Headlice (merged)

pandaonmyshoulder

I have 3 daughters (a son too but with razored hair he's never suffer from 'em) bought all the expensive stuff- lotions, potions, expensive battery powered zapper, forget 'em - doesn't work and it can really make the scalp sore.
Buy some Aussie conditioner and comb through the hair whilst wet with a nit comb (takes ages over the bath and very bad for us Mum's backs but worth it). Then every day spray on Aussie Leave In Conditioner (I've found this difficult to get at times but I now order it from our local Boots). One of the ingredients is Tea Tree not sure if that's why it works or not.
If your daughter has long hair always tie it back when in school. Thankfully (god I hope I'm not tempting fate) we've had a nit free house for 3 1/2 year now:D
You have to break the nit cycle, my eldest who is now 16 used to get 'em and no sooner thought I'd got rid of 'em then I was slapping more pesticides (sp?) on her head 'cause they were still partying in her haystack.Aussie saved my daughters head and my sanity!

Ladyrider2600

Don't forget to wash all bedding and clothing thoroughly, they could easily have picked them back up from pillows.

Sobraon

We used one of the "electrical combs" from Boots when the children had a problem (about 5 years ago). Not needed to use it again- but it was best for us.

MyUserNamesTaken

frizz_head wrote:

Combing is the only thing that works for us. It's just such a bloomin pain, I wish they'd bring back the nit nurse, cos although most families do, few don't bother treating and then it starts all over again.

Totally agree with this. Combing through is the only way to be certain the little !!!!!!s have all gone. Also, organophospates (stuff in nit lotion) are basically sheep deep and can do massive damage to the nervous system if used too often.

bobsa1

Sorry got to say combing is the only way (and cheapest as well) you need to comb every other day for about two weeks. I nearly went mad when dd's got them, 2 girls long hair and one truly terrible night I combed by candlelight when there was a powercut.

Tea tree oil also keeps little blighters at bay

anguk

I've had problems on & off for years with my DDs hair and must have spent a fortune on "remedies" but none of them seemed to work for long, I've tried every lotion & potion, loads of different types of comb and even bought the electronic one. Then I bought a Nitty Gritty comb and I could kiss the people who developed it, it's absolutely brilliant and the only comb I've had that's got rid of the eggs too. Two weeks of using the comb every other day on my daughters head and she's been clear for ages now.

The comb costs about £10, you can buy it online or I got mine from Lloyds chemist.
Nitty Gritty

Mumstheword

They apparently dont like the smell of coconut, so we all use coconut conditioner to try to keep them away! Our only infestation was last year with DS1, and he has used coconut conditioner ever since and been nit free.

To get rid of them, I smothered him in conditioner, left it a while, then fine toothed comb through it. I've also got a nitty gritty, and as long as you have straight hair that isnt too long, it's great. It can hurt a bit used on curly/long hair

tawnyowls

Tea tree, lavender and rosemary all reputed to help.

patchwork_cat

Hi
Yes I had washed and changed the beds and towels. She slept in Hedrin last night, so I will change the pillow cases again. Hedrin sin't the usual insecticide it stops them breathing. I did only find 1 and 1 nymph though, so mostly worked. I even washed all hairstuff, brushes, combs and favourite teddies.

withabix

I suggest you read the leaflets which came with your Hedrin VERY carefully.

Hedrin DOES NOT miraculously eliminate nits like magic!

Hedrin coats your hair with a silicone layer. It contains NO pesticides, NO clever poisons and NO chemicals to kill the head lice.

Any head lice which you manage to coat with Hedrin will thus similarly be coated in silicone.

This is supposed to suffocate the head lice, rendering them dead.

NOTHING WHATSOEVER will happen to the eggs (what everyone calls 'nits') as they don't breathe.

You MUST totally cover the hair and scalp with Hedrin to be successful for a start.

THEN, you must RE-TREAT the head seven days later - the theory is that because lice have approximately a 7-day hatching cycle, the eggs which were on the head when you did the first treatment will now be head lice but will not have laid any more eggs ('nits').

This second treatment is supposed to suffocate the remaining head lice.

Voila, no more head lice!

Well, that's the theory.

Therefore:

1) IF YOU DON'T DO THE SECOND TREATMENT AT THE RIGHT TIME, YOU ARE WASTING YOUR TIME.
2) IF YOU DON'T COVER ALL HAIR AND SCALP, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET ALL OF THE HEAD LICE.

My daughters have long hair and would take 2 bottles each per treatment.

We were unsuccessful with Hedrin.

In any case, there are plenty of kids in every class who are riddled with head lice (Nitty Jack and Nitty Sue in one youngest DD's apparently) and have parents who don't give a toss, so your kids will just catch them again within days!!

Conditioners and oils, such as Tea Tree or Cocunut apparently work by suffocating the blighters as well.