- We aren't even using sheets on the bed right now, to cut down on dryer time. Just pillows and two blankets (And an electric because fuck you winter, I'm being warm) but I'm not running that through the dryer each day, it''d fry the poor thing, and it gets hot for hours at a time, so I'm hoping that's fine. The stuffed animals she uses go in the dryer daily for 45 minutes as it's a smaller apartment sized dryer, with the ones not in use shut in a separate bedroom, and have been for months. Unused blankets are also in that bedroom, sheets put away in drawers or in a closet, clothing washed and dried in hot water/hot air.... I just want them GONE and never coming back, this is such a nightmare. I guess at least I AM trying to get rid of them, they have to be gone solidly gone soon, though, she's ideally going to be spending two weeks away from home at a special school, and I dread her bringing them there to spread or someone finding them and her time cancelled or something horrid.

Even though you may think everything is put away from the lice, they will still find their way onto them. Lice are like flies, they know how to get into areas. I remember the first time we got lice, and my mom thought locking everything in a separate room would work as well, it didn't, the scenario your going through with thinking they were gone but then they came back, is what my mom went through with me and my sisters. That was how we learned of the bag trick,we found out the items we thought were out of reach were actually what was keeping the lice in the house. Not only that using the garbage bag trick will save you tremendously on your electric bill, running your dryer every day until the infestation is gone, is gonna make your electric bill skyrocket. The bag idea really works wonders, i know many who used it and if they hadn't would have never been able to get rid of the infestation. I do hope you find away to get rid of them soon so she doesn't have to lose out on her schooling, that would be dreadful.

Even if I bag up the few plushies she sleeps with, I still have to run it to JUST do the bedding/pillows/pajamas/jackets/hats we wear every day. I am not looking forward to my bill, either, sigh.... I can bag up the other blankets and plushies, though.

We usually use nizoral shampoo and alcohol. Little fuckers can't survive that. Also a good slather of balsam everytime you comb makes the little buggers slip n' slide. Also freezing stuff like bedding and plushies that can survive it x amount of time make them die also.

Hmmm, we've also managed to treat lice with olive oil; just soak the hair well and a couple of bags over it and let it sit the night over. It's really good for the hair on top of it. And I've heard from my friends that hair dyeing is also pretty effective.

Lice happens, everybody gets them and usually the cleanest get them the most. I had the eternally as a child because nobody ever bothered telling everybody else their children had it.... The problem is you don't have to have a lot of interaction with anyone that have it they always manage to spread like wildfire.

- I have never heard of that shampoo, I doubt our local store has it, but I am doing a weekly vinegar rinse in our hair (Well, the teenager squawked so much, I relented and used lemon juice for her hair) and we're maintaining clear heads, so far. For now, that is. I'm also using a lice prevention spray our hair daily before she goes to school just to help, and she's using her own towel for aquatics class, no more communal towels, ever.

Try getting a hair straightener! It worked wonders for me back in high school. I mean, they always say to dry your sheets and covers on high because the heat kills them...so, they don't like the heat from the straightener.

- Would that be better than a regular hair dryer ? The dryer does get pretty hot, too.

You know, I'm not sure. I did do the hair dryer and the straightener. And I had the like $5 hair straightener.

I will definitely keep it in mind, if we ever get an infestation again, though. Hopefully w/ preventative measures we'll never have to deal with this again.

I hope you don't have to deal with it again. It's the biggest self esteem killer ever.

I've had lice more than I care to count in my life, mostly from my friends kids lol schools are BAD for spreading it

But over the years a few at home treatments and ONE outstanding product later The best advices I have are: For home treatments, a combo of REAL mayo and a shower cap overnight, vinegar spray, and tea tree oils works. Cake on the mayo in the hair, be as giving as you want so long as everything is coated. Use old clothes though since it's well greasy. Same with bedding or even make a camp out thing in a room for sleeping in the cap overnight. Use a shampoo that gets rid of excess oils for washing the mayo out, comb hair then use a vinegar spray for killing eggs, wash again and use the lice comb. With tea tree oil if using pure use no more than a drop or two in the amount you wash hair with. You can get premade shampoos but those tend to be costly. A bottle of the pure oil is like $5

As for an over the counter item http://www.amazon.com/LiceMD-Lice-Treatment-4-Ounce-Bottle/dp/B0010Y5EV0 THIS works the best of anything on the market and isn't a chemical that'll poison you. One application of it, let sit as long as you want, wash with normal shampoo and check again in a week to be sure all lice eggs are dead. I buy mine at hellmart, so see if any place near you sells it. Otherwise a brand called Clear is the next best one that actually fully works but has chemicals that can't be used often without risk of becoming sick

- What a lot of information :D Wow, that seems like a great list of things. I can easily get ahold of some tea tree oil here in town and add it to shampoo and use that whenever heads get washed.

The LiceMD stuff might be practical to just get a kit or two and have them on hand. Thank you !

Yeah I'm almost pro status handling the damned things lol

Lice is easy just pray you never get -gulp- bed bugs

- I wouldn't feel like such a failure if I was able to take care of them properly, not being able to see them was what made me feel like a horrible neglectful bad parent. Not having any resources to help hardly besides a brother's wife who is .... well.... I mean I'm GLAD she DID, but, it doesn't mean I liked it. So I'm doing everything I can that we never have to deal with that again.

You sometimes WON'T see them until caught in a comb or in my cases when I itch my ear and one gets stuck under my nail -.-

They hardcore LOVE behind the ears and neck, they are the warmest and least bothered spaces. So when you do any treatment start in those areas and be heavy handed in what you use. Just make sure by the end all the scalp and every inch of hair is coated. If you only coated half the hair or only specific areas it gives the lice a place to go to thats safe and they get to live. You take that away they will die off.

The only part I hate is when the lice are dying. It's by far the itchiest, most maddening part. Washing bedding and clothes and vacuuming beds and furniture is the least worrisome for me. Oh also don't buy into the spray stuff for the furniture, it's pretty useless unless there's such a bad infestation that everyone has it badly.

And don't you go feeling too awful either. I get as mom it's hard to see something you can't just make go away sucks. Knowing how these fuckers operate and killing them anytime they appear however is always good so you can help your kidlet.

- I occasionally use the nit comb through my hair, but... I can't really see what I get, it just looks like specks. None of them move but if it's just a fluff or an egg, I literally can't tell. But, neither of us have been itching, maybe one little scratch here and there, but nothing more.... unless I think about it then OH GOD MUST CLAW ENTIRE SCALP OFF AAHHHHH you know :D

I hate lice too.

My brother and sister (twins) picked them up one summer at our local library from some kid in their play group. Lice is the true gift that keeps on giving. haha We had them for weeks. My mother did everything to get rid of them. It seemed like nothing worked and it took several weeks to finally get rid of them. We had to put all of our plushies in trash bags and sit them in the basement for weeks. And of course all the clothes/bedding/carpets etc got washed. We also did the lice treatment several times. UGH

Then I remember one year the twins picked up lice from some kid in their kindergarten class. BLECH We got rid of those pretty quickly. They are such an annoyance.

I have added tea tree oil and combined with the spray, and the occasional vinegar or lemon rinses we are doing (I'm out of both now, thank goodness I can go to the store this weekend, oh my god so broke :( ) our heads have been kept clear, but I'm still also washing ponytails after every use and occasional alcohol sterilizing our brushes, too. I'm not getting these again. Not. Ever.

Good luck hon! :)