Heather
Hi Patty.. I can definately sympathize with you about the battle with lice. My daughter had it all thru kindergarten and it was like the lil' critters were immune to everything.. I dont know if anything I may suggest is something you haven't heard or tried.. and the way I got rid of them was time consuming, but worth it!! First.. take any kinda stuffed animal, anything with fluff in it, even dolls, and put them in a garbage bag, and then another bag, and stash them somewhere for at least 2 months... at first this is difficult for the child, but after a year.. you are ready to try anything... I KNOW!!! plus when you get them out and wash the, its almost like getting new toys. You cant just wash these things, as the bugs get deep down inside them and they survive.. you can wash them 20 times in a row with hot, hot water and they will still be there.. waiting for the chance to strike again. You do need to do all your bedding with color bleach and let them soak overnight and then turn your water heater up (we put ours up to 180 degrees) and wash them and double dry them, if they dont drown, they will be burned in the hot dryer. Spray furniture with lice treatment, or if all else fails, bomb the house with bug kiler. They can live in the carpet, in mattresses, and all kinds of furniture, they can live up to 2 weeks without even eating.. so I have heard??? Next, every night put conditioner in your childs hair, and comb it comb it comb it.. then rinse it outbefore bed, or cover with a shower cap and let it soak on the head overnight. My daughter's hair is so fine, I spent hours picking the eggs off one by one, with my fingernails, like a Momma Monkey and I flushed them down the toilet. Then in the morning, before your child goes to school, slick their hair back with leave-in conditioner and put it up!!! Or back!!! or however you can style it so it looks like it is supposed to be slick, (that seems to help so the other kids won't make fun and call them a greaseball... know what I mean??) Lice only like clean hair... they can not attach their eggs to greasy, oily or slicked hair, and they will not even bother trying... not for long anyway.. they cant breed there, so they try somewhere else. Conditioner is much easier on your childs head than rid or nix or prescribed chemicals that usually burn the childs head after a while. Most of important of all, I feel is to help your child see it is not a dirty lowdown thing to go thru.. if they were dirty, more than likely they wouldnt have lice... let them know you still love them and will do whatever it takes to get rid of this problem... they need your support, cuz having Lice makes you feel so icky.. it's like cooties!!! It's also important to work with the school officials. Notify them of your problem, so they can do "head checks" at school... More often than not, it's the parents that arent trying to solve the problem that are the problem!!! Most schools have strict policies on lice... and they wont allow a child with lice in the school, if they are kept informed and sometimes even pressured into doing so... Well I hope this process can help you as well as it did us... My daughter is in third grade now and has only had 1 case of lice in the last 3 years. Good Luck!!! Heather