Please please help - head lice. Worst infestation I've ever seen

[LEMtheoriginal]

I am horrified and disgusted. My poor dd

We had visitors just before Xmas and we used headrin two weeks - sorted. Or so we thought.

Just done DD'S hair with here in once as she was itchy and I've never seen anything like it

I have been combing them out of DD'S hair since 7pm and it's horrific. Like millions of them I am mortified. Like a black film of nits and it's never ending.

I need to know what to use or should I take her to the Dr? I feel we need something stronger but what??

[Notso]

I've always just used the nitty gritty on wet hair then a regular plastic comb on dry hair everyday for a week then every other day the next. DC's primary send home any child found with live lice which helps.

[CotswoldStrife]

Yay OP! Well done!

Agree with TinklyLittleLaugh that combing is still needed though even after the Hedrin once (gloopy suffocating silicone product).

[LEMtheoriginal]

Yes!!!!!! Just done DD'S hair with the nit comb and not one little fuckers left will maintain my every other day routine for another week just to be sure - hallelujah

[Potteryprincess30]

@TinklyLittleLaugh they don't use strong chemicals in the products anymore, its a oil type stuff that suffocates the lice. They became immune to some of the chemicals from the old days.

Of course they should be removed with conditioner after the shampoo treatment, but you need the lyclear to kill the eggs.

I need to start this business...sigh

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Those saying the chemicals are easier than combing out;you still have to comb out though, you can't leave your kid with a headful of dead lice and eggs.

Conditioner and toothcomb all the way here and Friday night is headcheck night.

[Potteryprincess30]

@MiaowTheCat lol. Hair down only at the weekends, thems the rules in this house

[Potteryprincess30]

@Beahun I am seriously considering it! I absolutely love destroying them and freeing children and parents alike from their reign of terror.

I need to take this show on the road!

It is probably slightly wrong that I get excited when an opportunity to exterminate occurs though

[Beahun]

Potteryprincess30
Don't know what you do job wise but seems like there is a business opportunity for you. People would pay good money for you to getting rid off their and their DCs nits.😀😀

[Potteryprincess30]

@LEMtheoriginal I wish! Honestly though I just hate them so much and have seen so many friends wasting time and money on other treatments not to mention the pain and suffering of the poor kids getting them again and again.

I never got them myself in primary school but had them so many times in secondary school. My mother never brought the stuff and she was fairly neglectful when it came to either noticing I had them or trying to get rid of them. The shame and constant combing of trying to get rid of them had given me a deep hatred of the beasts and inspired me to do maximum research for extermination.

My daughter will never go through what I did with them. I just wish I could help you out after school today, I honestly would!

[omBreROSE]

Mine have never had nits.
Son 19
Son 14
Daughter 9

[LEMtheoriginal]

I have it has more to do with people not reacting to the toxins from the insect bites - so I get massacred whilst dp doesn't seem to get bitten.

[HateSummer]

I very very rarely get insect bites; even abroad, the mosquitoes just don't seem to like the taste of my blood.

This is my husband. He never gets bitten and he doesn’t remember ever getting nits. I’m sure I read somewhere once that some people give off a certain type of pheromone or something that mosquitos don’t like. I, on the other hand, am a mosquito’s idea of food heaven.

[LEMtheoriginal]

potteryprincess do you work for LYCLEAR?? it will definitely be the next one I try

[dailymailsdrugsrunner]

Cheap Vodka, a shower cap and a dog flea comb did my kids fine when they got them. Listerine also works but ONLY the original.

Swig of vodka for you then liberally souse their hair with the rest of it. You want it dripping.
Cover with a showercap and leave for an hour.

Then without rinsing apply plenty of conditioner. Lots and lots of it. And comb.

[allegretto]

Those suggesting combing them out with conditioner over a few days are part of the problem.

Nitty gritty combs don't remove the eggs on our fine hair (do they on anybody's??) so the comb is only good for removing live headlice. You need to repeat when the eggs have hatched to get all of the lice - there is a small window of opportunity when the nymphs (babylice) are hatched but not big enough to lay their own eggs when they need to be combed out - I think it is about ten days that you have to continue doing it to be sure. Not really practical to keep kids off school for ten days.

[PoorYorick]

Nits def prefer some heads to others - DD1 had them on and off for years - DD2 never got them, despite frequently sharing a bed with DD1. Very odd.

I wonder if there's a correlation between that and people who do or don't get bitten by mosquitoes.

I had waist length hair at school, very thick, and only got nits once or twice; there were several school outbreaks and I somehow missed them. I very very rarely get insect bites; even abroad, the mosquitoes just don't seem to like the taste of my blood.

[PurpleCrazyHorse]

DD (8yo) has only had two lice in her lifetime (childminder spotted them when she was about 3yo). Of course, she hasn't had any since because I bought a huge bottle of Hedrin and a Nitty Gritty comb when she started school. Typical that we've not needed to use them since.

DD does have her hair dried with a hair dryer and she swims too, so maybe that helps??? Either way, she always wears her hair up at school and I'm going to get it cut shorter so we can comb it regularly with the Nitty Gritty.

[JemimaHolm]

UK schools need to get tougher on this. You aren't supposed to send a kid in to school for 48hrs after D&V to ensure they don't infect anyone else, so I do not understand why it is acceptable to send children in who are passing on headlice.

Those suggesting combing them out with conditioner over a few days are part of the problem. Unless you are keeping the child off school until they are clear it is probable that they are passing the lice on to other children.

[merrychristmasyafilthyanimal]

Sounds excessive but I would check her bedding and wash her pillowcase daily, the little buggers can hide out on pillows.

for you and DD, lice are horrible

[TattiePants]

My DCs have got to the age of 7 and 11 and never had them despite there being several outbreaks at school over the years. I've no idea why not, don't think we do anything different to other families. I guess it just comes down to luck.

[Verbena37]

If she has long hair, consider cutting it much shorter to help make it easier to comb them out.
She can grow it again but it will make it so much easier when conditioning and combing.

[soberexpat]

Mine hasn't had lice yet...I also never had them as a child. I don't remember anyone having them come to think of it. I wonder why that is?

[Potteryprincess30]

@NotExactlyHappyToHelp you are so right. I use hairspray on my daughters head nearly every day too. No wonder they are in school all the time if people are using hedrin and combing or just combing with oil or conditioner often.

They literally need to be completely killed, the whole house treated, everyone's bedding washed and they will be gone, otherwise the cycle will continue even if you think they are gone for a month ect, they will return

[NotExactlyHappyToHelp]

Oh god there’s nothing I fear more than lice. When DS was small he’d love helping his grandparents in the garden and often got covered in soil and compost. Brushed his hair one night and naively assumed the little black bits were little bits of mud from gardening. Washed his hair and thought no more of it. Next day he was crawling 🤮.

Lyclear worked for us it’s good stuff.

A friend told me hairspray is brilliant for prevention so he always has a light mist before school now and fingers crossed we’ve never had them again.