Do nits scuttle?

[Belleende]

I am a nit newbie. I might have seen one on my babies head. It was white, and I think it moved, by the time I had gotten it off her head it was too mangled to tell if it was a beastie or a skin flake. Also found this, is it an egg? I feel itchy.

Is it cradle cap?

Nits (which is the name for the eggs, which are lighter coloured and quite firmly attached to the hair) don't move but the headlice do, they are much darker coloured than the eggs.

What I thought I saw move was pure white. She does have a patch of flaky skin on her scalp. Hmmmm.

How do I know for sure, comb out over a mirror? Just doing that for myself now. Can't find anything like nits but I have really bad flaky scalp!

More likely a flake.

Head lice run around (grim memories of the long infestation we had last year), but they are brown.

They do scuttle, but if you mangled it that easily then I doubt it's a headlouse.

Headlice are tough little bastards and hard to squish even if you really try using fingernails etc. Best to just trap them on something (e.g. a bar of wet soap) if you do catch one, rather than trying to squash it.

If you're really worried, put lots of conditioner onto her wet hair and comb it through with a nit comb (Nitty Gritty are the best I've found). Check the comb for wrigglers. The conditioner gums them up so that they can't escape, plus makes combing easier.

Doesn't sound like nits to me, though.

Ok I will comb both the girls tonight, and I think time to break out the tea tree oil.

Headlice make a proper "crack" sound when you squish them, and are dark. You can easily see the legs. The eggs are tiny white dots and are anchored firmly to the hair, not floating around

Ok you are all making me feel slightly queasy, but giving me hope.

Erm, anyone know where in boots one finds the nit kit? Having a pathetic day and can't bring myself to ask.