Lice and sharing car seats

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

ACK! I transport a young child (not mine) to school three mornings a week and today as she was sitting in DD's Parkway she proudly exclaimed to everyone- "I had lice this weekend and had to do a treatment!"
I wondered why her hair was pulled back in a pony tail this morning- first time I'd ever seen her hair like that.

So now, what do I need to do with the carseat before I put DD in it?

trippsmom · Nov 11, 2013

julia94115 said:
ACK! I transport a young child (not mine) to school three mornings a week and today as she was sitting in DD's Parkway she proudly exclaimed to everyone- "I had lice this weekend and had to do a treatment!"
I wondered why her hair was pulled back in a pony tail this morning- first time I'd ever seen her hair like that.

So now, what do I need to do with the carseat before I put DD in it?

I would take the cover off and wash it. Tumble it in the dryer on low low heat if you can. Heat is your friend. Ugh! How rude of her parents. Check your children too.

Lice are going around everywhere. Dh wanted to see SIL yesterday. Thankfully she casually mentioned that she was done treating her dd for lice so it was "safe for us to come over". Um no. Dh didn't understand. I had to be very stern, but it was worth it.

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

Agreed- totally rude of her parents.

So now what do I do when I transport her other times this week? I can't wash this cover multiple times a week....

Ugh, ugh, ugh.....

trippsmom · Nov 11, 2013

julia94115 said:
Agreed- totally rude of her parents.

So now what do I do when I transport her other times this week? I can't wash this cover multiple times a week....

Ugh, ugh, ugh.....

I would call her mom. Find out how many treatments. Get some gloves, check her head too. If she is clean, you are ok. Hopefully the school is checking her/ her classmates daily as well and will alert everyone if the situation persists.

We checked for about 3 weeks after they came to MDO and went around.

Mommy! · Nov 11, 2013

All of the above, and I'd vacuum the straps and the seat shell as well, just to be sure.

And that really is incredibly rude of her parents!

Athena · Nov 11, 2013

I'd wash the cover now and you are completely justified refusing to transport her until she has been deemed completely lice free by an appropriate medical professional. Until then, she has no business going to school.

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

It's a bit tricky only because I nanny for a little girl and this one with lice is her carpool friend. I take the lice girl two days a week and then they take my charge two days a week. So it's really between my nanny charge's family and the lice girl's family EXCEPT when it involves head lice in MY car!

And I dropped her at school this morning!

Athena · Nov 11, 2013

That's a lousy situation to be stuck in. I hope you get it worked out. YOU certainly are NOT responsible for her going to school with lice, so please don't feel bad about that part of it.

vtbecca · Nov 11, 2013

Gross! I was a teacher in a daycare for a long time and I would always check hair after the child returned, and often found that things were not totally clear upon return. Maybe see if that child can bring her own car seat for a few days. I would not want her using mine.

Becca

jacqui276 · Nov 11, 2013

I'm not totally surprised that the mom didn't give you the heads up on it. When DD had lice, I waited until I knew that she was 100% clear before returning to school (and informed her school so that the other kids could be checked) but didn't advertise to absolutely everybody that I knew that she had lice. I told anyone that we were in contact with the previous few days but once it was completely gone I didn't mention it to people. No sense freaking people out or embarrassing her if I wasn't concerned about her spreading it.

Hopefully the kids mom ensured that she was ACTUALLY all clear and didn't just dump a container of chemicals on her head and call it a day. I would have a peak at the kid's head yourself to see if there are still critters running around (and would then check your own children's heads if you find anything) and vacuum or bag or wash your cover.

When DD had lice, I just ran the vacuum over the car (and all our furniture every time she had any contact with it) and it was enough that they haven't returned.

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

jacqui276 said:
I'm not totally surprised that the mom didn't give you the heads up on it. When DD had lice, I waited until I knew that she was 100% clear before returning to school (and informed her school so that the other kids could be checked) but didn't advertise to absolutely everybody that I knew that she had lice. I told anyone that we were in contact with the previous few days but once it was completely gone I didn't mention it to people. No sense freaking people out or embarrassing her if I wasn't concerned about her spreading it.

Hopefully the kids mom ensured that she was ACTUALLY all clear and didn't just dump a container of chemicals on her head and call it a day. I would have a peak at the kid's head yourself to see if there are still critters running around (and would then check your own children's heads if you find anything) and vacuum or bag or wash your cover.

When DD had lice, I just ran the vacuum over the car (and all our furniture every time she had any contact with it) and it was enough that they haven't returned.

This kid's mom is a total space case. She has more than once been over 40 minutes late picking up her kid from soccer practice (no- she doesn't stay for games or practices and the kid is six years old!) She has had her nanny pick my up charge over 45 minutes late from school and take them to their house instead of taking them to said class and hasn't called me to tell me a) that she would be over 45 minutes late picking up "my" child (it's $1.00 a minute over 10 minutes late- not that I'm the one paying) and b) that she would be taking "my" child to another destination!
And THEN this other nanny that they have (they have 3) puts "my" charge in an open top Jeep, in a NBB booster with no headrests in the Jeep and the seat back ends approx at the top middle of "my" charges back. AND the kids are allowed to throw their heads and hands out of the moving Jeep. I was very firm with "my" charge that she is never allowed to do that ever, but there is still that stupid back seat issue. Not my kid so there is nothing more I can do there because I have alerted her parents and they said they don't want to "cause waves" because they will be seeing that family at their elite private school for the next 8 years. How's that for safety??
And now lice.....

Oh geez, sorry that I went off on this rant here......

mom of six · Nov 11, 2013

Just went through my first case of lice this summer with 4 of my six kids. I learned a lot.
If she was treated once and they did not remove every nit (which is nearly impossible in one try) she will he reinfected.

the adult bugs do not jump. They have to crawl from hair to surface to hair.
the adults can only live 2 days with out food (blood) or they will die.
if a nit (egg) dislodges from the hair before it is hatched the baby louce will not survive as they need blood immediately upon hatching.
the bugs can lay egg 8 days after they hatch and it takes the eggs 8-10 days to hatch. Nothing kills a nit. Best times to treat is the day it is found, again on day 7 and again on day 15. This catches hatchlings before they become egg laying adults.

Vacuum a lot. I would suggest laying a sheet over the car seat that the little girl will be riding in (or at least where her head and hair touch) and wash it immediately after she uses it. Wash it on HOT. The water must be at least 130 degrees to kill the lice. Hot water will kill the nits.

There is a spray that you can use but it is a chemical pesticide so there are risks.

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

Ok- well she will NOT be using DDs seat ever again. I have a million other boosters that rarely get used so I will be putting her in one of those from this day forward.

firemomof3 · Nov 11, 2013

I know its scary and gross to think about but head lice are sooo not a big deal...just be thankful its not bed bugs!
And you don't have to wash everything...just 20min. in a hot dryer is all you need

julia94115 · Nov 11, 2013

firemomof3 said:
I know its scary and gross to think about but head lice are sooo not a big deal...just be thankful its not bed bugs!
And you don't have to wash everything...just 20min. in a hot dryer is all you need

Ha! You're right there! Bed bugs- Triple ACK!

PS- I just noticed the stats on your DS- he has almost the exact same stats as my DD who just turned six three weeks ago! She's 51" and 60 lbs.When is your DS's birthday? I don't think I've ever "met" another six year old as tall as my DD !!!

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