Please Help...What's Your Policy on Lice?

[DaycareMom]

Dcg5 has lice. DCM informed me of this morning. She said they did a treatment and all the eggs are gone (said there were no live lice), and that they had to do another treatment in 7 days.

She asked what my policy was regarding this and I said when all signs of lice were gone (which she said that everything was gone), but since she just found them this morning, I was a little paranoid and requested that she not bring her kids for the week and I would not charge her. She is upset and says she doesn't understand why she can't bring them if the school is ok with it.

I am just really paranoid and have heard horror stories of trying to get rid of lice.

What would you do in my position?

[NoMoreJuice!]

Step one: Don't panic! Lice do not spread diseases or harm children in any way. They are simply a nuisance.

Step two: Implement a NO-NIT policy. Do not allow any child to attend if they have nits (lice eggs) in their head. Public schools do not have this policy; they allow kids to attend with nits. We are are not bound by the same rules...we make our own. And the best way to ensure that no more lice walk into your house is to say no to nits.

Spend some time googling what they look like, they are tinier than you think, and not always white. The live ones are often caramel colored. Then do head checks every single morning on all kiddos for a week or so.

Tell dcm to buy a special nit comb and get every single egg out...then you will admit child back to daycare when mom can prove dcg is nit free.

[DaycareMom]

Step one: Don't panic! Lice do not spread diseases or harm children in any way. They are simply a nuisance.

Step two: Implement a NO-NIT policy. Do not allow any child to attend if they have nits (lice eggs) in their head. Public schools do not have this policy; they allow kids to attend with nits. We are are not bound by the same rules...we make our own. And the best way to ensure that no more lice walk into your house is to say no to nits.

Spend some time googling what they look like, they are tinier than you think, and not always white. The live ones are often caramel colored. Then do head checks every single morning on all kiddos for a week or so.

Tell dcm to buy a special nit comb and get every single egg out...then you will admit child back to daycare when mom can prove dcg is nit free.

Is less than 24 hours after treatment a sufficient amount of time to get rid of it so it doesn't come into my home?

[NoMoreJuice!]

Yes, absolutely. As long as you can't find a single nit, everyone will be lice free! Stress to dcm that the nit removal process can take over an hour to comb through every single strand on the child's head. This is not something to run a comb through and pronounce done. Tell her it will only waste her time and yours if you find a nit in the morning and have to send her home.

They like hanging out on the back of the head and around the ears, I've found. Look for little pieces of dandruff that you can't flick off (they are glued on by a secretion from the mama lice) about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch above the scalp.

[Unregistered]

My 2 girls had them twice . They both have very very long hair. After I treated them I combed their hair. I spent about 4 hours on each child. It was a nightmare. Use some gloves and check the child's hair every day. If you don't know what nits or lice look like see if you have a salon that specializes in lice removal and see if hey would be willing to show you what it all looks like.

[Josiegirl]

I cannot advise as to whether you should take dcg or not but I'd find it hard to believe they've been eradicated completely after 1 treatment. Unless she's either super lucky or extremely good at finding every single nit. Did she actually sit down and look through every strand of hair, as was mentioned by PP?

For some reason, only 1 of my own dds got lice. No one else got them in our family or dc. But it took me 6 long weeks to get rid of them. My ignorance about the whole thing didn't help. We made a few trips to the drs., even used the mayo/shower cap trick(makes for lovely shiny hair by the way).
The ONLY thing that finally got rid of them was sitting by a bright window, using a magnifying glass, and combing through every single strand to get the nits. And even then, it was probably the last 2 weeks that I did that. Every single night.
Good luck!!

[Unregistered]

My dd had it and it took 3 1/2 days of combing hair washing bedding clothes teddy bears etc to get rid of it. I went overboard with it but we got rid of it all.

[DaycareMom]

So I told her to keep the kids home today and just make sure to go through each strand of her hair and as long as no nits were found, they could return tomorrow.

She said she brought the girl to school and the nurse checked her and there were no eggs or lice. She is now saying that the girl never had it in the first place.

I asked why she thought dcg had it and she said because they saw Brown spots and assumed they were unhatched eggs. I then responded saying "oh so what were the brown spots? Just freckles?" She said "no because now it's gone so everyone should be fine"

I'm so confused! If there were brown spots and now they are gone doesn't that mean there were eggs there yesterday? And doesn't that potentially mean there could be some throughout her hair if DCM didn't comb through everything?

[Blackcat31]

So I told her to keep the kids home today and just make sure to go through each strand of her hair and as long as no nits were found, they could return tomorrow.

She said she brought the girl to school and the nurse checked her and there were no eggs or lice. She is now saying that the girl never had it in the first place.

I asked why she thought dcg had it and she said because they saw Brown spots and assumed they were unhatched eggs. I then responded saying "oh so what were the brown spots? Just freckles?" She said "no because now it's gone so everyone should be fine"

I'm so confused! If there were brown spots and now they are gone doesn't that mean there were eggs there yesterday? And doesn't that potentially mean there could be some throughout her hair if DCM didn't comb through everything?

Personally, I'd have her bring her in and have the nurse or Dr look at her and clear her for daycare. Have the Dr/nurse write a note stating she is clear of nits and lice AND what the brown spots could have been. (That's even more alarming than lice...:confused

Schools have a looser policy about lice because the close contact between kids is less frequent than in home daycare. Plus lice/nits can attach to fabrics and similar items and the schools aren't really full of that type of thing....kwim?

[Second Home]

Lice will live in the carpet , furniture , rugs , anything cloth . The chances of getting rid of them in an hour is slim to none . She would have had to strip all bedding and wash it on HOT to be sure they are killed off . All stuffed animals bagged and sealed to be sure they are dead . Rugs and furniture treated .

This is not something that can be done quickly if you want to be sure they are gone . Every person who I know that has a child who got lice struggled for days and even over a week to get rid of them .

If a child had lice I would not allow them in care , I have been through that once and will never willingly go through it again .

Our schools still send home kids with lice .

[DaycareMom]

Lice will live in the carpet , furniture , rugs , anything cloth . The chances of getting rid of them in an hour is slim to none . She would have had to strip all bedding and wash it on HOT to be sure they are killed off . All stuffed animals bagged and sealed to be sure they are dead . Rugs and furniture treated .

This is not something that can be done quickly if you want to be sure they are gone . Every person who I know that has a child who got lice struggled for days and even over a week to get rid of them .

If a child had lice I would not allow them in care , I have been through that once and will never willingly go through it again .

Our schools still send home kids with lice .

How long would you suggest they stay away if they are telling you it's all gone?

[Blackcat31]

How long would you suggest they stay away if they are telling you it's all gone?

Try this site http://www.headlice.org/

TONS of good info!

[Second Home]

I would check the child's hair thoroughly every day for a week before letting them come back . If you find even 1 egg , nit , or lice then I would not allow them to stay .

If they do not clean their linens upholstery , stuffed animals , etc...) then the child will get re-infested with lice. Just washing the hair once is usually not enough .

[Blackcat31]

I would check the child's hair thoroughly every day for a week before letting them come back . If you find even 1 egg , nit , or lice then I would not allow them to stay .

If they do not clean their linens upholstery , stuffed animals , etc...) then the child will get re-infested with lice. Just washing the hair once is usually not enough .

The #1 item that often gets forgotten in the cleaning process but is responsible for re-infection almost 75% of the time is the car seat.

Don't forget to point that out to mom/dad. I've heard of people using their irons to iron the head rest and ANY cloth part of the car seat. The high heat will kill anything left on the seat.