One of my friends got head lice. Like, last week.
One of my peers.
An adult woman (and her kiddos).
In my mind, I liken head lice to elementary school and like to pretend that the buck stops there.
The truth is, it doesn't.
With my oldest beginning Pre-K this year, and the news of the lice "superbug" making headlines
just weeks prior, you betcha I was on the look-out proactive measures. Enter Wellness Mama.
So, it is no secret that I find Katie, a.k.a. Wellness Mama, pretty amazing. She is fascinating
and helpful, and she is on a mission to help us all. God love her.
So I turned to alternative, or rather, "all natural" sources of lice protection and followed her
suggestion of Neem oil. (You can read her post about lice here.)
Heads-up friend, Neem oil smells like death.
The night before big kid began school, I headed out to Deep Roots and purchased a teeny-tiny bottle of Neem oil for $10. I thought the investment was 100% worth it- a few bucks and no lice, um, YES! Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that all of the cautions about the smell should have been ground enough to keep looking.
With my four and my two year old in the tubby, I placed a SINGLE DROP of Neem oil into their Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild shampoo and washed their hair like normal. Except that my gag reflex was
beginning to go crazy. It will fade...it has to fade.
Unfortunately, wishful thinking does not necessarily transpire to desired results. (And for some
reason this makes me think of Earnest and how he wishfully thought himself through the arrow
not piercing him....)
One of my peers.
An adult woman (and her kiddos).
In my mind, I liken head lice to elementary school and like to pretend that the buck stops there.
The truth is, it doesn't.
With my oldest beginning Pre-K this year, and the news of the lice "superbug" making headlines
just weeks prior, you betcha I was on the look-out proactive measures. Enter Wellness Mama.
So, it is no secret that I find Katie, a.k.a. Wellness Mama, pretty amazing. She is fascinating
and helpful, and she is on a mission to help us all. God love her.
So I turned to alternative, or rather, "all natural" sources of lice protection and followed her
suggestion of Neem oil. (You can read her post about lice here.)
Heads-up friend, Neem oil smells like death.
The night before big kid began school, I headed out to Deep Roots and purchased a teeny-tiny bottle of Neem oil for $10. I thought the investment was 100% worth it- a few bucks and no lice, um, YES! Unfortunately for me, I didn't realize that all of the cautions about the smell should have been ground enough to keep looking.
With my four and my two year old in the tubby, I placed a SINGLE DROP of Neem oil into their Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild shampoo and washed their hair like normal. Except that my gag reflex was
beginning to go crazy. It will fade...it has to fade.
Unfortunately, wishful thinking does not necessarily transpire to desired results. (And for some
reason this makes me think of Earnest and how he wishfully thought himself through the arrow
not piercing him....)
The morning of Pre-school, day one, my four year old love-bug smelled like death on steroids. As soon as he rose, I dashed him off to the tubby and scrubbed his hair (without the oil) hoping to dilute the smell as much as possible.
It worked some, but man, this stuff is stinky!
I decided to continue with the oil, rationalizing that the smell still trumped a lice outbreak. Once a week, just a drop was added to their shampoo.
This lasted all of two weeks.
The smell is overwhelming. I have no doubt the lice would run in the opposite direction, but let's face it, I was going in the other direction as well.
Enter Lice Shield.
Unless the smell of citronella is just too much for you to handle, this is a great alternative. It
cost about $5, but considering how expensive lice shampoo, spray, and all the detergent you would use to clean house if you had an outbreak costs, I still consider this well worth the price tag.
Both Neem oil and Lice Shield are meant to be preventative. If you already have lice, that's a separate post...one I hope to never have to write.
This shampoo can be purchased at Walmart in their pharmaceutical aisles.
Every Sunday night, and again on Wednesdays, my older boys get their "smelly shampoo" tub. Yeah, they nicknamed it, but I don't mind citronella too much and stinky beats an outbreak. (Apparently I cannot say that enough.)
I have also heard of people using Melaleuca or Tea Tree oil in shampoo or diluted with water and sprayed onto hair, clothing, etc., as an additional proactive measure.
In the last week, my poor husband had to check my head countless times because I just about convinced myself that I had head lice as well. ...Just the mention of them makes my head itch.
Thankfully, I have dandruff but not lice...and I will gladly take the former over the later any day.
What actions do you take for lice protection? Are you as crazy obsessed with not getting it as I? (And I have had it when I was younger, whereas my husband, who has NEVER had it, is not at all bothered with thoughts of it, go figure.)
If you need some good rules of thumb to help you remain lice free, try these:
*NEVER allow your child to use a comb, brush, scrunchie, hat, etc. of another child.
*Do not try hats on. Period. If I am going to purchase a hat, I buy it, wash it, and then wear it. NEVER GO OUT OF ORDER. EVER.
*We do NOT EVER wear the play clothes at our local children's museum. Same with the fake phone at the cool receptionist area the kiddos can play it. Sorry kiddos, mamma's a little crazy.
*Children should be discouraged from playing "hair salon". I'm just making a suggestion here, but it is too easy to pass on lice this way.
*Do NOT place jackets in one group. When my boys go to Bible class, there is always a single hamper in the hall for all the kiddos to place their jackets into. Um, no. Instead, I place my boy's jackets into their over-sized PLASTIC bag and they can just fish it out when they need it. Call me crazy....
How about you? Do you think you're as fanatical as me? :)
-
It worked some, but man, this stuff is stinky!
I decided to continue with the oil, rationalizing that the smell still trumped a lice outbreak. Once a week, just a drop was added to their shampoo.
This lasted all of two weeks.
The smell is overwhelming. I have no doubt the lice would run in the opposite direction, but let's face it, I was going in the other direction as well.
Enter Lice Shield.
Unless the smell of citronella is just too much for you to handle, this is a great alternative. It
cost about $5, but considering how expensive lice shampoo, spray, and all the detergent you would use to clean house if you had an outbreak costs, I still consider this well worth the price tag.
Both Neem oil and Lice Shield are meant to be preventative. If you already have lice, that's a separate post...one I hope to never have to write.
This shampoo can be purchased at Walmart in their pharmaceutical aisles.
Every Sunday night, and again on Wednesdays, my older boys get their "smelly shampoo" tub. Yeah, they nicknamed it, but I don't mind citronella too much and stinky beats an outbreak. (Apparently I cannot say that enough.)
I have also heard of people using Melaleuca or Tea Tree oil in shampoo or diluted with water and sprayed onto hair, clothing, etc., as an additional proactive measure.
In the last week, my poor husband had to check my head countless times because I just about convinced myself that I had head lice as well. ...Just the mention of them makes my head itch.
Thankfully, I have dandruff but not lice...and I will gladly take the former over the later any day.
What actions do you take for lice protection? Are you as crazy obsessed with not getting it as I? (And I have had it when I was younger, whereas my husband, who has NEVER had it, is not at all bothered with thoughts of it, go figure.)
If you need some good rules of thumb to help you remain lice free, try these:
*NEVER allow your child to use a comb, brush, scrunchie, hat, etc. of another child.
*Do not try hats on. Period. If I am going to purchase a hat, I buy it, wash it, and then wear it. NEVER GO OUT OF ORDER. EVER.
*We do NOT EVER wear the play clothes at our local children's museum. Same with the fake phone at the cool receptionist area the kiddos can play it. Sorry kiddos, mamma's a little crazy.
*Children should be discouraged from playing "hair salon". I'm just making a suggestion here, but it is too easy to pass on lice this way.
*Do NOT place jackets in one group. When my boys go to Bible class, there is always a single hamper in the hall for all the kiddos to place their jackets into. Um, no. Instead, I place my boy's jackets into their over-sized PLASTIC bag and they can just fish it out when they need it. Call me crazy....
How about you? Do you think you're as fanatical as me? :)
-
Lice are usually found in the hair or clothing of the child. Lice are spread from person to person, when they are in close contact or when they lend each other's clothing https://www.licecaresolutions.com/dallas/. Louse may be discovered on a child, when your child is scratching the mind constantly.
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