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?

How important is the hair to him. It will grow back so if he isn't that fussed I'd cut it. I'd imagine you'll still have to monitor and comb it with a nit comb though

If he wants to keep the hair you will just have to suck it up. Wet it and load it with conditioner and do this every day. I have a girl with really curly hair and understand that it's tricky to get combs through some kid's hair but a bit of water and a good conditioner and honestly even a nit comb should go through

Ignore the people suggesting you're unclean. Nits are a fact of life for school kids. Do you tie his hair back? I have absolutely no issues with little boys having long hair but one thing I've noticed is that they tend to be worse than the girls for letting it run wild 🤣 This just isn't practical for curly hair especially IME. I insist that my dd at least ties hers back and ideally braids it when at school. It's the only way to keep us both sane

It is cruel to let your son continue in this state. Be an adult - cut his hair. If you don’t deal with this very soon, you will have bigger problems.

If you have wet combed it out every day for the last 3 weeks and he still has a lot of them then yes it will be time for a cut.

If you have wet combed it and there's only a few left you could probably persevere with this method for another week then see.

My DS had it and I cut his hair down to a 4 on sides and 7 on top. After that it was a lot easier to get rid of the nits.

My daughters very thick wavy hair I would use the nit stuff on day one, which as a lotion makes the hair very slick and combable. That would stay for max time, combing the whole time . Then wash it off, comb through conditioner and then blow dry and straighten. Tie the hair back for the next day then when she got home conditioner and comb through with dry hair. Rinse it out. Next day condition again in order to comb through. Comb through everyday until treatment t 2 and 3. Always tying it back so the hair doesn't tangle much. Plaits overnight

Home bargains quite reasonable for head lice treatment & comb. You will have to treat the whole family, changing bed clothes, etc. personally I would give short back & sides

& coconut conditioner

Lots of good advice here.

In addition I will tell you my story. I was exaspertaed at the endless headrin/conditioner/combing/headrin cycle of dispair. Then I learned at playtime, the boys would all go into a big scrum with the rest of their football team to discuss tactics for the second half.

I suggested to my son they stopped doing that and the nits went away.

Has anyone mentioned the nuclear option yet? OP, if it's hasn't been banned yet in the UK, get some Derbac M and nuke the fuckers.

NitWits all-in-one head lice treatment is the only product I would recommend. You can get it from Amazon. We used this once, then just kept combing.
Get a bottle of the cheapest coconut conditioner (Tesco do one for 79p). Sit him in the bath with his favourite TV programme on an iPad, smother his hair with conditioner and comb away.
Nitty Gritty comb is good for long hair, although the white nit combs are much easier to see what's been combed out. When my DS had nits we managed to be rid of them within 2 weeks, kept combing every night for about 3-4 weeks though just to be sure.

God! Even READING this thread is making me itch! 😖

I bet he has had headlice longer than 3 weeks @Hanarb ! Probably had them for months.

I know many people have suggested this, before anyone says 'omg RTFT!' but the only answer is to have his hair cut short.

I don't understand why so many mums of boys are so obsessed with the 'long thick wavy curls' their sons have! Just bloody chop it off. He's a boy. He's not going to look odd with short hair!

In my DDs school, pupils got sent home if they were found to have headlice. Not fair to inflict these beast on other people. Get his hair cut short or shaven to a No 3 all over!

My DS had long curly hair as a youngster. Tea tree shampoo kept them away once we’d treated the first and only invasion.

I was able to brush/comb his hair easily though. It would have been a tangled matted mess otherwise, I wouldn’t have allowed him to go to school like that.

Most who have boys with long.thick hair dont maintain it or wash it enough. The kids hair stinks of dirt and sweat. There is a mass of knots on the nape of the neck.

Is it still recommended to treat the things around the child who has head lice?

Stuffed animals, clothing, sheets, etc.?

Have you hot washed his pillowcases? Have you ensured his brush is clean? (As in, the one he uses on a daily basis- if he does?) I was advised to hot wash the pillowcase to get rid of eggs.

Good YouTube videos on how to get rid of head lice

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This is the only thing that worked for me- my daughter has incredibly thick hair and with the colour of her hair it's difficult to see them. I just put this in and leave it overnight or a bit longer and then combed it with a nitty gritty- the nitty gritty alone didn't work her hairs too thick and I must have been missing bits.

Mix tea tree oil with water spray in comb and leave to dry . Same again next day. Keep going till they are cleared .

my mum used sulio dog flea shampoo on us and it worked didn't need to cut our hair,

I also use nitwits! its brilliant ....gets rid of eggs and lice ....not nasty smelling or hard to wash out and one bottle goes a really long way! it usually gets rid of them all with one use too providing that you comb out well.

@Hanarb not shave, but rake to a good barber and get it cut short

Your son has hair that’s impossible to comb and you wonder why he has nits.
I despair!

You are the parent everyone hates. Of course he keeps getting nits - he's infecting his whole class and all the other parents are spending hours combing their children's hair because of you. They are having to work hard to avoid hating your child.

He sits still while you get rid of them (tea tree conditioner and combing at least every 3 days and ideally daily) or you cut his hair.

Nitty Gritty combs are worth every penny, but I would say that the best short term solution would be to shave his hair off and start again. He's nine, he obviously has quick growing hair and he is probably infesting the rest of the class and the other children at the childminder's house. If the childminder has the equipment and is willing to shave off the hair, I would welcome her offer.

I do think that at this point the effect on others at school and childminder outweighs the family reluctance to cut his hair. He's a child, it's the start of summer, and hair grows fast. This need not be traumatic. Consideration for others can't be learned too early.

No one would ever suggest a little girl shave her head for the sake of her classmates.

If he'd rather shave than comb then great, but if he likes his hair he will be able to keep it if OP figures out how to comb it (far from impossible given the number of us combing girls with long, thick hair).