A week ago I pulled out a bug out of my daughters head and took it to the doctor. Three nurses and a doctor said it was a tick though we don't live in a rural area or have been camping. We did everything they told us to do and still the itching got worse to the point where she rubbed herself raw. We took both girls in for a doctor to check their scalps. They told us they had dandruff. We used their suggestions and it still didn't go away. We even used Tea Tree shampoo and conditioner as suggested by a family friend. My husband went online yesterday and low and behold the pictures he found looked just like the bugs we had discovered in her hair. My eldest daughter has darker hair. They were the same body just darker in her head. We couldn't believe it was lice. And yup, I had them too. My husband did not because he doesn't have much hair. We did the Rid treatment followed by Tea Tree Conditioner and a vinegar rinse. We used the metal lice comb on all of us to get anything out that still might be there. I have vacuumed my brand new sofa (yikes!) and all area rugs in the house. We are now washing all the bedding, clothing they have worn, pillows, towels. We put mattress toppers in sealed plastic bags. We have put all stuffed animals in sealed plastic bags. We don't have wall-to-wall carpeting, thank God. WHAT ELSE SHOULD I BE DOING AND I'M NOT?????NEED HELP. I have read horror stories online that the over the counter products don't work and for every other alternative there seems to be someone saying it doesn't work. So who do you believe. I certainly have lost confidence in their doctor. PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!!!!

 Vinegar, vinegar, everywhere...

This article from Dollar Stretcher will help: Get Rid of Lice for Good!

I would add that when you wash linens and rugs, etc., wash them in a couple of cups of vinegar and hot water. Use vinegar anywhere you possibly can. The smell will go away quickly.  

Put all the small things like clothes, stuffed animals and don't forget the coats/jackets in plastic bags and put them in the freezer overnight. All things that can be washed hot, do so. Lice usually come from schools, so you have to inform them because lice walk from jacket to jacket. Here every child is check every 3 months on lice at school. If there are, every parent will be informed. One( very little and not effective) note, lice only live on very clean heads. Keep combing until all lice are gone.

But usually children get infected at schools. Some schools here have special plastic bag to store jackets and scarves in so the lice can't walk around)

<> Lice can live in your cars seats. There is a spray made to use on pillows, mattress, sofas and seats in the car. you can buy it at Walmart or pharmacy. You just spray and let it dry.I feel sorry for you. Lice are no fun! We have all experienced it. Babs
 

When I lived in Canada, they have a professional service that delouse you and your family. Like you, I bagged or boiled everything that wasn't nailed down. Not necessary!!!!   All you need is olive oil and a good metal louse comb. Saturate the hair with the oil, next morning use dish soap for the first shampoo to get the oil out, then use regular shampoo. Then use vinegar to help loosen the nit glue. Then comb. Divide the hair into sections and use the comb about 5 to 6 times. Start on the top of the hair section from the scalp to the end, then underneath from the scalp to the end, then both sides of the hair section to the end. Then repeat combing every 2nd day for 2 weeks. Repeat the oil treatment every 4th or 5th day for two weeks. If this is done you will be lice and nit free!  As for the cleaning...all you have to do is put the items in the dryer on high heat for 20 to 30 minutes, or vacuum thoroughly. If items cannot be placed in the dryer on high heat or vacuumed like stuffed toys, all you have to do is put them aside for 2 days!!  No need to bag them etc. I don't know about you, but I would not put a pesticide on my child's head. There are a lot of horror stories out there regarding this. Also most of them are not working anyway. No need to put mattress toppers on beds etc.  No need to buy the sprays, they are useless too. One tip I was told, is after vacuuming the sofa, to put a sheet over it. This way I could keep putting the sheet in the dryer a few times during the day. Also good tip for your car or the children's car seat. Everyone forgets about this. Just put a sheet over it.

If you want more information visit their web site at www.licesquad.com. I used them after spending hundreds of dollars on over the counter products and exhausted myself with the cleaning. All useless.   

 

My DD got them 3 or 4 times from school. I couldn't believe it. The first time I used the RID, but then the doctor told me to just slather mayonaise on her head with a shower cap. Then wash it out. I was never told about the vinegar, but instead of mayonaise I switched to using plain old hair conditioner on her head with a shower cap, over night, the first night. Then after I would leave it on every day for 1/2 hour after washing, then rinse. The nit combs never worked for us because her hair is baby fine, just like mine. I sat her on a blanket outside, (fortunately it was warm out) in the sun light and picked them out one by one. You can really see the nits in the sunlight. After 1 or 2 treatments the lice were usually gone. I have a friend who's DD's had them a couple of years ago. She ended up getting them too. She went and got a presription shampoo to get rid of them and it cost her hundreds of dollars. Her hair is very thick, so I offered to pick the nits from her hair, nobody else would do it for her, and they finally got rid of them. I am a proponet of not using the stuff from the pharmacy. Especially when you can get rid of them so frugally. The doctor told me it doesn't matter what you use. The key is to suffocate the lice to death, then pick off the nits. Best wishes! I know this isn't fun.

Kathy

Hi-

My parents used to take foster children and many a time the kids would go on a weekend parental visitation and then come back to our home with head lice. My mom's standard practice when children came back from visitation was to immediately bathe them, and wash all the clothing they came back with in hot water. She always kept several bottles of RID lice treatment on hand for when there WAS a lice problem, but there was a time or two when there was not enough to go around. In those cases, I know that she would shampoo the childs hair, then slather on a heavy coating of mayonaise, or drench their head in vegetable oil, making sure to get the areas around the nape of the neck and ears. For some reason this seemed to kill the lice. From what I read on the internet it smothers them or something. She would wrap their head in a towel and fasten it securely. This was left on overnight. In the morning she would wash their hair with a good shampoo and rinse well. It often took a couple of washings to get all of the oil or mayonaise out. Then she would comb it thru and dry with a hair dryer if they had enough hair to use a dryer. There never seemed to be any residual lice hanging around.

My mom grew up during the depression and there was no money for medicine of any kind and I do not believe RID was around back then, and if it was there was no money to buy it. When lice happened back then my grandmother washed my moms hair in lamp oil to kill the lice and nits. Now that sounds scary and dangerous and I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT NOW DAYS! But it just goes to show that necessity really is the mother of invention.

years ago, when i couldn't get rid of my oldest daughters lice, i bought cheaper hair gel and put in her hair everynight with a swimming cap.  In the morning, washed her hair and combed it out--repeat every night for about 4 nights.  make sure that her hair is very stiff(lots and lots of gel).  it smoothers them. we finially got rid of them.

good luck

 thanks for the tips everyone - we've never had lice here but I'm sure our time is coming!

My best friend's three girls all had it at the same time. She had to cut their hair (was down to their bottoms) to comb through it.

Thanks everyone for the advice. The lice are now gone for good. If you live in Silicon Valley, CA there is a great place in Saratoga, CA called Hair Care Therapy (haircaretherapy.com). Lice is what they do. It costs, but it is VERY WORTH IT. Thanks Again.