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this morning my worse fear was confirmed my 9 yr old daughter has lice :( She is devastated, embarrassed and been an emotional mess all day. My hubby has her currently at a place called Naughty Nits and they will treat and remove the bugs and eggs. I have spent all day washing everything, bagging stuff animals , vacuuming everything from the mattress to sofas etc. I'm wondering if there is anything else I can do to my home and family to prevent another out break. Myself, husband and son had our heads checked and we are clear but we will continue to be checked w the school nurse daily to make sure. I feel like just washing bedding, clothes, hat, jackets and vacuuming isn't enough.

Believe it or not, lice tend to not like hair that's a little dirty. Don't wash her hair every night or put a little hair spray in it in the morning. I work in the school and the nurse would tell me to watch my boys because of their nice straight, shiny hair. Have the people at Naught Nits (or the school nurse) show you what to look at. They are very tiny so it's easy to miss. You'll need a very fine tooth comb and just start in very small sections. I would think that Naughty Nits could give you lots of tips. Good luck!

Here's some info from kidshealth.org on Preventing Reinfestation. It sounds like you're doing everything possible. Good luck and keep us posted!

Home from Naughty Nits and I can say they were so amazing. My husband that they have 2 different gurls go thru they childs head. One does it rinses the head then they reapply the stuff and the othet girl goes thru it. I'm praying we are past this and have no more lice in the house or us. I'm treating myself, husband and son at home since the nurse said we didn't have it. This has been a day that I don't wish on anyone

Do you think that after washing and drying my kids bedding they are ok to sleep on it?

I'm going to say yes but I'm no expert. Wash in hot water. Make sure you take heavy duty garbage bags and stuff all of the stuffed animals in them and secure tightly. Stick them in the garage for a week or two.

Sorry you are going through this (also sorry for the long comment, but I want to share info that it took me a while to gather). Happened to our family 2x in kindergarden & 1x in 1st grade :-( You are on the right track w/ the hot dryer & vaccuuming & bagging. Sheets & pillowcases are ok, our school nurse said pillows (for all of us) should also be bagged & put out in the garage. Use folded up throws or towels to fill the pillowcases. These can all be put in the dryer each day in case a new nit has hatched & then starts laying eggs. She recommended dryer & vaccuuming every day (I know, not easy with busy family life & work) for about 3 weeks. Basically the lice can only feed on human scalp, and lays eggs on clean strands of hair. They live about 7-10 days. So it's all about changing the environment so the lice can't feed from the scalp so eventually die, can't lay their eggs, and removing/killing the eggs so they can't hatch and continue the cycle. So you have to 1) treat the scalp/hair with delousing product (I used Nix, available at Wegmans) to try and kill the adult lice & stop the egg laying and kill the unhatched eggs. 2) the lice can live about2-3 days not on a human, waiting in a cozy spot for a human to put its head nearby - hello pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, shirt collars , hats & other human heads - this is the reason for bagging & sealing anything where they may lie in wait. Also, after checking your daughter for nits in the morning, and after this ordeal is over, tightly braided hair in public places & NO SHARING of brushes, combs, hair accessories is the way to go, you may want to rethink trying on hats in the store and crawling tubes in restaurants. 3) they only like clean hair. Some advice I received at my daughter's 5th birthday before she started kindergarten but didn't heed, "her hair should be a little crunchy" - use some product in the hair - mousse, hairspray, I washe her hair less frequently & use a detangler now, if the hair is too slippery or too coarse, then the lice cannot lay their eggs - it has to be just right. When I was talking about it with a nurse friend who has older kids, she said when her kids were in elementary school, although she bathed them frequently, she did not wash their hair everytime - specifically to prevent lice 4)They can also only live in a certain temperature range, but are a little more tolerant of heat than cold - if you can store the bagged stuff in the unheated garage or in your trunk, that is a good way to wait them out. It's time consuming to check the hair each day, but if the school nurse finds any nits she has to do her job and bar the student from school. I found the best was to have my Ott light over my dd's head, section the hair & check little sections - using bobby pins which I disposed of after that check. The nits look a little like skin flakes. The school nurse mentioned if you try to touch it & it moves away like from static it's just a skin flake. If it doesn't move and feels almost like the little root end of the hair, but is on the hair , that is a nit. I would just cut that strand of hair out, put it in the zip-lock baggy with the used bobby pins. IF the infestation is recent, they will be closer to the scalp. If it's been a bit longer than you realized, the nits will be a little further from the head. The first few days are the worst because you may find quite a few nits, but hang in there - you will survive!
Lucky that you found Naughty Nits - I called lot's of places because hubby wasn't checking my head effectively - no one would help me (not dr's office, pharmacy or hair places). I was almost ready to shave my head the first time. Also, keep the hair braided - the lice will take the "easier" way into a scalp - clean, loose flowing hair is their dream. My daughter has beautiful long hair, but I will only let her wear it down out in public under very certain conditions - 3x w/lice was enough. We were fortunate that the last time was just before a 10 day vacation - no humans in the house killed them off quick. Checking the hair wasn't so bad on vacation because that was the only thing we had to do. We have been lice free ever since.

Thank you so much for your comments, we are dealing lots of vacuuming and laundry everyday. The nurse has been checking my daughters head a long with mine and my sons head every am. My daughter has been wearing her up daily in a tight bun with gel and a lice replant spray. My concern is how do I know when we are in the clear? Can I or her wear our hair down at home during this time? I have put everything in bags in the garage washing bedding and clothing daily. Plus the non stop vacuuming. Since the nurse hasn't seen anymore eggs in her hair or any of our hair does that mean we are doing everything right? Naughty Nits is incredible they have 2 women go thru the hair to double check and make sure they get it all. I highly highly recommend them they saved me lots of hours of going thru her head. My daughter and I have very long thick hair so I couldnt imagine going thru it. I'm so paranoid I'm gonna get it :( this has been a nightmare and completely overwhelming and I feel like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Have you ever heard of Fairytales shampoo and conditioner Naughty Nits highly recommends it so we bought them both plus the spray it's suppose prevent lice it has rosemary, tea tree and another sent that lice doesn't like.

Very difficult to get rid of. Some useful tips from when my daughters got them, although not scientifically proven:

-Use Herbal Essence Shampoo. Something in this that lice don't like. Unfortunately very drying on the girls' hair.
We've been fine as long as they are using this shampoo.
-I went as far as putting listerine on their hair and covering with a shower cap for an hour. This seemed to be the final step to get rid of them.
Keep up with what you've been doing.

I've heard of the Fairytales shampoo, but I couldn't find it locally/fast enough when I needed it right then. I did find some tea tree shampoo, but now I don't remember where - it may have been in Wegman's organic department. I used this after the Nix tratment, and if/when we would receive a note from the nurse saying that someone else(unnamed) had lice in the classroom. I think it smells "earthy" like walking in a eucalyptus forest or something, but dd didn't like the smell & really fought me on it. As for keeping her hair in braids, once I did the a.m. check at home & then the school nurse cleared her to stay in school for the day, I would put her hair in a braid & leave it that way. Now, other than when it's drying after bath, her hair is in a braid at home even after school (cuts down on the tangling anyways - it's just past her waist when it's down)

I think my school's policy is 10 school days of the nurse not finding nits/lice activity, which would be about2 calendar weeks. I know it seems like it's the end of the world - but, you will get through it - I promise. If you and hubby can divvy up who's running the dryer & who's doing the vaccuuming, that will help. By having all the stuffed animals out of the way and as few extra blankets & stuff on the beds as possible because they were all sealed up & in the garage, it was a little easier to get into a routine of drying the the bedding & vaccuuming the bed & furniture every evening. My school nurse said it's not so much the water & laundry soap that kills the lice - it's the high heat of the dryer. Sending you strength telepathically to get through this!!

at what point am I safe to wear my hair down or shampoo with regular shampoo? did you treat everyone in your home even if they didn't have it? thanks for all the support and advice

here are some of weird home remedies we just did at xmas time nonetheless on advice of school nurses 2 diff school...seem work for us too.

1) lice treatment shampoo every 4-5 days
2) use cetaphil or gold/yellow mouthwash inbtw lice treatments; yes weird but safer and works well
---I guess gold mouthwash bc no extra stickiness from color/flavors; cetaphil bc so gentle
3) RiteAid/Walgreens has something called LiceShield (green bottle) spray conditioner for like $7 after treatments done to keep away....can pretty much go on anything since conditioner like stuff. Local Tonawanda comp too. Smells strongly of lemongrass.

We NEVER had this b4 either, but my 4 yrs old K class is a special integrated class w/daycare in his school and director/teacher says they see it EVERY YR like clockwork!

GOOD LUCK!!!!

any progress? took us 2-3 wks and alot of deligence to get rid of! My 4 yr olds scalp just healed up last wk (he is more fair skin like me). good luck!

Making progress slowly I spend about an 1.5-2 hrs daily combing thru her hair. I found a baby one on Friday so I treated with Nix and I also treated myself and son to be safe. Since Friday every time I comb I find at least 2-3 eggs ugh I feel like I'm missing something or,doing something wrong :( now my scalp since the treatment is so dry and flakey it's nasty. Did you find eggs after treatment the school nurse said that's normal, also the eggs are white what am I doing wrong?? how did you get rid of it fully? Did you see live ones after treatment I only saw that baby one but nothing live seen Friday, this is so draining ugh

ur not doing anything wrong! Nits (eggs) can live for couple days after treatment....u just dont want eggs to develop to the louse bug (lice). def draining yes...even worse when ur bf is ocd like mine. Since u cant treat again for cpl days w/med shampoo try the mouthwash or cetaphil. the cetaphil was so much gentler for my lit ones head.

ur not doing anything wrong! Nits (eggs) can live for couple days after treatment....u just dont want eggs to develop to the louse bug (lice). def draining yes...even worse when ur bf is ocd like mine. Since u cant treat again for cpl days w/med shampoo try the mouthwash or cetaphil. the cetaphil was so much gentler for my lit ones head.

so while going thru her head last night and this am I swore I saw a bug but the school nurse check and didn't see anything. so now I'm so over paranoid, I did hear about the mouthwash nut never cataphil what's that? also did you use Rid or Nix? I've heard mixed things treat on day 9 but others say anytime between day 7-10 and the box says treat in 14 days so what do I do?? I feel like it will never end :( only found 2 eggs yesterday and hopefully I was just imagining a bug, wouldn't I have seen the bug before I spend so much time daily looking and didn't see one earlier this week. Thanks for all the support and answering my questions

I bought generic med shampoo from CVS behind pharm ctr so I cant vouch for name brand. My kids go spec needs schools so the nurses see alot of health probs and have some remedies. Cetaphil is face wash for sensitive skin...can buy any drug store...generic too...seemed to help dry scalp issues too. The little buggers really do hide so buy magnifying glass & use flashlight. my bf even used our boys lightning mcqueen head light thing they had in their toy box lol...u know those flashlight things on forehead that ppl use for real camping and hiking.

Did you have to retreat after the first time?

yes most def bc seemed like pretty bad case and so many kids in class had. we were really diligent so hell only like 2-3 wks bc we were even being overcautious.