Are nits "a normal and expected part of childhood"?

[ghosty]

This is my second AIBU thread this week
Until 8 weeks ago we have never had nits (I never had them as a child and I never had them in 10 years of teaching). DD brought them home 8 weeks ago. Mortified (possibly unnecesssarily), I treated the whole family immediately and I rang my friend who we had spent the day with that day to tell her. She said that nits were a normal part of childhood and that her children have them 'all the time'. She was very blase about it. She said she never uses chemicals on her children's hair and when she notices nits she combs olive oil through for a couple of weeks and eventually they go.
I was a bit shocked and said that I didn't see nits as a normal part of childhood. Anyway, DS came home with nits yesterday . Again I treated us all last night but I was wondering:
a) now we have had them will we ever get rid of them or is that it?
b) Is my friend right and am I over reacting to be so disgusted and mortified
c) AIBU to be a bit reticent about seeing too much of my friend's kids now?

[failedmother]

Yes. They are.

Doesn't mean you shouldn't deal with them when they appear but no point getting disgusted about them. I think they should be added to the things we can be certain about along with death and taxes.

[spookshowangel]

the nit free hair comb is the way to go it is expensive but better than spending stupid amounts on lotions that ultimately dont work, it also gets rid of eggs, best to do it after washing hair because the eggs come out easier, but i also give them a quick going over before school in the morning but because the hair is dry that cab be a bit painful if you catch an egg.
nits happen, its a pain in the arse and the bane of my life but what can ya do.

[superv1xen]

i am the same as you OP

i hold my hands up and admit i used to really get on my high horse re nits, i honestly believed that only the grubby kids got them (as that always seemed to be the case when i was at school) and actually ended up having lots of people on here - rightly - have a massive go at me when i mistakenly aired these views on here

then DS (5) got nits. i couldn't believe it, ds, my clean little boy, with beautiful long shiny hair, who i bathed and hairwashed daily. AND BOY DID I HAVE TO EAT MY WORDS. I was mortified. MORTIFIED. and utterly grossed out. THANK GOD me, dh or dd didnt get them, i'd have died, honestly.

i dealt with them straightaway with hedrin and the nit comb. then when they were gone took him straight to the hairdressers, it was off with the long locks and in for a short crop.

i now use tea tree oil shampoo on him religiously, use the tea tree leave in spray and check his hair with the comb weekly. i also send him to school with his hair gelled as i think that helps repel them too.

[Pegasi]

I never had them as a child but used to swim everyday sometimes twice a day and think that must have put them off. However my daughter gets them and has such fine hair even the healthvisitor said that many of the combs won't work. I comb every day and condition then big comb section by section once a week, tears, arguments and tantrums and all :-( It upsets me so much to see her upset but it's the only way until I get her into squad swimming and then training twice a day lol (that's probably more expensive and time consuming though)

[ChoChoSan]

I think that although no one should feel ashamed about having nits, some people barely even bother to treat their children for them - often for the reason cited in the threrad title...I think the appropriate response is to ask whether they would be happy to live with pubic lice!

[ChippingIn]

Sorry - I can't face reading another nit thread - but just wanted to share what worked for us.

My God-daughter had them all the way through her primary school. The school were not able (willing?) to do anything about the children that were causing the problem as due to their religion, it was completely acceptable to 'house these creatures' URGH.... so in short, all the kids kept getting them and passing them around (let's just say my friend is less vocal than me ). We all ended up with them at one time or another. For us we just used one of the 'shampoos' (as it was infrequent) but for my god-daughter the nits seemed to eventually become immune to the current 'product' doing the rounds - not to mention costing my friend a fortune and a LOT of hassle..

Best result we found:

Robicomb (electric, someone posted here a while ago they knew someone that got a shock from a faulty electric comb, but of the millions used, it's not a huge risk).

Putting her hair up ballet style (pulled into a tight ponytail, plaited and curled around).

LOTS of hairspray - they really don't like it!!

We would Robicomb 2x daily if she had them and every second day if she didn't - bloody nightmare!!

[nitnurse1]

No need to worry ? head lice or nits are very common and are likely to affect the majority of children during their school lives. Head lice in children are by no means a sign of poor hygiene and yes it is possible to get rid of them easily and quickly, with the right preperation.

A head louse infestation is sometimes referred to as ?pediculosis?.Head lice are tiny (2-4mm long) wingless brown hair parasites that live in the hair and on the head of humans. Head lice are highly contagious and are easily spread through head-to-head contact. Head lice cannot survive for long away from a host as they need regular meals.The head louse lifecycle lasts approximately 30 days, during which the louse passes through three stages: First eggs ( the nit) , then after shedding their skin (moulting) three times, head lice nymphs become mature adults; this normally takes 10 to 14 days. Within a day of becoming adult hair lice, male and female lice will start to reproduce. More information is available here


The key to treating a lice infestation ? and preventing re-infestation ? is to break the lifecycle with a product that removes the eggs before they can hatch. There are a number of natural non - toxic products available which assist the process, including nit-nurse.

Peter Boyd Msc.
www.nit-nurse.com

[Podrick]

headlice are a normal and expected part of childhood because many parents do not look after their children properly and do not identify and treat infestations.

The bug busting programme is a system of wet combing to remove lice which takes 2 weeks to complete and it works fine.

The real problem is that schools will not take responsibility for leading on this as a community health problem and parents either don't bother to keep thier kids - and let's face it themselves - lice free, or else parents are lazy or ill-informed and erroneously think the chemical treatments are effective.

[cuteglitterbabe]

Can I just let "new to nits" Mums know, that you cannot remove all the eggs with combing - it is the dead & live lice that you will remove.
I am using tea tree conditioner from Boots & they are doing 3 for 2 on them, so worth stocking up in the UK!

[mcdermott]

hi there, the best product i have used and have experince with is X.it. Its natural and works 1st time (unlike other products i have used).

I bought mine from Asda but i've seen it in most good pharmacies.

There website is www.xitheadlice.co.uk and they have an offer on at the mo for a free metal comb worth £9.99

Hope that helps

[Jux]

Lavender oil is good too. Tea tree is best though. We were in France for months a few years ago, and the pharmacist there recommended lavender and tea tree - we used both!

[OrmIrian]

Yes. They are. Unfortunately.

I never had them as a child either. They are just more prevalent nowadays I suppose.

But then again I did have threadworm and so far my DC have escaped them.

[Marvel]

Nits nits nits, i dream of nits. By the way it is an absolute myth that nits prefer clean hair, they don't, they like any hair they can get on.(i don't know why people say this, maybe to make them feel better?)
My DD went through a period of repeatedly suffering from the little blighters.
Unfortunately my school has a policy that they do not tell a parent 'directly' if there is an infestation. What they prefer to do is send out a letter to the whole class, or include the warning on the monthly newsletter 'Check your child hair'
Now, this is done because the school feel that singling someone out is "discrimination"
eh?
I totally disagree with this attitude. Nit's are not "discriminative" in any way. They just look for the next body to feed from.
Therefore, making it all hush hush in turn makes head-lice a taboo no-one talks about, making the situation worse.
So, there is a kid in my DD class who quite obviously has head lice, so bad she has rashes on the back of her neck and can't stop itching, yet no-one will take Mummy aside and tell her?
If the school removed their taboo inducing policy, the problem would be sorted out quicker.
So about removing them. Nightmare. You have to get a really good comb, use a chemical or natural formula (these do work, olive oil does work, but you gotta be prepared to put the graft in) You need to treat(whichever way you chose), wet comb, wash..then keep wet combing for up to a week each evening in a good light, or best natural light.
Be prepared to keep checking week to week, you can do additional wet combing with a heavy conditioner or olive oil.
It's a continued process.
Infestations are worse in the younger years of schooling, as the kids have much more head to head contact, and usually stop happening after the 4th year in school.
Top Tip - A good deterrent is tea tree shampoo, Nits hate the smell, and can't tell if your human or not.

we have been clear of them for 2 years now

[QueenofAllWildThings]

I've been told that the electric nit combs are the best thing to use as it just electrocutes the little buggers!

[mcdermott]

try this stuff www.xitheadlice.co.uk, theres nothing better in my opinion.
Thanks

[dinny]

deste, I'm not sure a pharmacist is necessarily an expert on nit infestation - if you remove the eggs and lice with conditioner and comb, then of course it works

[deste]

Olive oil and conditioner will not get rid of nits. Putting it on the hair helps to pull the nit comb through easier, nothing more. My friend is a pharmasist and says the only way to get rid of nits is to use chemicals. Once you have used the chemicals comb through the hair to remove the dead insects. This has to be done on a regular basis as the eggs keep hatching while they are still on the hair shaft. Chemicals on their hair now and again or live insects in their hair, I know what I would choose. By the way I was a hairdresser for eight years and only came across them twice.

[dinny]

what about bedding, towels etc? do anything special after you find nits, other than normal washing?

also, what is good hairstyle for girls - dd always has plaits, but they are quite long and swingy

[theultimatethreadkiller]

I never had nits as a kid, but have had them twice as a teacher

[zoo123]

Fluffy, you need to wash, put on loads of conditioner (& I mean loads) and then comb the hair from right on the scalp to the ends in sections making sure all the hair is combed. Wipe the comb after you have pulled it through each time. When you've done all the hair thoroughly rinse with water and you're done. Then repeat every 4 days for at least 2 weeks and if lice still visible then keep going on this cycle until threy are gone.

[Fluffybubble]

Sorry to be dumb but when you all say about conditioning and combing do you mean washing hair as normal then conditioning, rinsing and combing?? Or do you leave conditioner on and comb through? (We are in the middle of our first outbreak, haven't done this before ).

Thanks!

[sitdownpleasegeorge]

That's useful advice about the blowdrying.

[balmain]

I know this is an old thread, but Ghosty if you're still having problems with nits the Nitty Gritty comb is called the Lice Breaker Nit Free comb here in Australia. Here's a link, it's half way down the page, but I've seen them for sale in lots of pharmacies.

www.headliceclinic.com.au/treatments

We were plagued until I found this comb and did the condition and comb every day for ten days, then once a week. If you blow dry their hair after combing it's even better. A team at the University of Utah found thorough blowdrying killed 97% of nits/eggs.

[junkcollector]

How is it possible for ME to have head lice but for neither of the DCs to have them?

[JodieG1]

From what everything scientific I've read they don't prefer clean or dirty hair, it's not a choice they make lol.