Hair Bugs

Today's post isn't all that pretty. In fact, by the end of it, I'm 100% sure that you're going to be itching. I'm already itching, and I just started typing..

Today, we're talking about hair bugs. You know the kind.... The kind that we all dread for our daughters. The kind we do not want to deal with. The kind that makes your head itch at just the thought. 

Last school year, one of the girls complained of her hair itching. I started looking through her hair (because I work in a school, and I hear when it's going around, and I've always been crazy-paranoid about one of the girls getting it.) So, of course, it's the first thing I do when one of the girls mentions that their hair itches..... and there it was. A hair bug. 

I froze. And, tried to convince myself that it was not what I thought it was. But, there was no denying. Especially when I saw one more. 

So, I'm going to share our experience with hair bugs and how we dealt with the problem. Please keep in mind that this is what worked for us and it may not work for everyone. 

As soon as we found the bugs, I headed straight to Target. I am 100% anti-chemicals, but there are some times, when I just feel like we need the strong stuff, and this was one of those times. We grabbed a box of Nix, new pillows (I'm not even kidding), and three new hair brushes. 

I also called the other girls' school and requested that their hair immediately be checked. Thankfully, no hair bugs were found, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep it from spreading. (Hence the new hair brushes.)

We headed home and applied the first treatment. I read and re-read the instructions on the box to make sure that we were following them. Once the treatment was finished, we started with the process of pulling out the nits. I found this part crucial for successful treatment. 

I had read that heat also helps to kill the bugs and nits. So, that's what we went with. Now, I also read that you don't just want to full blast a certain area, because you don't want to burn your child's head. So, we went ahead and grabbed the blow dryer, and I used high heat, but I made sure to not focus on one spot for too long. After her hair was dry, we used the straightening iron on it.  

That afternoon, we bagged every single pillow, blanket, bean bag, stuffed animal, and anything else we could think of. I think we bagged 10 trash bags full, and I put everything in our attic since it gets the hottest. I left everything bagged up for about 3 weeks. I washed all of the sheets on the hottest water temperature. Our washer/dryer also have a disinfectant mode, and I used those too. Sheets (of the infected child) were washed every other day. 

Over the next several days, we made sure to blow dry and straighten her hair, and I continued to pick out anything that could be a nit. I also treated the other girls hair and my own hair just in case. I knew that if any of us got hair bugs, it would be torture. I let the girls know that they each had their own hair brush, and they were only allowed to use that brush. 

We also made sure that everyone's hair was in a ponytail to help prevent any transfer. I even wore my hair in a ponytail or messy bun. 

I have always talked to the girls about not sharing hats, jackets, scarves, blankets, pillows, etc. at school. And we discussed it over and over again while we were dealing with hair bugs. 

I had read that Tea Tree oil helps to prevent hair bugs, so I added a few drops to the girls shampoo, and I put it in their hair detangler. I would also add a drop on to my hair brush and brush my own hair. 

Thankfully, hair bugs never came back. We were very persistent with our treatment, and I wasn't going to mess around. I probably picked at each girls hair for over a month, just to make sure. They were so tired of me digging through their hair before bath time and each morning as I fixed their hair! Anytime I saw something remotely resembling a nit, I picked it out of their hair. 

So, as we headed back to school a few weeks ago, I saw an article being passed around on Facebook, about mutant bugs. We are being proactive this year and using Tea Tree oil for prevention. 

You can also make your own prevention spray:

4 oz. glass spray bottle

4-6 drops Tea Tree oil

4-6 drops Lavender

Distilled Water.

Shake & spray.