Tackling lice naturally

Ugh. We have lice. Or rather, my daughter has had recurring lice these past 6 weeks, and I'm sick of it. In case you've not had the pleasure of having a child with lice, let me fill you in: kids don't get lice because they are dirty or don't bathe enough. They get it from other kids, who got it from other kids, who got it from other kids. Lice love sweaty little heads. Lice crawl, they don't jump or fly, so if your child hugs another or settles into a bean bag chair to read a book with a friend, that's a great opportunity for lice to travel to new territory. Sharing hats is another good one. I have no idea where my daughter picked up her lice, but it's been a real chore trying to get rid of 'em.

Usually a child will complain of an itchy head, and that's when the battle begins. When I discovered the lice, I did some quick online research into the various lice shampoos, and found that the two big ones, Rid and Nix, contain insecticide ingredients (and both shampoos have been linked to leukemia), which would be the same as spraying your child's head with Raid. No thanks! I did find a non-toxic, homeopathic shampoo called Licefreee! at Fred Meyer, which is what we've been using. You apply the shampoo/gel to dry hair, cover it with a shower cap for an hour, comb through with a lice comb and then rinse it out. This alone, however, will not necessarily kill all of the eggs. What I end up doing is going through her hair with a flashlight and pulling off eggs with a tweezer. It is time intensive and neither one of us enjoys it much. If you miss one egg, it can hatch and the cycle starts all over again. I assume this is what's been happening with us. You also have to go through the exhausting process of washing every piece of clothing, bedding and towels in hot water, bagging up the stuffed animals for 2 weeks and vacuuming all of the upholstery and rugs because those little suckers can live up to two weeks without human contact.

I am determined that this will be our last lice showdown. My son got it once in the past six weeks, but so far my husband and I have managed to elude it. My question: has anyone else conquered lice without resorting to insecticides? I've heard about using olive oil or mayonaise or Listerine (though I'm not sure about those ingredients) -- has anyone tried alternative treatments? Thanks for any sage advice you can offer!