My child's had headlice for weeks

[Boxhoarder]

About 3 or 4 weeks ago my 10 year old dd started complaining of an itchy scalp and thought she had nits. I checked her hair thoroughly but couldn't see anything. She then developed what looked like a heat rash on her neck and her head was still itchy. I checked her hair again but still couldn't see anything apart from a few brown flakes.

Anyway when I checked behind her ears today I noticed her head was riddled with headlice.

I feel absolutely terrible that she's had headlice for weeks now and I didnt notice. The rash on her neck also got worse and I realise now it must be because of the headlice.

How did I not notice? I feel absolutely terrible.

We went through a really bad spell when my daughter was in primary school. One of her class mates never got treated so my daughter kept being re infected. I spent a small fortune on treatments that then didn’t work as they were over used. I was almost at the point of shaving all her hair off it became so frustrating.

Luckily the girl moved schools at the end of a school year and I managed to treat my daughter with two different treatments containing different active ingredients within ten days of each other and that finally got rid of them.

Oddly, none of her siblings got them. She just seemed to have the kind of hair they liked.

You can get the nits but often leave the eggs, which will then hatch and produce more nits.

When mine were in school, I couldn't use a proprietary remover because of their skin, but school didn't recommend the use of chemicals anyway. We used 'bug busting', which meant a weekly comb through with a nit comb and lots of cheap conditioner (which stops the nits moving). Any time we were notified of an outbreak, bug busting was done every other day - yes, a pain, but it does work - until we had the all clear.

I did find nits and eggs sometimes, but I can honestly say we never had a proper infestation. The kids knew exactly what was happening and why, so there were generally no arguments about the frequency.

This is the best way. When I was a teacher I did the conditioner and nit comb procedure a couple of times a week just in case although I don't think I ever had them.

Sympathies OP. Coincided with chicken pox for us. I spent ages saying "poor you still itchy, never mind it'll clear up soon" before fortunately catching them myself and realising what was happening!!

The combing through and rechecking now you’ve realised will be good to pick them up early (used to do weekly).

This comb is really good plus found the ye spray worked well as a deterrent

www.nittygritty.co.uk/product-page/nitty-gritty-conditioning-defence-spray

They are such a pain to get rid of! My daughter has thick, curly hair and hates me combing. We use this stuff as it kills the lice (then twice more, a week apart). The great thing is, I don't have to comb them all out as they are dead, but just check behind her ears and nape of neck as they seem to LOVE those areas!

I'd recommend getting the spray as the bottle is really messy

Full Marks Head Lice Solution Spray 150 ml - Fast & Effective Nit Treatment With Comb, Scalp Scrub, Prevention, Kills Nits, Easy Application, Safe For Kids, No Harsh Chemicals : Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care Marks Head Lice Solution Spray 150 ml - Fast & Effective Nit Treatment With Comb, Scalp Scrub, Prevention, Kills Nits, Easy Application, Safe For Kids, No Harsh Chemicals : Amazon.co.uk: Health & Personal Care share.google/35m1NScSWjNPoJhHx Full Marks

Straighteners do NOT kill the lice because the lice themselves, stay too close to the scalp than the straighteners can get without burning you! 🙄 killing the eggs is pointless if there’s still live lice laying more eggs! https://youtube.com/shorts/jisbruPA-vI?si=cKXY3DVmtedt4iXA&utm_source=MTQxZ

Oh yes they can! I’ve witnessed them jumping myself! There’s also a woman on YouTube who runs a lice removal service and she shows them jumping in a glass jar

I’ve seen them jumping myself

All those people saying lice can’t jump, watch this! Skip to 0:44

Edited as duplicate post

Head Lice Fact Sheet - MN Dept. of Health https://share.google/Ze9HlRJqvttkatvPS

Head Lice: Symptoms, detection and treatment | Bupa UK https://share.google/DTO2ZG7uEmftk0wRP

Plenty more where they come from saying the same thing.

No, they really can’t, human lice are unable to jump. Now if you would like to take on the entire scientific community, go ahead!

Oh they are hideous. We have very thick hair so it's a nightmare. Eventually they sop naturally as children's socialising changes. But keep treating and combing but don't worry about it. It is literally a right of passage.

I’m afraid they can. Did you not see the video I included above which clearly shows them jumping?!

They can’t, if you have found a human lice that can jump then you have found an entirely new and undiscovered species.

As mentioned by pp those of you who claim to be checking and can't see anything need to use cheap conditioner and a nit comb over white paper. If your child keeps scratching their head its likely they have head lice.
Looking with your naked eye will only lead to a later infestation as head lice is so commonplace in schools and child care settings. Most children will catch them at some stage. There are always going to be certain parents who don't give a rats ass and send their child into school riddled.

However I genuinely surprised that in 2025 there are so many on this thread who think they are checking correctly by having a look through their child's head. This lack of knowledge is contributing to the ongoing problem.
I've always checked Dcs hair with conditioner and a nit comb. It just became part of our Sunday night routine. I genuinely thought everyone else knew what to do and blamed outbreaks at school on the parents who don't care.
It seems there are a huge number of lovely caring parents who unfortunately don't know how to identify the problem until the buggers have been there for weeks and weeks. By this stage there will be hundreds lurking in the child's hair and lots of other people will have caught them. It seems like people need reeducating as somethings gone wrong over the years to get to the stage where so many children have visible ones falling out of their hair before their parents are aware.
Maybe it's due to the withdrawal of the Nit Nurse as back then the parents would be informed immediately in a confidential way.
They would be made aware of how to treat them and how to spot the signs for future reference.
When I was growing up every house I visited had a nit comb in the bathroom. It was just one of those things.