AIBU to be unprepared for head lice

[WilbursWinnie]

Help!
We've got to age 8 without the dreaded head lice but now we are infected.

Tell me your tried and tested solutions. I've been out and bought a nitty gritty comb and lots of conditioner.

I also have some treatment as I want to exterminate the f*@£#+s asap. My entire body feels like it's crawling with the horror.

What do we do with hair brushes, towels and bedsheets. Do I firebomb the lot?

Tea tree oil was our shampoo of choice for many years. I also had a electronic zapper comb which my daughter used - first thing when she walked into the house from school. That would zap anything that might have been picked up that day.

Don’t stress with all the washing of sheets and hairbrushes. I don’t think it makes a difference. Just comb wet hair thoroughly with nitty gritty comb every 2 days and when you don’t find any more nits/ lice switch to once a week. We’ve had them probably about 10 times and this is what gets rid of them. I don’t bother wasting money on the chemical treatments, and I never found the tea tree stuff to be effective. Unfortunately it’s down to luck whether other parents in your kids’ classes are as committed to getting rid of them as if not, you will definitely be getting them back again!!

Lice have got resistant to a lot of treatments but Hedrin, or anything with dimeticone is fab. It's like a layer of plastic that suffocates them. Beyond that, a nitty gritty comb is a must and mine never got them again once we started washing with vosene. Might be an urban myth but apparently they hate the smell

No one is prepared for the hell of nits!!! I think the aliens have already invaded and are waging war on us in the guise of headlice.

Comb and conditioner is the best. Laborious, but the most effective. Many nits are now resistant to the treatments so I wouldn't waste your money on them.

My DD was a nit magnet - extremely thick, long curly hair. She also had a friend whose parents didn't take the best care of her unfortunately (social services involvement level not taking care of her) so she was never treated and kept reinfecting my DD. It was hell, just when she was clear she'd be riddled again the following week.

It took the Covid lockdown to get on top of it, and fortunately Patient Zero left the school by at the end of that school year.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences.

So I'm hearing comb, comb, comb and maybe tea tree oil.

We will keep you posted.

I got quite a few out earlier. We combed over the bath and I was surprised at how small and hard to see a lot of them are. We only had a few large ones.

Hopefully we get it under control soon. DD is rather freaked out by them.

No they do NOT! Omg. You're going to get worms

I'd ask if your DD can swap seats. It's not fair for her to keep getting them just because someone else's parent can't be bothered

Do you just used the 3 in 1 shampoo?

Another vote for Vosene tea tree shampoo. We were in Germany when we discovered our 'infestation' and I have to say the stuff we got from the chemist there was fantastic! Much better than the products here!