Sis Deserves A Beatdown

[Orchid]

Quote:
I was to the doctor with my 10 year old yesterday due to poison ivy all over the side of his face and neck (poor guy

) and the dr. said length of time of exposure + thickness of the skin will determine the severity of the reaction and when it shows up - which is why sometimes it takes a couple of days.

And wow have we hijacked this thread! Ooops.

 

[bluie]

Four of the five members of my family had head lice last summer, myself included. Freaked out and hired a couple of nitpickers to come to the house (yes, really, in Long Island-there's lots of them). They poured olive oil on our heads and used a lice comb (the good one, not the little plastic one from the box with the shampoo). They dampened a roll of white paper towels and wiped the comb on it after every pass. The nits show up as a tiny black speck. Then we had to saturate our hair with the oil, put on a shower cap, and sleep in it over night. They advised using Dawn as shampoo. Shower caps didn't work, so we used Press n Seal plastic wrap, which worked much better. I think we had to do the olive oil treatment every other night for a week, and then once every three nights for another week, and then every four nights or something. It works by smothering the adult lice. You keep repeating the treatment to get the new lice that hatch before they have a chance to lay eggs themselves. Many of our towels still smell like olive oil, even though they were washed repeatedly with hot soapy water and bleach. NEXT TIME, if it ever happens again, I am going to get the cheapest conditioner I can find and do exactly the same thing, but it will smell a lot better and be a lot easier to clean up after. Its still going to smother the lice, so I am sure that it will work.

 

[babylady4]

http://dermatechrx.com/poisonivy/

Orchid, I hope you son feels better. I have had reactions all over my face as well, and ended up taking prednisone to take care of the problem.

OP, sorry for the hijack.

Here is a link describing the above poster's suggestion.

 

[denim deb]

Ok, not reading all the posts. My daughter got lice not 1x, but 2x! And, her hair was past her shoulders. I did not cut it. I think the first time she got it, I may have just followed the instructions, and not gotten all of the nits. When I realized she had more, I tried a different lice treatment. (I don't recall now what it was, it's been too long ago.) And, I spent every evening combing her hair, looking for nits. The 2nd time did the trick. No one else in the family got them, and we've never had a problem since.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Lice is a pain in the butt, plain and simple. The little critters are resistant to over the counter treatments, and every year they get harder and harder to get rid of. In 2006 I reconnected with an old friend that I hadn't seen in years, and we were both thrilled to know that we had little girls only 8 months apart. The moment we introduced our girls, they hit it off, and to this day they are best friends. Well, the downside to this friendship is that my friend failed to tell me that her youngest DD had been battling chronic lice since she first entered the public school system. Every time my friend treated her DD, they came back. Well, my kids were spending the night at her place, and her kids were spending the night at mine, and it wasn't long before I found lice on both my kids. I tried every brand on the market, but I couldn't get rid of them completely. I was so frustrated. The last time they got them (after battling it for 2 years straight), my mom got upset because both she and I got them too. So she chopped both my girls hair short. I was upset, they both had such pretty hair, but we felt that the long hair was harder to treat than short hair. I came across a product online that claimed to kill all sorts of critters, including head lice, so I figured what the hay? Why not try it? I had already spent hundreds on over the counter products, and so I ordered the new stuff. As soon as it arrived in the mail, I opened the bottle, grabbed a kid, and sprayed her head good. I got to stand there and watch the lice die right before my eyes. Every single louse, nit, egg sack, it was all dead. In less than 30 seconds, my DD was bug free. I grabbed the next kid and sprayed her head too, and again, instant death. I used the same stuff and sprayed all the bedding, toys, clothes, furniture, you name it, and that was it, no more lice. When we moved out here that friend allowed two of her daughters to come out here to spend a weekend, and guess what they brought again? Well, I was prepared that time. I sprayed my kids down and everything that they, and their friends had sat on, and that was it, no more lice. We use a cedar oil spray by cedarcide. It's expensive, but soooooo worth it. A gallon goes a long way. If I'd read your post earlier, I would have recommended it. You wouldn't have had to cut your hair or your DD's. You might want to recommend it to your sister. I finally got my friend to break down and buy a bottle, and now her daughter is FINALLY lice free. She went so far as to completely shave her daughter, in the middle of the school year. Yes, the poor child went through a lot of teasing and tormenting, and she was miserable because the kids in school KNEW why she had been shaved bald. But she's bug free now like my kids. Ugh, I HATE lice, but they don't stress me out anymore because I can get rid of them fast.

To those battling poison ivy, have you heard of a product called Technu? It's sold in WalMart and other pharmacies, and it's suppose to be excellent for getting the oil from poison ivy, oak, and sumac off the skin and clothes. My older daughter brushed against some poison ivy the summer we moved her, but she put the Technu on and didn't break out in a bad rash. In fact, she wasn't in any pain at all, so I guess it works good. My daughter didn't touch very much of it though. Good luck with that. I've seen the bad effects of it on my neighbor's son twice already. Poor kid gets a BAD rash, all over. I feel for him. He's almost over his latest batch of it now.

 

[PineappleMama]

Wow, that IS pretty cool... donno if it'd work here... cedar and pine allergies, but if we have another run I'll give it a sniff.

Right now we're using up the last of the shampoo... it's already here may as well use it sort of thing... MIL got a "lice repellent" spray that smells like citronella so that's getting put on all the furniture (though it is for human use) ... and of course all the bedding, pillows ... yada.

Hopefully this'll be it...

Sis did call the other day... said KK was over and wanted to come over here (funny how any time CPS allows her visitation she immediately dumps her on us isn't it?) Anywho, I told her NO ONE is going to be coming over any time soon because we're battling lice and I won't risk spreading it around. Alex's hair is 1", mine's back to 1" and Erin's is up to her shoulder blades

"Ohhhh where'd she get that from?!?!" (all innocent like)....

Mentioned that she'd cut HER hair... didn't mention she'd chopped KK's....

Oh gee I wonder... funny she didn't mention THEIR getting it... At All. *sigh* At least she didn't have the... nerve to say "Oh so that's where WE got it from"... think I might have had to summon a troll to stomp her if she'd been that stupid.

But anywho... hopefully this topic will die right along with all the nasty little buggers... I'll keep ya posted.

 

[TigerLilly]

Got no ideas here, but can definitely commiserate...years ago DS brought my neice over for me to babysit. Keep in mind that the child was forever getting headlice...not 30 minutes in to her being there I notice she is scratching her head like there's no tomorrow. Got on the phone to DS & asked if DN had lice; claims she didn't know it if she did...not a likely story, btw. After giving DS a small piece of my mind--I have 3 boys around the same age as DN--I told her to come pick the child up & don't ever put me in that position again. And would you believe that DS was upset with ME for making DN put on a shower cap????

 

[PineappleMama]

Not surprising... much better to point at others than to look at ourselves.

Well, FINALLY done with DD's hair... shampoo went in about 2... finished about 9:40...

I think my scalp is the only part of me that ISN'T sore... my shoulders are killing me.

If Sis knows what's good for her she won't get within a mile of me for a while...

 

[PineappleMama]

KK called to see if DD could come over and play for a bit... came and picked her up about 5ish...

KK was wearing a wig... curly, dark... basically like Sis's hair... cept that KK doesn't have curly OR dark hair.

I asked her why she was wearing a wig... expecting "It was part of Halloween and I just love it" or some such and instead she replied with "My mom is making me"

That's disturbing... Mom said that Sis chopped KK's hair off short... but I don't think she said anything about bald... just pixie or something? So that's weird.

Sis didn't come in, so I couldn't ask her... and KK wouldn't expand and I didn't want to be pushy so I left it alone. Maybe DD got around to asking? We'll see as she just got back... and NO they didn't have any supper... which is fine, saved plenty for her... but worries me about KK... wouldn't be the first meal she's skipped or just eaten Ramen noodles...

Sis called when she dropped her off, asking about a possible spend the night next weekend... we'll see. Also said that she'll be talking to the caseworker this/next week about when the kids will be back with her permanently ... remember they're living at her dealer's house... CPS thought that was appropriate foster care...

... sheesh, I'ma have to check my other topic to see just how long they've been there now. I know she was required to have clean tests and take 8 (1 per week) parenting? classes and then they'd see about coming home... seems like it's been longer than that though... scratch the wondering, opened another tab... they were taken July 15th... so it's been 16 weeks and some change... more than TWICE the time it should have taken... so either she's blowing off the classes or she's using.

Y'all think happy SAFE thoughts for KK and Max... all we can do at this point.

 

[wildeflowers]

Quote:
I hope there is NOT a next time, but I don't think conditioner will work as well as olive oil. It needs to be really thick and viscous. I'll bet ya'lls hair was shiny! Getting lice is one of my worst nightmares. Thankfully, we have not had to deal with this yet. One kid at school had them, but my kids didn't get it. The olive oil treatment is long and taxing, but it's probably healthier than all the insecticides. Yuck!

OP, gosh I feel so bad for that girl. Sometimes people really suck.