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Original poster

Please help me get rid of son's nits!

56 replies

BuzzingBumbleBee123 · 01/12/2020 09:08

Posting here for traffic. Have been through his hair morning and night yesterday with the treatment but have seen more in his hair this am!

Using Full Marks and a nit comb.

Actually very stressed about this. Feel so terrible that I haven't got rid of them. Feel like a crap mother! Trying not to let him see it bothers me too.

Sounds like a ridiculous first world problem, I know!

Any advice gratefully received!

Thanks all

OP posts:
GirlOnFireA · 01/12/2020 11:10

Ok slather on Hedrin once - it basically smothers the live fuckers and kills them! But then you need to remove eggs so when you’ve washed out hedrin once sit them in somewhere near a sink and take a section at a time and comb with the nitty gritty then RINSE the comb under a running tap each time! Then blow dry (and straighten the hair) then get a head torch or sit in a very brightly lit room and go through each section of hair and pull off any left over eggs with each egg squeeze it between two thumbnails you’ll hear a pop if there is a live nit in there!

makingmiracles · 01/12/2020 11:15

Full marks is pants and not very strong, hence why its on the shelf at supermarkets and not behind the pharmacy counter-that’s what a pharmacist told me.

Hedrin overnight and nitty gritty comb, every day to start with then every two days after that. Boys are easier as they can have their hair really short, I’ve shaved my boys hair off on number 2 when they were small for that reason. A girl with bum length wildly curly hair is another matter!! 2 yrs ago i was very nearly going to shave hers off as the infestation just kept coming back!!

HugeAckmansWife · 01/12/2020 11:23

Definitely use teatree shampoo and a repelling spray as normal, hot wash all bedding etc. Best treatment I ever used was one I bought in France but cant get here but I've found they do mostly work with repeated applications and thorough comb throughs..i second the suggestion of chocolate and a good film. When you comb through, have a bowl of hot water and kitchen towel to wash the comb out each time. Its quite grim seeing them all floating about in the bowl but satisfying to see how many you've caught!

Shesellsseashellsontheseashore · 01/12/2020 11:27

Conditioner and nitty gritty comb.

Gooseygoosey12345 · 01/12/2020 11:29

Hedrin once is the only one that works reliably! It's not an insecticide, it dehydrates them so they can't survive. That and a really good nit comb

WhyNotMeThough · 01/12/2020 11:31

Same as PP's, one treatment then heaps of time, centimetre by centimetre with conditioner, not comb and wiping on kitchen paper towel. Repeat till gone over a few days.

BakedBeeeen · 01/12/2020 11:31

Get a nitty gritty comb - a normal comb does not remove all the eggs , you only need 1 egg and it all starts again!

BakedBeeeen · 01/12/2020 11:31

Also I find hair length irrelevant- my son had nits in hair 5mm long 😬

Babymamaroon · 01/12/2020 11:49

Just to echo PP to say make sure you wash all the bedding and clothing/uniform. I remember having a scout on a pillow and saw one walking across it!!!

Wannabegreenfingers · 01/12/2020 11:51

100% use the 17 day conditioner route. It's time consuming but is the only thing to get rid of them. Google it.

unmarkedbythat · 01/12/2020 11:53

DS2 had a case of nits once that would not go and we shaved his head. Drastic option maybe but it worked and he loved it. He looked like a little thug for a few weeks though.

Rhayader · 01/12/2020 11:56

We’ve only had them once but I went through DDs hair with a nitty gritty and normal conditioner. Then I dried her hair with a hair dryer on warm setting, spending 2 minutes at the roots on each section of hair, if you’ve missed any eggs it dries them out and the don’t hatch.

I did the hair drying thing for the next few nights but never saw another one.

Bluntness100 · 01/12/2020 14:43

@BakedBeeeen

Also I find hair length irrelevant- my son had nits in hair 5mm long 😬
Honestly. My daughter had waist length very curly hair when she got them, trust me it makes a difference,,
Anoisagusaris · 01/12/2020 14:45

Herein is much better than Full Marks.

IndieRo · 01/12/2020 14:47

Malt vinegar. My daughter had them before and bought the most expensive treatment in the chemist. Did not work. Somebody told me to use malt vinegar and it worked.

ODFOx · 01/12/2020 14:50

If you put full marks on overnight and they are there this morning then you didn't put enough on. You need to slather it on so the hair is wet from root to tip and the scalp is covered.
The dim tic one treatment work by blocking the insects' air holes along the abdomen so even a few dry areas on the scalp will be like a safe haven for them. If you coat them all they will die, so even if you don't comb them all out the next morning the ones left will be dead and can't multiply before you next comb.

M0mmyneedswine · 01/12/2020 15:12

Dd has long curly hair, we had nits on and off for 2 yrs until she stopped sitting with the same girl. Conditioner and nit comb every day for a week then once a week to find them before they mulitply. Check everyone in the house surprising how many were in ds short hair

CannibalQueen · 01/12/2020 15:14

Ignore the liquid. Just use the nit comb every day. Every day. It’ll not be instant but they will all be removed. Or just for the satisfaction, get one of these small electric nit combs that give a loud zap when they catch a nit.

Witchend · 01/12/2020 15:42

I've found the most effective, especially on the girls' long hair is actually not a nit treatment but mouthwash. Listerine I think it's called. Soak the hair in listerine, put a showercap over it and let them play in the bath for 15 minutes, then wash hair as normal, and comb out with a nit comb.
Repeat after 5 days, 10 days, 15 days and none have survived that.

It only kills off live ones, not eggs, so you do need to do a repeat. With ds I've only needed to repeat at 10 days, with the girls I do the other days as well because their hair is so thick and long it's easy for one to get missed.

WiddlinDiddlin · 01/12/2020 15:56

The problem is (having had nits three times as an adult!)..

People don't understand the nit life cycle and keep getting reinfected from the same source.

There is no need to treat your whole house either, they don't live off the human head for very long (24 hours at most) so as long as you put clean bedding on after treatment and either avoid places heads rest (backs of fabric sofas for example MIGHT sustain a live louse for a while) for 24 hours or steam treat them, that'll take care of household stuff.

Nits hatch between 6 and 9 days so yes if you treat once and look again even 24 hours later, you'll likely see newly hatched nits - so then folk think 'oh well the nit treatment didn't work...' and give up (and that is how nits end up resistant!)

Treat again.

Every day after treatment comb whilst the hair is wet with conditioner, you can rinse the comb under a tap or dunk it in a jug of warm soapy water (soapy so that the nits sink) to rinse off any nits or lice.

Every day kid goes to school, keep hair tied back tightly or short, and use a teatree based repellant spray on it too (lavender is good as is neem oil!)

Treat again after a week.

Keep up the combing and the repellent spray until child is old enough to keep their head away from their mates!

In my case, repellent spray and combing with a lavendar oil based conditioner kept me nit free until my brain saw sense and left the boyfriend who had given me them three times (I was young, you have to learn this shit!) - even though he remained absolutely riddled with them!

gamerchick · 01/12/2020 15:59

With boys, definitely a buzz cut. Not the most popular of suggestions but it solves the immediate problem.

FromageRay · 01/12/2020 16:04

I have spent weeks, months actually, treating my kids long, thick hair. Every time I thought we were winning another one would turn up on the comb. I tried so many treatments but Nit Not has finally got rid of them. I got it from Amazon. Good luck!

CherryRipe1 · 01/12/2020 16:05

After repeated infestations & throwing the pharmacy shop at my dd's head only for the little b'stards to return, I discovered Neem oil. Buy online or at an Asian grocery shop. Slather on, leave over night. It absolutely reeks! Comb through, wash & voila! They never returned. Apparently it messes with the reproductive system, the eggs & nymphs.

Covidnomore · 01/12/2020 16:06

With boys, definitely a buzz cut. Not the most popular of suggestions but it solves the immediate problem.

Well since I have been cutting my DS hair throughout lockdown, would definitely be what I would do!

Funnily enough he had them a little bit when he was younger (thanks big sis). His hair was too fine so I had to pick out when he was watching TV Shock. Never had them again thankfully but short hair probably helps.

lesleyashfishlips · 01/12/2020 16:21

ORIGINAL listerine or vodka. The alcohol in it poisons the little fuckers.

Liberally apply to hair and then wrap in a shower cap/cling film. Park DC infront of a film sat on a towel. Leave an hour, and then applying a really thick, greasy conditioner comb through every millimetre of hair with a nitty gritty type comb I brought on Amazon. Keep wiping the comb on kitchen roll.

And repeat this every 3 days for a fortnight. It's a bit labour intensive but it's the only thing that's worked for me.