S/O Lice - are they exceptionally bad this year?

[Clarity]

There's been so many posts about lice in the last 9 months or so. Are they especially bad this year? My dd's are 3 and 5 and we haven't had any problems at preschool or kindy but now you all have me worried. DD1 has incredibly thick hair and I honestly cannot even imagine trying to comb out her hair daily for lice. I don't have enough time in a day as it is, let alone trying to squeeze that in too! I guess it's time to break out the tea tree oil as a first defense.

DD2 shares a cubby at preschool and it's making me all skeevy just thinking about it now. *shudder*

[ha98ed14]

I'm thinking yes. DD has yet to get it, but it is going around our church, and I keep hearing about it from other people. We've stayed home the past 3 weeks just because I cannot knowingly go if it's a possibility. But plenty of kids at DD's preschool have older sibs in school, so it could easily happen. I cut DD's hair so that if she did get it, I would be able to comb it out. It was down to her waist. Now it's shoulders.

[veronica]

DD was in public preK last year and now kindy. DS is now in the preK program as welll. My friend teaches kindy in the school and I remember telling me last year that she had a lot of absences because lice had been around the class twice in a row :(

I started reading all of the threads here lately and have been so paranoid now. I bought a comb, some product and I'm saving for the fairy products too. In the meantime, I put tea tree oil in their shampoo and condition as well as a spray bottle of detangler and each child gets sprayed/combed before school. I've been pulling DD's hair back every day too. I love it down but with the twins, I barely have time to shower, let alone 'de-louse my house'

[Twoboos]

A friend's kids just had it, and apparently the school nurse said she has seen more cases just since school started than in ALL of last year!

I really need to enforce the ponytail rule, whether DDs like it or not. And daily spraying. I have the Fairytales "Defense Spray" but it seems to make their hair so greasy. But I suppose greasy is better than buggy.

[lmh2402]

one of the people we see through EI said the center where she works has been open for five years and never had a case of lice until this year

and DS' nursery class had four cases in a class of 10 kids. almost 50%!

i bought the fairy tales rosemary stuff and have been washing his hair with that, then slathering it in the conditioner and before he leaves each morning i use the gel.

i actually think it smells nice and i plan to use it from for the rest of the school year. i really hope it works as lice just totally gross me out.

[ladysoapmaker]

I think it is worse this year. I was called within the first few weeks of school about DD#1. She wasn't sent home as the nurse found a single louse and no nits in her hair. I did a check on everyone in the house. I was very thankful because she is highly allergic to the lice treatment shampoos.

I picked up Lice Shield from Walgreens (don't know if any other place carries it, but it was on sale & I had a coupon). Like the Fairy Tales stuff it has tea tree oil & rosemary. I love the smell. And the boys like using it. So no fighting with them to use it. The detangler/leave-in conditioner works beautifully. So far nothing has shown up. keep your fingers crossed.

Jen

[Laurel]

It seems worse this year.

I also think think the old fashioned stigmas associated with having lice are disappearing rapidly. Fewer people ashamed of having lice=more people talking about it/hearing about it. When I was a kid, having lice was practically unmentionable in the area I grew up in.

[Cam&Clay]

I have posted about my year long struggle with lice with DS1 when he was 11. So many of the families in his school were fighting lice that the school nurse, who happens to be a friend of mine, contacted the health department. They told her that some areas are experiencing a new "strain" of lice that originated in Central America, specifically El Salvador. This new strain was resistant to OTC and natural remedies. I ended up having to get the prescription lice medication, which to me was like pouring kerosene on my child's head. It was awful, but it worked. Our school, I will add, is majority Hispanic, so the news of this new strain of lice was not shocking. Also not shocking is the fact that the majority of the Hispanics in our area are from El Salvador.