Pediculosis capitis – say what now?

Headlice are ‘orrible. They are the bane of any parents with children who engage in social activities. They are very small parasitic wingless insects that live on the scalp of human beings. They have six legs, each with strong claws to hold tightly to the hair or scalp and range from near transparent white to dark brown. Head lice lay eggs called Nits.  The Nit eggs are yellowish white and oval-shaped.  Nits are attached to the shafts of the hair close to the scalp so they are kept warm in order to incubate. Ewwww. The eggs of head lice hatch in about 7-10 days. The egg-to-egg cycle is about 3-4 weeks. The eggs are resistant to most treatments and cannot be washed out – you can see what we are up against. 

Headlice, not the next great toy

Treating once will only kill the live nits and because they transfer effectively from head to head contact, clothing and linen, a deep infestation can be almost impossible to clear.

A little note came up at preschool a few weeks ago, ‘WARNING WE HAVE NITS’ and they even helpfully put up a laminated example of a real nit and a real louse.  I instantly got the heeby jeebies. I felt itchy right away but couldn’t itch myself for fear of looking like a lice infested hobo. My head had been itchy anyway due to the 3 month post partum moult but now with every itch I imagined a horde of shiny little bodies crawling over my head. Every night I badgered my husband to check me for lice and I have been watching my son like a hawk to see if he itches.

With lice, prevention is always ALWAYS better than cure, but before you assume all the louse ridden children are poor, undernourished and unclean you should know that headlice prefer clean scalps and nice juicy children (okay I just invented that last supposition but it makes sense). Since my son is clearly nit free I can safely assume he has a nice grubby scalp

How do you prevent headlice?

Aside from having dyed hair (not an option for most kids) and leaving your hair dirty (probably a preferred option with most kids) there are a couple of things you can do to make your childs head less tenable. With short hair, putting gel or product in it before your children are likely to be in head lice contact is a cunning move and with long hair, tight plaits or tied up hairstyles with hairspray are effective too. Another tactic is to make sure children are not sharing hats or hairties.

Here is a recipe for home made, louse resistant, chemical free hairgel/spray you can make for pennies.

Manuka Hair Gel Recipe

2 teaspoons of powder gelatine (not heaped)
300ml warm water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
12 drops of manuka oil – you can also use teatree and add some lavender oil if you wish.

Mix the water, vinegar and gelatine together until dissolved and wait until it has set. Once it has set put it in your blender and blitz it whilst adding your essential oil. It should come out smooth like hair gel. To make it into a hairspray dissolve ½ a cup in 300ml of water approx and put into a spritzer bottle.

Ideally this will stop the lice in their tracks but assuming the lice are more persistent than that and you end up with an infestation you can still get rid of them without something toxic or nasty. In past days children would have been simply lined up at school and had their head dunked in a bucked of kerosene This is not to be recommended and can seriously burn the scalp.

First off how do you know if your child has lice?

Sometimes it can be hard to know. Most kids will be itchy and irritable, there may be red spots on their scalp which can become infected.It’s also possible for your child to have a headache, general malaise and even a rash or allergic response such as hives. In many cases however there may be no obvious signs of an infestation.

To check for lice you will need a comb and a bright light such as daylight or a torch to check the scalp. The nits or eggs are little white dots that sit on the hair shaft and the lice are little brown critters that dash across the scalp. Wetting the hair immobilises them and can make it easier to spot them. My mum used to sit me out in a sunny spot and check my scalp and pop any lice she found. All we needed were chimp suits. As an interesting note, girls are more prone to headlice than boys are. 

So what do you need to kill the headlice?

Some white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
Some coconut milk (optional)
Some oil, olive or almond are best
Some teatree oil or manuka oil.
A nit comb

To treat headlice you need to commit to doing a few treatments over a 12 day period, this is because any nits or eggs you miss will hatch and start the whole cycle again and it’s easier to get them all in one fell swoop than to wait for each successive reinfestation. You also need to do every one in the house and you need to do the bedding and recently used clothes as well.

The first step of the treatment is to douse the hair in vinegar and leave for about half an hour, either with a spritzer bottle or using a flannel soaked in vinegar. A headband around the forhead and over the ears like a skier is a good way to stop drips from getting in eyes. It can stink like billy’o! Vinegar breaks down the glue which holds the nits onto the hair and can also help weaken or kill the lice.

The second step of the treatment is to mix 1 part coconut milk with 1 part oil and some drops of teatree oil and smother the whole head in this mix. The coconut milk makes it smoother and easier to comb later on. You need to leave this mix in for as long as possible. You can glad wrap it overnight if your children are a bit older and will tolerate it but for little children you may just have to deal with a goopy head for as long as you can manage. Even a little hat can hep the mix stay on. This blend smothers the lice and immobilises them.

The third step is to patiently comb all of the nits out using a nit comb, the easiest way is to divide it up into sections and comb it out piece by piece using an absorbent towel to collect the oil mix and hopefully the dead lice. Once this is completed it’s time for a nice hot hair wash and condition with a final rinse of vinegar (which makes you hair lovely and soft anyway).

If you don’t have oil and coconut milk you can use conditioner with a few drops of teatree or manuka oil in it. This is easier to comb and is just as good at smothering, but it is not terribly natural. It depends entirely on what hair regime you have.

Another tip is if your child has long hair and you have a straightening iron you can use the hot iron to straighten their hair and sizzle all of the headlice. You have to know that your child can sit still though… I cannot stress how important that is.

The fourth step is just as important, and that is to wash all of your linens, preferably on a hot wash with some teatree or manuka oil and then out through a hot cycle in your dryer or hang on the line for at least 2 days. Anything that can’t be washed can be bagged up and sealed which starves the little critters to death.

You can also get electric combs which zap them to death, which is significantly less fussing and bother especially with little children. However they don’t kill the nits so you will need to do it every couple of days for a fortnight and they are also expensive!

I forgot to mention the last part of the cure, a glass of wine to help soothe your nerves after the ordeal. This is possibly the most essential step.

Boobs cont..

In the early days of breastfeeding I wandered around the house with no top on and the flaps of my maternity bra open like some weird mother goddess figure or bondage queen. It seemed like no longer had I put my boobs away after one feed that a grabby little mouth wanted to get at them again. They were sore, really sore and worn out poor tired boobs. The most important things bar nothing to prevent and heal sore nipples is correcting and perfecting the latch however to help you continue breastfeeding when the damage is done Here are a few things that can help pep them up again:


Lotions Potions and Recipes for Sore Boobs

Shower Oil

In the early days when I showered I had to hold my hands over the stinging nipples as the hot water really hurt them. To protect them I rubbed oil on them before getting into the shower and this really helped protect them as well as keep them supple.

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 drops of Lavender oil

Mix and place in a light tight container and store in a cool place. Great for boobs and preggy bellies.

Calendula Infused Oil

Calendula or Pot Marigold is a really common flower. Often planted alongside other plants to repel pests it has wonderful healing properties. If you don’t have any growing in your yard you can get seeds or plants from most garden shops and they are very easy to grow, mine grows like a weed. There are quite a few commercial calendula nappy or nipple creams, but they can be costly. If you infuse the calendula flower in oil you can use that oil on it’s own as a salve or lotion or include it is some other recipes like my bum balm.

3 cups of flowers
1 litre of extra virgin oil (any other carrier oil would be fine)

Pick as many flowers as you like don’t worry about picking too many, picking them simply encourages more growth. Make sure they are nice dry specimens without rain or dew on them. Spread them on news print or an old dry towel in a warm place out of direct sunlight. Airing cupboards or spare bedrooms are great. Once the flowers have wilted and are almost dry place them in a clean glass jar and cover with oil. Make sure there are no air bubbles or moisture trapped. After a week the oil should have infused and you can discard the flowers or turn them into a poultice. The resulting oil should be orange and can be used on skin, abrasions, bruises, rashes and blemishes.

Calendula Poultice

I used this poultice directly on my nipples to aid in healing. It really helped soothe and close the cracks I had. Either use the flowers left over from Calendula infused oil or get some fresh flowers and remove the petals. Cover the fresh petals with oil and macerate. Keep refrigerated for up to a week and when you want to use warm the flowers and apply to your breast around the nipple. Be sure to rinse of thoroughly before feeding the boob monster.

Warm saline soak

1 cup boiling water
1 tsp salt

Mix together and place in a wide bowl, dangle your boob in as hot as you can stand it. It may sting a little if you have cracks but it can also be quite soothing. Pat dry.

Cabbage Leaves

Keep a few large cabbage leaves cool in the fridge, if you have engorged breasts slip them into your bra. Don't over do though as it can reduce your milk supply. I would not recommend this course of action if you have supply issues.

Breastmilk

My midwife swears by this and she is right, squeeze a little breastmilk from the affected nipple and rub it on the cracked bit and let it dry.

Sunlight

Can't recommend it enough, it's free, healthy and quite calming as well. Gotta get that vitamin D

Hottie or Wheat Bag

If you have blocked ducts, engorged breasts or sore nipples a hottie or wheat bag can really soothe those enraged nungas.

Some other things that help...

Let bubs suckle the nipple which is less sore as the first suckle is the most active. Keep switching poitions with each feeding, thus avoiding pressure from the baby's mouth on the same part of the breast. Do not for gods sake stop feeding, boobs heal by frequent nursing with the passage of time. Even if it is cracked bleeding or infected your baby will not be harmed by suckling from you.

Exposure of nipples and breasts to air prevents growth of thrush. Avoid wearing bra for long hours of the day instead wear nursing bras with flaps. Then you too can look like a strange mother goddess or bondage queen....