If I were you I would speak to the school about their system for storing coats- each child should at least have their own hook for hanging their coat that no one else ever uses, and a cubby to put things like hats in.
I can't say as I know of any preventative measures that are sure to work, I have heard that hairspray will help keep them away- I don't know if it is true, but I do put a little hairspray in my kids hair every day. I figure it can't hurt! I also make sure my kids know not to ever share a comb, dress-up clothes, or hats with other kids. My kids have never gotten it, but I know it is common, and I am dreading the day they catch it. Good Luck, and Happy Holidays!

My kids got it last summer from my ex's house.

Hairspray doesn't prevent it. I did the same thing you did. CLEANED everything. I must have used 3 gallons of bleach that weekend. I bleached clothing that should never have even been near bleach. Beds were stripped, carpets swept numerous times, treated kids hair.....heck...I treated the CATS!!!

After everything I did, I found the simplest way to get rid of it was a METAL lice comb. Not the plastic one that comes with the kit. You have to comb at least daily, twice a day is better. I dipped the comb into white vinegar between each stroke. The acid in the vinegar helps to loosen the nits. Plus, vinegar acts like a stripper, and removed styling product build-up.

Needless to say, my kids had shiny clean hair, and live in fear of the lice comb. They now know what not to do when it comes to sharing hats, combs, etc.

Reading your post gave me the willies. I have a first and second grader and I have seen their coat hooks, one on top of the other. I questioned the older one about it and he said they each have assigned trash bags with their names on it and they have to put their coats in these bags when they aren't wearing them. The first grader's class doesn't do this so guess what mommy's sending to school today? TRASH BAGS!!

I agree with the poster who mentioned METAL combs. I run a daycare and we just went through a bout of lice. ARRG!! Two of the kids I watch had it, their mom treated them, shaved their heads and NEVER told me they had it. The only way I found out was...I was washing my daughters hair with lice shampoo when one of the boys I watch said "My mom washed our hair with that stuff too" I was like "Oh, really, when?" he said "A couple of days ago..." OHHHH I was SO MAD!! Anyways, after doing research on the internet about lice, I found that the metal comb called the "lice meister" is the best on the market!! I bought it at Wal-Greens in case anyone is interested! OH, and by the way cowbiter, animals can't get lice. I know it only sounds logical to treat them too, but the lice prefer a human "host", not an animal.
Good Luck with them there bugs....YUCK!!
Mac

Our school does "head checks" every Monday morning (teachers push the hair aside with wooden sticks like pencils). I think this is just for the younger grades - Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and less frequently in 3rd. At the FIRST SIGN of lice or nits, the parents are called to come and pick up their child, and he/she is not allowed to return until checked and cleared by the clinic nurse. My son is in 3rd now, has never had lice.

I'm with you Mac72. I bought a licemeister this year even though we haven't had any of the little critters for a couple of years. I use it to check for them. It goes through DD's hair much better than my old metal comb because it's teeth are round and my old one had square teeth. Big difference! Many people find the chemical lice treatments are ineffective these days so it's good to have an idea of alternative treatments (like using a good metal comb).

A hairdresser I used to have told me that if you mix vinegar & water in a spray bottle and spray a little in your children's hair when you comb it that they will never develop lice even if everyone else in their class has it. She said it only smells when you spray it but when it dries it has not odor. I don't know for sure that she's right, but she was very adamant and positive about it!

Stephanie, I was going to mention almost the same thing. When my sons played baseball, we would occasionally have an outbreak due to the boys sharing their batting helmets. One of the Mom's (the hairdresser) never had any problems and she said that after every baseball game, her son took his bath and got a vinegar rinse. Also, vinegar is good for your hair too, makes it nice and soft. On another note, I can remember that the K teacher of my oldest son had a corner with old clothes, hats, etc., where the children could play dress up during free play time. Ugh! She finally had to remove the clothes because she determined they were the source of head lice.

Someone once wrote to the herbal-medicine columnists in my newspaper that she sprayed her kids' hair w/ Listerine and it had seemed to keep lice at bay. The columnists said that alcohol, which is in Listerine in small amounts apparently?, will dissolve the glue that binds the eggs 9nits) to the hair shaft, and will actually destroy the eggs and adults as well. They also speculated that other parts of Listerine might influence lice to go elsewhere.

It made me wonder why we weren't using something alcohol based instead of the pedulicide-based shampoos, but I'm guessing there's a danger of getting it in somebody's eyes, etc.

If we ever get them again, I'm going to ask the doctor about alcohol.

One word on stuffed animals: We dropped them in a plastic bag for several weeks to starve the pests out, but my husband then insisted I run them through the dryer as well. Big mistake! All the fur got tangled and matted. Some of them really are crummy now, and I don't have time to go combing them all out. I wish I hadn't--I have not a doubt that all those pests were long dead by then.

Rubbing alcohol is only supposed to be used in small amounts and putting it all over the scalp is definitely not a good idea. I wish I had kept the link someone gave me about this and I don't have the time to look it up. Just be sure that you check it out carefully. I wouldn't use it myself.

StephanieD or whoever. What is the percentage of vinegar and water in that spray mixture that will help prevent lice?

I have a link that discusses using vinegar. But I want to make it clear that in my post, the lady that I spoke of used vinegar to prevent the lice. I don't know how it works on lice if you have them. According to this website, it works, but others I have seen said it doesn't work. I even found a website that recommended mayonnaise and specifically said you had to use regular not low fat. It said that the mayo suffocates the little buggers. Anyway, my hairdresser friend, as I recall, just put vinegar on his hair while it was still wet and kind of combed it through. When it dried, you couldn't smell it. Also, this was a boy and his hair was really cut short for baseball season.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vinegar Man

My hair dresser told me to use half water, half vinegar -- spray it lightly and leave it there. The lice supposedly only like "clean" hair.

I noticed at my daughters softball games all the kids use the same helmut for batting - I'm thinking now that maybe thats a bad idea too!

Don't forget to vacuum or spray your car seats. I think that's the area many people forget about and it may lead to another outbreak.

Janet

Stephanie, there is a spray you can buy to kill lice in the helmets. One of the mom's used to get to the game early, put the helmets on the bench and lightly spray the inside just to help prevent an outbreak should one of the players have lice.

Whazzup - thanks for telling me about that spray. I will probably be the mother spraying all the helmuts before the games this year. Better safe than sorry!

Stephanie, we used to tease this mom about her vigilance, but the truth is, "the team" never had an outbreak of head lice, while other teams DID.

I once asked the Doctor if kids could catch lice from an animal..."not likely" was his response. And if animals dont carry lice (if this is what you implied), then why does my dogs flea shampoo say, "kills lice"?? ~~Just curious~~ BTW... which came first, the lice or the egg? lol, seriously, Iv'e asked many times, just where does lice come from..hmm no one can give me an answer. I know how you spread them, but....ohhh now my head itches..

Pat, there are DOG lice, I think. Lice are bugs, they come from everywhere on the planet. You get them from something that has touched someone else's head--a helmet, a comb, a blanket, another head. The reason little kids get them more often is that they touch heads more often in play--leaning over the same toy, etc.--so adult lice simply move from one head to another. In my daughter's kindergarten class, they kept their sheets on their cots, and then folded and stacked the cots. Eggs and adult insects can fall off the head and onto the sheet, then transfer from one sheet to another. Older kids are more likely to get them a shared comb, hat, etc.

They found evidence of head lice in ancient Egyptian mummies.