The joys of grade school....head lice~ yikes!

Okay, so I know this is a REALLY weird topic to have on a blog, but we have now just experienced something new at school that I want to pass along to you....Megan came home with head lice. You can only imagine what a mess it was with her LONG hair. So here are some things I want to share with you as we had NO clue what to do when she told us her head was itching. Hopefully this will give you insight if it ever happens to your child or someone you know...





1. Get this product called RID at the drugstore RIGHT away. I have attached the link to the website. Follow the instructions EXACTLY~ CHECK ALL FAMILY MEMBERS HAIR IMMEDIATELY!





NOTE***Don't be alarmed when you see the live lice crawling around near the scalp-just take tweezers and gently get them out of the hair and put into a bag. Also you want to focus on getting the "nits" which are the eggs where the lice hatch from. You can tell a "nit because it sticks to the hair shaft and is very hard to pull out. You want to get rid of these as quick as possible to cut down on the hatching of new lice eggs.





2. So after you've put the shampoo on, let it sit for at least 10 minutes, washed out, put the gel in the roots and used the comb with 1/2 inch of hair at a time.....let that sit.....then wash it out and check the hair every few hours.





3. Now the fun begins-FIRST AND FOREMOST THROW AWAY ANY BRUSHES YOU'VE USED! Don't be cheap and try to boil them because lice can hold their breath underwater and will not die and you will be doing this again and again...





4. WASH EVERYTHING (sheets, pillowcases, comforter, towels, jackets, robes-anything that could have come in contact that is a cloth like fabric) in hot water with bleach.





5. For those items you can't wash you have to put them in a black plastic bag and tie tightly for 3-4 days so the lice will die. Also spray items like sofas, vehicles with the spray-make sure you follow the directions on the spray so you don't ruin something.





6. NOTIFY THE SCHOOL NURSE AND TEACHER so the whole class can be checked. We found out the 4 other students in Megan's class have this so if we didn't notify them this would have just passed around and around-YUCK!





7. You will probably have to have your child go to the nurses station at school to be checked before being admitted back to school.





This process is very time consuming, but it is imparative that you treat this very aggressively and QUICKLY as to get through it as fast as you can. We started this process on Tuesday and repeated the shampoo yesterday and today (Thursday) Megan is lice free~ YIPEEEE





I just have to tell you that Megan was an amazing trooper through this whole process- :) The best advice I can give you is to not make a big deal out of it and make the best of it~this too shall pass~ :)