Arrgghh!! Head lice!!

[luvs2eat]

POOR youngest DD just called. She's a new special ed teacher and wanted to know the signs and symptoms for head lice, which are rampant in her elementary school!

Ahhhh... (NOT SO) fond memories. I told her how to spot 'em or the nits... and if she does find them to call me when she's on her way to the drug store for the hair treatment... cause there's more to do than JUST treating your head. Ya gotta treat your bedding... even using a spray for things like your couch and the head rest in your car, not to mention your clothes!

I remember middle DD having them once... she was so embarrassed that I had to call the school and I told her, "On the contrary!! You should go to school and ask who the heck gave them to YOU??" I treated the whole house! The combs in the kits were pretty useless and I spent WEEKS w/ her head in my lap pulling nits w/ my thumb nail and finger from her waist-length hair!

Youngest DD's had a really tough first year... it's nothing like she expected (she has a Masters in special/elem. ed) ... little/no support from higher-ups... physically abusive students who have no business in a public school setting... she's actually rethinking her whole career! She's been sick all year w/ colds, which is common for a new teacher... and she's about to LOSE it w/ the idea that she has to spend all day in school today itching and feeling skeeved!!

[Sabine]

Having worked in the elementary school system I know what she is going through, happens every year. If she thinks she has head lice, I would go and have the school nurse check her hair. They know exactly what they are looking for , they deal with it every year. I remember one of our translater for the deaf, got lice one year, and she had long, long hair. It took several treatments to get her head cleared. And yes, you have to treat everything, lots of times parents don't seem to understand that.

[luvs2eat]

Well... the FIRST time my kids came home w/ head lice... it was the school nurse who told me just treating the head was fune. It was another parent (who'd been there and done it!) who told me to treat the whole house!! What a dummy nurse we had!!

[cottun]

Brings back memories! I only had to go thru that once. Both of my DD's caught them at the babysitters house, as did all the other kids that the babysitter was keeping. I didnt think I would ever get rid of all of them! The only good thing that came out of it was that DD1 had suffered from seborrhea since she was very young and the doctor was always trying new medicated treatments and nothing was working for it. The RID that we used for the headlice took care of the seborrhea permanently - she never had it again after that!

[Sabine]

Well... the FIRST time my kids came home w/ head lice... it was the school nurse who told me just treating the head was fune. It was another parent (who'd been there and done it!) who told me to treat the whole house!! What a dummy nurse we had!!

Yes, a school nurse should have known better.

[nuisance]

Comes With The Territory, But Still Doesn't Make It Any Easier! My Doc Tells People To Put Some Of The Liquid Concentrated Lysol In The Washer With Sheets/cloths, That Will Kill Any Bugs/eggs There, Pillows/stuffed Animals Etc, Put In Hot Dryer. Use The Spray On Cloth Sofas/loveseats/recliners, Mattresses.

[Ro-Ro]

I always protected myself from head lice from the kids by using Hair Spray...it worked for me and the rest of the teachers in my pod.

[luvs2eat]

I always protected myself from head lice from the kids by using Hair Spray...it worked for me and the rest of the teachers in my pod.

What a good idea! I'll pass that on to her! Did you have to use so much that your hair was kind of sticky or hard?

[muzette7]

Ugh my kids got it once when they had hair down to the middle of their backs. It took about a month and short hair cuts to finally get rid of them. We tried everything, scrubbed and washed and sprayed every thing, it felt like we were in a loosing battle. Finall we got rid of them by using the Rid shampoo every other day for about a week. I dont know if you were supposed to use it that much, but it was the only thing that finally worked.

[Coll'sCookin']

What a good idea! I'll pass that on to her! Did you have to use so much that your hair was kind of sticky or hard?

Supposedly they don't like Tee Tree Oil either. Get some shampoo and use is exclusively as a preventive.

Also, if you have long hair, run a flat iron or curling iron over thin clumps/strands of hair from scalp to ends. This will get the nits that are on the hair shaft away from the scalp. The lice shampoo is a must too if you have them.

They are all over our school too. Makes me itchy just typing this!

[luvkidrock]

I just sent a student home today that the school nurse thinks has scabies......wow....i haven't seen that in years.....head lice is so common now and all year, I don't even think about it anymore.

as far as the abusive children, more and more we are seeing these types of things in public school because every child has the right to a free and equal education....as a teacher, I sometimes question where are the rights of the "normal" child???? I am not knocking any child with a handicap, but I just don't think that public school is the best option at all times.

Tell your dd to hang in there, it will get better ...I promise...this is my 17th year.

[Sabine]

I had a case of scabies when I was working in the school system, didn't even know what scabies was, until I went to the doctor. We had some pretty dirty, smelly kids in our school, they were bused in from another part of town because our school serviced the deaf children and other handicaps for the district, large district. And I am sure that's were it came from. And I am not saying that someone who is deaf or handicapped is necessarily dirty , but some of those kids were.
And so were some of the parents, sorry to say.

[Ro-Ro]

Luvs,

I didn't go too heavy with the hair spray -- some of the teachers went overboard with it but I think if you give it a spray all around the hair once is good.

[DinDin]

Mayonnaise or anything with oil helps but stinks.

[Carol]

HI Luvs,

I'm a teacher too and we use the old hair conditioner treatment system, as it suffocates the lice and it is much better for your hair rather than using those nasty chemicals.
I have included the link to an Australian education department site that has three pages of info and details about using hair conditioner as a way of getting rid of headlice.

I hope this helps.

Carol

https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/languagesupport/headlice/infosheet/english.pdf