Nits. Bloody bastarding nits.

[babybythesea]

Can I ask if anyone has found an effective preventative measure?
DD spent most of last year with them. It felt like I spent the entire year combing and combing and combing. We'd just get clear, 2 weeks later there'd be a letter and off we'd go again. She was clear over Easter (we did three weeks of combing every two nights and had been clear for the last week before the holidays) and a week after school starting again, she had them.
Fine all over the summer. Back at school for three weeks, and checked tonight, and yup, got them again. Only two, and big buggers, which I assume they are recent arrivals, and I am hoping we got them before they laid eggs but we are now on for another few weeks of combing.
Thing is, it's time consuming. If it was once or twice a year, fine, but it's three or four times each term. And it's expensive. I've tried the Hedrin but as they return so fast I've given up and gone back to just combing. But I go through so much conditioner that it's not cheap either. Add in the changes of bed linen and I'm losing patience.

Younger DD doesn't seem to pick them up which is good.
But what would you do at this point? I'm assuming there's a kid in her class who is just never checked. Would you talk to the teacher? I've googled it and tea tree oil comes up as a preventative. Is it any good?

WIBU to wrap her head in clingfilm each morning to stop them getting to her??!!

[Winteriscomingneedmorewood]

My dd tried a light spray of hairspray before school and she didn't get any when the other dc did!! Also tried bloody all sorts. .
Natural remedies have included washing hair with Surf, to tea tree spray, combing twice a day, Hedrin, the mousse one, fairy liquid and baby oil!!
The little fuckers are the work of the Devil. .

[SandunesAndRainclouds]

Washing with tea tree oil and a handful of malt vinegar rinsed through seems to do the trick.

[BettyOBarley]

I use the Vosene shampoo which has tea tree oil in specifically to deter nits. We haven't had them so far (hope I don't jinx myself now!) but DD is only in a small pre-school at the moment.

[GreenTulips]

Agree but near teatree oil (about £3 in chemist) mix with shampoo and conditioner and add a few drops near the hair in between washes - works a treat

[Cheby]

Is it maybe that your DD has a particular friend whose parents aren't treating it? Can you ask her to stop touching heads with her friends? Id be learning how to do very tight hair braids, spraying with tea tree oil in the morning and maybe trying to identify the source and quietly get DD to reduce physical contact (not play or friendship) with them.

[SnooGliffer]

It's bloody awful. Mine were back 2 days after the summer holidays when one brought a letter home to say there were head lice in the class.

I use the Hedrin deterrent spray alternated with Nitty Gritty spray and since using those they haven't had head lice. Might be coincidence though. They are rife in our school.

[TheNext]

Leave in conditioner. Hair in plaits.

[lolalotta]

Following... sigh. 😫

[Yummymummy159]

Tea tree conditioner and you can get spray in leave in detangling or conditioning spray things that are preventative but don't smell too great. Constantly pin hair back don't leave a stray (a million and one bobby pins) apparently that's all my mum can advise I was a nightmare as a kid with my long flowing golden locks. Apparently they're attracted to clean hair but I wouldn't advise not washing 😷. Either that or cut hair shorter and tell DC no whispering

[GColdtimer]

I just comb through with conditioner every time I wash their hair. Tight plaits and leave in conditioner with a drop of tea tree. Prevention definitely better than cure.

[SocksRock]

Hair up and hairspray seemed to stop them here

[Allyg1185]

Slightly different cause I have a son but I cover his hair in conditioner twice a week and comb through with the nitty gritty comb as standard

I also use a repellent shampoo and a leave in repellent spray

And keep his hair short

Hes only had them twice in a year so think I'm doing ok

[1moreRep]

i have the same problem literally get them back 14 days after getting rid of them- if i comb every other day will that work as nothing seems to and i'm combing twice a day until clear

[babybythesea]

Might investigate tea tree oil then.
We've been using citronella spray every morning, plus a spray in conditioner, but it clearly doesn't work. She always has her hair tied back. I only usually wash her hair once a week - getting the comb through takes about half an hour so doing it several times a week as standard isn't ideal (especially once you add in the extra time to dry it etc).
May just resort to sitting in a corner and rocking.

[HPandBaconSandwiches]

We use Original Sprout Detangler spray - the rosemary keeps the blighters away. And of course plat hair tightly so it's less likely to come into contact with other hair.

Works for us!

[LyannaStarktheWolfMaid]

My children had never, ever had them - until July this year. Now I can't get rid of them. I treat and comb and wash everything and you think they've gone, and three weeks later they are back again! 😫Little fuckers.

[GreenTulips]

The egg cycle means they are only big enough to catch in the comb at 3 days old
At 10 days they reproduce

You have to wash and comb every 3 days to be effective

[NormHonal]

A word with the school/teacher may not go amiss, especially if you can find some other parents in the same boat.

In our case the culprit was finally identified and not allowed back to school until treated. It broke the cycle at last.

[RiversrunWoodville]

Argh having spent a fun weekend removing the little bastards from dd1 (oddly although only 2 dd2 seems immune) I'm hoping the repellent shampoo works from now on

[NormHonal]

And yes: conditioner and comb, over and over. Still do it regardless after every wash.

[Wolfiefan]

YY. Wash first. Condition. Section. Comb. Meticulously. Every 3 days for 21 days. Minimum.
We put hair up. Gel spray wispy bits. Use nitty gritty defence spray. Not had since doing that.

[RandomMess]

My ace treatment regime (4 DDs with long wavy thick hair)

Put DVD on
Cheap conditioner onto dry hair
Nitty Gritty comb
Rinse off conditioner in bath/shower
Repeat every 3rd or 4th night.

Works really well and far less hassle.

If infested then use a treatment lotion before following up with the above. Every 3rd/4th day with nitty gritty is enough to catch the lice before they mature to lay eggs.

helps too...

[elephantoverthehill]

You have got to treat everyone in the house. Adults and Dcs every time you find one. Adults can get away with the conditioner and combing but I agree with the plaits and teatree for Dcs

[LloydColeandtheCoconuts]

The little fuckers!

My DS has mixed race hair so I couldn't use the nitty gritty comb as it would have ripped his hair! So I smothered hair in coconut oil which got rid of the bastards but then had to use the hedrin foam which thankfully worked. We subsequently used tea tree oil mixed with water that we spray in his hair on a daily basis. So far so good!
Good luck op

[WineIsMyMainVice]

It's interesting that only a few people on here have talked about the life cycle and egg production etc. I don't think that's widely discussed. Having just been round this for the first time (and they came back after a few weeks) ive been doing a lot of reading etc. The school advise we got didn't tell me to keep combing every few days for a couple of weeks - I found that out through talking to friends and reading up! So if you don't know that and you leave just one tiny egg in there, you've had it - they're back!!! Aaarrrrgggggh!!!