Headlice, WWYD

[Newusernameforthiss]

Twins in reception, two different forms, I've never encountered headlice before so genuinely clueless.

They got them nearly three weeks go. I followed the NHS advice to the letter with a nitty gritty comb as recommended on here. Today is day 17. Me, DH, one twin all clear, the other one had one tiny headlouse, or it could have been a bit of fluff, probably a headlouse tho.

Would you ignore it and consider it done (I mean that means I missed one egg last time and this little twatlord was too small to have laid eggs) or should I now start with hedrin etc omg I am so bored of combing everyone's hair?

YANBU: this is basically done, chill out
YABU: it's hedrin time, the phantom itching will never stop otherwise

I used to nitty gritty with a tonne of conditioner once a week when my twins were in reception and year one. Also used tea tree shampoo and platted their hair for school with hair spray to hold it (nits apparently hate hair spray). Twins are now 12 but I still have 3 boxes of nit treatment in the cupboard (have 3 dds in total) as it always became apparent late at night or on a Sunday evening.

Give up on the lotions and potions. They’re crap.

nitty gritty and buckets of cheap conditioner every 2/3 days.

Then when clear do it once a week until they leave primary to catch anymore early!

As they're in reception, brace yourself for this happening many times over the next couple of years! You'll keep getting the occasional louse unless the whole class de-louse at the same time. Regular nitty gritty combing helps catch any adults that have jumped over from other children before they lay eggs and multiply. I wouldn't bother with hedrin, nasty chemicals and won't stop them getting reinfected.

Touchwood, keeping my girls hair plaited at all times in school has stopped them catching them in the last two outbreaks.

I used to comb through with a nit comb & conditioner when dds had their hair washed.
They are 13 and 20 now so I’m hoping those days are over.
DS has short very blonde hair so I’ve spotted a random crawler on school pick up on a couple of occasions. He is easily dealt with.
I would make checking hair a part of your routine to prevent an infestation.
Apparently when children start itching their heads there are already loads in there.

Just shave the entire family

Lotions aren't ;crap' Hedrin works - it suffocates them - I never did combing just always had Hedrin Once in the house!

Get used to doing this on a regular basis. Reception kids are louse magnets.
Comb again within 10 days.
Then probably comb once a month to check for newbies. More frequently if they keep getting reinfested.
Keep long hair tied back. At the first sign of any scratching - comb.
You're most likely to spot louse in the hair behind the ears. Keep checking.

I voted YANBU but I think I made a mistake. If you haven't used chemicals at all and there were quite a lot of lice, I'd probably use them on your twin's head. And I would still comb the rest of you every week for a while, and your children weekly, for as long as they are in school.

I am OK with using solely NG as the weekly check for lice and I won't follow up with chemicals if I only find an adult or two, but merely increase the combing until all is clear. The first and last time I missed infestation long enough for a new generation to have hatched, then I used chemicals.

If its girls plait there hair every day and use tea tree based conditioner. Little pests hate it. Nit comb every time you wash the hair from now till year six!

Nit not. Best thing ever. Better than hedrin.

Unfortunately, she is likely to pick them up again in the not too distant future. My daughter seems to be clear for a week or two and then they are back. I just do the nitty gritty regime every weekend now. It was quite a shock as my boys only had nits a couple of times throughout their whole primary life.

I've heard head lice can get immune to different potions.
I can't remember if this was actually a product or my mum threatened it....
a comb that electrocutes the lice?
Sounds dodgy looking back.

Cheap olive or coconut oil, cheap vinegar. The later dislodges the eggs and the oil kills the adults. Mix the two, head back with a folded towel the shield eyes and smother the hair with it. Wrap hair and leave for 30 minutes before combing through. Repeat after 7 days.

This is what I did when living in Latin America because the shampoo/treatments have far stronger chemicals than here.

It’s what the local population, not wealthy ex-pats, use and it works.

Vamoose is brilliant, one quick treatment sorted the little blighters when nothing else worked.

Thanks for all these. Nobody was itching, I checked them when we got an email off school saying there was a case.... I guess it's time for a new weekly ritual 😭😭😭

I recommend you comb them once a week because otherwise they pick them up again and you don’t realise and the whole things starts again.

I have developed a good technique where my daughter lies in the bath and I can comb out her hair really easily under water. But she’s 8 so that’s do-able!

Once you've got rid of them I also recommend tea tree oil shampoo

Keep combing. We went through years of headlice misery when DD were little. They just kept going round and round the school. Conditioner and combing in the bath will keep them down/ away. I gave up on the chemicals after a while as they didn't work or stopped working. What really worked for us in the end was some weird bark I got off amazon and boiled up then used it to rinse their hair after washing and conditioning. It was recommended on here. Can't remember the name, sorry! It was very very bitter and the nits HATED it!

Just looked it up - quassia bark. Some batches were better than others. You want the really bitter stuff. Stew it up like really overbrewed tea. I also put it in a little plastic spray bottle and spruzzed their hair before going to school. DD had very cute short hair in reception but I actually found it more nit unfriendly when she grew it a bit and we could french plait. I also used hairspray which felt a bit Dance Moms but also effective. You will be a nit ninja before long!

As PP's have said, I have successfully treated with conditioner and nitty gritty. Just means I wash and comb for a few days to ensure none slip the net!

Just wait until they get threadworms! Give me nits any day! 😬

As other have said conditioner, nitty gritty comb and diluted tea tree oil are your new friends.

A few points to remember when fighting the dreaded head lice:
1: if you have been using the conditioner and combing, then want to apply a head lice treatment, you need to shampoo to remove the conditioner prior to applying the treatment lotion. The presence of conditioner on the hair can prevent the lotion ‘sticking’ and interfere with the action of the treatment lotion.
2: lotions are usually applied to dry hair, so don’t wet the hair or shampoo first, as this can dilute the lotion and reduce it’s efficacy.
3: chlorine bleach can stop the treatment working properly, so hair should be washed after swimming in chlorinated pools, and swimming should be avoided for a few days after treatment.

I always retreat 10 days later to get all the little buggers. Just becuase you treated doesn't mean othe people have grr

And why do you always find them on a Sunday evening with no shops open. Iv had a couple of very early monday morning supermarket trips