Head Lice! WTF!!! Neighbor kids got them, what to do now???
 

So we got a call last night that one of the lil kiddos that our lil'st one plays with - she has head lice. Now these folks are top-draw, clean people. The girl is always very well dressed and doesn't appear dirty or anything. I always thought head lice was for the Appellations or trailer park trash but I guess it can inflict anyone regardless of personal hygiene?

Anybody have any experience with this critters? How do you know you got them? How do you get rid of them?

I'm freaking out a bit. The kid was over this weekend. I told my wife to Lysol everything and wash the pillows and linens on the sanitary cycle (takes 2 hours for just the wash!)

Now my scalp is itching!

I always thought lice liked clean hair better because they could move more freely

We just went through this with our 7 yr old. She picked it up at summer day camp. All the bedding in the house was washed on the sanitary setting, and all toss pillows and stuffed animals were put in a sealed bag for a month. We went through her head for about four hours (with many breaks) and picked out each egg with tweezers. Got some stuff that she put on her head and let it set there for a few hours and then washed her hair. Back under the light with the tweezers again. Repeat. It's a major PITA but you have to try and get every last egg. They're like bedbugs now-- no longer associated with the unwashed masses.:D Those suckers are small too-- they look like a grain of pepper. Good luck.

Use the same method you use to get rid of your crabs!

gassy covered it....

My twin 7 year old girls got lice at summer camp too. All the bedding needs to be washed, vacuum all the rugs, mattress and stuffed animals, etc. We did the prescription hair treatment which was easy, it's the house cleaning that kicks your ass!!! Oh, and repeat after 10-14 days!!! We also had to cancel the girls B-day party at "jump-on-in" for 25 kids, because nobody would show up, knowing lice was going around!!! There is a shampoo and conditioner that a friend told us about, that actually repells lice. Now my girls sport shorter hair and keep it in a pony tail. Good luck, I don't wish it on anyone....

I suggest you panic and over-react.
Oh, you're way ahead of me.
Or, you could simply keep an eye on your kids. If they start scratching go to the local store and buy the shampoo with the comb in the box.

It's not really worthy of the drama.

Good point Sammy. I have brought my preconceived stigma into a situation that requires more insight and logic than emotion.

Doing a little research on-line, they sound pretty common and easy to rid from the hair (and house with diligent work).

We had an epidemic at school when I was in 5th grade. I was one of those kids who had it. For the record, I did not live in a trailer park, and grew up in clean household, bathed daily etc..
I thought it was great, they made me stay home from school for a week. I did have to get a buzz cut, did the shampoo, and my mom had to pick all of the little critters out . It was a long time ago, but I don't remember it being too bad. They were gone in a couple of days.

Time for the Quell shampoo Lubey. That and the comb like Sammy says.
My kid just got back from science camp. No itchy scratchy yet. (knock on wood)

Wash you kids hair with Head&Shoulders and they will never get them.

Really? I never heard of that one before. Is that for real or something you just heard about?

i don't know if this is true or false but a lady at the local rite aid suggested washing your hair with sauve coconut shampoo.. apparently the lice doesn't like that brand but its suppose to kill them. when our daugther got it at school, coinsides with the beginning of softball season, exchanging batting helmets. .. we used the strong stuff you get at the store. it worked and now we use the sauve everyday just incase.
good luck, its a pita.

Remember, basically if it is going around, they ALL are going to get it. Better to start treating it.

Oh, and watch the South Park Episode on this...

Lice Capades (Season 11, Episode 3) - Full Episode Player - South Park Studios

It used to go around to everybody during baseball season. 4 helmets + a whole team of kids = everybody gets it.

My kids we're sitting beside their cousins for a 4 hour car ride and we found out the next day that they had head lice. My kids never got them.

Guess you could call it an old doctor/nurse tale, everyone with kids at my wife's workplace swears by it. But then she does work at a mental hospital so it could be just physiological.

The main ingredient in Lice shampoo is Coal Tar. That is also the main ingredient in most dandruff shampoos.

Also shampoos containing tea tree oil repel lice

If the kid is already infested, shampoos won't work. You need to painstakingly comb out each nit. And use the oil treatments.

Head lice isn't that uncommon. I suppose no-body wants to brag about how their kid has head lice, so it seems rare.