The Homespun Heart is having a week long challenge to help get your house in order. I was excited to read about this challenge because I have started my fall cleaning. Usually every year around this time we clean out the clutter at our house. This started many years ago when I realized that Christmas was quickly approaching and the thought of more stuff (toys, decorations, games, books, etc…) coming into my home was overwhelming. I also use this time to switch out our summer and winter clothes and make a list of all the winter items we need this year. You would think that with six kids I wouldn’t have to buy anything, but those pesky older kids keep growing and need new coats and boots!
We had a fun few days in Williamsburg (more on that in another post) and I was planning on returning and jumping right into my fall cleaning. But, my plans have been derailed. On Saturday my two year old was scratching her head, I looked at her head to see what was bothering her and found a little bug in her hair. I picked it out and threw it away, thinking nothing of it.
Then on Sunday, after we had arrived in Williamsburg and were eating dinner I saw another black bug in her hair. I picked it out, threw it away, and forgot about it.
On Monday I picked several black bugs out of her hair and started to panic. When we returned to the hotel room I googled “black bugs in hair” and was surprised to find out they were lice! I thought lice were white! Of course, I had to figure this out while we were at a hotel 120 miles from our house and we are all sharing beds! My husband washed her hair and combed out more little bugs while I went through everyone else’s hair to see if they also had little friends. Thankfully they did not, but it only added to my confusion as to why my two year old would have them.
She does not go to daycare, play group, mom’s day out, and even missed Sunday school last week because we were camping. The only people she has had contact with are us, and no one else seems to have them. I spent most of Monday night in a dark hotel room, while everyone else slept, trying to educate myself on lice. I also started scratching my head compulsively, not because I had anything in my hair, but because her constant scratching and seeing all those bugs freaked me out. Yesterday my husband and oldest daughter joined my in the compulsive scratching. We do not have lice, but now all of a sudden everything itches! Last night in bed my legs even started to itch!
So today instead of continuing with my fall cleaning I will head to the doctor’s office and hopefully begin the process of killing these little suckers. Then I need to sterilize my home so that no one else gets them. We also need to unpack from our trip, do school, and eventually continue our fall cleaning.
Update: I took the before pictures and there were so many I put them in a separate post. You can view them here.
Have a great day and try not to scratch!
I’m so sorry Toni! My head is itching just reading it. When I was the principal at our in the Dominican Republic we had a lice issue at one point. Thankfully it was “small”, but I couldn’t help but scratch. Must be a mental thing! I hope you’ve killed them off and am glad you were planning on cleaning up this week anyways!
Erin
I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!! Just to let you know, it will be probably a month before you will not see anymore nits….just keep picking. My daughter wasn’t safe if she sat near me, I would snatch her over to my side and I would start looking and pulling.
Slather mayo on the DRY HAIR and wrap it in a wal-mart plastic type back and then wrap a towel around it….leave on for as long as possible…at least 1 – 2 hours. RINSE WELL….you will probably see several nits in the tub that have slid off the hair. We did this about 3 times in a week….it suffocates the nits. Oh and a hair straightener works to kill them also…..can you tell I was FREAKED OUT? lol. I think I was more paranoid that my dh couldn’t even see them when I was showing them to him…..SO HOW COULD HE SEE IF I HAD THEM IN MY HAIR? I think I scratched a bald spot on my head….rofl.
Also, if you add a teaspoon of TEA TREE OIL to your shampoo, it will repel them. We all use it and no one has had a relapse of the buggers.
We don’t let our children take their coats into church…backpacks…anywhere that they might be piling them next to each other.
Having had some experience as a Public Health Nurse, we have dealt with head lice extensively. Just a reminder to delouse your vehicles at the same time you are delousing everyones hair. Also to cut down on the laundry , it is ok to bag and seal comforters, pillows, stuffed animals and anything else that cannot be easily washed. Be sure to keep it closed tightly for 2 weeks. One more thing, Rid or Nix are your best defense in killing eggs and the adults who lay them. By the way, the cheap hotel may not have proven to be cheap at all!
Thankfully, none of my kids have ever had lice, but I remember having it as a child. I remember it frustrating my mother because as soon as she would “cure” it in one of us, another kid would end up with it. It kept getting passed around. Of course, they probably have much better products now. Don’t forget to sterlize stuffed animals, too.
And don’t feel bad. My SIL is the biggest clean freak I know. Her house and kids are always spotless, but she ended up with lice one time! She thinks she got them from trying on clothes at a store.
Oh, I’m so sorry! Hope you had a good day today – in your Haven!
I love your blog. I have been “lurking” around on it for a few months now!! I went through lice with both of my kids a couple of years ago at Christmas! I noticed it around the first of December and it was January before I finally got rid of them. The stuff at the drug store was a waste of money. The only thing that worked was mayonnaise. I slathered it on their dry hair, put a plastic hair cap on, and let it sit for at least an hour. I did that at least four times a week for about 2 or 3 weeks. To this day my son will not touch mayonnaise! And don’t forget to bag up her stuff and leave it for about two weeks. Good luck!! I know firsthand how frustrating this can be!!
O.k., now my head itches. Frankly, I’m blaming you, LOL! I’m so sorry you have to de-louse your house (no joke intended). I’ve never had to do that but my friends did. They just packed up the stuffed animals and packed them away in a bag for about a month, so they wouldn’t have to wash them. But I read somewhere that people don’t need to do near the cleaning that they do.
Ugh! What a pain!! I’m so sorry you have to deal with this. I remember watching some kids over a weekend one time and had to do this with their house and hair. Not fun!