The National Pediculosis Association,^® Inc.
A Non-Profit Organization
Serving The Public Since 1983.

www.headlice.org

This site gives a lot of great information on how to really get rid of lice, and a lot of information about why you SHOULD NOT use the pesticides.  Well, to get on with our story...

The day after camp I checked heads again.  Same daughter had 1 louse and a few possible eggs.  I treated her again with pesticides.  Still no one else in the family has had any signs of the nasty critters.  I really can't figure that out.  Anyway, all was fine.  Then she started complaing again about a week later of itchy head.  Sure enough there were 3 mini lice (nymph stage), the next day I found a few eggs too.  I was beside myself.  Were we never to be rid of these dreadful creatures.  BOth of us cried.  I pesticided her head AGAIN!  My gut kept telling me "NO, don't poison her head again!  Her little brain is in there you know!!!"  So that's when I figured there had to be a better way, and obviously the poison wasn't working anyway.  I began researching more diligently --looking specifically for problems and side effects caused by the pesticides.  It made me cry again.  I told her there is another way and this is not a just battle to be won but a war to be fought with many battles to win along the way.  Incidentally, her sister who sleeps in the same bed still has no signs of any lice at all!  No one else does --except I can't check myself (at least not very well) and when ever I think about the issue I itch like crazy.  "scratch scratch scratch"  Okay, no lice just dry scalp!

Here is the regime we have taken up the last several weeks and it seems to be working, FINALLY. 

#1.  Check hair carefully and religously everyday, before bed. Now that I have learned more what to look for and a much more effective technique for checking, this takes me a good hour everynight!

#2.  If there are any signs of lice, drench the hair in a mixture of coconut oil, olive oil and essential oils.  Leave on for a minimum of 20 minutes.  Then comb and check using the rigourous method listed on http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/nycap/headlice.htm 

#3.  After combing and removing all eggs, nits and lice, and disposing of them VERY carefully, then the hair can be rinsed out and washed, preferably with a natural shampoo with tea tree oil. 

Finally the hair MUST be carefully checked everyday at bedtime for a minimum of two weeks after the last egg, nit or louse is found.  Then and only then can you let down your guard a little bit, and start checking a couple of times per week.  I have learned that even if you effectively get them out of your home, it is very easy to reinfest from the same source you got them from in the first place becsaue people think that once they've used the pesticide they are free of lice, but they are likely not --Not only do the pesticides cause potential harm to our bodies but they are becoming less and less effective as the lice develop resistence to them.  ICK! 

The oils, on the other hand, help to soften the glue on the eggs and nits, and make them much easier to comb out.  They also smother or partially smother any live lice causing them to either die or slow down.  The essential oils act as a repellant to the lice and have some other good uses as well --Oh and all that oil is really great for your hair and scalp besides.  Although a litle expensive.

This regim is working, and I intend to stay ahead of these buggers one battle at a time! 

Incidentally, I have read and heard that lice are more attracted to light colored hair, dark haired people are reported to have fewer problems with lice.  And curly hair seems to be a deterrent as well.  Apparently, lice prefer a perfectly round hair to attatch their eggs to, and curly hair is oval when cut on a cross section.  Straight hair is round.  These two factors might explain why daughter number one is the only one to be "blessed" with this dreadful infestation.  She has very pretty straight blond hair.  Everyone else has dark and either curly or at least wavy hair.  Interesting, to contemplate but curious just the same.  Statistically 10% of the white population is said to be affected by lice each year but only about .5 % of African Americans are. 

Final weapon we are using is a bandana.  When ever daughter is playing with children who are a potential cource of her infestation she wears a bandana as a physical deterent.  And as I said, I think (fingers crossed) all of our vigilence is finally paying off. 

Good Night

I was rushing out the door, late as always, to take 12 year old son to check out a new Civil Air Patrol Squadron.  He came running back inside calling, "Mom, come quick, there's a little kid out here with more blood coming out of his nose than I've ever seen before!"  I went out to find a 4year old boy with a bloody nose and no sign of any adults around.  Bother!  Why does this stuff always happen when you're already late?  I sent my son back inside to get a couple of wet washcloths and tried to get a coherent answer from the 4 year old boy.  His brother came up then on a bike and I asked where their mom was.  "She's not home.  She went out." 

Me: "Well, who is taking care of you then?"

6 year old "Tabitha is."

Me: "So, where is Tabitha?"

6 year old "I don't know, I can't find her, Maybe she went out."

Me "Go check inside Tabitha's house and your house and see if you can find her."

6 year old "ok"

Well, I mopped up the 4 year old and took him upstairs to the deck of Tabitha's apartment.  It wasn't really too serious just a bloody nose --he had fallen off his bike or slammed into the basketball hoop or something --rather unclear story there.  Little 4 year old stopped crying and fell asleep in a lounge chair.  He had not been showing any signs of concussion so I decided the more pressing need at this point was to find a responsible adult in charge of these children. 

It turns out that the 6 year old couldn't find Tabitha in his apt. or hers.  He said that maybe Amanda, Tabitha's older (13 year old) sister was watching them.  I sent another child to fetch Amanda who was hanging out down at the skate ramp by building 5 (these kids live in building 1).  Well Amanda refused to come saying she wasn't watching those kids. 

At this point the 6 year old, Who I have never seen with a parent ever, starts to cry, "No one is taking care of me, someone's going to come and steal me."  I assured him that he would be cared for and no one was going to steal him.  What else could you say at that point?

I hiked down to speak with Amanda myself, and she informed me that Tabitha was watching them. 

Me "And so where is Tabitha."

Amanda "My mom had to take her to the emergency room becasue she might have broke her arm."

Me "Okay, so then who's watching these kids?  And where is the 2 year old?"

Amanda "I don't know, I think Tabitha's supposed to be watching them."

Me "And the 2 year old, where's the 2 year old?"

Amanda "I don't know, Probably with Tabitha at the emergency room." 

Me "But we don't know that.  The baby could be wandering around this neighborhood, or be drowned in the river?!"

Amanda "Yeah, I guess."

Me "Do you have a cell phone number for their mother or for your mother?"

Amanda "No."

At this point, I'm about ready to call the police.  When a couple of the other teenagers with Amanda say. "We know the kids, we'll babysit them." 

Amanda, "I'm pretty sure Tabitha has the baby with her."

So they all come back to building 5 and hang out with 4 year old and 6 year old while waiting for Tabitha to return.

I offered at this point to take my son to Civil Air Patrol about an hour late.  He said no.  Then a few minutes later I spotted Tabitha out my window with her arm all bandaged up.  I ran out and said, "Do you have Jania (2 yo) with you?" 

Tabitha "No, I'm looking for her right now."

Me, really freaking out now, "You don't have her with you!  Your sister said she was pretty certain you had the baby with you at the emergency room.  Are you telling me, she has been wandering around here for the last hour and a half alone?!!!  She could be drowned in the river or dead by now."

Tabitha, looking pretty worried, "She might be with her mom."

Me "But we don't know that!!!!!"

Tabitha "I'm going to go look for her down here."

At this point we sent the 4 year old to check inside their house again for the baby.  I was still reluctant to start searching through the home of people I don't even know.  Tabitha ran arond the neighborhood looking for the baby and the rest of the teenagers sat around a picnic table "just hanging out."  They were unresponsive and unconcerned about the 2 year old, This was Tabitha's problem cause "She was supposed to be watching them."

So I went to Tabitha and Amanda's house to find their mother, who I had also never seen before.  I explained the situation to her and she said that Tabitha had told her that Amanda was going to watch the children while she went to the emergency room.  "Not according to Amanda," I informed her. 

Just then, a tossled head, sleepy looking 2 year old girl followed her brother out of their apartment.  She had been in their apartment the whole time, at least 1.5 hours, alone, probably asleep, but alone with no one knowing where she was or caring to provide any supervision for her.

Tabitha and Amanda argued about who was responsible and their mom finally sent Tabitha home with the 3 kids to feed them and stay home with them until their mother got home. 

It appears that the final story was that, the kids mom (quite young herself) had asked Tabitha earlier in the day if she would babysit at 6:00 p.m.  Tabitha agreed.  Then Tabitha had to go to the emergency room with her mother and asked Amanda to watch the kids when they came over, until she got back from emergency.  Then the kids mother and their aunt went out and told the kids to "go over to Tabitha's house,"  without making physical contact with anyone upon leaving (The kids mother denied this the next day when I spoke with her).  So the kids played happily until the 4 year old go hurt and there was no one to go to.  (Incidentally Amanda was right there when he got hurt, saw it and did nothing.  And it's not like she's uncaring, really apparently just clueless.)

I was VERY upset by this whole event.  Should I call the police?  Should I contact Child Protective Services?  Should I ?????  I prayed about it and decided I want to be a positive influence in this neighborhood.  So, I called the American Red Cross and explained that I live in a low income neighborhood where children are caring for children and not doing a very good job of it.  I asked them if they would consider coming on site and providing their Babysitting Certification Course with a good healthy dose of the importance of responsibility at low or no cost for these kids.  No matter what anyone does the problem is not going to go away and my thought is that if we can at least give some of these kids some better skills and responsibility to deal with situations it might help.  Then we need to work on a parenting class!

Anyway, the Red Cross Agreed and the teenagers and their parents are all into it.  So, if nothing else, at least for now, we are going to try to equip the teenagers with a few skills and hopefully some responsibility.  In the meantime, the 2, 4, & 6 year old continue to wander the neighborhood, although not quite as much.  I have now met their mother and will probably continue to do stuff with her kids as long as we live here.

Sadly, this is probably not an uncommon scenario in many parts of America everyday.

When my mom got scholarships for both the oldest kids to go to horsecamp this summer after our big move, she read the application to me over the phone and it said... "There will be a lice check at registration, and any child with any signs of lice will be sent home."  I thought absolutely nothing of it.  We have never had lice and don't even recall any friends experiencing this.  Not a problem. 

Well, about 2 weeks before camp, my 10 yo dd starts complaining about an itchy head.  I looked at her head, we changed shampoos --she is very chemically sensitive-- I checked her head again, and couldn't find anything.  Finally I had just about decided she was alergic to chlorine or some other chemical they put in the city water!  This is the first time we have lived with city water since we've had her.  As she got itchier, and camp was looming, I remembered the lice warning and thought hmmmm.....

So, two days before we were to leave for camp, I really checked her head.  Really checked....  She has long, blond, thick, hair....I spent over an hour looking and looking and found red marks looking like bites. Hmmm.   Finally, I found a bug and upon close examination and comparison to pictures, sure enough it was a louse.  I ended up finding 5 all together.  So gross --she cried, I was freaked out.  New experience for us.  I did not find any nits.  Well, here is miss organic mom, with insects living in her daughter's hair and we have to leave for camp with NO LICE in a day and a half.

I reviewed a lot of information quickly.  There are quite a few natural means of dealing with lice:  Peanut butter on the head overnight.  (takes at least two days to wash out though!) Vaseline on the head overnight --that sounded even more fun.  The use of tea tree oil shampoo --that one I think I could handle but would it be effective enough in two days for her to not be turned away from camp???  Then there is the rigid prevention of wahsing everyone and everything several times per day and running all bedding through the dryer for 20 minutes at least once per day.  Like I could ever keep up with that!

All right, you know what I ended up doing.  At 1:00 a.m., I packed up all the wide awake, freaked out kids and headed to Wal-Mart where we had just been 4 hours earlier "camp shopping."  The oldest ds wrote the list as we drove:  2 rolls of quarters for the laundromat, a vacuum cleaner (hadn't replaced ours yet since the move), individual brushes for everyone (normally we share one), and the dreaded pesticide shampoo, and more laundry detergent.

We got home late/early and I shampooed the 10 yo. and the 12 yo and changed their bedding and put them to bed.  The 4 yo went to bed for morning application.  Then I spent the entire night cleaning everything, and doing umpteen million loads of laundry.  Interestingly the HUMongous (there are lots of them --not their size) Hawaiian family that lives  next door was up all night too--with all sorts of activity.  Anyway, I finally slept a couple of hours and then got up and treated 4yo and myself and then cleaned our bedding too. 

My dear husband was starting a brand new job the next morning, so we did this all very quietly so that he could have a good night's sleep before his first day of work.  What his new job is will be another story for another day --Adventures in Irony.

He got up early and showed no signs of lice upon checking --I warned him that he would be "Pesticided" as a precaution upon his return home from work!

That evening we went out --at the 10 yos request and she got her hair cut SHORT, she had been contemplating doing it anyway.  It is very cute, but I do miss her pretty long hair.  As she said, it will grow back.

I rechecked everyone's hair that next day and found many many eggs on 10 yos head.  Spent several hours removing them all.  She must have no nits and no lice!  How dreadful to travel sp far, gettin her hopes up and be turned away from camp. 

No one else in the family showed any signs at all of lice or nits.  It appears that we actually caught it early and that she was appropriately stingy enough to not share with the rest of us --thank the Lord for small blessings. 

We made it to camp, with an exhausted mother and they didn't even do a lice check.  Not that it mattered, I wouldn't have wanted her to have any anyway, but you know.

When we picked them up a week later, after their first experience away from us overnight (That too is a story for another day --Adventures in Canabalism. ), they told us there was a quick lice check after all the parents left.  Anyway, I checked 10 yo again upon arriving back at my parents home and she had 1 baby louse and no nits.  I treated her one more time and checked everyone else again --still no lice on anyone else, although the more I write the itchier I get...hmmmm...

Next agenda item will be to explore effective natural treatments just in case we are so luck y as to have this delightful experience again.  It is most likely related to our new living environment,.  The kids have now been educated in prevention and will hopefully be able to be careful too i.e. putting their hair up or keeping it short, not sharing any clothing especially head related items. 

Well, I shall go check my fresh batch of Ginger Beer --which also does not work with chlorinated water!  And I think I'll cover my itchy head in pesticides --just in case :-)