checking for nits

System

McKneff wrote: »

a nit is a nit, when it is hatched it is a louse

Yeah the nit is the egg thats glued to the hair. The louse is the creature that hatches out of it. Vile things they are.

They dont like tea tree oil. A couple of drops in the shampoo used to be enough for them commit harikari in the bath water.:rotfl:

hngrymummy

maman wrote: »

Headlice jump head to head and then lay their eggs. So the greater the distance between heads and the less hair to land on helps.

Headlice don't jump.

If you see white nits, they are the empty egg cases, so you're now looking for Headlice. Newly hatched ones are quite tiny. If in doubt, try to pop the egg between your thumbnails. If it pops it hadn't hatched, if it doesn't pop it has.
Not every child itches when they have Headlice, so it's worth checking regularly even if they're not scratching.
Wet hair impedes the Headlice, so it can be easier to comb and check wet hair, without the blighters crawling quicker than you can check.
We dry comb the children twice a day - once before school, once after school, wet comb after every bath, and we use a deterrent on our hair. My son has had them 6 times this school year, so I'm not taking any chances!

Becles

Judi wrote: »

They dont like tea tree oil. A couple of drops in the shampoo used to be enough for them commit harikari in the bath water.:rotfl:

^this!

Put a couple of drops of tea tree oil in a small spray bottle with some water. You can give their hair a spray before they go to school. That seems to work as my daughter has never had them. I check her hair when I wash it.

pigpen

Vosene 3-in-1 shampoo has tea tree in already .. its what I've used for several years and havent had a recurrence in all that time other than the odd stray bug.

nitty gritty comb.. sent from heaven to combat satans lice.

and if all else fails .. neem oil.. it smells funky but the bugs hate it.

I also have Boots coconut and almond leav in conditioner spray which we use for hair brushing daily.

maman

hngrymummy wrote: »

Headlice don't jump!

Of course, you're right. It was a careless turn of phrase. They actually crawl head to head.

hngrymummy

Sorry, didn't want to nit pick maman. Some people have ideas about Headlice that aren't quite right, so I just wanted to make sure. It can lead to them not being treated properly, eg Headlice are dirty and I wash my child's hair every day, so she can't have them. Or not understanding the leaflet and thinking that the pictures are life size, so they're looking for a 2cm bug, rather than a 2mm bug.

[Deleted User]

I've had two boys. With the first one at one stage I was combing his hair with a nit comb at weekends when he had a bath. If there was an infestation, I'd comb every two days. Eventually he stopped getting them. It hasn't been such a problem with my younger son, I just check him every once in a while or if he complains of feeling itchy. I only check above his ears and at the nape of his neck, soon shows up if there is any infestation.

I had screaming hysterics the first time I found them (because I didn't know what they looked like I missed the infestation till it was fairly well established lol). But the reality is, its unpleasant but not going to kill your child. There's no need to over react (not like they've got the bubonic plague).

kingfisherblue

I use a nit comb every Monday evening, after Rainbows and Brownies - I don't want any little visitors myself!

If you do find signs of eggs or lice, make sure you nit comb everyone in the household, or you will find you don't get rid of them. Wash pillowcases daily if there are eggs or lice, and wash as hot as possible. Same goes for towels used on the head.

Nargleblast

When my two were infested we got a Robicomb. It was a metal comb in a plastic holder with a battery. As we combed the child's hair, if it came into contact with a louse it electrocuted the !!!!!!. Very satisfying it was, shaking the corpses out onto a bit of paper!

Kaye1

My eldest now wears a bun to school to help protect at least some of the hair. We use the Vosene tea tree shampoo and I pop a few drops of tea tree oil into her conditioner. I check each day when I am doing the bun. The first time she had them, she had 7 'bugs' so I knew I had caught it early and it wasn't too bad to deal with.

Everyone was treated, all bedding washed as well as hairbrushes.

I would suggest to the OP that you need to be checking more often- our school usually only send the letters when it reaches epidemic proportions!

It is school policy to send children home if they have visible nits but I don't know if they actually do it.