Nits!!!! Please advise, FOUR times this term...

[NadjaofAntipaxos]

I am at my absolute wits end. Please advise me! I have just discovered nits and tiny lice AGAIN on my 4 year old DS at bedtime. It's Tuesday. I literally just found them on Saturday and immediately used Vamousse on the whole family which is meant to kill both lice and eggs, then thoroughly combed us all.

Saturday was the third time since October half term. Tonight makes bloody four.

I am washing bedding, soft toys, vacuuming.
We use a tea tree oil shampoo and hedrin prevention leave in conditioner. Wet comb once a week.

I have been letting all parents in class know on our class WhatsApp and the response is always that everyone has checked and their child definitely doesn't have nits. Mine clearly can't be the only one but I have posted that I appreciate not everyone feels comfortable sharing on the group. I tell school each time. The teacher has said the staff will discretely watch for signs of itching and let the parent know if needed. I have even offered to host infected kids and treat them alongside my own!

Older DD is 6 and never had them until the first outbreak and hers were far fewer than DS. She has avoided them since so he is clearly patient zero....

Vamousse is 15 quid a can. We can't carry on like this!!!! Am honestly just so down about it. Any suggestions or even just sympathy would be so welcome right now.

DH is going to Boots first thing. I was going to give hedrin Once a try this time. Pray to the louse gods for me.

On that timescale you just haven't caught them all rather than a fresh infestation

Vamousse is crap. Last time I used it I was combing out lice that were covered in the stuff, but were still alive even though I left it on longer than the time it says on the can. Full marks is better, (and cheaper) but super greasy. If you only treated Saturday, chances are it's the same infestation.

Yes – live bloody wriggly things having a fucking spa day in their expensive coating of Vamousse, Hedrin, napalm. Absolute fuckaroos.

Hedrin and then a big family size bottle of cheap conditioner and wet comb every other day. They do seem to 'grow out'of them eventually.

I feel your pain.

Last yr my 4 children had bloody nits including myself (which was a first in my life) 🤪🤪🤪🤪

I spent over £140 easy on sprays and the only one which finally worked on all 4 was “full marks” try it - nothing else shifted the buggers and we went through every one of shampoos / sprays / mouses.

I’d strongly recommend full marks and my daughter has got extremely long hair past past her bum so combing was a nightmare - we tried all the different makes.

Good luck I feel your pain x

Sounds like your not clearing the problem to start with. You may be the reinfect for person for everyone else.

Headrin, vonsese not repellant shampo and a nitty gritty comb are the answer.

One the headrin has gotten rid of the infestation use the vonsese every hair wash plus the spray. Also you need to tie his hair up or cut it op.

@hotmeatymilk You did make me laugh!

Best thing is the Avon Skin so soft and I’ve had a lot of practice!

Then get some Olbas Oil and apply to the shampoo and conditioner - add a few drops to the hair in between - head lice hate the smell and it wears off.

The skin so soft washes out really well and it’s slippy so they just slide out eggs and all!

We found them as well last week. Second time since September which isn't bad compared to previous years. I think some heads are just prone to getting them . At least this time no one else in the house got them. A total and utter pain in the arse though

After months of issues and much wasted time and money I became the local nit guru!
Treatments tend to be just dimethicone which is also in conditioner and serums. Smothers but doesn't treat.
Nitty gritty. Daily. Wet hair smothered in conditioner.
Make up a spray bottle with water and ten to twenty drops of neem oil (amazon does it ), anise oil or ylang ylang. Spray as an overnight treatment as the neem kills the eggs and then wash in the morning if you can. Spritz it on daily before school.
This is the only thing that worked for us on thick curly hair tied back. Other parents were not checking much to the heads frustration.

I used this spray every day ever after even if they were nit free.
One mum was so fed up with clearing g and combing as this went on months despite the school writing to everyone she sent her kid in to school in a hat and said if it was taken off her she was complaining to the governors! Turned out they had Ofsted in that day...

It's more likely you haven't got rid of them than keep being reinfected.
Everyone recommends nitty gritty but I find it leaves a lot of tiny eggs behind. You need to pick out all the tiny eggs with your fingernails. Check hair every day for a week. If you physically remove all the eggs there is no way they can hatch and breed. Nitty gritty gets them too late.

A haircut won’t prevent nits, but it will certainly make it easier to treat them. I would say take him to the barbers and keeping his hair short until he is old enough to look after it himself. Every 4-6 weeks / a trip to the barbers after every half-term at school would be fine.

Good luck!

Cut your son’s hair as short as the school will allow it. The military wears crew cuts for precisely this reason. It will help.

@mumsymum25

A haircut won’t prevent nits, but it will certainly make it easier to treat them. I would say take him to the barbers and keeping his hair short until he is old enough to look after it himself. Every 4-6 weeks / a trip to the barbers after every half-term at school would be fine.

Good luck!

I agree. I’m afraid a haircut is the best solution in my experience. I think kids should have short hair anyway because they’re always getting messy.

Another vote for nitty gritty comb and conditioner. It's literally all you need, no fuss, no chemicals, works like a dream. Used it on thick curly hair, long hair. You don't need anything else.

Following

Found a single very large louse on ds’s head yesterday. Nothing on dd’s despite her class being the one I got a letter about.

No eggs, or anything else so I’m desperately hoping it was that one. Going to get some stuff to treat anyway just in case

Honestly? Little boy? Shave his head. This is what I do with my sons. They have only had bits once because every time The Letter comes home from school? Instant skinheads.

No hair = no nits.

Only way we got rid of them was a grade 1 cut (DS)
DD it was loads of conditioner then combing with the nitty gritty comb
A section at a time with a magnifying light while she watched a DVD for many nights
Glad those days are over!

Full Marks works really well, but then you need to regularly treat the kids' heads with cheap conditioner and a Nitty Gritty comb. It is the most tedious job in the world, but it is quite satisfying.

I never used the expensive treatments, just a load of conditioner and a nitty gritty comb when found and every three days afterwards to catch any missed eggs once hatched. A louse can't lay any eggs until it is 7 days old so if you keep combing and get rid whilst they are babies eventually they will be gone.

To prevent tie hair back and coat in hairspray each morning.

@Ibleedibreedibreaatfeed

Get the medicated 5% stuff you leave on overnight treat them every week. Conditioner nitty gritty comb

This is what I do for my 6yo dtd who seem to have nits a lot. Free from the chemist on minor ailments.

Something like a #3 crop doesn't look quite as drastic as a 'shaved head' and is very nit unfriendly.

This works

They'll rock n roll all the way through primary.
sigh

DD had very long, straight but fine hair when she was younger and nits were a nightmare - her hair was so fine that the normal combs wouldn't catch everything. The game-changer was buying a Robi-Comb. Expensive but a once-off payment and worth every penny. It kills the lice by electrocution and the eggs too. You just have to comb across the scalp, no pulling through yards of long hair from root to tip. When it hits something the alarm goes off, you stop, check and there is a dead one!! Once she was nit-free I would just do a quick comb once a week to check and never any big problems since.