No longer a 'nit virgin' (have joined the epidemic)

[ratflavouredjelly]

I remember nits as a little girl. My mum was military in her assault - often lampooning cousins and friends with the nit comb and shamPoo if she spotted anything.

I am now part Of the war on the little critters. DS (reception) got his 1st nits this week. We've managed to escape until now. I do the nitty gritty comb twice a week but it's clearly not enough.
Wondered how often everybody else uses the nit comb. Etc? I was also really surprised that after a thorough comb with nitty gritty and conditioner plus a touch of jojoba oil with lavender and tea tree oil plus Hedrin leave in mousse - I used the comb again the next day to check and couldn't believe there were two more critters.
Obviously I've treated whole family (me, DH and DD too)

But Is it just a losing battle ? YOu do all this treatment and next day they're back! I'll up my combing etc but uuugh - will I ever get used to this? Or is the 1st time they get nits the most squeamish?
Thanks all :-)

[kensingtonia]

You have to condition and comb through every 2 or 3 days for a couple of weeks. The nits you just found were probably eggs or babies when you combed previously and therefore undetectable. I found combing the best method, though we did resort to chemical warfare a couple of times. We once had a strain that was chemical and comb resistant (they posititioned themselves underneath the hair shaft right at the root and were very difficult to shift).

We used a Nitty Gritty comb which was good - I don't know if it is still sold but had a lifetime guarantee.

I found the NHS website to be quite informative:
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Head-lice/Pages/Treatment.aspx

[mrsbaffled]

We used Full Marks folliowing the instructions and it got all of them. I also combed every day in between the 2 treatments with conditioner.

Only DS1 got them and so far it's been a one off.

You don't need to treat the family with the shampoo unless they have nits too. I would just nit comb with conditioner unless you find any on them.

[juniper904]

Make sure you mention it to the school office. They will send a letter out, saying people need to check their kids. Obviously, they won't mention you by name (or they bloody well shouldn't!).

Kids get nits. It's one of those things. I have a few in my class who always seem to be scratching, then wanting big hugs. I have to check my own hair every week or two.

One of the negatives about working with small children...

[ratflavouredjelly]

Thanks v much all. Kensingtonia - I think DS also has a strain which would survive nuclear war. 3rd day on the trot now - after combing every night and a Hedrin treatment, I found two more of the little shites (after attending a party). I don't know if I'm missing any or someone keeps Re-giving my DS them. Luckily bcos I use the comb frequently, there are never loads but uuugh - even one head lice is revolting enough.

MrsBaffled - thanks I didn't realise you didn't need to use shampoo on everyone. Was going for preventative measure. :-/