How we Conquered Lice in Three Days

The morning of school picture day, my oldest woke up and told me, “Mommy, my head itches and hurts.” I sighed as silently as possible. Now, lest you think me dismissive, this child has always been hyper-aware of changes or discomfort in his body. It’s a sensory thing. A drizzle outside, and his shoes must be changed. “Ok, hon, we’ll tell the nurse,” I said as I helped him button the tiny buttons on his adorable paisley button-up that he picked himself for the occasion. 

A quick Google search led me to various skin-to-skin (also known as school is in session) infections and the like. His hair had grown long and has an ultra-thick texture like mine. I quickly combed my hands through and looked for rashes or anything odd. I couldn’t see anything. We needed to hustle to be on time for school. I sent a message to our school nurse. “Hey Blake says his head itches, can you check if anything is up?” 

A couple of hours later, I got the reply. “Well, we have good news and bad news.” The nurse said. “The good news is we caught it early because there are only a couple of adults. The bad news is, it’s lice.” LICE?!” I replied. “Yes, mostly nits, but you’re going to want to come get him now. Buy the lice kit from the drugstore on your way home. Treat everyone in the home and wash your sheets in very hot water. After you comb everyone’s hair out, that should remove the nits too. Don’t worry, lice are common in this season with back to school and sports.” 

“Ok, but how long will he need to be quarantined?” The faithful COVID rule follower mom in me asked. “Oh, after treatment and combing, he can come back tomorrow.” The nurse said. “I’ve never had lice or seen lice.” Sensing my terror, she spent more time with advice and ended with, “You got this.” 

Gentle reader, I in no way felt that we “had it,” unless you meant crawling critters. That we had! 

“There are lice in my house. There are lice on my kids. We have lice.” The horror gripped me as hard as I gripped the steering wheel. I called everyone I knew we had been near in the last week to warn them. I cried. I contemplated my face without hair. Fortunately, the drive to school is only five minutes, so my panic spiral didn’t last long.

As I pulled into the parking lot, I remembered one of my best mom resources: My fellow Indy Moms. I posted in our writers group. 

After picking up a smiling child who’s always happy for a fun “early dismissal” and unaware of his condition, we headed to the pharmacy. He beamed as he described getting his picture taken for picture day. I was glad that he had at least done that before seeing the nurse.

We spent several hundred dollars on lice kits for our household and follow-up kits. It was too many kits. This will go in my don’t section for later. I treated both boys and myself with the special shampoo and then combed their hair in the sunlight as recommended, and tried not to scream as I found one adult, two nymphs, and a handful of nits in my oldest son’s hair. The nits were so tiny that I wouldn’t have been able to identify them without watching several YouTube videos.

Here are the most helpful tips from my Indianapolis Moms fellow writers:

1. Make sure you have someone comb out your hair. You will miss nits (eggs) in the back. One mom said she actually had the hardest time with this, and that was why it took months to remove them from her family fully.
2. There are professionals who can help. There are home cleaning companies that will wash all the bedding and remove stuffed animals, among other things, if you have a large family. There are also professional lice educators who can provide advice and offer lice checks or follow-up care. 
3. For another mom’s perspective, check out this piece.

From this list of tips, I figured it was time for backup. I googled “lice help” and found a very helpful lice educator just 5 minutes from our house with hundreds of 5-star reviews. I called her and she reassured me that due to the amount of lice found on my son’s scalp, it “wasn’t bad.” She told me to buy a better comb than the one included in the kits and sent me a link for it. She reassured me that the treatment we had used was fine, but not to overdo it as the chemicals are harmful if used too often, especially on my two-year-old. She said eliminating all nits was the most crucial part.

I felt much better after her advice, but decided to still schedule myself for a full “comb out,” which she said would take 2.5 hours and cost a decent sum. Let me tell you, it was worth it. This is not an ad; it’s just me thinking about how much stress and heartache she saved me from. We scheduled me for the next day. 

I was relieved that the lice educator did not find any nymphs (teen lice) or adults during her 2.5-hour comb-out of my thick hair. I did have some nits (eggs), which meant that they would’ve hatched within the week, and the lice cycle would’ve continued. 

When I went back for my 7-day free follow-up, I was relieved that not a single nit was found. (This woman is very good and guarantees her work.) 

Things I Learned from a Lice Educator:

1. Lice can’t fly or hop like fleas, but they can scurry across scalps and also occasionally fall off. This is why, when kids get older, it’s a good idea to have them keep hats and gloves in their backpacks. If everything is nearby, lice may scurry from one hat to another at school. 
2. Lice will use any host, indiscriminately of ethnicity.
3. Moms are often more likely than dads to get lice from their kids. It may be because of all the hugging and time together with our kids, or it may be because of testosterone levels and men being taller. Uncertain.
4. The ingredients in the drugstore kits may not always be effective against all lice. So, the combing part that follows is the most critical. Additionally, the combs in the kits are not the most effective for removing nits, as they often miss a few. I can confirm this as the second day of combing with the better comb, I still found a few nits in my oldest’s hair.
5. Since lice need blood to survive, they try to stay on the scalp. Most of the lice that fall off are dead, so a hot wash of your bedding is usually sufficient to remove anything that could’ve fallen.
6. Only about half of the people actually feel the lice on their scalp. We were blessed on this one!
7. Be vigilant after lice. The pheromones on the scalp remain for at least a few weeks. This can summon more lice. Comb often with a special comb to ensure no nits or lice have scurried over from peers. And in our case, I’m keeping both my boys’ hair very short to make combing a quicker process.

We were lice-free in just 3 days thanks to the awesome moms who steered me in the right direction, a lice educator, and my son’s sensitive body, which tipped him off quickly. Lastly, thank you to the nurse who found the lice and reassured me that it was not out of control and I could handle it.

It has been several weeks lice-free for us. The only two spared in our house were my husband, who wears his hair in a military cut, and my youngest, whom I immediately buzzed to 1/8 of an inch after his precautionary treatment. My last advice is to restate this: contact a professional for you, mom. You don’t have to shave off those locks or spend weeks fighting the battle against those dreaded nits. 

Whenever I look at my son beaming in his blue paisley school picture from this year, totally unaware that he had lice, I will first sigh in relief. But then I may actually smile a little. I’m glad his incredibly attuned body alerted him so fast, and he spoke out. I’m glad we listened and got help so fast. I’m grateful for how we won this battle so fast with such good support. Thank you, blessed community! If you find yourself or your child itching, act fast!