Should you be able to SEE nits?

[toweling]

Trying to reassure myself at this time on a Sunday night.

My DC haven't had nits yet but very coincidentally we have ALL had an itchy head for a few days.

I can't see ANYTHING in my DC's hair at all. I've checked multiple times with a headtorch and dry combed it with a nit comb and nothing.

Should this reassure me enough? Is it likely to find them just by looking? Or do you really need to do the conditioner and wet hair combing route?

Why are some posters so adamant that others can see them? Clearly from the asnwers, some have “the gift”, some don’t.

I could never see on a dry hair search, but a conditioned comb would find loads, and I was amazed how they’d managed to hide from my dry hair searching.

I had one a few years ago and it was just one - I spent ages combing knowing it was there (worked in a school at the time)

Het some tea tree oil and add to conditioner and a few drops between washes keeps them away.

Same ingredient in expensive shampoos.

The other think that works is skin so soft and it’s not greedy when washes out easily.

Try selenium shampoo

Look around the back of the ears and nape of the neck, that's their favourite place.

@ChiaraRimini I've looked there and can't see anything at all after looking multiple times, but they're both itching there

We're fighting this battle ATM - MIL has the knack clearly and spotted one last weekend. I then found loads with the nitty gritty.

Quick check with the nitty gritty found nothing during the week, but a proper check this evening one week on with the nitty gritty found loads again, just smaller. I haven't been able to spot any on dry hair.

Feels like we're going to be at this for a while. I posted on the class WhatsApp when we first found them but there wasn't exactly a chorus of people saying they'd check/treat.

You can only see them when they have been there a while when the adult lice have grown big and the infestation is bad. A newly hatched bunch of lice will hide in even the shortest of hair and the eggs are only noticeable after a while too or often not at all on light hair. Wet comb with conditioner and wipe after each run through on to some toilet paper or kitchen roll.

This! This is where they hide the most. You should be able to see them if you go looking.

This thread alone is enough to make my scalp itch for days!
My kids have had them a couple of times. They have been a bit different each time and totally agree you need to wet comb to actually track them down. I've been 95% through hair, literally hours in (long and wavy) and tracked them down.
Not much you can do about other parents and care givers. Best of luck!

Nitcombing got a lot quicker here once DC had actually had lice. Before I saw a live one I was questioning every bit of dandruff, but since I've actually seen them IRL I am much more blasé. They get pretty big.

I would do wet hair and conditioner but just a normal nit comb, not a Nitty Gritty. Do it in sections - I do about 8-10 sections all with separate bobbles. If you don't find any live lice this way, I think you can be confident, and it'll be quicker in the long run than keeping checking dry and wondering.

When my daughter had them she had bright red scratchmarks on the back of her neck too.

I have 3 young mixed race daughters, trust me they can get them! I used Hedrin and even coconut oil to drown the muthas - fingers crossed that's them dealt with!

Cheap hair conditioner on dry hair and a nitty gritty comb, you'll soon know if there are eggs!

I used to screen weekly with conditioner and a nitty gritty comb.

An infestation is usually maybe 8 lice. If you can see the infestation then it has been there for weeks.

You need to wet comb to be sure

Asking the experts - did the kids yesterday and need to check myself this morning. Will the nitty gritty work on normal wet hair post shower or do I need to load it up with conditioner?

Only One of my 4 has had them, got the message on class WhatsApp that someone had them and sure enough kid 4 had them so conditioner and combed everyone then treated and conditioner and comb for a week after but thankfully ds4 did not share with anyone else, but it made me sooo itchy even now thinking about it. They are easy enough to get rid of you just need patience as it takes a while to comb carefully etc

I’ve come across them at work (paeds nurse) and seen some pretty full on infestations whole head moving etc not nice also had to treat them in a little girl we had long term.

Can someone spell it out to me like I’m an idiot (which I clearly am!)…..what exactly do you do when you do a comb through with conditioner?

wash hair with shampoo first then conditioner on and leave it on and comb? Or conditioner on dry hair and comb?

Doesn't the conditioner kind of jam up the comb? I put Lyclear on the kids heads and then tried to comb through like it said but the solution just foamed up around the comb teeth as I pulled through the hair and then I couldn’t see if there was anything in the comb 😭

Please give me a step by step that I seem to have failed to find on the internet!

@Brckngt

You can either use the conditioner on wet post washed hair or dry. I find dry easier and less messy as they can wash their hair afterwards. They could watch TV whilst I nit combed.

One section at a time squirt a bit of conditioner at the roots. Use the comb and comb through from roots to tip and wipe the comb on a piece of kitchen roll or cloth. Or rinse out in a bowl.

I strongly recommend the nitty gritty, removes eggs really well and breaks legs etc.

You will as they are big fookers ! The eggs as well. I worked in a school and was once doing first aid on a child, they had loads!

My children and I have both been blessed with them too. Nit comb, conditioner and a tissue. Very therapeutic !

I caught them as an adult and didn't notice them till they hatched into lice and I spotted them crawling around. Mind you, I wasn't looking for them with a head torch up until then.

If you have dark hair you will see the eggs. If you have fair hair you will see the nits. Look at the bottom of the hair at the nape of the neck.

Of course you can see lice.

My dd has had head lice constantly for almost 3 years now.

Every other night, I Comb though. Always get some. Some small. One or two full grown.

No matter how throughly I comb I must miss some.

We all comb our hair with a nitty gritty every other night, she passes them to my 3 year old who co sleeps then passes to me and dh.

Hardly anyone else in her class seems to bother. We’ve had children over to play with lice crawling on their foreheads, their parents don’t care. School just say all they can do is send out parentmails telling parents to check and treat.

We used to use treatments but it was getting so expensive. I couldn’t keep spending out for all of us every week for dd to go into school and just get them again.

I tie dds hair in braids, use tea tree oil. Still comes home with live lice.

I thought my DD was absolutely riddled with nits, tons of white things stuck to her hair. But then after extensive googling as I didn't understand how I'd missed them. They weren't nits at all, just a sort of dandruff that encases the hair rather than the flakey stuff I was expecting from Head and Shoulders ads. You can slide them right off the hair shaft unlike nits. If you do see white things in the hair it's worth trying to shift them. If they move easily then it might well be the same thing.

IMO it depends on the colour of the hair. My kids have dark hair so the nits (eggs) are easy to spot, but the lice very difficult. On pale hair the lice would be visible as they are black. If you can’t see nits or lice, then I reckon you’re ok! 🙂

I think it depends on the hair.
When dd1 had them they were so obvious and I saw a louse just when brushing her hair and then could see the eggs.

With dd2 I was checking every day for a couple of weeks after someone in her class had them. But just by parting the hair and looking with a torch as they’d been so obvious on dd1 that I was sure this would be enough. Then she got a rash on her neck and started scratching so I wet combed and she was absolutely riddled with them. They were completely invisible in her hair (both eggs and lice) but wet combing found loads. I felt terrible as she’d obviously had them for weeks. I’ve always wet combed every half term but do dd2 every week now! Conditioner is enough to find them but I’d treat with hedrin or similar to kill them off once found, too easy to miss them just by combing.