Yes.
Ladies, it happened. Ebby Lee got head lice on our vacation AND I’m talking about it on the blog!! #thebugsmademegocrazy #maybe #thatsmyexcuse
On a serious note, I thought I’d share how we got RID of them. Hope this helps someone!!
Thursday morning, I saw this bug in her hair and then decided to take a really good look….I FLIPPED out!! I’d heard of lice. I remember getting checked by the school nurse, but I’d never experienced them.
Until Thursday.
Luckily everyone else around me stayed really calm. I called a friend who’d already had a fun lice experience and asked her what to do. SO GLAD I CALLED HER!!! She told me about this place in the Dallas area that is a lice removal salon. I instantly called and made E an appointment for the next day.
If you are local and anyone you know gets lice, send them to The Lice Place!!!
(We were leaving on Friday anyway…we just ended up leaving a little early.)
Do you see that little nit?? FYI…a nit (an egg) looks like a strawberry seed.
When I made the appointment, I asked Mr. Mark (the guy from The Lice Place) what I should do in the mean time. He told me get a Nit Terminator Comb from Ulta.
(I have NO clue if everyone carries this comb, but I did EXACTLY what he said. He said, “Ulta”, so we headed to Ulta.) He also encouraged me not to use the nit shampoo. He said that sometimes the shampoo “coats” the nits and makes it harder to comb them out.
I took E out on the balcony of our hotel (in the sunlight) and combed through her hair SEVERAL times with that comb. Her hair is SO thin that sometimes the comb wouldn’t get all the nits (EEK! I said it!) out. I ended up picking lots of them out by hand. I combed for about thirty minutes. In order to get them all out, I’d STILL be combing right now. 🙂
Mr. Mark also assured me that everything at our house would be great! Lice can only live twenty-four hours unattached to a scalp (ugh! I know!) so I didn’t have to worry about bagging up stuffed animals…all that was good!
Friday morning, we drove back to Dallas and went straight to the lice removal salon. In order to insure the guarantee, ALL of us had to be checked. The cost for each person to be checked was $12.50. Thankfully, Tab shaves his head, so it was just me and the boys. 🙂 We were all cleared and Mr. Mark set to work on Ebby Lee. He put an enzyme solution in her hair and then combed away with the Terminator comb. He is a PROFESSIONAL!!! It took him all of 35 minutes to get EVERY LAST NIT out of her hair!!
35 minutes, people! Isn’t that amazing?? The Lice Place charges $99 an hour and they bill per the quarter hour. So…it only cost $50 to get EVERY LAST NIT out of E’s hair.
She goes back today for a follow-up!! Keep your fingers crossed, girls!!!
So, my tip is CALL THE LICE PLACE!!! If you’re not local, google “lice removal”. Hopefully you’ll have something similar close to you!!
Now it’s your turn…PLEASE share any tips or tricks you used to get rid of those pesky bugs!!! I’m sure blog land would love any helpful hints. One day…it might be them!! 🙂
Listen friend, here is what I've learned about you lately…you handle really bad situations very calmly.
Seriously.
You do.
You handled the flight cancellation thing really, really well and this, you handled so well that we might have wondered if it even bothered you.
When you texted us that she had lice, we were all at the pool together and let me tell you, we were all screaming.
Screaming.
That being said, you have been super calm about this whole thing. If my kids ever get lice, I'm calling you and letting you handle everything. (I'll be too busy convincing Andrew not to put our house on the market and move… #cleanfreak #phobic #crazyhusband).
We have a lice remover place here in Tulsa, and I would definitely use it! I don't care if they charge $1,000.00! I told you the other day, i'm terrified of one of our girls getting lice, because I know they'll all get it and my girls have some hair! Ugh, so glad that you were able to get rid of them!
I'm sure Ebby Lee getting Lice on a little vacation was bad, but probably the best scenario. This way no worries for all that stuff you have to do at home. I've never heard of the Lice Place. Sounds pretty amazing. This is pretty great that you are informing other moms about lice and that it can be handled easily!
Thanks for sharing!
There's a lice removal place even in our teeny tiny south Georgia town! Crazy! My sister had lice twice in elementary school. Once in kindergarten from the nap mats. She had hair down to her waist and she decided to cut it off after that. 🙁 She also took gymnastics and stood on her head all. the. time. My mama was convinced that every square inch of our house was infested. Clearly it was not since my brother and I didn't get it. Glad y'all caught them before they spread! Ick!
Yes, I am so impressed that you handled the lice so well. Great job, mama! 🙂
I'm so sorry this happened to you, not fun! But, thanks for the tips just in case!
I agree, you did a really great job! Super MOMMY!!
I agree with Shay – cool, calm and collected. My head is itching just typing this. hahaha I vote that you're the official "go to girl" when any of our kids get lice 🙂 LOVE YOU!!!
Erika. This post was so informative, but I pray I never have to use anything I learned today. 🙂
Lice is the one thing I have always been very paranoid about! My daughter is 9 years old and has thick curly/wavy hair. The one thing I do use is Fairy Tales Lice Prevention Shampoo and Conditioning Spray. I make her use the Prevention Shampoo about once a month (or if I hear an outbreak at school). The leave in Conditioning Spray is great. I purchase both of them at ULTA! Not sure if it helps, but whenever I hear the word LICE, I make sure to spray her hair with the conditioning spray! Thanks for the tips!
Great info! My head is itching.
Oh honey!!! I am SO SO SO sorry you had to experience this, but SO SO SO thankful you posted about WHAT to do!!! I would have FREAKED out!!! I am about to google "lice place" just in case I EVER need it with my two!
I just read this while eating lunch!! 🙂 yum!
I have been there – 4 times!!! My daughter has super fine but curly hair. The first three times she got it, I used the lice shampoo but then spent hours combing through and cutting out the nits. This last time, I used a lice service that came to the house. They used all natural solutions to comb through her hair. It took about an hour. It was so worth the money!! I am now a lice expert ha ha. Lice love clean hair which sounds counter intuitive. I started using hairspray on her hair every day and without fail, we put it up in a pony tail. So far, so good even though they've had a few outbreaks at school. BTW- we live in a very affluent town. Lice does not discriminate. Talking about it makes me feel itchy though – anyone else??
Forgot to mention, they also hate hair color, gel, mousses, short hair, and hair dryers. That's why boys, dads, and moms typically don't get them
My daughter had lice once and after no lie, $600 and 2 weeks later they were finally gone. It was an absolute nightmare, so much so I I told my husband to just shoot me if it happened again. Ha! Three of my other kids then got it, but in no way as bad as her. I watched hundreds of them crawl around!!! Can you say puke?!?
So so so nice to be able to pay someone else now to get rid of them. Worth every.penny!!!!
My daughter had lice once and after no lie, $600 and 2 weeks later they were finally gone. It was an absolute nightmare, so much so I I told my husband to just shoot me if it happened again. Ha! Three of my other kids then got it, but in no way as bad as her. I watched hundreds of them crawl around!!! Can you say puke?!?
So so so nice to be able to pay someone else now to get rid of them. Worth every.penny!!!!
Loved the info on this post,,,and if my kiddos ever get head lice I can send them down your way , cuz id be freaking out and I feel confident after reading this you can totally handle this situation way more calm than I ever could!!!! 😉
Dear Erika,
First off I just have to say, I feel your pain with the lice. It's the worst, I had it numerous times when I was a kid and my cousin is having trouble with her 3 girls right now. You handled it well I think. People can shame you about it but it happens to everyone. So good that you have a salon you can go to. There's nothing like that where we live.
Ok, I should say my name is Cassandra but I go by Sam. I live in Queensland, Australia. I found your blog through Shay Shull (who I adore). I started reading a bit about you and your precious family and I had to read more so I went back to the start. I have read every post up to this one. I love your style, your humour and well just everything. Thank you for sharing your life and I can't wait to keep reading. xoxo
My IG name is catsam80 too.
You girls are SO funny!!! Thanks for all the great tips!! We went back yesterday for the check up and she's still good!!!
Sam..thanks so much for your kind words and for reading!!!
Kimm…send them down here. I'll take care of it! 🙂
OMW! I laughed so hard as I read your earlier post, and this one! Not because sweet Ebby Lee got lice, but because I can SEE your face when you noticed it! It was always a fear of mine that Aimie would get it, thank goodness she never did! You KNOW there are no LICE SALONS in this area! Ha! I would always do a once or twice a week vinegar rinse. Did it help? I have no clue, but it did make her hair look so healthy!
Love you kiddo, and glad she got a good report!
This is really random, but did you say your daughter got lice while you were vacationing in San Antonio? I just read this article today, and maybe it's just a coisciedence.http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/07/02/medical-staff-warned-keep-quiet-about-illegal-immigrants-or-face-arrest/
I also wanted to add that you are a superstar mother! Seriously, you handled the situation amazingly.
Andrea…that article was so interesting and SAD!!! I should have clarified…I discovered the lice in San Antonio, but the guy at The Lice Place told me that she'd had them for at least a week or there wouldn't have been eggs??