Head lice?

[ForeverSausages]

So I stupidly thought that as my son has very short hair (think grade 2 on the back and sides and slightly longer on top) that he couldn't get head lice. I know.

Message from school to say it's essentially an infestation in the class. Picked up Hedrin (the 5 minute one) on the way home from school. Did his hair tonight and appears only eggs (nits) or dandruff. No idea. I combed his hair for what felt like forever and nothing brown or alive or even bug like. Just bits of white/yellow stuff. He's not been itching but his best mate has been itching like crazy for months (long hair, hence me doing nothing before now).

Any tips? Comb every day? Hedrin once a week? Do I need to do myself (I bleach my hair and straighten/curl if that makes any difference)? My skin is crawling haha.

Thank you .

Dip a comb in tea tree oil every morning and comb his hair with it before school.

I do this with DS whenever there's an outbreak and he's never had them.

@georgarina

Dip a comb in tea tree oil every morning and comb his hair with it before school.

I do this with DS whenever there's an outbreak and he's never had them.

Thank you! Stupid question but do you just get tea tree oil from the pharmacy?

On nights when hair is washed, or twice a week if that is less often, I'd put a dollop of conditioner on his head and comb with a nit comb (or better yet a nitty gritty type comb). Given he hasnt got much hair it shouldnt take long.
I'd condition and comb and straighten yours too.

Be careful with pure tea tree oil it's can harm the skin, especially the sculp. I would use Vosene instead as it's less likely to irritate his head.

Why did you treat with hedrin if he hasn't got head lice? You can comb regularly but no need to treat if you don't find live lice.

They are passed on by head to head contact so if they never touch heads he wouldn't catch them from his friend.

There's a spray you can buy that has tea tree ill in it..I think it's vosene .worked brilliantly on my dd's long thick hair

@DancesWithDaffodils thank you! That's really helpful. Just ordering a nitty gritty comb off Amazon. Do I just do this forever? Haha. He's in year 1. He also has ASD so I kind of just played the combing off that it makes his hair extra soft 🙈.

@Quornflakegirl thank you that's good to know!

Vosene does kids lice repellent sprays if you want to use something like that

@ForeverSausages a pharmacy would probably have it - Holland & Barrett and Body Shop sell it as well.

As pp said it can irritate the skin if undiluted so you can mix it with almond oil or another mixer to neutralise it.

@dementedpixie

Why did you treat with hedrin if he hasn't got head lice? You can comb regularly but no need to treat if you don't find live lice.

They are passed on by head to head contact so if they never touch heads he wouldn't catch them from his friend.

If I'm honest I just panicked. The teacher said, every child needs to be treated ASAP so I assumed that meant I needed to get an actual lice treatment? I think it's pretty bad in his class/school.

Also, him and his friend are very very close so wouldn't be surprised if they touched heads . Would I have definitely seen lice in his hair if he had lice? Sorry for being dense. He's an only child and not something I've had to deal with before.

@dementedpixie

Vosene does kids lice repellent sprays if you want to use something like that

Amazing! Thank you 😊. Never even heard of Vosene.

If he has short hair then the nitty gritty will probably be too long for his hair as it's prongs are longer than other combs. I never like the nitty gritty tbh

If you used the comb and didn't find any lice then I'd say he is lice free

I reckon it won’t take long with such short hair but be vigilant, it just takes one tiny lice or nit and it can start all over again or if his classmates have them. Live nits are clear and so are newly hatched lice so can be very hard to see. I would wet comb every night as it won’t take long with short hair. Nitty Gritty is the best comb and conditioner if it pulls his hair on top.

Is his best mates mum checking? Dye and straightening doesn’t kill them but I probably wouldn’t do myself unless I found something in his hair.

Thank you, sorry I know I'm being dense. I was like maybe they're hiding but he's blonde and has such short hair 🙈. Ummm his friends mum I don't think is. Or she's embarrassed, I'm not sure. I've mentioned her scratching in the past couple months and she said that she had dry scalp (which I have too) but then today when we were walking back we both got the message from the teacher and she said she had found some yesterday in her hair. The teacher said it's getting out of control and if it carries on children will be kept off school until they're lice free.

Hey OP. You don’t need lice treatments if you can easily comb through your son’s hair with a nit comb. Basically the only way to get rid of lice and nits is to manually comb them all out. The treatments can be helpful for longer and thicker hair where you just can’t be sure that you’ve combed out every single tiny transparent egg. But I’ve had lice a few times in my life (at school a couple of times, then as an adult working with small children) and I’ve always managed to get rid of them with just a comb and conditioner and I have long, fine hair.

The school want kids to be kept off, because of nits? Crikey there will be no kids in school 🤣

I think you would soon know if you had them - I think I would use the deterrent spray on both of you though during the class problem
Don't blame you for treating him first, if you don't know what you are looking for. Eggs sre tiny, white and stick to the hair like glue. Lice are so fast it's easy to miss them as they run for it when you move the hair. Check round ears and nape of neck in particular. I'm itching just typing this.

Reminds me of the nits episode of Motherland!

@Babyiskickingmyribs oh yay that's great news! Although the fact the eggs of transparent cringes me out. Shudder. I remember as a child sitting in front of the teli whilst my mum combed me and my sister's hair but I thought I'd skipped it by having a child with short hair haha.

@TheVolturi I know!! And today was his first day back after a 10 day self isolation after his year bubble burst!

@Looubylou

I think you would soon know if you had them - I think I would use the deterrent spray on both of you though during the class problem Don't blame you for treating him first, if you don't know what you are looking for. Eggs sre tiny, white and stick to the hair like glue. Lice are so fast it's easy to miss them as they run for it when you move the hair. Check round ears and nape of neck in particular. I'm itching just typing this.

Eggs are only white once they are empty. They are a darker colour when they haven't hatched yet. There would need to be adults present for there to be eggs. If you didn't find anything large or small then I reckon he doesn't have them.

@Looubylou thank you! I just panicked and then was staring at the comb after each go thinking is that something. No idea. I've been itchy since I got the message. At least he went to bed saying his hair feels super soft now.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-lice-and-nits/ nhs advice

Nitty gritty and clear spray on conditioner. My boys have short hair but they still have them to me - grim. Just comb every day and retreat in 10 days

I used to put a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the conditioner, that was in the palm of my hand, just as I was about to put it on my kids hair, then use the nitty gritty comb.
Or you can buy tee tree conditioner from a supermarket that`s fairly cheap-around £1 a bottle, Alberto I think the brand is, that I used to buy.