Headlice (merged)

bedshaped

Apparetly nits dont like tea tree or coconut. So shampoos and conditioners using either of those will be great for using, instead of the expensive repellant sprays and head lice treatments.

My personal favourite is the boots coconut & almond leave in conditioner. http://www.boots.com/shop/product_details.jsp?productid=1031028&classificationid=1025776

I used this on my daughter every day when I combed her hair with the nitty gritty and she didn't get re-infected for almost a year. It was when I stopped that she got them again

I would also recommed the nitty gritty comb, which at around £10 is expensive but it does work and is worth every penny. There is a letter you can print out and take to your GP to ask him to prescribe the comb as well if you don't pay for prescriptions. http://www.nittygritty.co.uk/ng/resources/nittygritty_available_on_prescription.pdf

sarahmoon_2

I agree with everyone else, leave in conditioner and regular, i.e. every other daye, combing is the only way to get rid. Also I was advised to tie my daughters hair up and spray on hair spray or gel, its stops the nits penetrating the hair and this seems to have worked for us.

veryskint_3

madison's_mum wrote: »

DD is 3 & she has got nits for the first time, what the best thing to get rid of them?

Thanks

Its a pain in the bum isnt it. I swear by wet checking every other night with LOADS and LOADS of cheap conditioner (doesnt matter what just cheap) also invest in a nitty gritty comb about £10 but brill. Also the tea tree thing doesnt work tried it already as well as everything else. Just stick to this routine and wipe the comb after each comb through on a paper towel and it does work. But persevere.

Triker

The nitty gritty comb, great investment.

Cheap conditioner.Use wet combing method.

Bottle of tea tree essential oil to add a few drops to cheap conditioner.

Bottle of lavender oil.

Small spray bottle.

Mix 5 drops each of tea tree and lavendar oil in spray bottle filled with water, good deterrant for anti lice spray to spray on heads before school. Give it a shake beforehand to mix the oil and water up.

Settle back for years of nit combing.:D and no I'm not joking, it really is years.:eek:

It's not that you won't get rid initially but they will become reinfected.

Good luck.

Curious_George_2

i agree with the PP, we have been conditioning and combing for years (and im sick to death of it!)
we had a scratch free summer holiday and just over a week since the return to school, she got reinfected :rolleyes:
so i thought i would give that Hedrin stuff a try and it worked!... no nits! its expensive but if it works well enough that i dont have to spend an hour at a time every few days trying to comb the little bleeders out (which she hates with a passion) then i dont mind the expence...

i also enjoy the electric nit comb... those bugs make me ill (and itchy myself) so frying them alive makes me happy

and you can inform your school if you want, but in my experience it means nothing if all the other mums are not as vigilant as you (and they wont be)

madison's_mum

Settle back for years of nit combing.:D and no I'm not joking, it really is years.:eek:

I'm the eldest of 6 & us 4 eldest are girls. We all used to have waist length hair & my 3rd sister used to pick them up on an extremely regular basis. I remember well all 4 us sat in a row with the old nit solution on, it was freezing & stank to high heaven!!

saubryn

Are head lice becoming much more common these days? I got all the way through school without ever getting infected, then, as an adult, caught them at a very busy trade show, of all places.

It took me ages to get rid of them, only to catch them again from my 10 year old niece.

I found that the Boots tea tree conditioner stuff and a lot of regular combing got rid of them - before that I'd tried several of the pesticide type concoctions, but they just smelled nasty and made me itch, but left the nits unscathed, or so it felt.

squashy

We've been using tea tree conditioner as a preventative and my kids haven't had them since...although we ran out over the summer and reverted to ordinary conditioner- and guess what, DD has caught nits in the first fortnight!!

It's been so long since I used the nit comb that I have lost it so i spent the weekend going through her dry hair and picking out any culprits with my fingernails. I bought the NittyGritty comb today so going to give it a try. It does seem different to normal nit combs as the prongs are much closer together and apparently the spiral grooves on the prongs help to catch the bugs/eggs.

Jet

saubryn wrote: »

Are head lice becoming much more common these days? I got all the way through school without ever getting infected, then, as an adult, caught them at a very busy trade show, of all places. .

I never had nits as a child. We had the nit nurse then.

But my son has had nits (and given them to me :rolleyes:) 3 times - he has short hair. I pity anyone who has a girl. :eek:

kippers

MY eldest girl caught nits over and over again (thanks to the little girl next door). Anyway, i agree, conditioner and nit comb really is the only way. I would do all of us in our family (changing towels and pillow cases & bedding each time). It would take an hour alone on my eldest long thick hair and my youngest would scream as she hated it so much! I would do this every two days at first then every three days after this.

I would check daily for nits in my daughters hair but the nits are clever and the eggs turn the colour of the hair they stick to, so you need to look very very carefully. Also 50% of chidren don't itch with nits, so don't just look for your children itching.

I stongly feel they should bring back nit-nurses, its not fair that careing parents spend hours getting rid of nits while parents who don't give a stuff pass them back over and over again......what about my childrens rights!

This subject really winds me up....does anyone else feel this way or am i the only one?