eeek! aaaargh! bleeeeurk! got a leaflet home from dd's nursery saying that there is an outbreak of headlice. AND SHE'S GOT SOMETHING ON HER HAIR! AND SO DO I!!!

[RegenerAitch]

i am absolutely revolted. i know, i know, i know, v common these days etc but IT'S GROSS.

anyway, your help please. i left poor dd with the neighbours and raced round to Boots for a Nitty-Gritty comb, but the pharmacist said that cos i hadn't seen any live ones i couldn't use any treatment yet.

it's little brown casings that were in her hair, not zillions of them, but still...
have conditioned and combed (bribed dd with late-night lollipop that i didn't have any money for so must go and reimburse nice sweet shop lady tomorrow) and more or less rinsed and now she's in bed.

i seem to have EGGS in my hair, bleeeeeeeeeeee, as they are smaller and whiter (although christ knows it could just be skin, it's hard to tell).

so apart from listening to me moan...

how often do i have to do the combing thing? for me and dd, yes, and presumably dh if he ever deigns to return from the football.

i'd prefer to use natural stuff, at least until i've seen a living beastie when i will happily unleash the chemical arsenal.

any recommendations? sympathy, even? [molto molto squicked emoticon]

[WideWebWitch]

Comb through with conditioner every night for a week or so, that'll get rid of them. You don't need to use chemicals, that sohuld do it as long as you're thorough. It's v v common.

[ahundredtimes]

Oh dear. Well you just pile in masses of conditioner and comb it through for about two weeks or so.

It is quite hard to see them on yourself though. Comb through with conditioner and see if anything comes out?

[ahundredtimes]

After a while it becomes oddly satisfying you know.

[FrannyandZooey]

combing is by far the best route Aitch
you;re doing the right thing - you still have to comb with the chemicals, so just comb effectively and forget those horrid treatments
comb every 3 days for at least 2 weeks or until you find no more lice
they will get smaller and smaller over the weeks until there are none to be found
you must continue for at least 2 weeks to break their breeding cycle though

the brown eggs are unhatched ones - you may be able to remove with a nitty gritty - if not they will soon hatch and you can remove the small lice
the white cases are hatched out shells

lots of sympathy

[RegenerAitch]

thanks, ladies. i am finding it v difficult (leaflet notwithstanding ) to understand the difference between lice and nits. are nits just dead lice, the existence of which proves that i am a shit parent for not having noticed her itching?

100x, you've seen her hair. we normally comb it once a week, tops.

[arrrrggggghhhhhhhh]

SYMPATHY of the highest order (squeeeeeeeee)

[FrannyandZooey]

and you need to comb wet hair with lots of conditioner (conditioner temporarily makes them still, otherwise they run away from the comb )
comb from root to tip in one movement
wipe or wash comb after every sweep
separate hair into sections so you cover every part of head
pay special attention round back of neck and behind ears

[S1ur]

sympathies Aitch
Lice are annoying and itchy and bleurgh. They can go pretty quick though with vigilance

this may work?

[FrannyandZooey]

nits are the eggs
white if empty
brown in unhatched

not everyone itches
of course you aren't shit!

and aitch, DON'T use the chemicals, you know?

[ahundredtimes]

Oh god yes, DD's hair is like your dd's hair. It's hell. Buy bottles of cheap conditioner, make sure you comb through well to defy curls with a normal comb, and then do the nit comb.

Failing that, nuke the bastards. I do sometimes.

[RegenerAitch]

and i know this is terrible of me but as i was doing it all i could think was 'should've bought some cheap shitey conditioner while i was in Boots'. waste of good product, that.

so do i leave the conditioner on overnight or wot?

[ahundredtimes]

[but not when Franny is looking]

[RegenerAitch]

lol x-post 100x.

[ahundredtimes]

No.

You put the conditioner on wet hair, comb hair through with a normal comb. You need the conditioner for that if their hair is like our dd's.

Then you go through from root to end, every hair - especially behind ears, top of head, nape of neck, front (so that's all of it basically) and remove nits, eggs, lice, whatever you've got.

Then you wash out conditioner.

You only leave the Nuke Them stuff on over night.

[FrannyandZooey]

yes use the crap conditioner
wash it out at the end

[RegenerAitch]

gotcha. and gotcha frank.

if only i were a more distant parent... then the nanny would have got them.

[ahundredtimes]

[idly remembers] I once picked three huge black ones the size of beetles out of ds2's hair. They'd jumped in that day, all fully formed with legs and thoughts of world domination. They were shockers.

[deanychip]

oh your posts have made me laugh so much, very funny

by the way, yeeeeuccch...gross!

and "oddly satisfying" spat tea all over pc.
loving this thread, very very funny

[FrannyandZooey]

LOL yes I got them off my nanny job when I was pg with ds
that was fun
I have long THICK hair esp when pg
nit combing fucks my scalp up so much that I itch for months, it's a bugger

[Guadalupe]

Mostly we comb them out, works if you are very methodical.

Occasionly I can't be arsed and buy hedrin but it is a bit gross and slippery.

[jollydo]

Apparently a few drops of tea tree oil added to the shampoo or conditioner may help. Haven't tried it myself though.

[Guadalupe]

that helps deter them I think

[ahundredtimes]

Yes, tea tree shampoo to stop them, not to treat them.

Sometimes we do it in the bath. And I line them all up on the side, and we do lots of staring. And then when one of them has shrugged off the conditioner and is having thoughts of movement we scrunch them dead in loo paper.

We have had many happy hours denitting in this house.

[RegenerAitch]

funnily enough i did try to buy tea tree in boots, i use it for everything and have run out.

at 100x's beetles, are you sure you weren't in an episode of Dr WHo, changing destinies all over the shop?

[RegenerAitch]

when we wash or comb dd's hair (i recommend the tangle-teezer, btw, crap name but essentially a dog brush for kids) she sobs 'no mummy, no.... please, please stop it now, you're hurting me' etc. if she could dial a phone she'd be onto social services.

she was a good sport about it tonight, i think that the lollipop helped. went to bed saying 'but what if the bugs frighted me when i sleeping?' but concluded 'i love bugs' and patted her head lovingly. i ran away to douse self in conditioner.