Fuck! *****NITS klaxon****** - 11 years I've managed to avoid the fuckers!

[ChateauneufDuTwat]

DS has nits. He's 5.

DD(11) has managed to swerve them so far. I knew this day would come eventually.

What is the MN consensus on how best to dispatch the bastards? Special lotion or shampoo? Lots of combing? Literally no idea where to start 😟. ExP is currently out for supplies.

Considering starting with giving him a skinhead.

EEEEUUUURRRRGGHHHH!

We're in the same position. Have escaped them for years and now the little bastards just won't quit!

To be honest, combing seems to work the best. Just make sure you brush the hair first as the nit comb will tangle on any tiny knot.

There is an Australian brand of lotion (nitwits) which seems pretty good, but it does seem to make the hair greasy for a couple of washes.

Bit overdramatic OP!

Get some nit lotion, order a nitty gritty comb off Amazon. Do what you can with the lotion and comb that comes with it till the nitty gritty comb arrives.

The drama made me laugh! There’s a protocol of conditioner-and-combing to break the cycle of eggs hatching/adults maturing and reproducing. It’s a little time consuming for a few days (easier on short hair) but it worked for us.

Nitty Gritty combs are in boots now, they are the only thing that works, remove eggs and lice, fantastic product.
To PP.. it feels bloody dramatic the first time actually!

Pure tea tree oil mixed in with either conditioner or an oil smother on hair and stick a shower cap on for 15 to 30 mins bits and eggs fall out easy even with a plastic nit comb. If using oil it can take a couple of shampoos to get it out properly.

I feel your pain!! DD brought them home last summer - 9 years we avoided it! Nitwits is bloody brilliant. Hers were tenacious (and lovingly shared to me) and after trying Lyclear, Hedrin, Vammousse and condition / combing I found that Nitwits was the killer, combined with nitty gritty comb. Repeat 7 days later. Blast with hot hairdryer.

Hedrin mousse or gel (the leave in ones) - these work by suffocating the little fuckers rather than poisoning them like the pesticides, which they can build up resistance to.

Use as instructed (2 treatments a week apart)

In between treatments comb through with nitty gritty comb and a load of cheap conditioner.

Once clear do a regular comb through with conditioner, to check and ensure bit free.

In my experience tea tree etc doesn't really make a difference.

Another vote for lots of conditioner and a nitty gritty for a few days!

The shampoos are good too, but regular combing with conditioner does the job too.

Thanks all. Sorry for being a drama queen but I've never seen them before and it has freaked me out a lot little 😳.

Have applied Lyclear and am about to rinse off now.

Have ordered Nitwits and a Nitty Gritty comb to arrive tomorrow.

Re: the conditioner - do I just apply conditioner to dry hair and comb Witt but comb? Then rinse conditioner out? Do the nits fall out?

Poor DS hates the shower full stop so this is going to be horrible for him, can't be helped obvs.

Thanks for the advice and keep it coming.

I’ve just watched ‘The Good Life’ episode, ‘Whose Fleas are These?’

No help, but a funny coincidence!

The bad news is, that by the time you notice them you probably all have them. Check the whole family.

Get a nitty gritty comb, nit treatment for the whole family and a cheap conditioner (tea tree is meant to be good).

Wash all your pillow cases/bedding the same day you treat everyone's hair. (You'll have to repeat the treatment after a week or so and I also washed all bedding again then.)

In between and after the treatment you will need to comb for nits every 2 or 3 days until you don't find any anymore.

Just wet their hair and put lots (a good handful or two) of cheap conditioner through wet hair. Put a towel around their shoulders and plonk them in front of the TV (because this used to take ages for my daughter's long hair).
Comb section by section and wipe the comb on a sheet of kitchen roll. You'll see the suckers.
When you've been in the clear twice you can stop.

Repeat after several weeks because your DC has brought them back again!

Thanks honey.

Have scoured DD's head with CSI level scrutiny and she definitely doesn't have them. Fairly sure I would know if I had em?

Have stripped beds.

You dont need to strip beds, it's not worms!

Mine hated the shower too. I just took their tops off and tipped their heads back over the bath with a towel over their eyes to wet hair. You need a lot more conditioner then you would use normally.

If you deal with long hair then I found brushing it dry before wetting it will help detangle it.

Don't forget to wash hair brushes too.

Once finished combing you just wash out the conditioner. (Towel on edge of the bathtub; eyes pressed on towel. Nothing else needs to get wet).

No need to go crazy on laundry

Nhs - There's no need.... to wash laundry on a hot wash.

It is worth treating whole family with a comb through.

Tbf it was bedding change evening anyway. I've just washed it all a bit hotter than usual. Can't do any harm.

Have just combed out quite a few dead nits (over half an hour of constant combing). Need to get DS to bed v soon so am I ok to leave it for now? Do I treat again tomorrow or wait a day or two?

Not sure how much hair your son has but rather than just combing the whole head over and over, I would do sections making sure you get the bottom layers from the roots too.

I used conditioner every three days until we were in the clear twice.

I would wash pillowcases etc, it's not true that they only live on your head, they don't die instantly when off it - I kept one alive for days in a glass to check

But they wouldn't leave the head voluntarily so wouldn't be on the pillow case

Any pound shop conditioner, liberally applied, & the Nitty Gritty comb. Comb in sections, working from the front, backwards to the nape of the neck. That way you don't risk combing any eggs or baby lice into any sections previously cleared. (Idiot me - took a while to figure that out... DD has mega hair & I couldn't work out why I couldn't quite shift the buggers).

Keep a big bucket of warm water next to you, for rinsing the comb after each pass. And a hand towel over your knees to protect them... the conditioner tends to slop about a bit, unless your DC's hair is very short. My DD has had them twice. I used to sit her down with a film on to keep her quiet.

How has it been OP? My 3 yr old has just got them from nursery 😭 she has very fine mid length hair so an off to buy Hedrin first thing.
I read hair dryers and straightening kills them due to the heat, mines due a wash so doing first thing, i dry and straighten as standard so hopefully if any there they'll burn. Not seen anything in my hair yet and i know she didn't have any on Tuesday. Just wonder who she's hugging at nursery to catch them