NITS

[mdpis3]

Appreciate this is AIBU so perhaps I am BU because I haven't a clue how to treat/prevent/look for nits.

DD is nearly 7 and has never had nits. I had them as a kid in the 80's and still remember the smell of that jollop my Mum would use on my hair. Yesterday a cousin and her family visited. Said cousin has just called to say that her DD has woken up with nits. Apparently they had a note home from school on Friday regarding an "outbreak" in the school. Cousin combed her DDs on Friday but found nothing and therefore didn't treat. She now has them. I'm assuming they don't magically appear and that she likely had them yesterday too. She said she is "crawling" with them

She's called to tell me to do my hair and my DDs hair but I haven't a clue what to do?!? Obviously I will go off to Boots at 11 when they open but is there a product that's better than another? A particular comb? Do they still sell the industrial strength we all had as kids or did they realise it was lethal? Any tips? Strip and wash bed (where they played)? Normal hot wash? We both have waist length hair. I am dreading the comb! What about DH?

I totally get that kids pick these things up but we've sort of lived in a bubble with nits because DD is home educated and spends half her life in hospital. I could tell you anything about MRSA but know nothing about nits!

Advice please. Thank you.

[NynaevesSister]

Hedrin. But also get a nitty gritty comb. Use this with lots and lots of hair conditioner once a week for a bit then down to every two weeks.

You can't mistake the nits. When you comb them out you will definitely see them. The eggs can be a bit harder to spot, and they start laying straight away.

[DontOpenDeadInside]

You don't need to wash bedding, but you can if it makes you feel better. I recommend the Nitty Gritty comb. Its the best £10 I've ever spent. Dd2 had them for the 1st time last monday. Washed her hair, lathered loads of conditioner on then combed through with the nitty gritty. Dd was also crawling with them (I'd honestly not noticed until then, no idea how!) The comb got 99.9% out. I did her hair again on the night and found just 1 baby lice and not seen one since. It also means no chemicals used.
Good luck x

[permalice]

Get a NittyGritty comb, start combing daily with oodles of conditioner to make it nice and slippy.

Don't use Hedrin until you actual see an egg/louse. Then treat immediately.

Check every head periodically.

They don't live for long away from a nice warm host, so no special precautions needed for bedding though you'll probably end up changing it more often than you usually would!

Life cycle of louse is about 17 days, so you need to keep checking for that long.

[DontOpenDeadInside]

Oh and it's not recommended to treat with hedrin etc if you have not found a live lice. Thats how they are becoming imune to all the treatments.

[Minionmadness]

And this why head lice keep making the rounds.

All parents should make it part of their routine to check their dc's hair on a regular basis... that way d's hair would never "be crawling with them"!

As for getting rid, loads of conditioner and nitty gritty comb every night for a week then twice weekly thereafter for checking.

[permalice]

Here's a suggested programme for when you need to comb to get rid of the critters

The eggs are very firmly cemented on, and it is possible to miss them even if you are combing really assiduously. So you need to work with the breeding cycle and get all hatchlings before they reach sexual maturity.

[flora717]

If you add combing through a very large amount of conditioner with a good nit comb (nitty gritty is popular, but personally I find the prongs too long to really apply force when doing my own hair as I spend 2 days a week in achool) in on a weekly basis you should keep any adults at bay and remove any hatchlings. Tea tree oil is very popular too, as it's antibacterial it's handy to use when washing brushes and combs too.

[mdpis3]

Ok...

Nitty Gritty comb
Loads of conditioner
Repeat on everyone in house
Only use Hedrin if I see a live one

Do I remember reading somewhere about leaving the conditioner in for a while to make them sluggish and sticky?

Why does the mere mention of nits make my head itch!!!

[DontOpenDeadInside]

I had combed dds hair just over a week before as she had a massive tat and thought the comb would be the best thing to use to tease it out. I had never experienced them before so wasn't sure what I was looking for and I treated the second I did see them. The teacher has not sent out the "headlice" letter, so either other mums haven't told her or no-one else has them (hopefully the child she caught them off has been treated)

[AndyWarholsOrange]

Yuck at the thought of nits reaching sexual maturity- they're gross enough already without the thought of them shagging!
Nits have been the absolute bane of my life - I have 3 DCs and, since the youngest got them 12 years ago, I dread to think how many hours I have spent combing the bastards out.
The current advice is to only use treatment products if you actually see live lice. I don't think they get immune to Hedrin because It smothers them rather than poisoning them but it's still best not to use it if it isn't necessary. It works but it's so oily that I've needed to use a whole bottle of shampoo to wash it out.
Bung on loads of conditioner and use a nitty gritty comb. They tend to 'congregate' around the nape of the neck and round the ears. I hope she doesn't have them. DD has very long hair and it definitely makes it harder to get rid of them.

[Welshmaenad]

The most effective treatment I've used is to soak the hair in mouthwash and leave on for an hour under a shower cap, then rinse, then apply white vinegar and leave again, then wash, then condition and comb through with a nittygritty . The vinegar loosens the glue that holds the eggs on, making it easier to comb them out. The mouthwash dehydrates and kills the live life but without the horrendous silicone oiliness of hedrin- plus it's cheap!

[Norfolkandchance1234]

Nitty gritty comb and conditioner but not too much conditioner because the comb won't grip the nits and eggs as well.

Also buy some lavender essence and add to the bath and mix lavender drops with wAter to spray on hair after towel drying.

[LovelyFriend]

Dd2 has been itching for ages and I have been looking for nits for over a month without seeing a thing. Dd1 has dry scalp so I thought dd1 has too.

I even went through my hair with nitty gritty a couple of weeks ago - just as a precaution - nothing.

Today we discover dd2 has nits. I have nits . I guess dd1 will have them too - all for the first time apart from me once when I was 6.

Slippery fuckers.