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I'm logged out for privacy. One of the daycare kids gave me lice! I noticed dcg scratching her head lately and didn't think anything of it. Until mine started itching. I immediately felt paranoid and started checking myself over but didn't find anything. Breath of relief. Must be my dry scalp. But the itching didn't stop so I got paranoid again today and got one of those fine toothed combs and after I got out of the shower tonight I ran it through my hair to to calm my fears. And I found tiny little live bugs...I know what to do to treat myself, but how do I let dcm know to have her child treated before bringing her back? She might think I gave it to her. I don't want her to even know I got it. But she's the only one I had all week so I know it's her. She's going to think she got it from here, when I know she didn't since she was the only one here. What should I say???
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I would let the mom know that you found lice and she needs to treat her daughter as well. I would follow up with the details of how you are planning on solving the problem (washing EVERYTHING in hot water, treating everyone in the family, etc.) I wouldn't focus on assigning blame. At this point, it is irrelevant where they came from, they just have to be killed.
I'm sorry you are going through this.
What a way to kick off a weekend!
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I think this is the easiest way. Just do it with no blame.I would let the mom know that you found lice and she needs to treat her daughter as well. I would follow up with the details of how you are planning on solving the problem (washing EVERYTHING in hot water, treating everyone in the family, etc.) I wouldn't focus on assigning blame. At this point, it is irrelevant where they came from, they just have to be killed.
I'm sorry you are going through this. What a way to kick off a weekend!Comment
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So simply say "Wanted to let you know lice has been found and you will want to treat dcg before she comes back next week? I will be be spending the weekend vacuuming everything and washing everything in hot water that could have possibly came in contact with anyone." ?Comment
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First of all, no need to be logged out for privacy, although of course we respect your choice. There are so many of us who have been through it, and it's nothing to be ashamed of. A lice outbreak has no reflection on the cleanliness of your house or your body. It just happens. ****s though!!
Now then, don't panic. Lice are stupid, nonsense little bugs. They don't carry diseases, they don't physically harm you in any way, they are just annoying. Definitely don't worry about where they came from, even though you're sure, because it doesn't matter. What matters is that the mom treats dcg asap and doesn't bring them back.
I would suggest implementing a no-nit policy, meaning that absolutely NO lice eggs can come back in your home. Tell mom you will be checking all children with a nit comb (I swear by this one: http://www.amazon.com/Nit-Free-Termi.../dp/B000HIBPV8) and if you find one single egg, they cannot stay until they are treated again. The ONLY way to treat lice is to remove every single nit with a nit comb. Takes a long time, but is totally necessary.
Let me know if you have any questions, because I've been where you are and I promise you'll make it through!
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You should tell dcm: "Lice have been found in my home, and while I will work all weekend to rid my home of them, I will require all daycare kids to be nit-free on Monday. Please thoroughly check and treat your child and I will be inspecting each head on Monday morning. If a nit is found, your child will be excused until they are nit-free. Thank you for understanding that I need to implement this policy for the welfare of all children."Comment
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Do you have someone who can check you too? I agree, they're not dangerous just a pain in the backside. Things you can't wash, bag up for awhile(can't remember how long it takes). Boil brushes and combs.
My oldest dd brought them home from school one year; she had very long hair at the time; it was no fun. And I swear the only thing that finally got rid of them was combing, picking nits, religiously every single night. Bright light, fine tooth comb, separating hair strand by strand. We tried OTC stuff, prescription stuff, slathering a jar of real mayonnaise and covering with a shower cap(She had the most beautiful hair after that treatment!!). Her pedi joked(I think??) with me about cutting all her hair right off.
It takes awhile but yes, do NOT feel ashamed or bad about getting them!!! It happens to so many people! I was taking care of my midwife's 2 dds and 1 of them had contracted lice too. It happens. Thankfully no one else in my family or daycare got them.
Wishing you the very best of luck!!Comment
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Thank you for the help : ) I text the mom and tried to make it sound as general as I could so she wouldn't feel like I was singling anyone out, but she's also the type to blame everyone else, so I could just imagine her blaming me for her daughter getting it. "She got it from the babysitter's." Anyway, she didn't let it go as a general text, so I had to call her and explain which I really didn't want to do :-P She says, "Well thanks for telling me, but she hasn't been showing any signs". So I had to let her know, she cannot return until she has been checked and treated. I text later because I felt bad for her thinking she may not know how to check and if she just kind of looks at her head she may not see anything and then return saying she didn't have anything, so I let her know how to check, to which she replied, "Yes, I had to ask my family how to tell because we have never had to deal with this before" Later she text and told me she bought a treatment for dcg and one to use for the house, and then a minute later she texts and adds, "We all decided to get a bottle for ourselves also, just to be safe". She never said if she found anything, but I know dcg had it and by her getting a treatment for the house and for each of them also, that kind of tells me she must have found it, otherwise she wouldn't be worried about their house and themselves if she didn't have it. Now I just hope she checks for the nits also and washes her bedding for nap time and clothes and everything, since I obviously won't know if she washed it or not. I'll be checking dcg in the morning, but it's hard to tell just by looking at her dry head since they can move so quickly and the nits are so tiny and hard to see. I couldn't even find anything on myself until I wet my hair completely and used the comb (the "lice free" one that was recommended and I'm really impressed with. Not to mention the spray I got from "Lice Free". Wow! That was an easy, no fuss treatment and I like that it didn't have any harmful chemicals in it). Anyway, I couldn't tell until I wet my hair completely and used the comb, so I'm not sure I'll be able to see anything on dcg : / Especially since that girl doesn't sit still for a second
. I'm scared to death of her bringing it back in, and after this crazy weekend spent washing and washing and washing, and bagging stuff up, and checking myself and my husband for it and doing the treatments and washing that out and checking over and over again to be sure they're gone, and vacuuming... I'm exhausted :-P And I'm so worried about her spreading it around that she got it from me... I can't afford to get bad word of mouth : /
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I'm guess I am confused as to why you weren't upfront about the fact that the little girl likely gave it to YOU not the other way around?! Especially since you had no other children in your care.Thank you for the help : ) I text the mom and tried to make it sound as general as I could so she wouldn't feel like I was singling anyone out, but she's also the type to blame everyone else, so I could just imagine her blaming me for her daughter getting it. "She got it from the babysitter's." Anyway, she didn't let it go as a general text, so I had to call her and explain which I really didn't want to do :-P She says, "Well thanks for telling me, but she hasn't been showing any signs". So I had to let her know, she cannot return until she has been checked and treated. I text later because I felt bad for her thinking she may not know how to check and if she just kind of looks at her head she may not see anything and then return saying she didn't have anything, so I let her know how to check, to which she replied, "Yes, I had to ask my family how to tell because we have never had to deal with this before" Later she text and told me she bought a treatment for dcg and one to use for the house, and then a minute later she texts and adds, "We all decided to get a bottle for ourselves also, just to be safe". She never said if she found anything, but I know dcg had it and by her getting a treatment for the house and for each of them also, that kind of tells me she must have found it, otherwise she wouldn't be worried about their house and themselves if she didn't have it. Now I just hope she checks for the nits also and washes her bedding for nap time and clothes and everything, since I obviously won't know if she washed it or not. I'll be checking dcg in the morning, but it's hard to tell just by looking at her dry head since they can move so quickly and the nits are so tiny and hard to see. I couldn't even find anything on myself until I wet my hair completely and used the comb (the "lice free" one that was recommended and I'm really impressed with. Not to mention the spray I got from "Lice Free". Wow! That was an easy, no fuss treatment and I like that it didn't have any harmful chemicals in it). Anyway, I couldn't tell until I wet my hair completely and used the comb, so I'm not sure I'll be able to see anything on dcg : / Especially since that girl doesn't sit still for a second. I'm scared to death of her bringing it back in, and after this crazy weekend spent washing and washing and washing, and bagging stuff up, and checking myself and my husband for it and doing the treatments and washing that out and checking over and over again to be sure they're gone, and vacuuming... I'm exhausted :-P And I'm so worried about her spreading it around that she got it from me... I can't afford to get bad word of mouth : /Comment
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I didn't want to let her know I had it at first : / And I was trying to be general so she wouldn't feel like I was blaming her. I wanted to be tactful about it and not just say, "I know dcg has it because she gave it to me". But the mom didn't let it go at me just being general, so I was just honest and explained that I'd noticed dcg scratching a lot and that it made me wonder if she had lice after I started thinking about it (after she left) since that is a sign of it and that I checked myself that night to be sure I didn't get it, but I had. I guess I was so nervous explaining it that I wasn't as blunt as maybe I should have been and just said, "she was scratching her head a lot and so I checked myself to make sure I didn't get it from her". But I was trying to be nice about it. I mean what parent would take those words well: "I got lice from your daughter"? I really didn't know what to say or how to say it. I was so embarrassed that I had it, regardless of how I got it. It would have been easier if I had had other children last week. I'm sure I didn't word it in the right way, but this was my first experience at a child giving me something like that. I'm used to getting sick after a parent brings their sick child, but not lice!
I'm not looking forward to seeing her mom in the morning and her grandpa in the afternoon : / I still feel so embarrassed.Comment
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Just an Update
Update: dcm came in this morning with dcg. I get the impression she does realize dcg gave it to me and not the other way around, going by the way she was talking. She did admit that she had it and told me everything they did to be sure she was free of them. So it sounds like they took it seriously and put the work into being sure everything was gone. Before she left she said, "I just don't know how she would have gotten it!" And I explained that it could come from anywhere and gave some examples.
Whew! I am so relieved this is behind us now, and that dcm isn't blaming me.
Thank you everyone for your advice and support through this!Comment
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If it is child's first time with lice it can be hard to trace back to where they may have picked them up. It takes awhile for symptoms to appear sometimes with the first exposure:
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To me, it doesn't really matter where they came from, she had them and they had to be dealt with.Comment
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Oh yeah, it doesn't matter where she got it. I just care about the fact that dcm got it taken care of and it's over now. Dcg even seems happier today than she did last week : )
The reason I mentioned "where they came from" is because dcm was saying she didn't know where they could have came from, and I just explained that they could have come from anywhere; movie theater, etc.
But for myself, if I didn't know where I had gotten them, I'd sure be wondering about it so I'd know where to be careful at! ;-)Comment
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My son showed up with lice a week before Christmas 3 years ago. One day he was fine, the next his head was crawling with live bugs. No one else in the daycare or my family had it and we had no clue where it might have come from. Treated both my kids with prescription stuff the Ped prescribed over the phone (I don't mess around,) and cleaned EVERYTHING. Never saw another bug ,nit, nothing. Never spread. Weirdest thing.
Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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