The Easiest Steps to Get Rid of Head Lice
Zombie Mom
I feel like I’m sleep-typing. It’s almost midnight and I’m running off only 4 hours of sleep. And running is what I’ve been doing.
Let me tell you…
I was planning on spending my Wednesday as a work day, but a different kind of work. I wanted to finish my calendar for March and April. I wanted to work on the blog. I was going to watch a video for a workshop I’m taking and prepare for my Wednesday small group at church.
But I did laundry. So. Much. Laundry!
Let me go back.
Tuesday was very chill. My husband, Russell, took the 3 oldest kids to the movies after school. They had been away at camp over Spring Break when I took the little ones to see Captain Marvel. Also, my husband was at work when we went, so he took the rest to catch up to us before whatever epic showdown is coming in Avengers: Endgame next month. (Can you tell I’m excited?!)
While they were out at the movies and having Mongolian food, the littles and I were home eating pizza and chilling on the couch. (Side note: Emma and Jack are not little. They’re 8 and 10, but they’re still my babies.) They were even in bed by 8! Nice!
But don’t we know that night-time can’t actually be that easy? All of a sudden someone had a headache and needed ibuprofen. Ten minutes later nausea kicked in and I found myself making a pallet for my son on the floor. No one needs a kid puking off the top bunk.
All was quiet until the rest of the family got home from their night out. They weren’t the loud ones, though. I guess Jack’s body just figured it would wait until everyone was home and the bathroom was occupied before throwing up.
Thank God for the trash can I put beside him! There was no mess and after about 15 minutes he was asleep. He never had any other problems after that. It was weird, but I was thankful to be able to go to bed by about 10.
Or so I thought.
Boy was I in for a surprise. What could be worse than a puking kid, you ask? A kid who has been away at camp for 4 days and is scratching her head.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no! Noooooo!
After mere seconds of looking my worst fear was confirmed. Head lice. (Look. You might think I’m exaggerating with the ‘worst fear’ thing, but let me tell you. It goes 1. Bridges that collapse and cause you to drown in your car. 2. Getting hit by a train while driving across the tracks. 3. Head lice.)
I have one child that can get lice just from walking by someone who has it. It’s like there’s a magnet in her head and they are sucked across space and time to attach to her. Also, they’re just a nightmare. You have to treat everything and everyone, which gets expensive! Then there’s the hours of meticulously going through your kid’s hair.
It’s miserable. For everyone. My back is killing me. My feet hurt. And the laundry. Ughhhh! It’s finished but I’m sick of it.
While we’re here let me give you a few tips.
Tea tree oil (aka Melaleuca). Lice find the smell of it repulsive. It won’t kill them, but it’s amazing at helping to prevent getting lice in the first place. There are specialized tea tree oil shampoos that you can use, or add a couple drops of good quality tea tree oil to your existing shampoo.
Lice prevention shampoos. My favorite brand is Vamousse. It not only prevents lice, but kills them if left on the hair longer than 3 minutes before rinsing. It’s homeopathic so there are no chemicals to worry about. I should have sent it with my kid to camp. It would have saved us so much trouble! It’s also perfect if someone in your household has had lice. If you’re only looking for prevention I also recommend Lice Shield shampoo.
Vamousse also has a hair treatment to kill lice that is seriously better than anything I’ve ever used. Once again, it’s homeopathic so there are no chemicals to have to worry about when treating kids. And it’s a foaming mousse, hence the name, so it’s not as messy to use as other methods.
If it’s the middle of the night when you find this problem (like it was for us) you may not be able to just run out and get what you need. Use oil. I used coconut oil. Some people use vegetable oil and olive oil. My mom once covered my hair in baby oil. The point is, the oil will suffocate the lice if left on for long enough.
The problem with this method is it only takes care of the lice, not the eggs. But it will definitely help until the next morning when you can get to the store. Make sure to thoroughly coat the hair, then cover it with a shower cap. Or you can be like me and use a grocery bag. (Hey! A mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do!)
Make sure to wash EVERYTHING! Use the hottest water setting possible on your washer. Anything that can’t be put into the washing machine needs to be vacuumed and sprayed with lice killing spray. Generally, you can find this in the medicine aisle of a store next to the lice treatment. And if it can’t be washed but it will fit in the dryer, put it in on high-heat for 40-60 minutes to kill lice. I do this with throw pillows in addition to using the spray.
I always put all the bedding and pillows in a garbage bag and tie it in a way that it’s airtight so anything that’s in there will stay in there. Lice can’t live more than 24 hours without a food source so this is an easy way to help stop them from spreading while things are waiting to be washed.
Treat your pets. Yes, the lice will transfer to pets. I knew a kid who kept getting lice because her parents were treating everything in the house except the dog. Then she, along with her siblings, would get it again… from the dog. Treat your pets.
I’m sure there are more helpful things, but my brain is pretty much fried after the week I had. I’ve given you the most important things I’ve learned through the many times we’ve had to deal with this. If you have any questions, or more suggestions, please leave them in the comments.
Update: The heating element in my dryer went out. Thank God it was after everything was done. Y’all pray for me.