AIBU to be unprepared for head lice

Another vote for Vosene tea tree shampoo. We were in Germany when we discovered our 'infestation' and I have to say the stuff we got from the chemist there was fantastic! Much better than the products here!

Do you just used the 3 in 1 shampoo?

I'd ask if your DD can swap seats. It's not fair for her to keep getting them just because someone else's parent can't be bothered

No they do NOT! Omg. You're going to get worms

No one is prepared for the hell of nits!!! I think the aliens have already invaded and are waging war on us in the guise of headlice.

Comb and conditioner is the best. Laborious, but the most effective. Many nits are now resistant to the treatments so I wouldn't waste your money on them.

My DD was a nit magnet - extremely thick, long curly hair. She also had a friend whose parents didn't take the best care of her unfortunately (social services involvement level not taking care of her) so she was never treated and kept reinfecting my DD. It was hell, just when she was clear she'd be riddled again the following week.

It took the Covid lockdown to get on top of it, and fortunately Patient Zero left the school by at the end of that school year.

Lice have got resistant to a lot of treatments but Hedrin, or anything with dimeticone is fab. It's like a layer of plastic that suffocates them. Beyond that, a nitty gritty comb is a must and mine never got them again once we started washing with vosene. Might be an urban myth but apparently they hate the smell

Don’t stress with all the washing of sheets and hairbrushes. I don’t think it makes a difference. Just comb wet hair thoroughly with nitty gritty comb every 2 days and when you don’t find any more nits/ lice switch to once a week. We’ve had them probably about 10 times and this is what gets rid of them. I don’t bother wasting money on the chemical treatments, and I never found the tea tree stuff to be effective. Unfortunately it’s down to luck whether other parents in your kids’ classes are as committed to getting rid of them as if not, you will definitely be getting them back again!!

Tea tree oil was our shampoo of choice for many years. I also had a electronic zapper comb which my daughter used - first thing when she walked into the house from school. That would zap anything that might have been picked up that day.

Huge bottle of cheap conditioner, flea comb from pet shop (they're cheaper than nit combs even when they're the same bloody thing repackaged) and have at them every other day for the first week, every third day for the next fortnight, then you can start winding it back if you aren't finding new ones/baby ones/adult invaders from other kids or any new, dark eggs.

The ewwww reaction wears off once you've had to do them frequently enough. And it's remarkably satisfying (albeit irritating) to do the spot check of a few drops of lavender oil on the parting/crown when dry, wait a few moments and then see the fuckers pop up gasping for air.

Everything above plus hair straightener for the eggs.

They live about 24 hours off a head and can't crawl far. I change pillow cases but nothing else. The full wash approach is fine if it was a one off, but like I said - they circulate at school.

We had lots of problems with this. They're gross but not harmful.

Tbh it's probably not a 'get rid' situation, your kid is getting rid of them now but someone in their class just caught them and their parent hasn't noticed yet. Someone else in the class has had them for ages but their parents aren't up to clearing them/too feckless to do so. So strap yourself in and prepare for recurrence.

We use vamoose, applications 5 days apart. Plus combing and now we do a weekly nit check. Depends on preference - my kids often won't sit still long enough for thorough combing. The treatment is expensive but seems to work. Tea tree oil doesn't work.

Some kids seem to be more prone to them just like they are to mossie bites.

Dishwashers don’t get hot enough to sterilise anything.

Well i got to my third child without getting them, then getting 6 Yr old ready for school thought what are those little flies doing on the crown of his head🤣
Cheapo tea tree oil from home bargains for about £1 with conditioner and nit comb every three days whilst he was sat in the bath. Gone in a fortnight. No chemicals required (althoughDid have to do again cos his playmate kept reinfecting him, in the end I took her tea tree oil and said do him!!!!!)

Mason Pearson brushes can't go in the dishwasher

I have twins who were in separate classes though primary and thankfully neither caught lice. I told them explicitly not to share hats with anyone. I used Vosene shampoo and diluted tea tree oil and sprayed their hair each morning. I did this until year 4 then stopped.

Oh this is the first year we have struggled with them my dd keeps getting reinfested with them because the poor girl sat next to her seems to have them permanently and a couple of parents who aren't that fussed about doing anything about it. Poor kid must be miserable with them.

I tried different nit treatments but she was getting reinfested that often it was costing me a fortune, now I buy really cheap (like £1 bottle) teetree conditioner and cover her hair with it religiously every week leave it on for 15 mins, nit comb her hair (takes me about an hour because her hair is down to her bum) shampoo her hair twice and then dry it.

Then just wash as normal during the week with a nit comb brush afterwards. This seems to be keeping on top of things and she hasn't caught them in a while.

I also use brush out gel on her hair for school to reduce the chances of any fly away hair picking up any nits. I just brush it through her hair tie it up and then it brushes out again at the end of the day.

Years ago they used to sell tea tree spray you could spray in the hair that worked as a repellent, but we’re talking a fair few years ago (back when I was a kid in the 90’s/00’s. Mum used to put some in our hair every day, and we used to use tea tree shampoo as that also helped with repelling the little horrors!

We used this after our first infestation. That and always having hair in braids and we never got them again.

The family that had them didn't treat and continued through primary into high school.

Awful. Feel itchy reading this.

@SanaGoggins the treatments are useless. The woman behind my local Boots counter whispered "don't bother with the treatments , tea tree shampoo, loads of conditioner, comb then shampoo again"

Yep conditioner and a comb. Mine has hair like cousin it so we put a movie on and she would sit on the floor whilst I combed away.

The conditioner is good, it smothers them. Nit comb then keep wiping the content on a kitchen towel so you can chuck it.

Struggling with this atm. My daughter has incredibly thick long hair and I just can’t get rid of them. The treatments aren’t killing then and it’s taking me 3-4 hours to comb through it but that doesn’t get rid of the eggs. It’s hell.

I always thought that they liked to lurk behind the hears and at the nape of the neck.. but last time my DD had them they were all much higher up (i'm guessing we are getting good at killing those that hide in those key areas.. )

You just comb until you can comb no more! good luck

I was waiting for that post.