Will it ever end…LICE!
I am writing this post for two reasons:
1. To remind myself of all the different things we did to try and get rid of the lice
2. To someday be able to look back at this and laugh because it has been far from funny
My last post was how we found out that we had lice on our trip to Pennsylvania. After treating everyone there when we returned to our home we treated everyone again, along with the whole house and bedding. We even cut Nolan and Carter's hair short so we would be able to see anything crawling in it. I followed the directions on the box which state to use this fine toothed comb in the box to get all the live bugs and eggs out of your hair. With the treatments twice given, I thought our family was in the clear of this plague of the ugly bug.
On January 8th, the temperature was way below zero and we had a "snow day" due to the weather. While holding Nolan and watching a show, I noticed what looked like a really thick strand of hair. When I lifted it up, to my surprise it was a live bug crawling on his scalp. I was in shock. How in the stink could be have these bugs again…we treated everyone and everything twice and they were back again??? I was in pure panic as I searched through all the boys hair again. I found one bug on Landon's hair and 3 on Nolan but nothing on Carter. I went to the sink with the fine toothed comb and started combing live bugs out of my hair into the sink. They were in all different sizes…a different life stage…I stopped counting at 30 because I was mortified. We were out of all the boxed treatment supplies and with the temperature so cold I didn't want to put the kids in the car and go out to get more. I searched natural lice remedies online where I found a treatment is olive oil and tea tree oil mixed together. I concocted this mixture and poured in on everyone's hair, covered them with a Walmart bag, and we watched a movie. It smelled like an Italian restaurant because of the warm olive oil. I rinsed the boys hair off and then put on the lice shield shampoo. After rinsing my hair out I put coconut oil and tea tree oil on it and wore a stocking cap with my hair up underneath for the rest of the day. Next I took everything out of the house that could be washed (laundry, coats, hats, bedding) until I could wash it on the hottest water and dry on the hottest dry. I put all of our couch cushions, throw pillows, bed pillows, and carseats on the front porch to freeze. If you drove past our house you would have thought we had been evicted. Online I read about how you should mix together baking soda and tea tree oil and sprinkle it on your carpet, let it sit for an hour, and sweep it up. I began this task and our house quickly smelled of tea tree oil. When Bob got home from work he helped to look through my hair for live bugs. I began this night to sleep in the spare bed in Nolan's room with a stocking cap on my head. When Nolan would wake up in the middle of the night I would carry him to Bob in our bed to get him back to sleep. I thought since we did all of this again we definitely couldn't have lice anymore.
At school the next day I confessed to the nurse about the previous days events. She asked me if I was "picking the nits" out of my hair. I said, "Yes I am using that comb from the box and combing the eggs out of my hair." Nope, you have to pick with your fingers on EVERY strand of you hair the eggs off of the hair shaft. When she looked at my head, it was full of nits. After school she graciously came over to our house for over 2 hours picking nits out of my hair and everyone else. We had planned to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday with everyone at our house but that quickly got cancelled. Bob picked my hair out again on Saturday and then on Sunday our previous school nurse, Annette, picked through it again.
I had to tell my babysitter and all the families that go there too. Then I had to call the preschool to notify them that Landon had it. This whole ordeal has been quite a humbling experience.
There were so many nits that I went to the doctor because I thought maybe they could give me a prescription treatment that would kill it all. The doctor told me what we were doing was what she recommended and that I should not give the box treatments to my family anymore because it is a pesticide. It causes liver damage. I had given it to our family 4 times in the past month.
Not another live bug has been seen in my hair to date. Each day following this I continued to sleep in the spare room and most nights with my hair under a cap. During the day my hair would be picked through looking for nits 3 x's a day. I was 14 days nit free and was proud to be!!
On Monday January 26th, I was out taking Landon to his speech evaluation so I had a substitute. Our technology coordinator for the district was in my classroom for 50 minutes helping to assist the students on a computer test. She got lice that day from students in my class. When I got back the next day after being nit free for over 2 weeks, at special the nurse picked 4 nits from the base of my neck. I went crazy. We had to do everything all over again…laundry, treat, sleeping separate again.
During class I always wear my hair back in a pony tail or clipped up because I don't want my hair to get in anyone's hair. I needed a haircut short enough that I wouldn't have to worry so much so Sunday I had almost 7 inches cut off my hair and it has really helped to ease my mind. I still have my head checked once a day to ensure that I am nit free.
I am paranoid about it with my kids at home. Anytime they are sitting next to me I am looking through their hair like monkeys at the zoo. It's funny to say but I am counting down the days until the end of the school year this year for a different reason.
1. To remind myself of all the different things we did to try and get rid of the lice
2. To someday be able to look back at this and laugh because it has been far from funny
My last post was how we found out that we had lice on our trip to Pennsylvania. After treating everyone there when we returned to our home we treated everyone again, along with the whole house and bedding. We even cut Nolan and Carter's hair short so we would be able to see anything crawling in it. I followed the directions on the box which state to use this fine toothed comb in the box to get all the live bugs and eggs out of your hair. With the treatments twice given, I thought our family was in the clear of this plague of the ugly bug.
On January 8th, the temperature was way below zero and we had a "snow day" due to the weather. While holding Nolan and watching a show, I noticed what looked like a really thick strand of hair. When I lifted it up, to my surprise it was a live bug crawling on his scalp. I was in shock. How in the stink could be have these bugs again…we treated everyone and everything twice and they were back again??? I was in pure panic as I searched through all the boys hair again. I found one bug on Landon's hair and 3 on Nolan but nothing on Carter. I went to the sink with the fine toothed comb and started combing live bugs out of my hair into the sink. They were in all different sizes…a different life stage…I stopped counting at 30 because I was mortified. We were out of all the boxed treatment supplies and with the temperature so cold I didn't want to put the kids in the car and go out to get more. I searched natural lice remedies online where I found a treatment is olive oil and tea tree oil mixed together. I concocted this mixture and poured in on everyone's hair, covered them with a Walmart bag, and we watched a movie. It smelled like an Italian restaurant because of the warm olive oil. I rinsed the boys hair off and then put on the lice shield shampoo. After rinsing my hair out I put coconut oil and tea tree oil on it and wore a stocking cap with my hair up underneath for the rest of the day. Next I took everything out of the house that could be washed (laundry, coats, hats, bedding) until I could wash it on the hottest water and dry on the hottest dry. I put all of our couch cushions, throw pillows, bed pillows, and carseats on the front porch to freeze. If you drove past our house you would have thought we had been evicted. Online I read about how you should mix together baking soda and tea tree oil and sprinkle it on your carpet, let it sit for an hour, and sweep it up. I began this task and our house quickly smelled of tea tree oil. When Bob got home from work he helped to look through my hair for live bugs. I began this night to sleep in the spare bed in Nolan's room with a stocking cap on my head. When Nolan would wake up in the middle of the night I would carry him to Bob in our bed to get him back to sleep. I thought since we did all of this again we definitely couldn't have lice anymore.
At school the next day I confessed to the nurse about the previous days events. She asked me if I was "picking the nits" out of my hair. I said, "Yes I am using that comb from the box and combing the eggs out of my hair." Nope, you have to pick with your fingers on EVERY strand of you hair the eggs off of the hair shaft. When she looked at my head, it was full of nits. After school she graciously came over to our house for over 2 hours picking nits out of my hair and everyone else. We had planned to celebrate my Dad's 60th birthday with everyone at our house but that quickly got cancelled. Bob picked my hair out again on Saturday and then on Sunday our previous school nurse, Annette, picked through it again.
I had to tell my babysitter and all the families that go there too. Then I had to call the preschool to notify them that Landon had it. This whole ordeal has been quite a humbling experience.
There were so many nits that I went to the doctor because I thought maybe they could give me a prescription treatment that would kill it all. The doctor told me what we were doing was what she recommended and that I should not give the box treatments to my family anymore because it is a pesticide. It causes liver damage. I had given it to our family 4 times in the past month.
Not another live bug has been seen in my hair to date. Each day following this I continued to sleep in the spare room and most nights with my hair under a cap. During the day my hair would be picked through looking for nits 3 x's a day. I was 14 days nit free and was proud to be!!
On Monday January 26th, I was out taking Landon to his speech evaluation so I had a substitute. Our technology coordinator for the district was in my classroom for 50 minutes helping to assist the students on a computer test. She got lice that day from students in my class. When I got back the next day after being nit free for over 2 weeks, at special the nurse picked 4 nits from the base of my neck. I went crazy. We had to do everything all over again…laundry, treat, sleeping separate again.
During class I always wear my hair back in a pony tail or clipped up because I don't want my hair to get in anyone's hair. I needed a haircut short enough that I wouldn't have to worry so much so Sunday I had almost 7 inches cut off my hair and it has really helped to ease my mind. I still have my head checked once a day to ensure that I am nit free.
I am paranoid about it with my kids at home. Anytime they are sitting next to me I am looking through their hair like monkeys at the zoo. It's funny to say but I am counting down the days until the end of the school year this year for a different reason.
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