself, washed all of the bedding and quarantined her stuffed animals in plastic for a month. It never came back... The second time was a bit more difficult because I had numerous kids to deal with. I had a girl scout sleepover, 12 girls... one of the girls mothers dropped her off and left town for the weekend... the child told me she had head lice! I checked, and her Mom said she had treated her, but there were eggs everywhere! So I kept her away from the other girls the best I could and told all of the parents to watch for it and I would treat them. (I did report the child to the school, it felt a bit dirty but her mother SHOULD have warned others) I think I ended up treating my three, myself, another families three, their mother, and one other girl. That's a lot of chemicals, so I checked out the olive oil treatment. It worked pretty well, I coated the hair in oil, covered them with a plastic bag, and left it for several hours. Then we combed (mostly picked though, the combs are crap) every egg we found for two weeks. I repeated the olive oil, three times per person, once a week.... We all managed to get over it without chemicals, unless you count having to use dish soap on the hair to get the oil out... The third time was a step-daughter issue. Her mother called and asked if we wanted to see her. We were excited, because that doesn't happen often. We picked her up, and her mother kept messing with her hair, she said she had cut my step-daughters hair, and made a mess of it... if we wanted to fix it that would be fine with her. Her hair was very uneven, but fixable... she kept messing with her hair, but didn't say a word about the lice. In the car on the hour long ride home, our little one told us that her lice was gone, but Mommy and sissy still had it! I checked her and her hair was full of eggs, so as soon as we got home I got out the olive oil and soaked her down... I spent two hours picking nits out of her hair the first night, another hour the second and we had to take her home on the third. Her Mom was mad at me for putting olive oil on her, and said it was none of our business... grrr... lol But this time it didn't pass to any of us, and a month later when we got to see our girl again, she was still clear of lice... I have to admit, if your kids get lice once, you get a little obsessive about checking them... at least I did. I check them at least once a month, and keep an eye out when I am brushing their hair. I check other kids that come to play if they are scratching or playing with their hair a lot. Just remember the physiology of the lice, and you'll be good. Olive oil (or other oil) for at least two hours will suffocate living lice, any that are living in your home can't survive longer than 24 hours without a host. Removal of all eggs is the big part, the eggs hatch in about 8 days so if you can make it two weeks with egg removal, and hair oiling you should be good. If not, go on vacation for two weeks lol. If you can go camping for the weekend, and wash all bedding it works well. The living ones will die while you are gone. Or get a motel room lol, the staff will hate you for it, but the lice at home will die off. The worst part about lice is the creepy crawly feeling when people talk about it, now... I have to go wash my hair and check the kids lol.
Recommended Posts