DS 9 riddled with headlice, have tried everything under the sun. Please help!

[Hanarb]

DS 9 has been riddled with lice for 3 weeks now. I have tried treatment and spent nearly £100 on various remedies. He has very long, thick surfy hair and it is a nightmare to treat. His teacher has notified me which is mortifying. His childminder said she would get the clippers and shave his hair off (I’m not sure if she was joking). I don’t own any hair cutting equipment but this is seriously taking up so much of my time and causing a lot of stress. What should I do?

PPs saying it’s disgusting 🙄 It’s not. It’s normal.

Nitwits was the only thing that worked for us after trying all the other brands. The combing is just too time consuming.

But I would suggest he is being reinfected, so I think the school needs to get all parents to treat their kids.

I’m sure it’s been mentioned before but just to reiterate, hair straighteners are the answer. They kill all stages of life cycle! Shave it if you like but if not try hair straighteners.

What smell?

There is no reason at all to keep him off school. Indeed the school will be fairly pissed off if you do.

Listerine Mouthwash.
Drench his hair in it and leave it under a shower cap for 15 minutes and then wash as normal, but with lots of fresh water for rinsing.

Repeat daily until clear.
DD had very long (below bottom) thick hair and it was the only thing that worked. I think it made the nits drunk as they just floated off.

I'm just concerned about why you can't comb it through. That's the only thing really.

My two sons both have thick hair and I also like it quite long. Older DS has a really cool wave pattern and younger DS is full curls.

They have had one headlouse infestation and it was a simple job of combing it all through. I'm not aware of any texture of type of hair that would not be possible to comb through while wet and with conditioner in it.

If it helps, I get my DC to either sing songs or listen to music or watch something absorbing to get it done. All 3 of my DC have hair on the long side so even without nits our brushing does take a while!

Is anyone else scratching while reading this thread? Can't be just me!

Nitty gritty comb was the only thing I used. Along with a lot of patience.

When the feckers were first discovered, I'd comb 4-5 times in the first 24-36 hours (morning before school and evening) depending on how bad the infestation was.
The evidence in the rinse bowl for the first two combs would tell me how bad it was, and how many times to do it.

Then I'd comb every second or third day for 2 weeks.

When DD was young she would get them, we would comb her hair with conditioner every night, we couldn't understand why hers were so much harder to get rid of than her sisters. As quick as we could get rid of them she would get them again from school, when I was a child if someone had headlice they would be sent home and not allowed back until they were clear, however this no longer happens which is part of the problem. The only time we were able to solve the problem was during the school holidays, but even then a week into the school term they would be back.

In the end we cut her hair short, this was a last resort as she liked having long hair, but it wasn't fair on her to sit and have her hair combed for a couple of hours every evening.

I’m surprised some kids are getting them so often. I have 3 children in school and 1 has had nits once, and the other two not at all. I wonder why they’re more prevalent in some areas.

With my daughter I got raw coconut oil, literally combed it into her hair, wrapped it up in cling film for 15 minutes then started combing through with a nit comb and crushed them on toilet tissue. Continued until there were no more coming out. Washed out the coconut oil, and plaited the hair to dry. Repeated nightly for a week and for rid of them.

All kids get them, please don't feel embarrassed if you do.

I used a Vodka rinse with a load of drops of tea tree and lavender essential oils when nothing else worked on my hair, did the job

FGS! Look at all the regressive stereotype fans rushing in to totally recommend shaving off a child’s hair just because he’s a boy - and you’re so sexist you don’t like boys with long hair! Would you shave your DD’s hair? Would you shave your own hair if you got nits? Of course not. This is just a nice opportunity to get in and push to have a boy’s long hair shaved off 😠

Vinegar

Doesn’t work

Our granddaughter’s BF had perpetual head lice; her parents were not concerned but it drove DGD’s mum nuts as she was eternally treating them only for them to return.

Then friend and family moved to a town 200 miles away. Problem solved locally but I often wonder if there is now a headlice plague in Weymouth.

I did have to insist DD2 cut her hair - which upset her initially it's thick and brushes can skim leaving bottom layer a mess and it being long wasn't helping - she got nits from brownies I think - and wasn't happy to sit for the combing even in front of TV - so other option was short bob - which suited her and in end she liked.

I'm not anti long hair on boys - DS had it past peak nit age - but sometimes time and money do play a roll.

It's unpleasant to have nits for some kids and can still carry a social stigma - oddly - so if after trying to comb and use treatments hair is too difficult to look after and get rid of nits - then in this house regardless of sex it got shorter to help manage the problem.

If it were the case that it wasn't possible to get a comb through it, I'd certainly advocate cutting it much shorter until matters were dealt with.

A neighbour was upset because a hairdresser refused to deal with her granddaughter's hair. There were no nits, so far as I'm aware, but the hair was long, curly and matted. (The child did not live with the grandmother. Junior secondary school age.) The grandmother cut the hair back a good bit and the hairdresser then agreed to style the hair.

You wont get rid of them all if you dont wash everything else.
Bedding fluffy toys everything.
Nit comb olive oil.
Wear a shower cap indoors and do childs head as much as you can.

Believe me, I've seen girls coming into junior secondary with what the locals used to term 'a nit cut'. At least nowadays, there's a chance that it can be passed off as being 'edgy'.

Douse his head thoroughly in anything really ( vinegar, cheap conditioner, hair mousse, oil) Wrap in plastic wrap ( his hair not him 😀). Send him to bed. In the morning comb through really thoroughly with the best nit comb you can find/afford. Shampoo and off to school. Repeat in 3 days. Repeat again in 6 days. That really should work unless he is getting it from a fellow student.

This. Takes a while and you need to keep an eye on it but it works,

I would buzz his hair off. It's not a big deal at all and will grow back in no time. I had my hair buzzed off for a surgery in 2018 and by the end of 2021 it was very long again (thanks to the pandemic really and no access to hairdressers). And I'm female. I'd suggest buzzing the hair to either gender FWIW.

A whole bottle of tea tree oil conditioner. Use the entire bottle so his hair is dripping with conditioner. Rub it in very well, wrap his hair in a scarf or thin towel so it's not too lumpy to sleep in, and leave the conditioner in over night. Next morning comb it out with a nit comb. All the nits will be dead.

From then on, always wash his hair with tea tree oil scented shampoo, leave tea tree oil conditioner in overnight and then rinse in shower next morning.

Nits (and bed bugs) hate tea tree. This worked for us and as soon as I used tea tree scented stuff, the nits avoided DC.

Shave his hair off, it will grow back. No big deal.

When my DD was younger, and had thick, long hair, the only way we found to get rid of head lice was to use a head lice shampoo (we used Full Marks) and was to treat it, then treat again 6 days later, and then treat again six days after that.

No amount of conditioner/combing/nitty gritty did the trick, because with such thick hair, it was impossible to guarantee that we'd got every one of the little buggers. We tried everything, but they always came back.

But the three treatments, 6 days apart worked perfectly. Bit of a pain to do, but very effective. No need to cut his hair!