How I won the lice battle in 5 days with NO chemicals

It's the phone call every parent dreads.  For me, I had just returned to work from 4 days off with the flu. Around 11am, I received a phone call from Mia's preschool director.  I answered the phone fully expecting her to tell me that Mia was showing signs of the flu too.  Instead, she said "Mia has a bad case of head lice."  I felt my stomach drop.  We knew there had been a case at her school just before Christmas break.  We checked her head for a week, but never found anything so we let it go.  She couldn't have had it that long, could she?!  As it turns out, yes she could.  

I immediately picked Mia up from school knowing she couldn't return until she was 100% nit free.  I had so many emotions.  I felt embarrassed and mortified. How did we let this happen? We are clean people! I was overwhelmed and scared, but mostly I felt terrible for Mia. 

I had no idea what to do. I mean, what the heck is a nit? I had no idea what I was looking for.  Everyone I talked to said I needed to get the chemical shampoo and use it on the entire family.  But, everything I read about the chemicals was how bad and dangerous they are and how, in most cases, they don't work.  I knew then I did NOT want to go the chemical route.  

I dove into any information I could online and turned to my Shaklee family on Facebook to see if anyone had any advice.  I was thrilled to find out that there are several effective ways to get rid of lice quickly and chemical free, including our trusty Basic H.  Using what I learned, we were lice and nit free in 5 days.  It was a pain staking process, but if you are diligent, you will succeed!

Here is how we did it: 

First, you need to gather everything to be washed/tossed/bagged. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING!  Coats, bedding, blankets, clothes, towels, anything that they wore, laid on, or slept on.  Pillows, stuffed animals, plush chairs, dolls with hair, or anything that can't be washed needs to be placed in trash bags and placed in the garage or basement for 10 days.  Throw away any brushes that have been used and put combs into the dishwasher. Then, vacuum really well including the couches and mattresses. You don't have to go overboard and shampoo the carpets or anything, but a good sweep is good insurance. This part is so overwhelming.  In fact, at one point we decided just to get out of the house  and go out to dinner so we could take a break and breathe.  If we had to do it over, we would take everything to the laundry mat it would have been a lot faster.  

Probably the single best piece of advice I received was to use a Robi-Comb.  You can buy them at CVS or Walgreens for about 30 bucks.  Trust me, this is money well spent. The Robi-Comb is an electronic lice comb that literally zaps and captures any live bug it detects in the hair.  This is huge since the biggest reason lice reoccurs is you don't get all the bugs out and they continue to lay eggs.  You must make sure ALL the live bugs are out. But the nasty little suckers are very hard to see and move very fast. They are easy to miss.  The Robi-Comb made sure we got all of them out.  It works like a charm!  The hair must be dry when you use it which is why this is the first step.  Use the comb every day for about 7 days to kill anything that may have been missed the first time around or any bugs that have hatched. Then use once a week for a few weeks and then once a month for general prevention and maintenance. Of course, you do this on everyone. 

Next was the Basic H treatment (for full treatment instructions click HERE):

In a small 4 oz bottle, fill 1/2 with water and 1/2 with Basic H.  Use just like you would a shampoo, lather well, wrap in a towel and let it sit for 20 minutes.  This suffocates any bugs and nits.  After 20 minutes, rinse well.  This little 4 oz bottle was enough to treat all four of us twice. A little goes a LONG WAY! 

Next, put a fairly heavy amount of conditioner with tree tree oil (You can also use coconut oil or peppermint oil) on and let it sit a few minutes.  This has two purposes. 1) using a large amount helps get the hair well conditioned so the lice comb will move through easily. 2) Lice hate tea tree oil and won't lay their eggs on it.  It is a great preventative.  I used Paul Mitchell brand because I had to get something in a hurry, but I am sure any brand will do.  In the future, I will buy the Trader Joe's tea tree shampoo which is much cheaper and sulfate free.  

Once the hair is washed and conditioned, comb well with a fine tooth comb making sure all there are no tangles. Nit combs will hurt if there are tangles.  

Ok, now for the tedious part.  Removing the nits.  The first time you do this, plan on several hours.  Nits are easier to see when the hair is wet, but it doesn't have to be. You want to pick a place that is comfortable, preferably in front of a TV in a room with good lighting. Mia has thick, long brown hair so I had to devise a plan that would be the most effective.  We set up on the couch with the following tools:

• nit comb
• fine tooth comb
• several hair ties
• bowl of hot water
• paper towels
• head lamp

The head lamp, such as one like the picture below, was essential for this step because it provides much needed hands-free light. Any kind will do. You can get one at any sporting good store or Walmart or Target.  

95% of successfully getting rid of lice depends on you getting ALL the nits out.  The best way to remove nits is by hand.  There is just no fast way to do it, YOU CANNOT SKIP THIS PART! Nits are the eggs that lice lay in the hair.  If you try and skip this part or miss any, they will hatch and you will have to start all over again.  Most of them are about an inch off the scalp and look like little tiny drops of superglue.  

YUCK!!! My head itches just looking at this!

If you are doing this while the hair is wet, comb all of the hair through with the nit comb first. This will remove any nits that have come loose with the Basic H treatment and/or conditioner which will give you a head start.  

Next, I separated the hair into sections…

As I worked, I would put the hair I had finished looking at in a hair clip.  I went through the hair meticulously, strand by strand.  When I found a nit, I would use my fingernails to pull it off.  

They are on there pretty strong so make sure you get it off.  You know you got it because you can see it on your finger. If you see a little black spot, that means there was a bug in it. Blech.  As you gag, rinse your finger off in the bowl of hot water.  Repeat this process every night for about 5 days until all the nits are gone.  The process goes by a little faster each night.  We were mostly nit free within three days, but I would usually find one or two here and there for a couple more days.  Again, you must be diligent with this step if you want to be 100% lice free with no chance of coming back.

Mia was a trooper through this whole process.  We watched movies and I gave her a special treat during the whole thing. She never complained once.  

That is pretty much it.  It has been three weeks and we have not had any lice return. And, amazingly, the lice didn't spread to anyone else in the family, including my two year old. We continue to use the tea tree conditioner each time we shampoo as a preventative measure and do a quick check for nits every once in a while.  When there is a lice notice at school, I will use the Robi-comb for a few days just in case.  

Here are few other helpful hints: 

• As an extra peace of mind, you can use a flat iron to burn any nits that might have been missed
• After 10 days is up, you can put pillows and stuffed animals, etc. in the dryer on high for 30 minutes. Again, just for extra peace of mind
• Lice don't live on animals, only human heads
• Lice like clean hair. If possible, refrain from washing every day

As it turns out, we believe Mia caught lice at school just before Christmas break, which means she had it for about three weeks before it was discovered.  Even though we checked her, we had no idea what we were looking for.  I know now that lice is very difficult to detect until the case is pretty bad.  So if you get a lice notice home, or you know your child has been exposed, my best advice to you is to invest in a Robi-Comb right away and use the tea tree oil.  I firmly believe the Robi-Comb is the reason why we were able to stay on top of it and not have any recurrence.  It is also a good idea to keep Basic H on hand.  If you are a regular reader on this blog, then you know that Basic H has hundreds of uses! I even bathe my girls in it! It is all natural, organic and perfectly SAFE! You can buy Basic H HERE.

This subject isn't an easy one to talk about. It is not something anyone wants to admit to having. There is still a terrible stigma about lice. But I know now it happens to the best of us. It doesn't mean you are dirty or have done anything wrong. It is just something that happens.  If there are others like me out there that don't know the first thing about how to deal with lice, I hope discussing our experience might help others be able to get through it quickly without dangerous chemicals.  

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