Headlice treatment?

Question

My 3yr old son has gotten headlice from his 3 older brother and sisters who come and visit every other weekend. When I try and pick through his head, he just cries and asks why am I hurting him. I've tried to explain to him why it has to happen, but he doesn't understand and still thinks I'm just trying to hurt him.

How can I treat his headlice without him thinking I'm intentionally trying to hurt him?

Answer 1

Shaving the head is NOT always the answer.
Go to Wal-Mart and get a bottle of Rid and since the lice are being brought into your home you might want to buy the other Rid products as well so that you can treat bed linens etc,any place where the "nits" may have fallen because unless you do this,your problem will only reoccur.
You will apply the Rid to your child's head and in the package there is a comb for combing through the hair. . . much like the bath time shampooing and then combing.
You will probably want to treat the children that come to your home as well. . . probably everytime they come because unless they treat their home,they will be reinfesting you.
My 3 kids would visit their Dad and his "stepchildren" and I had the same problem with the lice coming to my home and it was a battle for a while until I got the Dad to treat his "stepchildren" and his home. . . .you might have the same ordeal to deal with.

GOOD LUCK

Answer 2

Unless you are willing to physically hold him down long enough to pick out EVERY nit in his head, shave his head. I know it sounds awful but otherwise both of you are going to be miserable. His hair will grow back quickly. You don't have to make him slick-bald, just use a pair of electric clippers (can be found at Wal-Mart or Dollar General for about $10-15 dollars). Wash his hair afterwards and kind of use your nails to gently massage his head to make sure you get all of the nits. I had the same problem and that is what we did. One hint though for the older kids...Pam cooking spray (has to be the brand Pam, the one for baking with flour in it) kills lice in 10 minutes. It kills them 100x better than the lice stuff in the box. Trust me.

I did this experiment with both RID and NIX.
I actually put a lice bug in a dish and drowned it in the lice medicine and waited half an hour...I took it out and it crawled across the counter. Try it.


I just want to add that if you choose the removal method, you must not miss even one nit (egg)...or he will become reinfested. You cannot see the live nits, only the dead ones. The live nits are a light/medium brown in color and the dead ones are white. The live ones blend into the color of the hair so well that it is almost impossible to see them even on blonde children. No lice-killing shampoo kills nits. They only kill live bugs. That's why it is so important to pick them out. You will have to use your fingernails to pick out the nits. Lice combs work to a certain extent, but usually just slide right over nits if the person has fine or thin hair. The live nits live very close to the scalp (the dead ones grow out with hair and are further down the hair shaft) which makes it harder to use the comb on a small child because it is uncomfortable.

It is not neglect for your child to have lice...every child can get it regardless of age, race (even African-American children; I have seen this with my own eyes), or cleanliness.


I wish you the best of luck...head lice is a pain in the butt!

Answer 3

rather than using pesticides I suggest trying to smother them with either maynaise or olive oil. Youll have to leave it on for atleast an hour and it will take several washes to get it out but his hair will be gorgeous. You will have to repeat it to make sure youve gotten rid of all the nits. Hair dye is also a good alternative. Choose a shade near his own and follow the directions accordingly. The ammonia in it should kill them. Make sure you bag up all bedding and spray the mattresses with nit spray then let air out otherwise youll end up with the issue all over again. The oil should make it easier to comb through his hair just like a detaingler. I hope this helps!

Answer 4

Just a couple of issues here...
1. Using Rid or another type of de-lousing shampoo will work best. Picking them out won't get them all. When you do this, be sure to wash all of his bed linens as well. (The box will tell you what you need to do. I'm not sure if there is a "generic" brand or not.)
2. Prevention - Where are the older brothers and sister picking up the lice from? Are they being treated at all? If their caregiver/guardian is not treating their infestation (not sure what your situation is), it could be considered neglect. If you are aware that they are being neglected, you could be liable as well.
I know it's hard especially since you only see them every couple of weeks but this is a situation that is neither healthy or acceptable. It is everyone's responsibility to protect our kids.

Just my two cents.

Answer 5

Buy the treatment shampoo and wash his hair with that instead of his normal shampoo and use a fine tooth comb. FYI if you use hair styling products during headlice season or through out the year the little bit of build up on the scalp will keep lice off out of your childs hair.

Answer 6

you need to get rid of the lice eggs. if not he will never get rid of them. there are specila shampoos that you can buy for lice at walmart or a drug store. it would also help if his hair was shorter. also the best thing to use is a fine tooth comb and comb through his hair after you wsh it with the lice shampoo. you also need to make sure that you treat your furniture, curtains, sheets, etc so that in case there are any more lice eggs on there. if you dont you will never get rid of them.

Answer 7

Since hes a boy go to the barber shop and shave it off.

Answer 8

best option shave his hair and you'll get rid of the head lice with no further treatment.

Answer 9

shave his head it worked for my cousin who kept getting them from school.