Head lice help

[headlicehelp]

Just had an email from DS nursery saying there is a confirmed case of headlice and a few suspected cases. We've to keep an eye on his hair (advice is not to do preventative treatments).
I have absolutely no idea what I'm looking for though!
I've never had headlice. Although I feel itchy after reading the email
Do I just brush through his hair looking at his scalp for anything unusual? He's got very short hair (I cut his hair recently) so they should be easily spotted, right?

You need a proper nit comb. Rub conditioner through his hair - and yours!!
And comb through..
Nits love any hair - long, short, curly and dm's hair!

Can I get a nit comb from the pharmacy? Will any type of conditioner do? Might buy some cheap stuff, don't fancy using my good stuff
I don't think ds 3 is going to be very cooperative about sitting to get his hair combed (one reason it's kept very short!)
Bribery may be needed!

Agree just looking won't tell you much get a nitty gritty comb, conditioner and work through from scalp to tip.

Absolutely hate the buggers dd3 has hadthem recently and she has long long hair it's a nightmare!

A quick google will give you an idea of what you are looking for. I do a quick comb through in the evening with the comb when they are distracted watching tv or something. You can get a spray like Nitty Gritty which is supposed to be a help in deterring them. Tee tree oil is also good behind the ears every morning

DH off to pharmacist for a nit comb and some conditioner.
Will go through all of our hair tonight. Does the comb need disinfected or anything afterwards? Or just a clean in hot water?

Does bedding need hot washed or at I getting confused with bed bugs??

When you've used the kit comb soak it in boiling water with a drop of tee tree oil nits hate that

Get your finest comb and run through his hair in little sections.
Adult head lice will be quite easy to see if he has them.
Look for little dots stuck to the hair close to the scalp that don't dislodge from the hair as you comb it - those are eggs. If you find those then the chances are somewhere on his head there will be an adult laying them.
We have girls so have invested in a nitty gritty comb as the hair is longer - you may not need it if your boys hair is short.
Its pretty gross but google for some pictures - be warned that most are really bad cases. The first time we got that message from nursery I only found one louse and 4-5 eggs but the pictures confirmed that the hairs with the funny thing stuck to them was an egg. (The eggs are stuck on like cement - I found it easier to just pull that hair out than try to pull the egg off. All the bits were flushed down the toilet)

As a preventative now we spritz hair with a water/tea tree oil mix. Also I talk to the kids about how they can only transfer from hair to hair contact so can they remember when they are playing with friends. May have no impact at nursery - but so far Y2 daughter is clear while it goes round her class - she goes 'I know' everytime I remind her to be careful of being head to head with a friend.
Apparently the boil wash of bedding is not necessary but quite frankly I had to do it just to ease the ickiness in my head!

Ah, nits. First time was a big panic and wash of everything. Now I just sigh and reach for the Nitty Gritty comb. We seem to be allergic to the treatment stuff, so just stick to conditioner and regular combining. Bloody parasite ridden children. Might invest in a sheep dip at the front door, so I can dunk them as they walk in!

We kept getting ours back from a girl in DD's class. Now they're at different secondary schools we haven't had a problem. Use a treatment shampoo every week until they're gone. With short hair it should be quick.

Bedding - you don't need to do anything.

Comb doesnt' need disinfecting, no.

For lice I like a white plastic comb with longish teeth if you can find one.

OK - here goes, based on 2 experience of head lice affecting me and DS age 4-5

I really wouldn't use tea tree oil on a nit comb. This stuff is strong and can actually cause irritation to skin. Likewise the so-called prevention sprays, shampoos are a bit of a waste of money IMO. The only thing they did for me and DS was to aggravate sensitive skin

Nitty gritty combs are designed for removing live lice and eggs. They aren't great for detection of live lice. We found a cheap plastic headlice comb from the chemist to be the best at finding lice. You need to wet hair and apply conditioner. Any lice get caught if you comb correctly from scalp to end then rinse the comb between each combing.

Lice don't lice very long off hair so no need to wash bedding. Quick rinse of combs with hot soapy water does the trick to clean them

DS didn't like the nitty gritty comb as it is stainless steel and he found it hurts a bit. It was much better for my long thick hair.

We invested in this kit www.amazon.co.uk/Head-Lice-Bug-Buster-Kit/dp/B003DZTYWY/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=head+lice+community&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1581688564&sr=8-1
and although expensive found it to be great with the different combs.

we had as much success wetting, applying conditioner and combing hair as described in above kit as applying the chemical treatment. We got the nitty gritty comb and treatment via the nhs minor ailments scheme.

I've relatively little experience of finding/worrying about eggs, but plenty of finding live lice. They show up easily enough on the comb.

PS - as PP said, no need to panic. It's OK and no big deal. Honestly. The biggest pain is making sure that all the eggs are gone before you take your children back to the hairdresser in case they refuse to cut their hair

Wipe the comb between each stroke on white kitchen paper. Live buggers are dark so easy to spot.

Coveted his head in conditioner and gave it a good comb through (much screaming ensued), couldn't see anything but will obviously keep checking over the next week (?).
He's now calming down in the bath while daddy chats to him, as I'm persona non grata

No needs to do your hair if he doesn't have them. You can see them easier in short hair - like dandruff that won't move when you try to flick it off.

@Drum2018 that's a relief, I have long, thick hair and was dreading it. I'll keep checking him and if I spot any I'll do the rest of us.

Check behind the ears for red mark's, they bite there.

Argh, this thread is making me itchy!!

Nitty gritty combs by far the best to find the eggs and lice. We do in the bath, hair doused in conditioner, much easier to get the comb through. Wipe the comb on white paper or cloth after each swipe of the comb and try to do it in small sections going root to tip in one movement. then after every hair wash spray with leave-in tea tree spray either home made or bought from the chemist. They hate tea tree....

Instead of putting tea tree oil on his skin (worried about a reaction) would it help if I put it on the collar of his tops for nursery?

Honestly? You are going to need to check his hair pretty much every week. I don’t know whether tea tree oil on his collars will stop head lice - once they haven’t got much room on someone’s head, they get Keene to find new pastures / headspace. They may not like tea tree oil but it won’t stop them walking across heads.

Children are more likely to get headline if they walk / sit with their heads together.

I heard on Radio 4 that tea tree is more effective than any of the treatments you can buy. DD has had them 3 times since September, after avoiding them al through nursery and Reception. A good splodge of tea tree immediately after combing out any bugs, and there are maybe one or two the next morning but she's been bug free after that every time. Fortunately it doesn't irritate her skin at all, whereas the nit comb is an instrument of torture, apparently. Possibly it helps to catch them early. DH has long, thick, curly hair (not jealous at all of his copper ringlets with no sodding grey at 47) so he's highly motivated to avoid them.