Hellobee Boards

Yup! We had it. Unfortunately I think DD had it for at least a week before I realized what was going on. I had zero idea what to look for. She kept scratching high on the back of her head and I just thought it was dry scalp so I kept dousing her in conditioner. Finally, DH actually asked daycare to check her and it was confirmed. Her hair at the time was halfway down her back and thick. I tried to treat her with RID and she was sent home again the next AM. I had just returned to work from maternity leave with #2. I couldn't be off work. DH took her to a place to have her professionally handled (no chemicals, just lots of combing). We also did the whole cleaning the house thing. Fortunately no one else in our house got it and no one else at the daycare got it either.

Don't be shamed - and don't let them shame you. It's so incredibly common and is not a sign of being unsanitary.

We now are preventative in our house and use a shampoo that contains tea tree oil and peppermint, two things that lice don't like. DH has always used it because he likes the "tingle". Me and the girls use a different kind that doesn't tingle.

I wasn't patient zero but I had it as a kid. My mom freaked out! I didn't realize there was so much shame involved, I thought it was just my mom. It happens! You and the mean teacher don't even know your dd was really patient zero! Maybe someone else is just being tight lipped!

Aaaand now I feel itchy from thinking about it. It's like trying not to yawn when someone else does.

It's really too bad that is such a shameful thing. It doesn't mean you are dirty. It happens to kids and schools all the time. It's just something that needs to be taken care of.

Lice has been AWFUL at the school I work at and many others where I live. I feel like a lot of it has to do with a policy where kids can return whether they have it or not. Best advice I can give you is if your LO has enough hair to put in a ponytail to wear it back, use lots of gel, add tea tree oil to a shampoo bottle and use that at bathtime. Keep checking for nits because it can take 10 days for them to lay and rehatch.

Sorry you're going through it! I have talked to so many parents whose children have gotten it and it seems to be the worst.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0545143136/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490054267&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=shannon+lice&dpPl=1&dpID=51F1vSlie8L&ref=plSrch

There's this book which I love and may help with the shame factor. As far as I'm concerned lice is just a part of life when you're a kid in school. You can get it anywhere - the movies, a restaurant, an airplane, it's not about hygiene! I went to a booksellers convention where David Shannon talked about how the inspiration for this book was because his daughter had one of those cases of lice that just would not go away.

FWIW I feel how awful you feel. My sisters had lice for like six months as a kid and we just could not get rid of them. I was a teen at the time and the daily treatments gave me such intense anxiety. Don't forget to treat the car/car seat and any soft toys. But my father and brother never got lice despite the fact that my father was cosleeping with my youngest sister at the time. I caught it briefly from them but it was a much more mild case.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=229472269

Here's a short interview with David Shannon about it!

@charlotte: we use OGX brand tea tree mint. I usually grab it Ulta on sale.

The boys got lice at their old daycare last summer. It was so gross and unpleasant and I get the creeps just thinking about it, but honestly, I feel like almost everyone with school age kids will have to deal with it eventually. We used Rid at first, but then one of my friend's who is a school nurse told me about this product. It was awesome and the boys handled it WAY better than the shampoo. Plus, I could use it every few days without it being a big deal until I was SURE everything was gone. We also bagged up all bedding, stuffed animals, etc., and left them in tied up bags in the garage for several day to kill the lice and then washed them. We ordered a special comb and it was way better than what came in the boxes of stuff, too. It got out even the tiniest little eggs.

https://www.amazon.com/Licefreee-Instant-Treatment-Bottle-6-Ounce/dp/B003KYNNTS?th=1

https://www.amazon.com/Nit-Free-Terminator-Professional-Stainless/dp/B000HIBPV8/ref=sr_1_4_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1490108785&sr=1-4&keywords=lice%2Bcomb&th=1

Now, as an attempt at prevention because it's just so gross to deal with, we put a couple drops of tea tree oil and rosemary oil in their shampoo, and I also run that lice comb through their hair during bath about once a week, just to check and catch it early if they get it again.

@Mrs. Blue: keeping those tips for if/when we are there, thanks.

Honestly if we all get lice I'll be grossed out but it's better than bed bugs. THOSE i am terrified of.