It was inevitable that it would happen. The dreaded head lice have returned and this time, they are taking no prisoners. My 5 year old daughter has long hair, past her shoulders. She has beautiful, shiny, silky locks that I am jealous of. Her hair is perfectly straight as well. She will never have to battle with hair straighteners in her life! She definitely didn’t get my hair, or the bird-nest of curls and frizz that sits on top of my head. She must have gotten her dad’s hair but I’ve no way to tell because he’s bald.
I want the little buggers gone!! I put treatment in it a few weeks ago and definitely thought I got them all. I also put it in my hair. My son has a millimetre of hair on his head so there was nothing there. My husband, obviously, doesn’t need treatment.
Combing the Bugs, Kill them! Kill them all!
So a few weeks back I dosed her in the treatment and it was dripping everywhere. I felt like I was decontaminating my home and attempting to eradicate a deadly infectious disease. I had called my mother and begged her to do it for me, but she said that payback is a b*tch. I was surprised at how calm my daughter was during the process because I was freaking out every time one came on the comb. Yuck! They are horrific things! I hate bugs and spiders and anything creepy crawly. I got about 8 of them out of her hair and made sure that I combed every centimetre of her head. Then I washed her hair after.
My head is itchy, Mammy
No, no it’s not. I repeated the treatment a week later and found nothing in her hair. Yes, I won. Yet she was still scratching! I kept looking, every day and saw nothing.
The bloody buggers are back. Again.
My childminder text me yesterday to tell me she found 2 in my daughter’s hair. 2 little buggers back again. I felt itchy myself as well. As soon as I went home, I treated myself and her again. I found 5 in her hair and low and behold, bloody one little nasty creature in my hair. I felt dirty. I know I shouldn’t but no matter what you say, people associate head lice with being unhygienic! It couldn’t be further from the truth.
Tips to Remove Head Lice
I took it upon myself to do some research to see where I was going wrong. I had a feeling about where she could be potentially picking them up from due to several play dates recently but I had to prevent them from coming!!
Here are some tips that I discovered when Googling and remember, they don’t cause any harm! They are just very annoying:
- Lice are spread from head to head contact. They cannot fly or jump from head to head. Heads have to be touching to contract them.
- Lice can survive off the head from 24-36 hours so it’s important to wash bedding, hats, sheets once you treat the head.
- Nits are the eggs that Lice lay. These are stuck to strands of hair before they hatch and then the baby lice move to the heat of the head to survive.
- You don’t have to remove nits. The treatment should kill the eggs, nits are extremely hard to remove as they are attached to the hair by a cement like substance.
- You need to comb regularly. You should get a comb with your treatment, use this every day for a few weeks to ensure that you get any missed live ones
- Inform others. Lice are not something that people should be embarrassed about, we can all get them and they don’t care if you are dirty or clean. Tell the school, tell your family and your friends. It’s important to stop the spread or your child will get them again
- Don’t wash your hair. After treatment, don’t wash your hair for 1-2 days. Washing will remove the treatment residue that could kill any remaining louse.
- Tie hair up. If you have long hair, keep it back as lice will spread easily if hair touches.
- You cannot get head lice from pets. Head lice only like humans and will not transfer to your pets or vice versa so don’t blame your doggies!
- Treat again. Most advise to treat once a week for 3 weeks after initial infection.
Be free!
I will let you know on Facebook and Twitter if I have been successful in removing the nasty things. I feel itchy as I am typing this. I think I might actually cut my hair! It’s down the middle of my back.
Take Care Mamas, have a great weekend!
Reality Mammy x
REALITY mammy 