Arghhh... Carseats and Head Lice?

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
DS1 came home with a note from school saying they found head lice in their classroom. I checked DS1 and can't find any lice, but I think (never done this before) I found nits... so everything in sight is getting cleaned.

He rides in a Parkway... I've always washed the cover (handwash/gentle cycle) on cold water and then lay flat to dry (per instructions). With lice you are supposed to wash in hot water and then tumble dry on high heat for at least 30 minutes. For pillows/stuffed animals they were recommending 30 minutes in the dryer on high heat OR overnight in the freezer.

What should I do? Any experience/suggestions?

For now, he's riding in the backless Clek... thank goodness for spares!
 
ADS

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
Oh no! I hope he really doesn't have any!

I no help with washing the cover but I wanted to tell you to research using olive oil to coat his hair. Please don't use any of those dangerouse chemical shampoo lice treatments!
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
ANd if you found stuff, continue to comb his hair, every. single. day! Until you find nothing for several days in a row. There are many parents who just don't bother, iykwim. You need to be proactive about this (from a mom who knew it was going around, and actually missed the nits in her dd's hair:eek::eek:). Treat everyone in the house also. The stuff they sent home with dd was actually the non toxic stuff. But, the main thing is to continue to comb, comb, comb. Every day. That is the only thing that will really get rid of it.
 

Pixels

New member
Well, since you're not supposed to put the cover in the dryer, and the two lice-killers are high heat or freezing, why not just stick it in the freezer overnight?
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
A and J had a small lice problem from school a few months ago. The instructions we got said to just vacuum carseats. So all I did was vacuum them out really good (the strong gas station or carwash vacuums).
 

daycaremom2002

Active member
I second the vacuuming. Lice can't live long without a host, so if you have a spare, problem solved. Vacuum off everything and then put it in a dark plastic bag in the garage for a few days. Vacuum again, and you are done with that. Another thing that was suggested to a friend of mine is to put the pillows in the dryer on a high heat cycle every morning for 30 minutes. So Vacuum, pick and dry everything.

I hope this is over for you soon.

One more thing: I don't know how true it is, but I was told by a hairdresser friend, that if you soak the hair in brown vinegar, it helps loosen the adhesive on the nits and the pick out easier.
 

CDNTech

Senior Community Member
Thanks for all the suggestions. :) I've vacuumed the carseat and bagged it up for awhile.

I went through his hair again and can't find anything. The initial go around I found some tiny little black spots near the crown of his head... I'm thinking these are nits from a picture I found online, but it could also be dirt. I did not find lice at all. Either way, I'm taking full pre-cautions.

Everything in the boys room was washed and dried in hot temperatures today and we'll continue to check hair twice daily (morning and night). Thankfully the boys hair is pretty short right now, so it's relatively easy to check.

Am I right in thinking that I don't need to do any treatments if I didn't find lice?
 

momtoirs

Member
I agree to just vacuum the car seats. If you think about it, you can't do more than that with your vehicle seats, which I would do as well. (Don't forget your couches, etc. as well). Do keep checking thoroughly and daily for a while. I've worked in a school with a major outbreak and while some will disagree with me, I tend to favor a "no-nit" policy. If you have nits, go home, or at least outside, with your adult and nit-pick. I'll check you again and you can stay if I can't find any nits. And believe me, I'm thorough! The school I was in got so bad, it was ordered by the local health department to post signs and not allow anyone, including staff or parents, without a head check until the outbreak was over.

Tina
 

Irishmama

New member
We had to deal with lice last summer, and I wanted to add that putting a hair dryer on high on the scalp for as long as the kids will put up with it seems to really help. Just be really careful not to burn the scalp. It seemed to dry up the eggs so they couldn't hatch and we didn't have any more "hatchlings." after that. Plus the kids could tell me when they had a really bad itch and sure enough, there was a live one! Ick, you have my complete sympathy, it's not fun!
 

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