Head lice - what to use and can school sort it at all?

[lulann]

Found out today from school there are cases of headlice. First time.

DD 7 was at a friends house for tea until 7.30pm. When dd was at home and in bed she was scratching. Yes it looks like she may have them although I could only see 2 I think.
Of course I am now scratching.

What treatment should I get tomorrow? There are so many!
Do I have to get a shampoo?
Combs that 'zap' them dead or combs that remove lice AND eggs??
DD has several food allergies and I expect in the future will react to hair dye like I do (so cannot use).
Any suggestions?

Also can school make sure all kids are treated, is that allowed? I'm wary we'll get rid of them and she will then re catch all over again.

School haven't said which year group (primary) but they all mix in the huge playground anyway.

I work with kids. I keep a comb and don't bother with products. When nits are about I comb every 4 days with lots of conditioner makes my hair feel lovely. When nits not about I still comb every couple of months it's amazing how long kids can have nots before their parents notice and you always have one family who don't deal with it and reinfect everyone else multiple times.

Don't forget to do your husband. I've seen it where the dad refuses says he doesn't have them and then the poor mum can't rid the kids of them

As pp have said daily combing with conditioner is the most effective way. Section off the hair and wipe onto kitchen roll so you can see what you’re getting! It’s gross but effective.
also if DD has long hair I recommend plaits every day.

We used nitrid. Did a couple of treatments and all gone. Check all the family.

Don't rely on just a nit comb, they don't always get all the eggs out. I had to pick some out myself!

In my experience of working in a school there were always a few kids who constantly had nits, obviously not their fault, it's a form of neglect.
When I first started working in schools 20 years ago, as a pp said, those kids would be sent home and not allowed back till treated.
Then there were new guidelines which basically said sending the nitty kids home infringed their right to an education and all that could be done was a general letter to the affected year group. Subsequently there was an explosion in nit cases - the concerned parents would treat, the neglected kids continued to be neglected.
Having worked with a child that had nits visibly crawling in his hair most of the time I think it is time that schools reintroduced the no treatment no school policy to ensure other children weren't catching them, there was no point talking to the parents of this particular child, the office said they'd seen nits in her hairline too.

I'm glad to be out of education now and not having to check my own hair on a bi-weekly basis!

After endless nit issues in DC school the head brought in a new rules that hair longer that collar length had to be tied up at all times. It made a noticeable difference.

DS2 used to get headlice occasionally. He had some allergies which meant that we couldn't use the chemical treatments. I smothered his hair in conditioner and combed through every 2 days for 3 weeks until they were gone.

Schools can't enforce parents treating their kids. Best thing to do is to treat your dd with hedrin or something but alsoorder a nitty gritty comb. Once or twice a week cover wet hair in conditioner and comb through, it will keep them at bay. Also switch to a tea tree based shampoo and tie her hair up every day.

No the school probably won't tell individual families.

I'm glad my daughter is no longer in school. Once she got them, she continued to get them every few months for about 5 years. Was very time consuming, expensive and really stressed me out.

Haha adults do get them, I got them from DD when she had them. We are just less likely to as we are not in close proximity to as many people.

As for treatment, best advice is to wet comb hair with conditioner, daily for about 2 weeks.

Prevtion is best to keep long hair up and I found the tea tree spray you can buy effective.

My process is now:

• Do a comb with a nit comb and conditioner wiping on loo roll/ kitchen roll to establish if there is a problem.
• If there is a problem, I do a thorough combing and get rid of as many as possible.
• In the next couple of days I do a treatment with Hedrin once.
• Repeat step one once a week for a couple of weeks
• Repeat whole bloody process again in a couple of months as DD will no doubt have got them again from someone in her class.

I'm so over it. I'd vote for any party that had bring back nit nurses on their manifesto (only half joking here!)

We all had head lice a few years ago. I did the Nitty Gritty comb religiously but it didn't work completely. There were always a couple of stragglers. So we used Hedrin Once and it did the job no problem. I don't think I'd ever faff around with combs again.

We had weeks of just not being able to clear them. One twin had tons, oned twins had some, eldest child had none and never has. I had loads, DH has a couple. There's no bloody rhyme or reason but nursery did make a point of telling us they'd been scratching.
We also had a family who just didn't seem to care, it was CONSTANT for months in eldest class, and they all knew it came from the same family. School did have a word in the end and Mom shaved the girls hair really short

When I got fed up with recurrent infestations I went to speak to the Head. She was also fed up with getting it in her hair. The solution we came with was to show a cute video of lice during the school assembly followed my the Head washing and combing her hair in front of 700 children. Every child also got a cheap nit comb to take home. Later in the day I received a phone call from a friend "You won't believe me, both me and my son have lice!". Well, I have been telling her for 2 months to check. We haven't had another case of lice for 3 more years since that assembly (to my knowledge). Head lice is difficult to eradicate unless the entire school joins in the effort. The teachers are probably fed up with bringing it home too so it's worth talking to the school

If you've got a 7 year old that has never had nits you've done well.
DD got them from 3 at nursery, and pretty much had them on and off right through primary.
They'll never be irradiated because you'd have to treat every child at a school, and everyone they come into contact with outside school at the same time.
Get some cheap shampoo and comb throught with a nit comb every 2 or 3 days.

Wow! Kudos and for that Headteacher
Chapeau! (or rather not, don't share hats people! )

Nitty gritty comb, cheap conditioner. Comb everyone every 2-3 days until clear.
Hair up at school.
Once clear we sprayed daily with Nitty Gritty defence spray.
Once a week comb through during a regular hair wash.
Straighteners over their hair as well, I think that helps!

Adults DO get infested, honestly 😂Ive had them several times as they were rife in DS's class and he was a very cuddly child!

Definitely get the Nitty Gritty comb, simple plastic nit combs will miss some.

I did swear by the slathers of conditioner and Nitty gritty comb. Rinse or wipe the comb after each "sweep". Take it from the hairline all the way to the ends. Pay particular attention around the ears/ hairline / back of scalp, they love those areas. Get comfy in front of the TV and then when you're done, straight into the bath to rinse.

The real key is to keep it up for at least a fortnight, and for a week after you've seen the last one. They lay eggs which hatch after 7 days so if you don't keep going you'll miss all the new young ones.

DD had very thick and long hair so many times we did also use Vamousse on her - and then still comb with conditioner every 2 days or so.

If you want to avoid the harsh chemicals just go for the conditioner and Nitty gritty comb - and time.

Yes to combing through everyone in the household.

When we were in the main nit years we often used to do a comb through just to check, on the slightest suspicion.

Immune systems don't keep them at bay - they are headlice not flu!

Adults are less likely to get infested because they keep more of a distance from others.

I haven't read the whole thread so someone may have recommended already, but the only thing that worked for us was NitWits. You can get it from Amazon. Squirt in, leave for 20 minutes, comb through and wash out. No need to repeat. Kills lice and eggs. Only thing that got rid of the buggers

Best thing is a NittyGritty comb and cheap conditioner. And dedication to the cause. Do the whole household for one week. Keep going for anyone affected for another few days. Then do it again about once a month to check for/limit reinfestation.

It's tedious but it works.

Veet removal cream works wonders - is this an option for you?

Silver neame conditioner is quite good for combing through. I preferred the white plastic nit combs, you could see what you were dealing with better than nitty gritty

Why wouldn't you flat iron them after shampooing?

The school can only inform
people. Sadly some parents will not treat adequately or at all.
You can catch them too. I did.
Bedclothes, coats, hoodies, hairbrushes, towels need to be washed at a high temperature. . Combing every second night for weeks.

Only to receive another email three months later with the same thing.

Welcome to the trials of primary school.

You don’t have to use the pesticide shampoos. I wouldn’t if you’re very sensitive to allergens We never used the pesticides growing up. Comb through wet hair with a nit comb every night till they’re all gone, then two or three times a week for another week or so to catch any hatchlings then once a week just to make sure you catch it quick if your kids ever pick them up again. Conditioner helps get the comb through long hair.