I've thought about the bed bugs, but not lice????

[andnickali]

Hello- We are just home from Explorer (the infamous teen cruise). I just got a call from my SIL saying my niece had head lice and she is almost certain that it came from the ship.

 

Apparently, in AO ages 6-8 there is some type of hat that must be worn by a child when they are going to the bathroom. And, my niece wore the hat as instructed by the staff. My SIL said that when she went to pick up my niece and saw the hat on her head the first thing she thought of was head lice.

 

Fortunately, the problem was detected fairly early and was isolated to just their one daughter. But, I am just shocked that RC would have such a stupid policy for kids going to the bathroom. The staff said it was so they knew if the hat was gone one of the kids was in the bathroom- what about 1. having a different type of pass or 2. a sign-out sheet or 3. having an AO staff be told by the child that they are going to the bathroom.

 

On a somewhat different note- the AO policy for 3-5s for bathroom breaks is that the child goes by themselves- out of the gated play area and into the central entrance hallway. I can't believe RC did not position a bathroom IN the playrooms. My younger niece was not known to be in the bathroom on two seperate occasions when we went to pick her up. The staff was calling for her and looking around the room- and then said OH, she must be in the bathroom. The fact that they did not even know she had gone out of the playroom is inexcuseable IMHO.

 

Not that I am a big Carnival fan (because I enjoy sailing on RC equally), but their security in the kids club was 100% higher then with RC.

[Mrsg324]

Hello- We are just home from Explorer (the infamous teen cruise). I just got a call from my SIL saying my niece had head lice and she is almost certain that it came from the ship.

 

Apparently, in AO ages 6-8 there is some type of hat that must be worn by a child when they are going to the bathroom. And, my niece wore the hat as instructed by the staff. My SIL said that when she went to pick up my niece and saw the hat on her head the first thing she thought of was head lice.

 

Fortunately, the problem was detected fairly early and was isolated to just their one daughter. But, I am just shocked that RC would have such a stupid policy for kids going to the bathroom. The staff said it was so they knew if the hat was gone one of the kids was in the bathroom- what about 1. having a different type of pass or 2. a sign-out sheet or 3. having an AO staff be told by the child that they are going to the bathroom.

 

On a somewhat different note- the AO policy for 3-5s for bathroom breaks is that the child goes by themselves- out of the gated play area and into the central entrance hallway. I can't believe RC did not position a bathroom IN the playrooms. My younger niece was not known to be in the bathroom on two seperate occasions when we went to pick her up. The staff was calling for her and looking around the room- and then said OH, she must be in the bathroom. The fact that they did not even know she had gone out of the playroom is inexcuseable IMHO.

 

Not that I am a big Carnival fan (because I enjoy sailing on RC equally), but their security in the kids club was 100% higher then with RC.

 

How long was your cruise? I thought that it took over a week for them to hatch. If so, then it is possible she had an egg or 2 in her hair before the cruise & they just hatched.

[andnickali]

The cruise was 9 nights- and she began scratching two days after we got home- so that would have been this past Tuesday.

[Mrsg324]

oh man, that stinks.

Has your sister ever dealt with this before? I've heard it can be a nightmare to get rid of.

[andnickali]

As a matter of fact my niece had gotten lice about 5 years ago from another child through daycare (from a school aged child). I remember at that time she had to disenfect the entire house. I think they might have caught this in the early stages since it is just on their one daughter.

 

She contacted RC and the rep was quite surprised-he said he had never personally fielded a complaint about lice (but that may not mean much). He was interested in the whole hat policy. My SIL is going to send in a letter per the customer service reps advice.

[Mrsg324]

If she doesn't know this, tell her, to make sure she puts all the stuffed animals & such in a plastic bag for 3 days closed up. A girl I work with just told me she had hell getting rid of it with her daughter, come to find out it was on the stuffed animals in her bed & kept surfacing to her to feed on at night.

[andnickali]

Thanks for the advice. Funny how something so small can be so hard to get rid of!!!!

[zuscruiserz]

Did she have her hair braided at any of the ports? This is where head lice is usually transmitted via unwashed combs. If not, I'll bet a child in AO did and wore the cap to the bathroom before your niece, and Voila! lice.....:(

 

Also - Bag up anything (in large zip-lock bags) that cannot be washed or dried on very hot heat - ie down pillows, stuffed animals, dolls above the bed, etc. for 10 days or so to kill the lice that emerge from the new eggs that were laid. Vacuum the rugs and mattress/box spring WELL (they also have lice spray that I used effectively). They are a pain to get rid of.

[dachshunddoglover]

Our Elementary school is having a horrible time with Lice right now. We get letters sent home all the time about a child having it. My daughter had it once and it is a devil to get rid of. Nasty, nasty little things. Wish they could be wiped off the face of the earth.

[andnickali]

My SIL is suspecting it came from the hat in AO- my niece did not get her hair braided (I too have heard this is a prime place to get lice). But, as we were all looking at our pictures last night-specifically the one of my niece climbing the rock wall with a helmet- she commented that she could have gotten it from the helmet on the rock wall or rollerblading. I had not even given it one thought when I put on a helmet to climb the rock wall.

[jetskier]

It is a pain to get rid of. My oldest daughter (12) got it from school last year. She has hair down to her knees. 4.5 hours later just going through her hair. There was a news article about a new device that will going out on the market where there is a hair dryer type device that blows super dry air. Research showed that the lice needed a moist environment to live. By drying the air around them, it killed them. They are looking at selling the device to schools at a price of around $2000. This way they can treat students without having to send them home.

Dave

[FunCruiser56]

I have a daycare and thankfully we have not had lice for a very long time, it is so easy to spread around. For those dealing with it here are a couple sites with lots of good information http://www.headlice.org and http://www.neonits.com .

 

All it takes is one live one to start a big problem, could come from hats, jackets, and don't forget all the upholstered furniture.

 

Dang all this talk about head lice has me itching my own head.....:eek:

 

Bev

[ChattieKathy]

My daughter had lice when she was 11 or 12...what a nightmare! She has thick hair that was down to her shoulders. It took us forever to get rid of. I bagged everything for a month! I threw out pillows. I went thru her hair 3 times a day because I was so creeped out by the whole thing. We did multiple treatments with the over-the-counter stuff. In week 3, I treated her hair, and was combing thru it wet removing nits (you MUST get all the nits out), and I found a LIVE bug! I called the pediatricians office and demanded they give me something stronger to kill the things. They told me that there wasn't anything, and I told them that I knew there was. They finally did prescribe something to shampoo her with, and it only took that one treatment, and they were gone. No more nits. I have read that the stuff they gave me could be dangerous, but I was crazy (and cross-eyed) by then, and wanted them gone!

 

From that day on, I told her I would shave her head if it ever happened again. The good thing I learned, is that lice don't like "product" like hair-spray, gels, mousse etc. They also don't like treated hair...perms, color...so you are probably safe if you put a helmet on your head, and do any of those things!

 

ChattieKathy

[Tra4]

My daughter had this twice. Once at age 5, after she had her hair braided in the caribbean on our first cruise. I was able to disinfect the entire house and get rid of them pretty easy. The 2nd time she was 9 and got it from tumbling class & the mats there. It took forever to get rid of them then. I think they get immune to the over the counter treatment. I would put it on and they would still be alive. It does gross you out!! I finally colored her hair and the hair color is what killed them long enough for me to get the nits out. But just one itsy bitsy nit starts the whole process over again!! They are a nightmare!! Once is bad, but twice is too much for my lifetime. The wierd part is that no one else in the family ever got them--even me who I was with her all the time.

[PrincessDaphne]

We sure were planning on getting our hair braided in Jamaica!!! Any suggestions for avoiding head lice? Should we bring our own comb??

[Tra4]

I have no suggestions--just a risk. The people braiding may not even know their combs are infected. But make sure they disinfect the combs//brushes after each use of each customer.

[luv2sweat]

I'm so sorry to hear about your niece. Lice sure are not fun! What a silly policy to have to wear a hat to go to the bathroom. I your SIL gets some results with her letter.

[burnsie]

We had a horrible time with lice when my DD was in 4th grade. An infectious disease doctor told me to get shampoo with cocnut oil and thyme oil in it. Smothered her hair in olive oil (couldn't stand the thought of putting may more chemicals on her). Got rid of them and used the shampoo never had another bout! Good luck.

 

Im itching just reading this post!

burnsie

[Happy ks]

Fortunately, neither of my kids ever had head lice. But, I have seen plenty of it as I was a hair stylist for 15 years.

 

The little bugs know no social boundaries and will show up in the very nicest neighborhoods and cleanest houses.

 

I would advise clients to treat the scalp several times, wash all bedding with the treatment shampoo, get rid of pillows and stuffed animals if they could bear to part with them and also Lysol the bed. Sometimes it takes several rounds to get rid of it completely.

 

It's most common with children because they do share space much closer than adults. I'm surprised that hats were shared, that would be a big no-no. The rock-wall climbing helmets should be sprayed in between wearings, otherwise, I'd not use them.

 

Lice do not thrive with dry heat, so many times in families that get infested, the people in the home who blow dry their hair on a daily basis avoid the little critters.

 

Never would I have my hair braided on these islands. Even if you take your own comb, if the person braiding the hair has not washed their hands in between clients, you are exposed to any germs and bugs existing under their fingernails. When you are licensed (at least in the State of CA) for a barber or cosmetology license, their main interest is public health safety, we were taught to wash our hands in between clients, every single time, and to disinfect our tools in between clients, every single time.

[masterbaker]

 

Lice do not thrive with dry heat, so many times in families that get infested, the people in the home who blow dry their hair on a daily basis avoid the little critters.

 

This makes sense. When my DD was in first grade, lice were EVERYWHERE in her school. :eek: Almost every child had them at some time. My DD was one of the fortunate few that never got them. Every day after school she would swim, wash her hair after and I'd blow it dry. I figured it had to be more than luck... probably a combination of the chlorinated water, and blow drying did the trick.