Lice.. How to make sure they don't come back!

Dani - posted on 05/21/2013

CL - posted on 05/11/2013

When I was a child it was a lice epidemic on my school. It was bad and I remember that most of the moms did not know what to do in order to exterminate the insects. It seemed like the most they tried the most the lice reproduced. It was a really mess. Until one day one of the moms discovered a very good home remedy: Avocado Seed! She has been told to find a very ripe avocado, get rid of the pulp and with the seed rubbing the head of the child and leave it on scalp for one hour after that just rinsed put with regular shampoo. She has been told that remedy not only will eliminate the lice but it will prevent to get lice again.
So, the mom did it and told the experience to the other moms, not all of the moms followed the advice but my mom did it! I can tell you after I had been rubbing with that avocado all the lice had gone and I have never had lice again. But if you want more home remedies you can go to; http://www.healthline.com/health-slidesh... and you will find others effective and safety ways to eliminate lice. Good Luck!

Bella - posted on 04/25/2013

Hi, I have a son and i have been through this. It was very shocking for me to see a bunch of pests crawling in his hair, but i had faith and knew i could get over with this. I went to walmart i grabbed like a couple of the bottles of NIX, Fairytales lice shampoo, Nit comb, tee tre and olive oil. First on saturday when there was no school i took my son ion the backyard for 1 hour i constantly checked his hair and killed loads of this bugs after that i sprayed NIX on every hair of his and put a shower cap and left it there for another hour. Then i took him into the shower and put on the fairytales lice shampoo and left it in there for 10 mins. I slowly washed it off soaked his hair then got him out then used the nit comb guess what i only found 2 nits that were dead! no lice, no nits, no eggs he was free! i took him to the barbar anyways and got him a cut because im irish so my sons hair was blonde, soft and long. now It's short spiky and stylish and he is lice free. the secret is That i put tea tree oil in every shampoo bottle i open for my whole family. Now my son Alex is 12 and since that day when he was 8 he has not gotten lice! :) hope i helped thanks ;)

Amy - posted on 03/04/2013

will sleeping in separate beds prevent lice

Shannon - posted on 12/15/2012

My nieces get lice a lot. So every summer I do there hair when there hair this is what I do. Frist I sock there hair in olive oil for four hours. With a bag covering there hair. I then go through there hair with the lice metal com. Going very slowly. It do the coming twice so to make sure I have I the adults. This dose not get all the egg. It makes it hard on the lice to hold on to the hair. Then shampoo oil out of hair. And then put vinager in spray bottle. And spray there hair and com again . This blotes the eggs so they com can get them. Then shampoo out the vinager Vacuum and spray house. Keep checking there hair when there with me to make sure I got all. Witch I usually do. Good luck

Jenna - posted on 10/25/2012

wash ur child's hair with a lice shampoo. then after its rinsed out, mix olive oil, mayonayse, and vasolene together and apply all over there head. then put a shower cap on there head and wrap it in a towel (so it doesnt get messy) after u have all of that done then let ur child sleep in it. when they wake up. take off the towell and shower cap, but DONT rinse out te mixture. while the mixture is still in the hair comb out the hair with a normal pick/ comb this should get out a lot of the extra mixture. after that has been done. take the lice comb and comb through the hair while the mixture is still on ur childs head. after you are done with this process wash out the mixture with shampoo, but DO NOT use conditioner. coditioner attracts the lice to the head and won't die as easily. once u have done this process, keep doing this for 3-4 days, u will notice that there won't be any alive lice. but maybe a few nits. just keep combing and doing this treatment, and it should clear up with in a week. :)

Shannon - posted on 08/25/2012

I mixed a concoction of tea tree oil lavender oil conditioner and water in a spray bottle and sprayed it on my sons hair every day before school, I also treated his hair once a week with a natural product called moove it comes in shampoo form so it's easy to use. They also have a preventative spray which is also natural and non greasy and I would spray his hast every day too, this all seemed to work as we have been lice free for months. Hope this helps

Casey - posted on 08/25/2012

My son and daughter both had lice and i freaked out!! it is the worse feeling in the world and so overwhelming. i put olive oil in her and wrapped in a shower cap for 3 hours then i went through it with a special comb and washed it and went through with the comb again, I then the next day contacted her school nurse and she didn't see any live lice but a few eggs. so the next day i went and bought some lice md stuff and put in both their hair and some spray for your mattresses and couch. I then shaved my sons head!! which i didn't wanna do but hey he's a boy so who cares. I vacuumed everthing took all bedding and washed and clothes and threw pilllows away put al stuffed animals in a garbage bag and duct taped it tight and put away in basement where no one goes. ugh i'm still like omg i need to keep cleaning, i wouldn't put this on my worse enemy. i'm so tired of lice. i don't have lice or my fiance doesnt' either. he has no hair and the nurse checked me out. how do you know you got everything cause this is consuming my mind to much i need to stopp thinking about it. any suggestions?

Tricia - posted on 08/06/2012

I have been dealing with this as well, SO I KNOW. I also have two girls and have been trying everything. I haven't seen any in my 7 yr old for a while now 3 wks. I happened to be at the store getting more lice killing shampoo when a school nurse overheard me talking to the pharmacist and mentioned coconut. I have now been washing their hair with coconut suave shampoo & conditioner. My girls have tons of fine hair so people often mistake their hair as thick, I have also been using fairytales detangling spray. It contains citronella and tea tree oils as well as pure rosemary and peppermint. Here is the website=fairytaleshaircare.com. I throw the pillows in the dryer on hottest cycle once a week and I wash the sheets (all our sheets) twice a week. Hot water and hot setting on dryer. also, once a week I throw hair accessories in hot soapy water all our hairbrushes & combs. (130 degrees F) for at least 10 min. Still finding 1 to 3 nits in the 2 yr old but I have to check her more cause she won't sit as long..

Maureen - posted on 11/25/2011

We had a bit of a prob with this last year. It wasn't like there was tons of live, just a few and it took forever to get rid of them. We did treatments, and cloths washing. After every treatment ( and even when hair is already dry) blow dry with a hair dryer. Make sure the lice comb your using is one of the metal ones, since the plastic ones don't grab hardly any of the eggs :( and we now use tea tree shampoo/conditioner regularly to deter any more. Hope this helps. It may take time. Oh and for bedding and cloths. It's the heat that kills them, so don't worry about washing what's already clean, just throw 'em in the dryer ;)

Jakki - posted on 11/23/2011

Re dog shampoo for lice - hmmmm... I wouldn't do that, products for pet use have much lower testing standards than those for humans. They could be carcinogenic but the government won't worry too much if it's for dogs. Don't use it!



I just lather up my child's hair with lots of cheap conditioner (with a dash of tea tree oil) once a week and comb like crazy with a nit comb until there are no bugs or eggs coming out.



PS you're never going to get rid of them completely because other kids have them and they'll come back. Just relax about them.

Jakki - posted on 11/23/2011

Re dog shampoo for lice - hmmmm... I wouldn't do that, products for pet use have much lower testing standards than those for humans. They could be carcinogenic but the government won't worry too much if it's for dogs. Don't use it!

I just lather up my child's hair with lots of cheap conditioner (with a dash of tea tree oil) once a week and comb like crazy until there are no bugs or eggs coming out.

PS you're never going to get rid of them completely because other kids have them and they'll come back. Just relax about them.

Casey - posted on 11/22/2011

only wash your girls hair on the weekends- lice love clean hair. keep it tied up, and use a preventative spray like nitenz which is natural and smells like citronella oil but helps to prevent them :)

Jessica - posted on 11/22/2011

OH dont do RID only once a month...it could really hurt you! Try mayo on your hair overnight wrapped in seran wrap or shower cap and make sure u clean clean clean. Putting stuffed animals and pillows in the drier to kill them off or putting them in a plastic bag for a few days to kill them. Also there is a spray that u can buy for the carpet at like walgreens that seems to help.! Good luck

Chris - posted on 11/20/2011

Hello Moms... A friend from the east coast told me about this great line of kid's hair care stuff that is actually for lice prevention. I looked up their site, www.zippitydoos.com, and saw tha it was available at Dahl's of all places. I never knew you could prevent lice, but this company says their line is pediatrician approved, laboratory tested, and paraben and sulfate-free. I picked up some yesterday and will use the shampoo and conditioner tonight at bath time. Smells pretty good and my daughter loved the bottle and the pretty colors. They have a whole line and my friend, a mom of 3, swears by it. Good luck!

Jamie Lynn - posted on 03/16/2011

Hi Melissa...I had the same issue with my daughter Olivia and she has long curly hair! Combing was a nightmare in fact this whole ordeal was a nightmare and kept me itching for months! I highly recommend that you look into using lice preventative hair care products in your daughters hair! I use products made from Fairy Tales Hair Care, they have a lice prevention line of hair care products for children called Rosemary Repel! I started using them right after we got rid of lice for the second time last year...and so far no head lice or infestations!! Her School continues to battle with headlice so I spray them everyday with the Leave-In Conditioning Spray, I even spray their bookbags! Their products came highly recommended by the School Nurse!

Also, keep in mind that lice can not live off the human head for more then two days...so you do not have to go too crazy when it comes to cleaning and doing laundry! Do head checks every single day, change her clothing as soon as she gets home from School! If you get Fairy Tales spray the Leave-In Spray every single day before School and use it on her bookbag as well. Safe to spray on the skin too...I was told by Fairy Tales to spray behind the ears and neck (hot spots for lice)! Hope this information helps! Their website is www.fairytaleshaircare.com their reps were very helpful and have great lice facts and information!

Jamie Lynn - posted on 03/16/2011

Hi Melissa...I had the same issue with my daughter Olivia and she has long curly hair! Combing was a nightmare in fact this whole ordeal was a nightmare and kept me itching for months! I highly recommend that you look into using lice preventative hair care products in your daughters hair! I use products made from Fairy Tales Hair Care, they have a lice prevention line of hair care products for children called Rosemary Repel! I started using them right after we got rid of lice for the second time last year...and so far no head lice or infestations!! Her School continues to battle with headlice so I spray them everyday with the Leave-In Conditioning Spray, I even spray their bookbags! Their products came highly recommended by the School Nurse!

Also, keep in mind that lice can not live off the human head for more then two days...so you do not have to go too crazy when it comes to cleaning and doing laundry! Do head checks every single day, change her clothing as soon as she gets home from School! If you get Fairy Tales spray the Leave-In Spray every single day before School and use it on her bookbag as well. Safe to spray on the skin too...I was told by Fairy Tales to spray behind the ears and neck (hot spots for lice)! Hope this information helps! Their website is www.fairytaleshaircare.com their reps were very helpful and have great lice facts and information!

Rachel - posted on 07/01/2009

My daughter got lice and it took me forever to get rid of it. My husbands grandmother told me to use Mayo. And it actually worked. Very messy though. Make sure you use ugly towels to wrap hair in after the mayo and leave it in for about half an hour. It does leaves white flakes in hair after you wash it but no lice.

Georgia - posted on 06/29/2009

As a Hairdresser ,you have to treat the whole family even if you think the rest of the family dont have it,use a lotion that is well branded and a nit come to remove all eggs and lice,sterilize all brushes ect,.lice love any hair,clean ,smelly,dark,blonde,,,,,,,,!Good luck!

Melanie - posted on 06/28/2009

Having four daughters this one seemed to be on going for me.......until recently I found it really hard to keep headlice at bay but as Lisa Roberts has posted & shown knowledge is power with this issue, I have tried all remedies & a big factor of what works depends on the child/person as we all have different hormounes running through us & lice seem 2 be attracted 2 this in our hair more in some people than others it is not just about clean hair (as I didn't wash hair 4 a period of 5 wks & they still came home with them) & different things don't work for some but do for other & having 4 daughters I have found that 1 of my children in particular gets them more than the rest which also supports the theroies i have read about hormounes be a big part of the attraction for the lice.....At the moment I am washing my girls hair every night in a DeLorenzo lice shampoo which is quiet fine 4 everyday use (but quiet expensive) I also spray a product called ECO kids in there hair every morning until it wets the hair completely being sure to cover around the ears & the nap & neck part of the head more so as this is the warmest part of the head & lice will lay here more so, after spraying them I then put wax in there hair again more so on the nap, neck & behind the ears then I spray with hairspray, we have not had headlice for 6 months but it does not in anyway make them 100% lice proof, I also comb through every night after washing with the DeLorenzo shampoo with a white thick conditioner as the creamy conditioners seem 2 make it easier to remove anything in the hair & make it easier 2 see if there is lice or nits (eggs) present in the hair ! All the best of luck :)

Claire - posted on 06/28/2009

Hi, you could try the Soak and Float shampoo bar from Lush, it stinks a bit but seems to do the trick of getting rid of and keeping the little visitors at bay too :)

Lisa - posted on 06/25/2009

Eggs only take 6-10 days to hatch. Lice can live up to 30 days, they are adults at around 7 days and the females will lay up to 8 eggs a day. Lice eggs may not always be killed by treatments, and there's the possibility that after they've hatched they could start laying eggs within a week which is why I re-treat after 4 days.

The reason behind conditioner type treatments is because nits are sort of like fish, they breath through gills. By slathering on the conditioner you want to block up the gills of the lice and basically suffocate them. This only takes 30 minutes. You'll notice that many treatments work on the same basis - slather on the treatment and wait 30 minutes. The insecticides are just an added precaution to make sure the lice die and are easily removed from the hair. Just thought that might be interesting to some of you LOL And I wonder if olive oil works the same way?

Katy - posted on 06/25/2009

There are Rosemary shampoos that do a good job of keeping away the lice. Lice eggs hatch every two weeks I believe. A safe lice treatment that works very well is olive oil. If you pour olive oil into their hair and cover with shower a cap for 5-8 hours (it's easy while they sleep) comb through with the nit comb then wash out. It will kill current bugs and eggs, combing through with the oil in pulls out the nits. make sure to vaccum and wash every fabric item in the house to make sure they're gone.

Melissa - posted on 06/25/2009

Thanks for all the advice. I've managed to clean it all up for now. I'll be checking and treating again in a few days. I really hope it worked this time. Thankfully, today is the last day of school :)

Tami - posted on 06/24/2009

There is an all natural shampoo, conditioner, and spray in conditioner called FairyTales. You have to get it at a salon, but it is worth the cost. We get head lice all the time from batting helmets. Finally invested in our own and the girls are NOT allowed to share. We also started putting gel in their hair as lice does not like hair with product in it.

Lisa - posted on 06/23/2009

That is true Lisa Roberts they don't discriminate and they tend to like clean hair. You are 100 % correct about them adapting too, they are worse than antibiotics adaptations!! Keeping your children from using other peoples hair things, and giving hugs as best as possible is another way to safeguard as much as possible. It's very hard to keep lice away when other parents are not so diligent. If they are picking them up from daycare/school you may want to discuss with administration that they are continually coming home with them too. They may be able to treat the school or advise the parents or do something similiar like a parent seminar on how to treat. Good luck and we wish you the best. My boys opted to shave their heads, but my daughter ended up keeping her hair tied up and constantly putting gel and coats of oils in her hair once we knew they were gone, and we checked her head for weeks to ensure they were gone. She to this day gives hugs with her head away from another persons hair and she is 15, just because she doesn't ever want them again. They are very tough and we wish you the best of luck!!

Lisa - posted on 06/23/2009

Oh, and I have to add - there is no guarantee that you will never have them again even if you are as pedantic as possible. Lice are a fact of life, and there are always going to be people who don't treat themselves or their kids. Just make sure you let your kids know that, so they don't get all paranoid about them. Lice don't discriminate... well, they prefer clean hair, but everyone from lower class to upper class can get them.

Lisa - posted on 06/23/2009

There is no real proof that hairspray kills lice. They can't live if they're not feeding on a human, so if they are on your couch, bedding etc they'll be trying to get on to someone's head. Same goes for birds, the lice that live on animals are different to the headlice kids get at school, they are human only lice. They can't jump like fleas, they can only climb, and while some people will say they only live a few hours I know they can live up to 24 off someones head - if you want to try it yourself get a piece of stickytape, wrap it around your finger sticky side out. Use it to pick up a live lice and put it somewhere you can watch it.

I know people that swear hairspray stops lice, but it's not been proven. I think the only way hairspray works is that it makes it harder for the lice to attach and climb onto your head.

If you're treating every 7 days there's the possibility you are missing some. The life-cycle of headlice might be roughly a week, but there's no real telling where they are in a stage, so it's best to treat after 4 days. If you use the conditioner or combing solution you can do that every 4 days without worrying about the effects of the chemicals or insecticides in the actual treatments.

We have a Parent Managed Headlice program at my son's primary school. We had the school nurse come in and talk to us about lice, their life cycle, the different treatments available etc. One thing about treatments - check the active ingredient in whichever one you are using. Lice can get immune if you continually use the same one, so if it's worked in the past but stops working you must check that you get a different active ingredient when you chose a new treatment. Personally I use the conditioner or combing solution and go carefully through the hair to make sure there are no live lice left as well as removing as many eggs as i can. If I find live lice I repeat this after 4 days, then check weekly after that.

Jennifer - posted on 06/23/2009

olive oil from tip to ends and manually removing one strand at a time, it is a pain in the butt but works better than any medications. Bag everything you own for a week and use bleach...

Amanda - posted on 06/23/2009

I have found that since my daughter has been in school that every week they sent home papers of an outbreak. When I was going up I never had lice, but when My girl was about a year old she got them from a friends and her kids. I freaked out big time I told them that they wasn't aloud back at the house until they took care of the lice well I haven't seen them or the kinds in 8 years now. But I found out that the mother of the two kids was dyeing their hair ( shakes head). Now then as of right now I have found nits in My girls hair but now live lice I have pulled out every nit i found, and I have started washing her hair again with dawn dish soap the blue one it seems to keep the lice gone, then there is another way to help use mayo apply to the hair and scape and leave it in for about an hour ( yes it is very hard to wash out of the hair ) but it works and it helps loosen the nits as well. Use the lice comb and keep washing with dawn it also helps to take the oil out of oily hair. now for the bedding and other places I took a can of hair spray and went over every inch of the house, couch, chairs everything then a few hours I used the vacuum. the hair spray kills the lice . I hope this helps

Rachael - posted on 06/23/2009

There is a cheaper way to keep the buggies away. A nursery school teacher told me to use dog shampoo once a week on my daughter's hair. Yes, dog shampoo. You must selct one that says it treats lice. I find the hertz is a good brand. We have done this for 8 years and she has never had a problem.

Jennifer - posted on 06/23/2009

Are your girls in a daycare or around other little ones? You might also want to vaccumm the seats in the car. I worked in daycare for 10 yrs and we saw this problem a lot expecially in the summer when all the kids were there and out of school.

Melissa - posted on 06/23/2009

Thanks, I'll look for the spray at the drug store. I can't believe what an ordeal this is. Such a pain in the butt! Thanks for the advice.

Lisa - posted on 06/23/2009

I usually use Rid or one of the over the counter sprays for lice that you get at the drug store to spray your carpets, furniture, bedding, pillows, etc. Stuffed animals go in plastic bags for two weeks. Brushes and clips and accessories get boiled, hair ties and cloth hair bands are washed. The bedding is all washed. Clothing is all washed. The lice shampoo is used when the bugs are found and the exactly seven days later it's repeated. Combing through the hair for bugs and nits (the eggs) on both applications. If you find bugs/nits on the second application continue every seven days until they are gone, each time redoing the house as described above. Make sure to empty the vaccuum bag or bucket depending on the vaccuum, and don't forget to spray the car and vaccuum it as well. Tea tree never worked for me, the only thing that worked was the stuff at the drug store; however, the doctor can prescribe stronger stuff. And then I didn't let the kids spend the night any where or have anyone over until I was sure they were gone. If you have birds, make sure they are lice free, they are lice magnets! Hope this helps!

Melissa - posted on 06/23/2009

Sounds to me like maybe youa ren't getting rid of it completely. I used to constantly have lice. Not only as a child, but as a younger adult when I was homeless. I found a trick that worked great. Put baby oil in everybody's hair and keep it in for a month. When you take a shower, wash your hair, but reapply a little afterwards. You may break out with pimples, and the greasyness may be annoying, but lice cannot move in it, therefore they cannot get to your scalp to eat, they will starve to death. You probably don't need to keep it in for a month, but I hate lice, so I would rather over-do-it.

Melissa - posted on 06/23/2009

I actually started using tea tree oil shampoo as well as the tea tree oil drops. I don't use it every time but I think I'm going to start. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try that too.

Tiffanie - posted on 06/23/2009

Have u tried putting tea tree oil in the shampoo that ur using. I put a few drops of it into the shampoo. Everytime you wsh your hair u get a little bit of tea tree oil in your hair