Lice attack: an update

I just wanted to do a little update on the lice situation at home. I am beyond happy to report that, after a bit of suffering, we are back being a lice-free home.

Getting rid of these little disgusting creatures took longer than expected and a few lessons were learnt.

Basically, all that about "this product works in about 10 minutes" is crap. As I mentioned on the original lice post, I decided to treat the kids with natural products, like the Puressentiel lotion. As mentioned on the package, I was leaving the lotion for 10 minutes, then rinsing it through and thinking that was it, then becoming desperate when after a couple of days I would spot Bibu scratching his head again.

The lady at our nearby pharmacy told me to leave it on for at least 1 hour and then wash. She also recommended another lotion, which comes in spray form, by Apivita. This one should be left to work as long as possible and then shake the hair a bit (to see any dead bodies) and then comb through. She suggested spraying the kid's hair in the morning before going to school and then doing the shaking/ combing in the afternoon. It also has a "post-treatment" shampoo which I am currently using all the time with the kids, replacing their normal shampoo, at least during school term.

Also, another learning is that it is more than advisable to repeat the treatment at least once every week for about 3 or 4 weeks. So for us, Sunday evening was "lice-killing time" for a few weeks.

In the end, the lice were eradicated.....until next time. At least I now know what to expect.

Lice attack!

Well, I think it was a question of time, and the time came for lice to attack.

Along with the rentrée came the notes from school saying that there were lice found in kids in the class of Bibu. It's quite common and every few weeks we get these notes, but it has never meant much for us, other than spraying Bibu's hair with a "lice-repelent".

That was up to now. Last weekend I asked Mr M to check my hair, as it was feeling a bit itchy. Lo and behold, he found a lice in my hair! Despair! Being long haired (for Belgian standards, at least) and I suspect, having the blood type that attracts all kinds of insect bites, I knew I was an easy target and that probably the lice came from my oldest son.

Sure enough, both kids had them. It was a question of getting the anti-lice lotion working ASAP and combing through (lots of fun). Since I am always on the look for more natural, less chemical laden stuff, I came accross this anti-lice lotion (sold in pharmacies and in places like de IU)

It's an oliy lotion, made of plants extracts, which supposedly blocks the lice airways so they can't breathe anymore and die (nice) You have to put enough lotion on the hair so that it's all oily, give it a good massage and then leave it on for 10 minutes. Then rinse it a bit, slather on your normal shampoo, wash as usual and spend extra time rinsing it, as otherwise the hair will still look oily afterwards. Towel-dry the hair and then spend some time combing with the special little comb provided to extract any surviving little beasts.

It's recommended that you do a second application a few days later, just to be sure. We used it on both kids and so far they seem lice-free. It's supposedly only for kids older than 3 years old, but I used it also on Pingu and it was all OK. I would still recommend you check with your doctor or pharmacist first, as it's an essential oils-based product and it can provoke allergy.

So, this was our first foray into the land of Belgian lice (haha). I know it's extremely common when you have school-age kids, but still, not nice AT ALL. I think I would still do a preventive treatment maybe once every two weeks or so while the lice season lasts.