Nits in black hair?

[NITSS]

DD’s nursery has a case of nits and they’ve asked everyone to check their child’s hair. I’m Black and I’ve never had nits and have no experience of it.

What the hell do you do if your child has nits? How do you check? What do you do? Do I need to stress about DD with 4C hair type getting nits or not?! Her hair’s currently all back in cainrows. Helpppp

The nits are pretty easy to see as they've hatched lice. Look behind the ears and along the hairline at the neck for little grains attached to strands of hair.

The bairn might have got lucky though if her hairs not loose and flowing.

Tea tree is a repellent if you want to make a spray

It might be worth asking your hairdresser for advice. They've probably seen it all.

All hair types can get nits.

Cornrows will massively reduce her chances of catching them, so keep your fingers crossed!

Nits are the eggs of head lice. However, they don't look like you'd expect eggs to look, they wrap around the hair shaft. Go on YouTube and scroll through some of the videos to get an idea of what you're looking for. If your DC's hair is braided, then that will be tricky, because you really need to comb through the hair. I recommend a Nitty Gritty comb, as it removes the nits as you comb.

The lifecycle of a head louse is very fast. Basically in week 1 you have adults (head lice) that are pale brown in colour and they lay eggs in the hair. One week later you have juveniles (smaller than adults, but same shape/colour) and a week after that the juveniles are adults themselves and they can lay eggs. So if there are nits in your DC's nursery or school it's really important to check and keep checking each week to ensure that you're catching them quickly. Not all DC catch them, so you may be lucky, but you have to be vigilant. I well remember them going through my DC's class in Y1.

OP isn't saying she can't get nits she's asking how to deal with it if she does, presumably because it'll be difficult / impossible to do the conditioner and nit comb.

Keeping the hair up and out the way, regular checking behind the ears and chemical treatments likely to be your best way forward when you find them.

Keeping your daughter's hair braided will cut down on the chances of getting nits.
As you can imagine, trying to get a nit comb through type 4c hair will be no joke.

Cainrows will help but she can definitely still get them. Use a conditioning/smoothing product and Comb through strand by strand. Hope you have strong arms! The nit lotions are very effective

Plenty of Youtube tutorials on this OP.

You have my sympathy, op. My mixed race children went into lockdown with nits and as my littlest would not tolerate a hair combing I had to get clippers and shave off his beautiful baby curls and he has resolutely kept it short since (it was easier to treat/comb very short). Braiding will massively help- my eldest regularly gets braided and has never had them since as will spraying the hair with preventative treatment- either natural products like tea tree oil or the stuff you can get at the chemist.

Ultimately if she has them it is treatment shampoo and the nit comb which is so much more difficult on coils and curls. Fingers crossed!

As you can imagine, trying to get a nit comb through type 4c hair will be no joke.

Literally😭 my daughter has Autism, is non verbal and has sensory needs. She absolutely hates having her hair touched so it’s difficult enough to cainrow her hair in general. Having to go through and pick out lice sounds like hell.

I’ll keep an eye out behind her ears and along the hairline daily to see if I spot anything, thank you

Tied back in cainrows won't make any difference - with close head contact the lice (bugs) can easily be transferred from head to head regardless of head type.

For those with black hair and darker skin, it'll be harder to spot the lice, but the eggs (nits) should be easier to see. My kids are blond so I could spot the lice much more easily, but the eggs were really hard to see!

The chemical shampoos will kill the lice, but the eggs need brushing out unfortunately!

I would scrutinise the hair carefully, then if you can't see anything could they wear some sort of satin bonnet to prevent lice transferring?

Apparently the lice find it harder to grip afro or thick curly hair so they are less likely to have nits. My daughter has thick curly hair and has never had them, yet her twin with long straight hair is always coming home from school with them!

Is there a particular shampoo/conditioner that’s needed btw?

Yes- any chemist stocks them. Think I used Hedrin. It stinks but not as bad as when I was a kid.

Nitty gritty comb, loads of cheap conditioner and her favourite movie/chocolate/whatever you can use to bribe her.

My mom used to cover my hair in the green Dax. No idea if I was that, or just that I was lucky but I never had them as a child.

@NITSS is it possible to send her to school with a pretty head wrap on her head to protect her even more?

You can use a treatment like nit wits that doesn't need combing as well. Though you need to make sure it saturates all the hair (so corn rows out)

We are certainly lower risk as I've only had it once in my life as a kid. Even though I went to same school as sis, she never ever got them. My daughter's are mixed, both with completely different hair - but ridiculously thick and long. One's type is very European and the others exactly like Moana's. Every day I dread having to check as they have.

Discovered Fairy Tales Rosemary Repel Daily Kid Conditioning Spray. Even though the school seems to be riddled, touch wood - so far so good!! https://fairytaleshaircare.com/products/rosemary-repel-lice-spray

Gosh the thought of DD having lice is so stressful I really hope she doesn’t catch any😭 I’m gonna send her to nursery with her bonnet on! So at least she has a sealed covering on her hair