I am just venting a little. My 2 dd's came home from school with lice. I know it cant be prevented, but our school system does not sent home notes to the parents if a child has lice in their class. I dont need to know who the child is, just a warning would be nice. I have 2 dd's with very long hair. So far I have treated their hair twice and it took me about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Then I tore my house apart and had to wash all bedding, pillows and vaccum. Just letting the parents know would be so much easier. I have already talked to the principal and of course she gave me a phone number to call ,( the school board or administration) so I have and left a message, so far no return call.

Been there done that. That's actually how I started working at my school. I volunteered to be the head check lady! It was so nice when we would be out grocery shopping or out to dinner and a kid would say HEY! THERE'S THE HEAD LICE LADY!! LOL

At any rate, here is a site you may want to pass on to the school.

Welcome to HeadLice.org

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At our school we call the lice ladies Hair Force One....LOL No way, no how. I will set up the book fair, run fundraisers, anything but checking heads. Makes me itchy just thinking about it.

With long hair, it would help for your DD's to wear their hair up every day either braided or in a pony tail. Apply hair spray and you shouldn't have any trouble with head lice. Using tea tree shampoo or adding tea tree oil to your regular shampoo is a plus also.

Tea Tree Article

Our school requires that coats and backpacks be on the back of each students' chair rather than hanging all together on hooks on the wall.

Blech! I had a lice outbreak in my classroom for over 6 months last year. The same one girl kept infecting everyone. Finally she was kicked out of school. At one time over 1/2 of my class had it. That is why I wore my hair back for 6 months last year lol.

I can't believe that they don't send a note home! At our school I think they just send it out to the class of the infected child, but last time we got one DD said that nobody was absent. Do you think it's possible that your kids got it from someone not at school, or more likely that the infected student didn't inform the school? Maybe they don't even know they have it!

I really feel for you, because I remember having lice as a child and sitting for hours while my mom combed my long hair. I joke with my daughter that if she ever gets it I'm shaving her head.

Every year we end up getting at least one "lice letter" & I itch for the next wk. Luckily DD hasn't gotten it yet. I also try to put up her hair during an outbreak, but the "lice lady" inspects each child in the morning and pulls out ponytails and braids to look and then her hair is down for the rest of the day. UGH!

YIKES!!! My DS school sent home a letter a few weeks ago just a generic letter stating that there had been 2 or more reports of head lice. Just a heads up to keep a look out, I pray that we do not end up with it. Good luck

Now that's just not right. Here you are trying to prevent and they're most certainly not helping. Personally, I'd complain.

It also surprises me that several posters are referring to a "lice lady". At my children's schools, it's always the school nurse that does the checks and the secretary for rechecks. Volunteers are not allowed to do this, only school employees.

While we have a school nurse (we are so lucky to have one!) ours is always busy with sick, injured other medical issues. We normally let the volunteers check the classrooms and those children that they think have lice are sent down to office for verification by the nurse. Otherwise the nurse would never be in the clinic!

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I feel your pain! Last year we kept having problems with lice- turns out it was one of the kids in our neighborhood. Everytime he'd come over here or play at DD's best friends's house- they would all get them. I called the school probably 3 times- and not once did we get a note. I finally told my DD that she couldn't play with him.

Anyway- I second the tea tree oil- it has saved us. I started using it to treat too because I was tired of the chemicals- we just used more of it- we washed her hair everyday for 2 weeks with it and combed it out everyday for 2 weeks and that did the trick.
We still use it now in her shampoo as a preventive.

It also helps if you are just combing out- to put conditioner in hair as you comb it out- slows them down and makes it easier to catch them all.

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Mom to Katie 1/95 and Sara 5/97

I can relate oldest dd had a girl in her class that kept infecting everyone last year & then this year youngest dd has the same girls little sister in her class the little ones head was shaved now she has hair & she had headlice, my cousin volunteers in the classroom & told us she was washing all her kids stuff like nap mat & stuff I asked why & the kids told me this child has it. I hate the stuff & with 3 girls I am sure it will be tough to prevent forever. The thing that got rid of it for us last year was using mayo & a plastic shower cap works like a charm!!!!

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mom of 3 greats girls

Two shampoos that repel head lice are Suave Coconut shampoo or conditioner and Head & Shoulders. Our school once sent a note home stating this. Apparantly there is some ingredient in the H&S I think it is the active ingredient for the dandruff, and it is the coconut in the shampoo. These are the only 2 shampoos that I use and I have never gotten headlice. I always make DD switch to either one (she uses all types) if there is a lice outbreak (they send home notes here) and tie her hair up and put a little hair spray in, she has never gotten head lice either. So far we have been lucky!

I have never had a child in a school where the parents were NOT notified. In our schools, not only do they check and notify the parents of the child with lice, but they will also check the classes and notify those parents whose own child might be in a class of the siblings of the child with lice.

I have worked in both elementary and now a middle school, and the problem is that there might be a nurse for the district, but she is shared by all the schools in the district, so is not always available. So, the office staff or specially trained volunteers fill in in her place.

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LOL!!! I can just hear it.........

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Mom to 3 - one with 2 legs and 2with 4!

This is a horrible problem. I refer to is as the curse. My dd had them late last year. I gave her 2 store bought treatments and they did not cure it, but they did give her a bad case of dandruff. I cleaned the sheets, rug, mattress, stuffed animals almost everyday for the next 10 days and I still was finding nits.I also used a flat iron on my dd's hair. My flat iron gets up to 240 degrees, so it did cook the nits, but it didn't completely get rid of them.

Finally, I got fed up and called the "Hair Fairies" here in L.A. and took her in. They specialize in head lice and head lice alone. After $500+ spent on their treatments, plus another small fortune in store bought products, the head lice were gone. This was also having myself and my youngest dd checked as well.

I'll share the treatment, because it cost me a fortune to get this knowledge. I can tell you that they have their own line of shampoo, conditioner, home spray and head oil. It is all tea tree oil based. They do a very thorough (45 minute) comb through with the conditioner and a METAL comb. The plastic combs flex and don't always catch the nits. Then they put the shampoo in, do another comb through and let us go home with instructions to wash the shampoo out after 45 minutes. We were required to come back 3 days later for a re-check and we were told that a complete "all clear" couldn't be given until after 4 treatments. Needless to say, I couldn't afford that many treatments, so I stocked up on their products and did the treatments myself. We still use the shampoo once every two weeks or so - and I personally use Paul Mitchell's Tea Tree shampoo/conditioner once a week. It's been 5 months of clean hair.



Some facts I learned:

• Lice DO NOT live on household pets.
• Hair dye does NOT kill lice or nits. In fact, it just colors the nits and makes them harder to find.
• You can get lice anywhere... movie theater seats, dr waiting rooms, taxis, busses - anywhere people sit. All it takes is that bug to crawl from one head to a surface and then onto another head.
• It only takes one nit surviving to hatch another bug who then lays more eggs.
• Treatments like Nix or Rid can only be used once every 7-10 days, so if the first treatment doesn't work, you have to wait for the next treatment. These treatments are very hard on the scalp and makes the scalp very sensitive. In my opinion, the store brands are poison and I'll never use them again.

I know that here in L.A., there are a number of head lice specialist who even come out to your home to do treatments. It's costly, but effective. For me, it cost so much because three of us got checked at $75/hr and we all have long hair. In our case, it was worth the price because they wouldn't let my dd back in school if the nurse found even a single nit. She had missed 5 days of school already. Hopefully, my info can help someone.

Sounds like I should go into business as a professional Head Lice Lady! It's profitable!

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I know that lice was going around in the 5 th grade, I have one dd in that grade, and one of her friends had the lice. Where would i get the tea tree oil or shampoo at? Thanks for the tips and advice. I wish they would send the notes home, it would make all parents at least aware there could be a potential problem.

I purchased the tea tree oil at Wal-Mart. If I remember correctly, I believe it was located in the first aid supplies. Paul Mitchell makes a tea tree shampoo. I've seen it at the salon located in Wal-Mart. You can always check the shampoo section for other brands containing tea tree oil. If you have a Sally Beauty Supply, call there to check.

I HATE HEADLICE!!!!!

I used to get it a lot as a child. You could say headlice on the phone to me and I would have it a few days later. I had long hair that eventually was cut off and lots of absent days of school. (Just reading this thread is making my head itch.) I have not had it in 15 years and am not looking forward to my kids getting it. I do not know what I changed the last time I had lice. Now I use head& shoulders so maybe I won't get it (the kids do too because they just use my shampoo).

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Most health food stores carry tea tree oil too.

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Mom to Katie 1/95 and Sara 5/97

Lice do live on pets.... just not the same kind