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Lice.
Just seeing that word makes your head itch, doesn't it?
It's been eight months and I think I'm ready to talk about what happened last February. The month started out okay, but then I got the flu. After spending a week in bed, I was finally starting to feel well enough to rejoin the family when Anna announced that her head was really itchy. I keep a lice comb on hand to check the kids periodically so I pulled it out of the medicine cabinet and ran it through her hair.
Lice. Live crawling lice of varying sizes.
*shudder*
Anna was beyond horrified to realize that there were bugs in her beautiful, blonde, nearly waist-length hair. I knew there were hours of intensive hair combing in our immediate future so I brought up the possibility of a haircut. Up until then, every time I had suggested cutting her hair, I was met with firm rejection, but this time, she was so eager to chop it off that she practically grabbed the scissors from me to do it herself. She probably would have agreed to shaving her head at that point.
BTW, she looked absolutely adorable in her bob haircut and loved it so much that she still keeps it that short.
BTW, she looked absolutely adorable in her bob haircut and loved it so much that she still keeps it that short.
I emailed Anna's teacher to let her know about the lice and ask if anyone else in the classroom had them. Anna was the only one and no one else ever got them so we think she probably picked them up at the clinic because that was the only other place she had been.
I checked everyone else's heads and sure enough, Davy had them too. The next day, I also found some in Bobby's hair so I pulled the clippers out of the bathroom closet and shaved both of the boys' heads down to 1/2 inch to make it easier to treat them.
At this point, I had all three of the lice-affected children sleeping and quarantined in the same room. I spent most of my time vacuuming, washing bedding and pillows, bleaching everything in the house and the van, and combing hair over and over again. I also hit up Amazon for some products to help us kick the lice to the curb aka annihilate every. single. one.
Then I noticed that my head was itchy and, with trepidation, I ran a lice comb through my hair. Yup. I had them too. That terrified me more than the kids getting them because it was going to be harder to treat and comb out my hair by myself than it was for me to do it for the kids. Thankfully, I have a friend who had recently regaled me with tales of her days as a nanny which included treating a round of lice for the kids she nannied. I called her up and asked her for the biggest favor of my life. To my shock, she agreed to come help me get rid of the lice in my hair and arrived a short time later with a bag full of tea tree oil shampoo, hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil, shower caps, and more. I still owe her big.
Then I noticed that my head was itchy and, with trepidation, I ran a lice comb through my hair. Yup. I had them too. That terrified me more than the kids getting them because it was going to be harder to treat and comb out my hair by myself than it was for me to do it for the kids. Thankfully, I have a friend who had recently regaled me with tales of her days as a nanny which included treating a round of lice for the kids she nannied. I called her up and asked her for the biggest favor of my life. To my shock, she agreed to come help me get rid of the lice in my hair and arrived a short time later with a bag full of tea tree oil shampoo, hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil, shower caps, and more. I still owe her big.
Within a week, the lice were all gone and although, I continued to check everyone daily for over a month, I never saw any more. Thankfully, Katie never caught them and neither did Hubby despite sleeping next to me while I had them.
Here are the steps we took to get rid of the lice in a week...
>Combing. So much combing! I combed everybody's hair four times a day for the first few days and then went down to twice a day after that until I was sure the lice were gone for good. I tried several kinds of lice combs and found the one that comes in this kit to be the best one for combing out lice and nits. I also used the Rosemary Repel spray on our hair and continue to do so. I also liked using these combs as they have magnifying glasses built in.
>I vacuumed every single day, usually twice a day.
>I washed ALL of the bedding every single day in hot water and dried it on high heat.
>I sprayed this lice killing spray on our leather couch and the mattresses twice a day. I also used it in our van.
>Each of us had our hair completely coated in a coconut oil/ essential oil mixture using a recipe like this one before bed one night and then slept in shower caps. Yes, it was a little messy and kind of uncomfortable to sleep in, but not as bad as I thought it would be. The next morning, we washed it out a round of Dawn dish soap and then regular shampoo.
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How to get rid of lice fast and naturally: https://bit.ly/33RuIDP
All in all, it was a lot of extra work (SO MUCH LAUNDRY), but it wasn't as hard to get rid of the lice as I thought it would be and we didn't use any heavy chemicals to do so.
While I hope you never have to deal with lice, I hope the tips I've shared here help you get rid of them if you do!
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