Never Happened In 17 Years And Now...

[Country Kids]

I have my first alert of head lice!! One of the dck's came home with a note that it has been found on a child in their class. Not once in 17 years have I had a child come home with a note and now this. UUGGHH, I'm so worried as I really don't want to chance this.

Is there anything in particular I should be doing just in case. I have a feeling its going to spread like wildfire in the classroom and I'm just not happy. Sorry but I have gone this long and I'm afraid its going to just be the begining of a long year. This child goes to HS and I love the family, the child and its not their child thank goodness. I just knew though this was going to happen once i found out HS new policies for lice.

Anyway if anyone has tips on how to keep it away from my house please let me know. I have never dealt with this.

[daycare]

I have my first alert of head lice!! One of the dck's came home with a note that it has been found on a child in their class. Not once in 17 years have I had a child come home with a note and now this. UUGGHH, I'm so worried as I really don't want to chance this.

Is there anything in particular I should be doing just in case. I have a feeling its going to spread like wildfire in the classroom and I'm just not happy. Sorry but I have gone this long and I'm afraid its going to just be the begining of a long year. This child goes to HS and I love the family, the child and its not their child thank goodness. I just knew though this was going to happen once i found out HS new policies for lice.

Anyway if anyone has tips on how to keep it away from my house please let me know. I have never dealt with this.

ugfgghhhhhhhh.. now you have me itching my head.. I am so happy for this form...before I came to this form I don't even know what lice is....I never heard of it before...

[Crazy8]

we get letters home about it all the time... my DD had it once a few years ago, OMG, I freaked!!! But here are a few preventatives for the kids in the school...

- tea tree oil -put a few drops in their shampoo
- clean hair - use gel and hairspray, etc. on their hair
- braid girls hair if its long enough
- obviously no sharing brushes, hats, etc.
- If they don't have separate lockers have kids put jackets in their backpacks - you don't want them touching others on a row of hooks in the classroom, etc.

[daycarediva]

I 2140175th the tea tree oil. I add a few drops to each shampoo bottle around infestation times or when I hear it's going around and knock on wood, we have NEVER gotten it (and neither have my kids!)

[Nickel]

Funny thing. Lice is not a cleanliness issue. Lice actual stick to clean hair better than greasy oily hair. Not that you would want your child's hair to get all greasy :: But it is a common misconception that dirty people have lice and that isn't the case. I wouldn't freak out about it. Even if 1 child has lice they HAVE to send the note home. And that child could have gotten it from his neighbors brothers cousins friend kwim? Common areas of picking up lice is movie theater seats, bus seats, sharing brushes, towels, combs, hats, clothing, etc. So make sure your child knows not to share these items. Also let them know not to rest their head on the back of seats, especialy upholstered ones!

I have heard tea tree oil helps, but I have no experience with it (although it's in my dandruff shampoo and seems to help with that! ) I also recommend having them put their coat in their bookbag. And check their hair for nits. It looks like dandruff only you can't flick it out of their hair, You actualy can only remove it by sliding it down the strand of hair. Then it is probably a nit (lice egg ) If you see anything treat her hair RIGHT away. And wash all bedding, towels, pillow cases, etc in HOT water and keep all hair items separate until you are sure there is no more lice. It isn't the end of the world if your child DOES get lice, but it may take several treatments to finally be rid of it.

[Meyou]

Tea tree oil and ponytails. We use the shampoo and haven't had it in the house once in the 6 years since we started.

[familyschoolcare]

Have no new advice. However, just because this is the first notice you know about does not mean it is the first time a DCK was exposed at school.. I feel your pain I hate that the schools do nothing about it. However, it does make my life easier if a DCK gets it because any thing I do to prevent is more than the schools and I point that out. The only parent that had a problem was difficult to work with in other areas and left one week later.

[Soccermom]

I have my first alert of head lice!! One of the dck's came home with a note that it has been found on a child in their class. Not once in 17 years have I had a child come home with a note and now this. UUGGHH, I'm so worried as I really don't want to chance this.

Is there anything in particular I should be doing just in case. I have a feeling its going to spread like wildfire in the classroom and I'm just not happy. Sorry but I have gone this long and I'm afraid its going to just be the begining of a long year. This child goes to HS and I love the family, the child and its not their child thank goodness. I just knew though this was going to happen once i found out HS new policies for lice.

Anyway if anyone has tips on how to keep it away from my house please let me know. I have never dealt with this.

I just posted about this same thing a minute ago. My DD got a note that there is a case in her class...gross!! I also have a DCG in that same class.
BUT this has happened in the past. My other DD had a note sent home a few years ago and she never got it.
My advice is to be on top of this with the DCP. Make sure DCG hair is tied up every day (preferrably in a bun). DCM should be washing DCG hair with tea tree oil shampoo every night as well.
Check DCG every day when she comes in the house for lice for the next couple of weeks as well.
I just got the email this afternoon and am not sure if I should just check DCG or if I should let DCM know I will be checking first or not.
I will check them every day for the next few weeks.

[Angelsj]

Lice is nowhere as contagious as people make it out to be. The do not fly or jump and often you can have ONE and if it is not already pregnant, it will just die. So easy on the panic!

That being said, I hate them as well. I do check daycare kids fairly regularly as well as my own kids (who are home schooled.) There is also a spray you can safely spritz on their hair. It contains essential oils that 'smell bad' to lice, and discourage them from staying on hair if they should come in contact.

[LK5kids]

I had a child that had the worse case of head lice I'd ever seen. I sent the child home about three times as I kept finding lice. I'm quite sure that the parents treated the child once home but did not have the money to treat the other children in the family. They also did not have a washer/dryer and probably couldn't afford to do all the bedding, extra clothes, etc. or maybe didn't take the time to take it all to the laundry mat each time they treated this child.
I had seen lice in the preschool I taught in (I lived in a state at that time that allowed me to hire someone at my family child care and I taught preschool two afternoons a week) on occasion also, so knew what I was looking for.
Even with this severe case of lice only one other child ended up with lice (out of six). While it should be taken seriously it's not like they jump from child to child through the air or live in the carpet, etc. I also never got lice myself.
Here and there at the preschool I taught at and also when I taught kindergarten, children would end up with head lice but NEVER did it go through the entire class. In fact they were always isolated incidences with one child involved.
You almost have to look at the hair under a light or in the sun. You can many times find the nits on the nap of the neck or around the ears. You can also pull up strands in the light and the nits (egg sacks) will hang on the shaft. They do not come off easily.
Once when my daughter ended up with head lice (she had hair to her waist) I had to almost go through her hair strand by stand and cut each hair off (that had a nit) with a cuticle scissors as those little combs they send with the kits don't work.

[Angelsj]

Just an addition, there are metal combs that work, but they are hard to find. You can also rinse the hair with vinegar or dip your fingers in vinegar, give it a minute or two and they will come off.
Vinegar dissolves the glue holding them to the hair.