To feel utterly defeated by nits ?

[Biggadyboo]

Have two kids with learning disabilities. They have both had nits since January. Which means I have too.

Treated them first with Hedrin, three times every seven days, wet combing mid week.

still there

Then tried nitnot , no difference.

was advised by a GP friend to try Lyclear as different active ingredient. Have done that three times now. No change.

the kids both utterly hate having their hair combed. Their learning disabilities and sensory issues make it a stressful battle.

But nevertheless I’ve been fucking combing it with conditioner as much as I can the last two weeks . Almost every night. It’s utterly hell, screaming, crying, horrible. But I’ve been doing it

and today there are still literally hundreds of the bastards. I literally can’t comb them all out. There’s just too many

i don’t know what to do😭

I had a nit problem (dd would bring them home and give them to everyone)

6 fucking years

Nitty gritty comb and a ton of conditioner every night

I'd get rid (in the holidays) and she'd go back and get them back from the one child who was crawling (her hair would move and they where as big as flies at one point)

I heard her mother say once 'well,I work FULL time!I don't have time to deal with nits!'

She had one child,I have 6,I worked too but I was the one combing hair every night,while cursing her

She was bloody children's nurse and a silly cow

It took dd going to secondary school for her and nits to part ways

I've spent many hours combing hair (I could shave my boys hair and pick them out but not my daughters)

I still hate that mother with the passion of 1000 sun's

not family members, as they never stay with anyone else

haven’t trued straighteners

school won’t send a letter round (apparently no longer policy)

have made notes of various regimes (thank you) and the nit hoover people . Thank you

will try and keep going. 😭

Try a hairdryer - the moving (slightly hot) air dehydrates and kills lice and eggs. You need to use it for a while, just patiently going over the scalp area and down the lengths of hair. Then, if you kids can tolerate it, use straighteners on their hair. Don’t go too close to the scalp as the hairdryer should deal with the eggs, but the heat for the straighteners will kill lice on the lengths.
I did this with my DD when she was little after I read about a service that did similar. I would sit and ‘dry’ her hair (it doesn’t need to have been wet) for half and hour or so.
it’s a big time commitment, but less so than combing the hair with conditioner and I found that a couple of sessions was all we needed.

My niece has really thick long hair and went through a period at primary where nits were a huge issue. My SIL tried everything and finally settled on Listerine mouthwash. She used to soak my niece’s hair with it and leave it in with my niece wearing a shower cap. Then she would rinse it out and then slather with cheap conditioner and comb. She found the Listerine killed the lice and weakened the sticky stuff attaching the eggs to the hair shaft so combing out eggs was easier. Never use blue Listerine though…unless you want a blue rinse. She also recommended running the hair straightener through dry hair as an added measure.

I shudder at the memory of dealing with nits. We certainly found the nitty gritty comb and conditioner the most reliable treatment, but you have to be diligent. It is so backbreaking too, bent over combing and combing.

After we had finally eradicated the girls' nits we started a preventative regime so it didn't happen again. Basically every evening when they came home from school - almost literally as they walked in the house - they would get a thorough combing with a fine toothed comb. The reasoning behind this is to dislodge any lice that have hopped on during the day. It certainly worked for us.

I really think this should be taken more seriously by the health authorities. Years ago children would be inspected at school and the parents notified if nits were found. . Even the most negligent parents would be made to take notice.

Good luck OP.

I had this problem when I was a teenager.
In the end I got Hedrin Once. Absolutely soaked my hair and scalp in it, put a shower cap on and left it on overnight and for a few hours after I woke up. As long as possible basically.
I don’t know if this would be possible with your kids, but maybe for yourself at least.
There is no need to comb just give hair a good wash afterwards.
Change/ boil wash bedding etc. Throw away hair brushes and accessories if possible.
It is likely that what’s happening is they are getting reinfected in school. I would get on to them in the school and say that to them and that you’re at your wits end.

Never tried it but I have heard mayo works as well as Hedrin as it suffocates them. Neat shampoo after before the water.

We’ve had nits in this house for 7 years now, constantly.

We do everything.

Other parents at the school don’t. There have been children where you can see the liver crawling on their heads. We had a kid round once who was pulling them out at the diner table.

The parents don’t care, the school can only send out repeated parentmails.

Years ago, after what felt like years of bloody nits I got something on prescription from the GP. He said stick it on but don't smoke near their heads. I have no idea what it was or if it's still on prescription but you could enquire?

Ok jumping on this for advice on dealing with them on my own head….i can’t see what I’m doing so idea if I’m managing to comb out the nits or not, don’t have anybody who can help me, don’t live near any nit removal services.

Would it help to straighten my hair/use hairdryer on it? Any magic tips?

Then your kids need to have shorter hair.

You sound like you prioritise them keeping long hair over getting rid of nits!!!

i’ve never had short hair my whole life. I hate short hair . I don’t want to cut my hair. My daughter really wants to have long hair to try and fit in with her friends. When you have a learning disability that’s difficult enough . I really don’t want to have to cut our hair, would depress me hugely. Already enough on my plate without making us unhappy

I straighten my hair, dye it. Nothing helps. I just have dyed black nits and lice.

My thick hair is fucking ravaged from that nitty gritty comb every other night.

This isn't true.

My mum was a nursery nurse and as an experiment we once put an adult headlouse in an empty jam jar and it stayed alive for 2 weeks.

You definitely need to boil wash and vacuum everything.

Nits it is then.

So try straighteners next as that is an easy, quick one and it does work - both lice and eggs are killed by the heat.

If you wipe the nitty gritty comb out on some
kitchen roll youll be able to see them in the conditioner on the kitchen roll.

Ask me how I know this 😭

So I put tea tree essential oil in the shampoo bottles every 6 months & condition the kid’s hair with tea tree & mint conditioner at least once a week.

Never had nits & my daughter has been with several people who have it/letters home.

But surely the nits are making you unhappy? Hair grows back. Nobody is suggesting you shave your heads but getting a good few inches off will make a difference

Yes the nits are making me unhappy. My son’s hair is shorter and makes no difference .

Of course they live on collars of clothing, caps, hooded jackets, school dress up clothing etc for 24hrs plus. Yes on bedding, fabric couch, cushions etc. stuffy toys!
Besides washing/drying you can freeze. Place items that don’t wash easily in a plastic bag in the freezer.

We had a nightmare summer last year and found this was the only thing that worked. We now also use Vosene shampoo with tea tree in it and (touching wood) they’ve not been back.

https://amzn.eu/d/3VZUGte

You don’t need to cut your hair. Use hair straighteners and that’ll burn some but also help with combing.

use a nitty gritty with loads of tea tree conditioner. I’ve only ever done this 3 nights in a row and by the third there’s none left, it’s just precautionary. Nitty gritty gets eggs out too so there shouldn’t be any left. With your situation I’d do every day until you find zero then every other day for a week just to check.

Tesco sells nitty gritty combs - game changer!

dd3 had a child in her class at primary who had a parent who didn’t believe in treating nits because they’re “normal and natural so all kids have them!” Argh! Dd3 had them so much as a result. Always spotted early so dd1&2 only had them twice ever. Hate the things.

After combing through, I used to straighten hair - I’m not sure if it killed any but it made it easier to see.

When little girls play they touch their heads together a lot. That’s the only reason fur short hair. Plaits, loose hair etc, enables the lice to crawl from head to head. A bun is therefore better. With lots of hairspray.

This - I forgot, hairspray!