Nits keep coming back!

[lovely123]

Hi

I am at my wits end!
I have 2 girls and both been treated with medicated lotions at least 3 times now.
Each time I treat their hair, I wash all clothes, bed linen, towels and even change their hair brushes.
I repeat the treatment after 7 days as per instructions.

Last time I even cut their hair shorter.

The damn things keep coming back.

How can I get rid of these things forever, driving me nuts!

[dementedpixie]

Are you finding adults or babies (or both)? Are you combing in between treatments? What stuff are you using to treat? If there are adults it could mean they are being reinfected but you could also not be getting all the eggs out (treatments aren't always good at killing eggs) and then they are hatching after the second treatment.

www.chc.org/homedir/parent_info.cfm - this site says this: Remember that whatever the product, you always have to check for lice on days 5,9 and 12/13 and remove them to avoid the three risks of continuing infestation

[tb]

Try head and shoulders shampoo as well as a nitty gritty comb to get rid of both the eggs and the lice. We tried everything with dd (and us) lotions, tea tree shampoo and conditioner and even malathion. Eventually we'd run out of special shampoo and used h&s. It worked a treat - must make the hair super slippery or something, or else it's a residue that's left on the hair and they don't like it.

Fortunately, not long after that dd decided to go for short hair, and since then we've not had a problem.

[sadie9]

7 days between treatments is too long. I do another treatment about 3 or 4 days later. Last time I used the Hedrin and kept it in overnight. And check everyday with the comb and wipe on white tissue to see if you see a live one. You will know if there are new eggs as they are very close to the scalp. Older egg/egg cases will be further down where they have grown out a bit. Very hard to get rid by just doing a treatment then not checking (obsessively) every day till you are sure they are gone.

[Wolfiefan]

Which treatment? You need one you leave on overnight.
And wash hair, condition and then use a nitty gritty comb. Every three days. For 21 days.
They could also be getting reinfected at school. Tie hair back. Gel spray and anti louse spray (like one nitty gritty do.)
Good luck.

[Fontella]

My kids would have had nits for the entire duration of their childhood had I not done the comb/conditioner treatment every bathtime whether they were nit free or not. It just became part of their routine.

Yes you can get them clear, but they go back to school and get them again if other kids are carriers, so you need to be on it all the time. I never used 'products' I just used a very fine nit comb and bottles of cheap conditioner and would do the comb through routine every bathtime.

Sometimes I'd find none, sometimes I'd find a couple but I kept on top of it and they were never overwhelmed.

They will always keep coming back all the time they are exposed to them in school, and if other parents aren't as diligent as you, then they will be. All you can do is stay on top of it. You don't need fancy treatments, just the comb and conditioner routine every bathtime - takes a couple of minutes and it keeps it under control .

It's an ongoing job I'm afraid. You alone can't get rid of them 'forever' because of your children's exposure to other children. But you can ensure they never really take hold through a very simple bathtime procedure.

[SquidgeyMidgey]

My son has never had nits despite constant nits in his class. He uses Jason anti-dandruff shampoo and I read recently that the neem oil it contains kills nits and their eggs. It might be worth a try if all else fails, I hope you find something that helps.

[CrazyDuchess]

Regular conditioner/nitty gritty here - have never used chemicals but it needs to be regular every other/3 days

[incywinci]

I've tried about 6-8 treatments, and this is the only one that actually works. One treatment of this and it's all gone:

www.expresschemist.co.uk/derbac-m-liquid-50ml.html

[ivykaty44]

They don't keep coming back

Unfortunately they have a three week life cycle and unless you treat for three weeks the nits have not gone the eggs hatch and if you miss an egg the whole cycle starts again

Google olive oil method

And when the hair is dry use straighteners on the hair to kill the eggs with heat.

[Balletblue]

Herdrin once was pretty good for us. And a short haircut.

[FannyFifer]

Are you not combing? You can't just rely on treatment. You need to physically remove every egg & louse from the hair.

[NuzzleandScratch]

We've just had our first bout of head lice! Dd2 (nearly 4) got them. I found about 12 live lice, which I picked off individually with tweezers (squashed each one!), then treated with Hedrin Once, which claims to kills the eggs too. It said to leave on for at least 15 mins, so we did 20. I had to shampoo quite a few times to get it out the hair.

After that, I could see there were loads more eggs than I had seen at first. They were really easy to see, as they were brown, on light blonde hair. I didn't want to wait to see if they would hatch, so I actually picked them off by hand, using my nail to slide each one off.

The next time I washed her hair, I used the Nitty Gritty comb on wet hair, and this got out quite a few more eggs. I also found 3 eggs on dd1, but no live lice.

This was a week ago, and I've been checking her hair daily since, and touch wood, nothing since.

Check carefully at the nape and behind the ears for eggs, as this was where they all were on dd. Use a torch up close on the partings if there's not a good light.

Probably obvious, but make sure they wear their hair up well for school, so ideally a plait.

Best of luck, they're horrible aren't they!

[GreenGoth89]

Neem oil and tea tree to keep them away once you've treated them, but keep combing!