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?

I think that's a bit mean & judgemental unless you were joking? 🙄

I've been in many schools over the years & unfortunately there were always the same kids who were infested & so inevitibly they spread like wildfire, not their fault at all, just parents who couldn't be bothered & believe me notes were sent home to ALL the pupils & still... & an ex of mines little sister was coming home weekly full of the little pricks & this was despite her dad, her sister & me when I was in their house going through the whole rigmarole & the amount of the live ones that came out over the bath or into a basin in from of the TV was horrific, they're disgusting as are any parasites but it's part of school life unfortunately

On your last point. Can I point out that little boys do have an opinion on how they have their hair. My long haired little boy is an adult now and still has very long hair. He ties it up in a pony tail for work

The idea of cutting it is something he won’t ever consider

I sympathise due to the hair type. It’s a very annoying phase. Mine used to fall asleep as it took so long to comb systematically. As well the Nitty Gritty comb used the Nitty Gritty preventative spray daily as well as tea tree based conditioner. Advice to the child (not putting heads together etc) if they are old enough to understand and follow this.

Based on what you’ve said I would consider this is likely re infection from school, which is what we had. One parent didn’t treat their child’s headlice at all unfortunately.

Wet hair, lots of conditioner, and nitty gritty comb, rinse comb after each section. Comb downwards, then tip head and comb again.
Then make it part of your routine every day/ week till they've gone. Do the whole house too, and wash bedding, coats etc. X

A Nitty Gritty Comb saved my life, a full week of full comb outs small section by section and a broken back from bending to do it my daughter has very very long thick hair. It wasn’t pleasant for any of us but it worked. I then did it every three days, then every week for 2 months. Washed all bedding, soft toys, soft throws etc. I do go to extremes and feel overwhelmed but it works. Good luck OP.

Mine had thick waist length hair. Clippers were mentioned. Actually I smothered their hair in vaseline for four days over half term. You then use a nitty gritty daily on it. It's best done outside as lice can survive off the head for up to three days. If you can go somewhere else for a couple of days even better as your house may be the cause of the infestation (his soft toys and bedding etc). Vaseline breaks down nits and suffocates the lice. It was the only thing that worked after months of reinfections.

To wash it out, put shampoo on the hair then wash as normal. Don't get the hair wet first.

Wet hair
sit with towel around his shoulders
conditioner liberally thru hair
comb with nit comb after each comb, dip comb in bowl of water (change water couple of times whilst doing this)
wipe comb clean each time with clean pieces of loo paper, lit roll or tissues
repeat every day
use tea tree shampoo if poss
use tea tree conditioner if poss
spray, run tea tree oil over/thru hair
👍

Try this very old fashioned but works mothballs naphthalene crushed in coconut oil. comb through leave on hair all day stinks but worked on us when we were young.

Nit comb and conditioner all the way, I gave in with the chemical treatments.

I always tied my daughters hair into a ponytail, oh and bring back the nit nurse. 57 here and never had an head lice incidence until my daughter went to school, it was never ending 🤦‍♀️

My little sister got headline twice. She had thick hair down past her butt. I was the one who sat and did most of the combing of everyone's hair. How we got rid is very easy. You can't just treat his head you need to wash everything, all bedding, carpets, couches, anything fabric that he has put his head on. While your washing everything use the shampoo to kill the lice, then sit him down and comb his hair while he's watching a movie with the nit comb. Do this for everyone in the household. The only reason my sister's headline came back was because the friend she was playing with never treated her hair, so we said she couldnt play with that girl anymore.

Combing, combing and more combing unfortunately. Most lice are resistant to chemicals now. Make sure his hair is tied up whenever he's at school and use a repellent shampoo with tea tree in

Nitty gritty comb, nitty gritty spray. Daily until his head is clear. Then tea tree shampoo and the nitty gritty defence spray daily.

Only thing that worked for my daughter

Get a hair shaver and do it yourself number 1 or 2 all over!! It will grow back, when it does Keep it tied back, better still plait it, that will stop his hair touching other children's, don't forget to treat all the family and wash bedding, towels etc on a 60 wash! Good luck 🤞

With all due respect @Hanarb , you said that you spent hours every evening, then two hours every evening to then saying that your son won't sit still at all while you comb it and I suspect it's the last. Not slating you, but the only way to successfully eradicate nits is to forensically comb the hair, night and after night for a few nights and then repeat again a week later. It is laborious, it is painful, it is boring and incredibly irritating but it is the only way to get rid of them.

I have long, thick, what is described as 'lustrous' hair and I had nits countless times when my children were in Montessori. I remember one of the staff told me at the time that it was the same child who was spreading the nits and it was clear that the parents had not treated the child properly. It was so maddening. My children also have good heads of hair and it involved a nit treatment, then lathering hair with conditioner and fine tooth combing (in multiple sections) the hair while cleaning the comb repeatedly on a white paper towel so you can see what is being combed out. All bedding, towels, clothes etc laundered. Every evening thereafter for 3-4 evenings painstakingly finetooth combing all of our hairs again. A week later repeat course of action. It is a nightmare and a pain in the ass but I think it an awful pity to cut your boys hair when it can be avoided! It's a big commitment but it's the only way to get rid of them!

@badatdecisions

Also little boys with long hair always make me think that mum wanted a girl so she's pretending she got one.

Hmmm yeah this. ^ I have heard a number of people say the same too. JMO, but I find it so bizarre when someone has a boy with long hair. And as I said earlier, some mums of boys are obsessed with their son's 'gorgeous, long, thick, wavy, glossy curls.' It's so cringeworthy! 😬 You don't get mums of girls banging on about their daughter's gorgeous long, thick, wavy, glossy curls!

It does make you wonder if they secretly wanted a girl.

just checking in that you are washing his bedding/pillows and protectors and his brush and comb set are also being washed daily. ?

It takes patience and a ton of creamy hair conditioner, but you will get rid of the bastards. Just a tip, check, change, and vaccum pillow cases. It’s a myth that Nits die as soon as they leave the head. I once trapped 5 of them in a closed Petri dish, with nothing; obviously no blood supply. They were crawling around for days… It took the bastards 6 days to die.

This might come as a massive shock to you, but many of us have moved on past silly 1940s stereotypes and came to the realisation years ago that - prepare yourself - boys can have long hair too! I know! So shocking, isn’t it? God, it’s almost as shocking as thinking women don’t have to stay home and have babies! What is the world coming to, eh? 🙄 🙄

My DDS had long wavy hair and I loved it, and my DS did too and I loved his aswell - thick, beautiful waves. He came after my DDs as did my friend’s son who came after her DD and had long blond curly hair, so we weren’t ‘wanting girls’. Can you not even conceive of the idea that boys can have long hair???

Boys can have long hair, like cooking, do ballet, etc, and girls can have shaved heads, be mathematicians, and play football. Join us here in 2024 and shake off those ridiculous stereotypes.

Anyone can have long hair - but a child with out of control nits who wont sit still long enough to remove them should have it cut. Anyone can also have short hair - and should have nit free hair.

Judgemental much?! Headlice will infest whoever they like, hair length or not.

She was hardly judgemental - how long is needed to get rid of nits from short vs long hair?

Agree. A child with long hair is far more likely to get nits (than one with short hair,) and will struggle to get rid of them. He's a boy anyway, get his bloody hair chopped off. Young boys aren't meant to have long hair.

Once you've finally got rid of them use tee tree shampoo as lice hate the menthol smell

Why aren't young boys meant to have long hair?

Wow @ your last statement @badatdecisions

Honestly some people on here are just ridiculous and judgemental.

Ever consider the child themselves having their own opinion on their own hair... That would be shocking, right?