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My kid has lice. Well, had lice. Here's how it went down.
Sunday: We tried out a fancy new shampoo. All was right with the universe. But then my daughter started complaining that her head was itching. I must not have gotten all the soap out. Late night re-rinse. All good.
Monday: Off to school she goes. Nap-mat and all. Uneventful evening.
Tuesday: Severe itching and lots of complaining.
Confusion sets in. I start picking through her hair like a mama gorilla.
WT....? What is that? Is that a baby roach?
No. It's lice.
Yes. I was THAT parent.
I was THAT parent who sent THAT kid to school...with lice.
For the record, my kids may get crusty during the day but they damn sure get scrubbed clean every night before they slip into their nice clean sheets. I'm actually a tad obsessive when it comes to clean hair and clean sheets.
But I have had to temper my obsession with post-bath hair combing, which means I haven't been up close and personal with anybody's scalp. I just can't take the late night battles over wet knots. You'd think I was velcroing them to the wall.
As soon as I realized we were under attack, I ran to the store, got the RID, called the school and prepared for battle.
While frantically mapping out my lice-extermination strategy, I got a call from a friend who just happened to have gone through the same thing. She stopped me in my tracks.
I must have missed the memo (that happens a lot these days) but my daughter's school recently invested in the LouseBuster -- a revolutionary new way to kill head lice and their eggs without using pesticides or other chemicals. It was invented by a dad/biology professor at the University of Utah, whose kids came home from school with lice one day.
Whew. Even biology professors' kids get lice. Good to know.
Basically, the LouseBuster is a funny looking hair dryer with an applicator tip designed to penetrate beyond the insulating layer of hair and heat/dehydrate lice and their eggs.
No chemicals. No mess. Just 30 minutes in the nurse's office, a Snow White sticker and back to school you go.
We did pay a small service fee ($60), which covers the school's costs. But when you add it all up (a few bottles of lice shampoo because you will inevitably have to repeat the process and however many missed days of school), you actually save money.
I was surprised to learn that no other school in the city has invested in the LouseBuster. It's been around since 2006 and has been featured everywhere: CNN, The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Early Show, NPR, BBC News, The New York Times, The Times (London), The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Reuters, Science, Reader's Digest, and Parenting Magazine, just to name a few.
A few things I've learned along my lice-journey:
- Lice are evolving. They are becoming resistant to the chemicals we use to kill them.
- Lice like clean hair.
- Lice are most prevalent among PreK, Kindergarten and Second graders. I'm not sure what happens in 1st grade but I suspect it has something to do with being too old for nap mats and too young for sleepovers.
- Little kids are less likely to make a big deal about their head itching, so lice easily go undetected.
- Lice hang out behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. It's warm there. Look for redness in these areas.
- Combing is key. No matter how you treat the lice, comb the hair every day for 7 days. Douse the hair with a white conditioner like Pantene so you can see things.
- You can mix the Pantene with baking soda, which is supposed to stun the lice.
- The best comb on the market is the NISSKA-Comb. It's stainless steel and, of course, German-made. You can purchase the NISSKA-Comb here.
- Nothing is 100%.
- Psychological head itching is very real. The minute I realized my daughter had lice, my head started itching. But I've been checked. I'm good.
- Do a head check every so often.
Like most parents, I freaked out a little when I discovered my child had lice but to be honest, it really isn't a big deal. It happens. And it will probably happen again. As a parent, I almost feel like it's a right of passage.
From one parent to another, call your school, talk to the nurse and find out what needs to happen to get the LouseBuster. If it's a matter of cost, hold a fundraiser. And when you start looking at camps, ask how lice infestations are handled. A lot of camps are investing in this device as well. Just a thought.
In the meantime, here are a few local resources and useful links:
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Parenting is a puzzle. One might liken it to the emblematic icon of the eighties - the much revered Rubik's Cube.
