every day there are more head lice - any ideas?

[forgottoremember]

Found that DS had lice last weekend (lots of them...) Did the whole wet combing thing, and got lots out - went on until I could go through his whole head and not find any.
Also combed mine, DD's and DH's hair as well (DH also has them).
Since then I have wet combed DS's hair really really well every evening, with a nitty gritty comb, and every evening there have been more lice - and not just little ones. This evening (day 6 of nightly combing) there were I guess 15 lice, and of those 2 were really great-grandfather sized ones: proper monsters.

So far it feels like the combing is creating the head lice - i.e. the more we do it, the worse the problem gets (no fewer lice, and getting larger).

Any advice? There were nits at the beginning, but I've not seen any of them for a while now.

Is it really possible that he's getting reinfected at school every day? Or am I doing something wrong? I've not been using conditioner every time because he, DD and the baby all share the same bath, and the other two have eczema, and I don't like them getting stuff all over them every day. For the same reason I don't want to use any of the medicated/chemical stuff, and I'm also fairly suspicious of neem (says not to use if you're pregnant/BF, which I am)

Help!

[1sassylassy]

Conditione makes it a lot easier to comb the hair,also stops the headlice moving away as the cant crawl through the conditioner.
My GP once told me to soak the hair with olive oil as it drowns the blighters but it is a pain to wash out.
I have recently heard that drenching the hair in Listerine kills them too but havent tried it myself.

[forgottoremember]

ok will go back to conditioner - problem is that it also makes it really hard to see if you've got anything...
think olive oil would finish us all off - bath time is hard enough as it is!
This Is No Fun.

[Beamur]

Lots of conditioner and wipe the comb on some tissue paper after each swipe - you will see the lice on the paper. Flush down the loo.
It is quite possible that your child is picking up more lice from another child on a regular basis.
Keep combing - leave it no more than 4 days between each comb.

[ivykaty44]

Olive oil - it doesn't kill the buggers but it puts them to sleep.

Put oil over head and leave for 8 hours - then stand child on newspaper and comb the hair with nit comb, wipe the comb after each stroke to get rid of any nits.

After this wash hair - very easy to shampoo out. if hair is long enough get hair dryer and now blast with hot air - not get if you have straightners use them to kill the eggs.

Repeat after two days, then three days and then four days.

Use olive oil on hair in between like a gel - as this will keep nits sleeping so they can't lay more flipping eggs.

Conditioner is fine - but it doesn't send the blighters to sleep like olive oil does so it doesn't work as well.

[ivykaty44]

Olive oil isn't difficult to wash out it is easy with shampoo. Leaves the hair and scalp in lovely condition as well.

[Chundle]

he is probably picking up more at school everyday as if youre sure youre getting them all out then seeing more huge ones it sounds like hes getting more new ones at school/nursery. does he have long hair?? if so can you tie it back? make him aware of keeping his head away from other kids head and try using the special anti nit sprays you can get (think they are tea tree) available in boots that repel the nits. Vosene also do a good anti nit shampoo. Are you using treatment on his head?

[fergoose]

the only thing that worked for me was conditioner with added neem oil and the nitty gritty comb - and hours of daily combing until they are gone.

[Houseworkprocrastinator]

Try de tangling spray instead, it works like conditioner but you can still see what your getting out.

[RandomMess]

I put cheap conditioner on dry hair, comb through, wipe with kitchen roll after each comb.

The huge ones will be new ones he's picking up

[RandomMess]

Also start at the back of his head, I pin the other hair out of the way and then work slowly forwards, methodically.

My dds have wavy waist length hair and they are usually completely clear after the 2nd or 3rd comb through.

Every 3rd day is enough to get rid of an infestation as it take 7 days for an egg to hatch and reach maturity. NIghtmare if he's picking them up at nursery everyday though.

[shushpenfold]

AS the others have said - separate the hair into sections as you do it and comb very thoroughly on each part from different angles. If he'd really getting more and more live ones every day though the nursery does have a problem.....I would be having a stern word and getting them to separate the kids heads more actively when they play......past that, give him a hat to wear!

[stinkymice]

don't forget to wash all bedding, coats, hats etc.
Keep going with brushing every day, you will get there in the end. Don't need to do this in the bath, you could fill a spray bottle with a mix of conditioner and water and squirt on hair while DS is sat in front of TV. -or anything else to keep him still. Towel round shoulders (wash afterwards), wipe comb lots onto kitchen roll. I used to sometimes do this every morning and after school. Quick and easy with a DS. Good luck.