It's not just the 9yo with lice. It's also the 12yo, the 7yo, and I have my suspicions about the 4yo. And...shudder shudder SHUDDER SHUDDER I pulled a little crawling nymph off the baby's head.
That is deeply wrong. It also means I have to consider myself infested. I just don't see how I can sleep next to her every night and not pick them up if she's got them. Dr. Sears never warned us about that particular hazard of co-sleeping.
So. I decided to try the smothering approach on the two of us. I am not putting insecticide on a baby's scalp and I cannot be systematic about nit-combing an 8-month-old's head. I am not putting insecticide on my scalp because it will get absorbed into my bloodstream and into my baby's food supply. (I assume. The active ingredient is lipophilic so I assume it gets into human milk. Anybody know for sure?) If this doesn't work I will buzz my head because my hair is crazy thick. Won't that be attractive? Almost as attractive as this look (baby with butter which is less trickly, mom with olive oil which is less smelly).
She's still cute even with butter on her head, if you ask me.
Last night after baths I found four lice on three boys' heads and they each asked me -- separately, without knowing that their brothers felt the same way -- why we had to kill the lice. Couldn't we keep them? Couldn't we set them free?
My head did not explode (which is too bad, because that would have to be an effective lice management strategy, don't you figure?) but I did say, "What part of BLOODSUCKING PARASITE do you not understand?"
Here is where I kick myself for my tree-hugging peasant-skirted Birkenstock-wearing home-birthing co-sleeping tandem-nursing hippie-ness. What is this stupid "gentle with living things" mantra I have been spouting? Why didn't I say "MOSTLY gentle with living things BUT when you see bloodsucking parasites then go all Rambo on their sorry little heinies"??
I am adopting an alter-ego for dealing with lice: Jambo, the Mighty Louse Hunter. I thought about pretending that I had to find as many lice as possible to feed my family but you know what? Even my imagination doesn't stretch that far because ICK, and ICK some more. Jambo the MLH kills with relish and perhaps a very small louse-sized M16. Plus, she lives for laundering the bedding and the towels. Now if you'll pardon us, the dryer just buzzed. I'll be back, she says, sounding remarkably like the Terminator.
just shudder.
though I've heard vasoline works. try everything safe before a buzz cut!
shuddering for you.
Posted by: Tracy | August 29, 2009 at 01:04 PM
Yikes. I never had lice growing up and the pervasiveness of this pest completely overwhelms me. It can get in bedding, pillows, carpet, furniture, EVERYTHING.
I've heard mayo works well, too.
I pray to God that this pest never comes to my house. I lack the stamina to beat it.
Posted by: Sarah | August 29, 2009 at 01:11 PM
I would shave everyone's head, burn all the furniture and move. No, not really, but I know, as one who is itching after just reading this, that I would be on edge for about a year after something like that.
Posted by: Renee | August 29, 2009 at 03:18 PM
You mean everyone is infested and so are all of your frequent visitors? Astonishing and terrible.
It does explain the bloodsuckers in the back-to-school section of the craft store, though.
Posted by: Rob | August 29, 2009 at 06:33 PM
I've had lice courtesy of my kids before. I used a comb dipped in pine-sol. Dip and rinse after every stroke. It sounds gross, but it worked. I also put thick conditioner on my head, slapped a shower cap on it and let it sit while I combed out everyone else's head.
Good luck!
Posted by: Kristin Duncan | August 30, 2009 at 12:00 AM
oh you poor thing...this really puts my past week of vacationing with my uncle with spiked-up dementia (now with extra nudity and insomnia!) in perspective. i hope you take every home remedy and blast those damn parasites into oblivion!
Posted by: pnuts mama | August 30, 2009 at 03:34 PM
So sorry you're dealing with this!
Forgive my geekiness, but I'm reminded of an early episode from Star Trek: Enterprise. Two crewmen down on a Strange New World get a scare from a local creature. One says to the other, "Are we allowed to blast alien life forms?" His friend replies, "When they're in your sleeping bag, hell yeah."
Good hunting!
Posted by: Kristin | August 30, 2009 at 04:50 PM
Oh, yikes. I worked in a preschool when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter and got lice. I didn't use the otc poison -- my ob-gyn prescribed something that he said was safe for use during pregnancy. It happened in my first trimester when I was bone-weary all the time but I still vacuumed everything that couldn't be washed or bagged up, every night for three weeks.
I feel for you -- I have not been through it since having kids (and stuffed animals and oh, ick!) I'm so sorry!
Posted by: Karen | August 30, 2009 at 05:18 PM
YIKES!!!! I'm so sorry about your ordeal. I hope you can find a way to get rid of the pests without having to get rid of your curls in the process :-(
Posted by: Lilian | August 30, 2009 at 05:19 PM