Not AIBU but a cry for help with head lice

[PixieAndProsecco]

As the title states this is not an AIBU however this is the busiest forum I can see and I do need some quick help in both dealing with the situation and my own paranoia.

On Wednesday night, around 1am, I went to check on DC 6 and noticed they were scratching their head. They have had impetigo recently and suffer with eczema, so I checked to see if I could see anything. I noticed few small brownish dots near the scalp and then the tiniest "thing" moving. I had taken my glasses off and thought it was just my eyes so checked again and nothing.
After getting ready for bed I went back to check and again saw a small moving thing. I asked DH to check and he couldn't see anything.

At this point I knew it was there, googled and obviously head lice and nits are the answer.
In the morning I checked and both DH and I saw one small moving thing and off I went to the shops to equip ourselves with anything we'd need.

By midday yesterday DC6 had a treatment of Full Marks 5 minute solution, plus a 30 minute session with the nitty gritty comb. During this time less than 10 lice and nits came out his head, very small, and I didn't stop until the comb came away clean.
Both DH and myself also put treatment on our hair and DC13. The three of us were free from any nasties, thankfully.

I stuck all DC6s bedding and towels in the wash.
Since then I have frequently checked DCs hair, every time I pass them or they're sitting still, to check for any missed parts and it looks good.

Having read the instructions on the solution I know we will all do another treatment next week. I have also purchased an additional Headrin spray and Lyclear shampoo should the Full Marks not work. I've also purchased Vosense lice repellant shampoo and it's all we will be using for the next while, as well as their lice repellant leave in conditioning spray.

This part if where I need help:

• I've read about the nitty gritty and conditioner comb out but views on how often differ. Some information suggests doing a treatment on Day 1 and then this comb out method every other day, so day 3, 5 etc. Some suggest using this method every single day. How often should I be doing this? DC is very sensory and hates hair washing, hair brushing and hair cuts (although decided a hair cut was needed after seeing how quickly I finished DV 13s hair in comparison to their own). They cried through the entire process yesterday but if doing it every day is the best way to treat things then we'll just need to do that.
• when do we stop treating? When are we, as a household, considered lice free? We've obviously got the second treatment next Wednesday night, with combing between now and then. If it all comes up clean during that time when do I stop?
• if needed when do we try other treatments? Say between now and next week the combing isn't clean and there are still lice after the second Full Marks solution. How long do I keep combing for before moving onto another treatment?

I know this might seem simple but I've never had lice before, DH has never had lice and DC13 never had lice.
It's not something we've dealt with and are complete novices.
My own issues also mean that I feel itchy everywhere. I've had DH check my own hair about 5 times now and it's clean, nothing is there, but I can't shake the feeling due to knowing they were in the house.

You need to comb for 17 days, not necessarily every day, but at least several times during that period.

You have my sympathies!!

Thank you.
I feel like a crazy person. I walked out the shops with 4 different treatments, bottles of lice repellant shampoo and leave in spray.

Would every other day, washing with the shampoo and then conditioner combing, followed by spray (plus the follow up treatment) be reasonable?

Also, when can I get DC6 in for a hair cut? After the 17 days? Earlier? Some places online state a week after first treatment (if you continue to treat) some say the end of the treatment.
DC has longish hair, but it's also thick and curls which is making this process a nightmare.

Do I need to clean bedding each day?

The regular combing with conditioner is if you don't treat with a pesticide. You've treated with full marks so that's it, you're done. Double check, but I'm pretty sure that one kills eggs as well so you don't need to retreat. No need to wash bedding or brushes or anything else, you can't get reinfested like that.

You are already a lice-free household.

When my primary age children had them I would brush their hair then smother it in a cheap conditioner, leave for 10 mins then sit them in front of the tv or iPad and slowly comb through first with a wide tooth comb then the nit comb, wiping off the conditioner between sweeps. A small snack bowl also helps to quell the moaning.
Too many chemical treatments can cause quite an irritated and sore scalp.

I massively recommend getting an electric comb. It's like a little vacuum cleaner attached to a nit comb, it gets everything out (lice and eggs) and there's a LED light on the see-through filter so you can see if you've got anything.
A million times easier and cleaner than wet combing, especially as (unlike with wet combing) you don't have to wash the comb after every stroke as it all gets sucked straight into the filter.
It's been a game changer for us.
Something like this (although I think ours was cheaper):
https://www.amazon.de/Biudxbo-Electric-Cleaner-Filters-Professional/dp/B09V78NX2V/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?adgrpid=83590748818&hvadid=394720876463&hvdev=m&hvlocphy=9075884&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8045474991551834300&hvtargid=kwd-296457026851&hydadcr=24378_1787256&keywords=electric+lice+comb&qid=1704460295&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

I did this after school every second day for a fortnight (and hoped every other parent from the class was doing similar).

Mine are now too old for headlice ( as in adults) but an electric comb was by far the better option. Ours was like this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01LFE8BGO?tag=track-ect-uk-2026493-21&linkCode=osi&th=1&psc=1&ascsubtag=ecSEPf8gyjlr0nzery

Be careful with Lyclear. My daughter had a horrendous allergic reaction to it which needed steroids. Took about 3 days before the swelling went down.
A lot of children react to it.

We ended up buying NitWits spray from amazon which was really good and seemed to work along with a lot of brushing through with a nit comb.

She has very thick, waist long hair but is now all clear (think we were lucky that we caught them right before their were too many)

We used nitwits, normally did a second treatment about a week later, seemed to sort everything out. Don't get really anxious about bedding etc, just make sure all the people are clear!

Thanks all.
An electric one might be worth the purchase, as I'm almost convinced this won't be our last infestation. DC enjoys being very close to people, unfortunately.

I did read that the Full Marks solution kills both the live lice and the nit eggs, however some reviews suggested otherwise. I intend to use the treatment as advised, as both the initial treatment and then a follow up on Day 6 or 7.

I genuinely can't get over how irrational I am being, even the thought of DC sitting cuddling into me makes me feel itchy and worried.

The life cycle is 7 days so if you comb every 3 days then you should be totally clear after around two weeks.

Chemical treatment was useless on whatever ones my DC had. They’d walk off the comb practically giving me the v’s.
What worked was a nitty gritty comb daily or every other day and randomly the final nail in their coffin was a trip to the beach (I think the sand on scalp stopped them feeding). It took months to fully clear and was soul crushing as each combing session was minimum of 30 mins due to long thick hair

Oh god that's awful, poor DD!

I'll keep that in mind, the Lyclear was purchased along with the Headrin as a "just in case". I'm hoping the round of Full Marks, plus combing along with the shampoo and leave in will kill the buggers.

My DC thankfully doesn't have hair that long, however for a male his hair is much longer than usual ans the longer it gets the thicker and curlier it becomes. He is also incredibly sensory as hates a hair wash, hair brush etc which made yesterday a nightmare.
However he is now begging for a hair cut. He didn't want long hair, he just doesn't like hair cuts.

Even discussing it on this thread has my entire body feeling itchy.

Oh god, I hope this isn't the case here. Although my panicked reading at 2am on Thursday morning did uncover a lot of posts with the same experiences. Lice are adapting to become more resilient.

I'm hoping we caught things early enough. As I said it was by chance I caught him itching, he hadn't itched all day or at any other point. The lice that came off were definitely dead.

I just hope that the bloody eggs also suffered the same fate.

Comb and treat for approx 3 weeks (I would comb through every 2 or 3 days teach kids how to do it themselves helps with the weeping and wailing (I think there is a 14 day cycle for nits life) then comb on a weekly basis going forward while they are young and keep long hair tied back for school. Tell them to keep their hair/head away from others and not to use other peoples hats/hairbrushes etc as this is generally how they are passed along.

They are rife in schools and suprised you have got away with it till now.

oh the other thing we used to do was tea tree oil, they really don't like it so we just added some to basic shampoo and kept it out of eyes

Over the years I've stopped worrying about it. We just comb with the nit comb and conditioner several times whenever they have itchy heads or whenever the letter comes. If often feels a bit pointless because the same culprits are always spreading it again, I see them standing there itching away in the school play every year. It's not actually harmful to human health to have head lice though, it's just an inconvenience.

We got rid of nits by conditioner and nitty gritty comb but took at least 3 weeks of regular combing and the nitty gritty comb can pull on hair and make it frizzy. Child has multiple allergies so wasn’t keen on using harsh chemical treatments.

You need to be vigilant. I assume your child picked up the headline at school, which means they have had them for a couple of weeks. Don’t wait until they are scratching before checking .

I think the secret is regular combing. I used to be in a pattern of combing every weekend because you can pick up anything quickly. When I got out of the habit my 3yo got them at nursery and we didn’t notice until she’d passed them on to everyone including grandparents 🤢. After that occasion we combed everyone every 2 days for 2 weeks and then have been clear ever since. Even if weekly doesn’t work, I always make sure they are done at the end of the first week of every half term and at the end of each term.

Oily treatment stuff is much better than soapy as easier to comb.

They possibly did, however between school breaking up and us noticing it had been 10 days which seems to fit in with the life cycle of eggs hatching.

However, over the holidays we've also been to a carnival where he was sitting should to shoulder with other children (hairs and head definitely in close proximity), the theatre, again very close to others and have had play dates where, again, he has been in close proximity to his friends. So possibly school, possibly not.

We didn't treat or look regularly as it's not something we've ever dealt with so didn't really think we had to. Going forward regularly combing will be part of all our routines.

Agree with pp on tea tree oil to prevent further infestations. And conditioner is all that’s needed - comb through as much as you can.

Sounds like you must be lice-free for now after your blast of treatments! :)
Much sympathy from here!

We didn't find the chemicals very effective (Local nits/lice seemed used to them)

The combing (after baths/showers) works ...but needs to be a routine if you are in contact with other primary school age children.

Our electric comb was very well used over the years.

Using tea-tree shampoo helped fend them off a bit. (They seem to love all other shampoos.)

Aw I hope they are all gone soon op, just keep combing through after treating. I used conditioner too initially but then found it was easier to get the eggs to comb out with some conditioner on. My friend uses tea tees shampoo on her kids hair to try and keep them at bay.

you’ve just been unlucky you may never deal with them again. I have had one case in my own kids and I’d already had 13 years of school nit free with eldest before my youngest caught them and I managed to contain them with him. I’ve dealt with them at work as a nurse though girls hair is so sore to comb I found (I have 4 boys) good luck

The shampoo and conditioning spray are both by Vosene, both contain eucalyptus and tea tree oils which should hopefully help.

Checked his hair for the 6th time today. No tiny devil's have spawned yet.