AIBU to be cross about nits?

[Catnao]

Now, in my line of work and my partner's, nits are a sort of occupational hazard, and we are vigilant about the little buggers and do regular gorilla style grooming sessions to check for infestation. However, in holidays, like the half term we've just had, we become more nonchalent about the situation.

I DID NOT HAVE NITS ON WEDNESDAY. I know, cos I went to have my hair cut and always get my partner to check before this rare event due to potential humiliation and screaming by hair dresser.

Baby sat my friend's daughter Thursday. Long, waist length tresses loose all over the place. NOW I HAVE JUST HAD TO TREAT HAIR for second time at this time of night due to f8cking lice. My friend rang me earlier. I mentioned the nit outbreak. She says "Oh, I know it's an arse isn't it? Have been treating X's hair for two weeks now and still not got rid of them". And, breathe.

how does nitmix work solo ??

Rapunzel. Way TOO much. Shouldn't make errors like this!

Is Nitmix available in Boots/Superdrug or more likely 'alternative' medical shops?

Nitmix is only available online. It's a combing agent and also, the scent of it diguises the human smell so that the lice don't go to the nitmixed head. You make up a daily spray and use it too. It smells lovely btw.

Once you use the oils in order to comb the lice out, it'll be highly unlikely that there will be any live lice left, so you shouldn't pass them on. Personally, I comb every night when infested, but the recommended gap is a week I believe. Then retreat and recomb. Use the made up daily spray after or before combing/brushing before school/work and you are very unlikely to get them again. I also often rinse in a solution after washing the hair.
Seriously, I've been using this stuff for years and the only time we've got lice was when I ran out or forgot to spray.

Thanks solo I'll check it out, that was a bit lazy of me not googling before asking the question.

I have NEVER used any chemicals on my DC, I look every day at their hair, and if I find any critters I don't send them into school until I have got every egg out. I use the nitty gritty and conditioner.

I have not encountered nits ....yet??? But please forgive me for being naive but I don't understand why people won't use chemicals to get rid of them? Surely the reason so many people seem to have them is some people don't actually get totally rid of them by using 'alternative' methods. I am happy to be corrected but it seems a tad over the top not to use chemicals to get rid of the things...now I'm itching!!

The lice develop a resistance to the chemicals over a while
I am not keen to use insecticides in the garden let alone on the family's hair
The other chemicals that coat the lice are expensive, so its possible you treat the hair, get rid, then the next couple of days they're caught again.

Regular combing through with nit comb, usually with conditioner, is one of the best ways

Another method I liked was coating the hair in olive oil, or another oil, with maybe tea tree and lavedar oil.
Wrap cling film around oily head for at least half an hour.
Comb through with nit comb
Apply shampoo straight to hair, then wash
and wash again
recomb through

Another tip I heard for girls with long hair is to use lots of hairspray and plait tightly.
I use Neem & propolis shampoo which is supposed to be anti-parasitic. Another of DS's friends had nits the other week but DS(3yo) didn't have any. Found plenty of cradle cap though!

Thanks Ratsspeaker but....

1. How does using olive oil and a comb actually get rid of the eggs?

2. If the lice become resistant to the chemicals over a while does that mean that chemicals don't work at all?

3. I genuinely want to know what negative effects the chemicals could have, surely they have passed some stringent tests to be on the market

These are genuine questions

Shewas, they use poisons in food and drink that have been passed for human consumption ~ aspartame being just one of them. With pesticides, you are basically using a toxic substance on your Dc's and yourselves ~ how else would the lice die if not to poison them? Ok, Hedrin suffocates them by coating themetc etc, but surely if it's coating the lice with a suffocating agent, it must be coating the scalp of your Dc's too? surely that's not a good thing?

Totempole, I did put a link into my post of 10:12 yesterday...

HERE

Here is a thread where I recommended it and someone actually tried it (!!!!) and, well read for yourself I think this is the page, it's MadHairDay

Why not Solo your dc have a whole body Hedrin free and a face,it's just the hair?

Thanks Solo and everyone else

It's not just the hair, it's in contact with the scalp and the scalp is skin and skin needs to breathe...

Its on the scalp for 12 hours, and as has been pointed out, the rest of the body is free of it.

Hedrin is the most child friendly way I have found of getting rid with a product. Its hardly like you are coating their whole body in something icky! Talk about an over reaction!

I found that Hedrin stopped working after a while. We had a lot the first year of school. Since I stopped using Hedrin (well, the equivalent that I buy here) and started using the nitty gritty comb with conditioner treatment that they have been much easier to shift.

I don't know why people protest about this. It is MORE work, it is not the easier way out but it works.

Over reaction or not; I try to look into anything at all that I'm administering to my children; they are my responsibilty and I want to do my best for them.

You can do what you want to your Dc's btw.

You can do what you want to your Dc's btw

Thanks

Well what do you expect me to say? You think I'm over reacting and I don't, so you do what you do and I'll carry on over reacting.

MdmLindt but the Nitty Gritty comb doesn't always work,far from it thats my whole point. People think they've got the lot out but fail to see the teeny newly hatched lice. Said hatchlings then grow,lay,crawl to other heads and the whole thing starts again.It only takes 1 or 2 to go unnoticed.

My 3 dc have thick long hair,even with masses of conditioner and combing for hours I find it nigh on impossible to get every single egg/lice out. Also it hurts if you do it close to the scalp,it pulls hair out and frankly with 3 kids to hear read,do homework with,cook tea for I find it impossible to comb for hours every night even if it did work-which it doesn't.

There's quite a few myths still floating around about headlice, which makes it really hard for parents to make an informed choice about how to best deal with headlice. I've become quite well informed on the subject because I have no life and quite often end up nitcombing kids of friends (I really need to get a new hobby

Apparently, tying back hair makes very little difference. Lice do not travel up and down the shaft of the hair, they stay close to the scalp where it's nice and warm and where the food supply is. Heads actually have to touch or be very close in indeed for the lice to travel over. This is why nits tend to spread throughout families (where there is obvious close contact) and primary-age children, where there are lots of group activities with children sat close together cross-legged on floor with heads together etc. It's the same reason it becomes much less of a problems at secondary school, when children's personal space is much more respected at school and children tend to have less close contact with each other unless close friends.

Many (though not all) topical solutions are not 100% effective and you still have to comb anyway to remove dead lice and eggs, so I would personally consider them a waste of money, though they can be useful as a first response in a major infestation. I've found the nitty gritty comb us the most effective method, though it does require very thorough combing with the hair divided into small sections as well as repeated combings every 2-3 days for about 10 days to ensure you bust the lifecycle (as Mila Mae says, it's inevitable you will miss a few eggs, but repeated combings ensure you pick them up as they get bigger and before they have the chance to complete the lifecycle and lay eggs themselves). Obviously, if you have to keep doing this throughout your child's years at primary it becomes a royal pain! I avoid it by using the nitty gritty comb twice a week (much less thoroughly and more like a normal comb) when I wash DC's hair. That way, I spot a problem before it becomes an infestation and without wasting too much time.

Unfortunately, I think regular nit combing is pretty much an inevitable part of parenthood these days and just has to be accepted. My sympathies to everyone who is currently dealing with an infestation.

I only use Nitmix and nit comb and my Dd has extremely curly mixed race hair; Nitmix makes the job very easy.

Mila
My DC had nits for a while when we first moved here - repeatedly, despite using chemical stuff to get rid of the. Since I started using the nitty gritty, they have had one single incident and that was dealt with by using the comb every two days until the nits were gone.

I think the problem is when people think that they can use the nitty gritty comb once a week or less after an infestation and that is clearly not going to work.

We use the Nitty Gritty comb nightly(we have 2 combs) when the dc's get nits,it never works.It drags on for weeks,we always then resort to Hedrin which knocks it on the head.

gosh you are the first person I have seen that advocates that
I agree too
I thought it had become politically incorrect to suggest such