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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be stressed out with head lice?

58 replies

sherazade · 28/12/2009 17:28

me and dd2 (age 2 yrs 11 months ) have them. she picked them up at daycare.

We use the nitty gritty daily, wetcombing over and over again. everyday we find between 1 and 20 lice and dozens of eggs in eahc of our heads.

I tried the full marks headlice solution and regret it, what a waste of money! clear heads for about an hour before we both started itching again and I found live lice in both our hairs. Repeated dose a week later to no avail.

Last night I tried some advice I read on the internet about using oil so i drowned both our hairs in coconut oil last night, wrapped in plastic and washed on waking, only to find more lice crawling through our heads (have just washed and combed again with nit comb and found small newly hatched lice and one big one in each head).

am using the nitty gritty but alternate with another good metal comb as find the nitty gritty is a bit long to stay close to the scalp. Have washed bedding and clothing religiously and even got new duvets, vacuumed mattresses etc.

have heard of delacet but don't know where to buy it from. and worried about investing hopes into yet another solution that won't work.

am really stressed actually got into tears about it today- i know that's really silly of me but my scalp is bleeding and sore from all the combing. any advice?

OP posts:
Original poster
sherazade · 29/12/2009 23:07

looks like an order for nitmix is in order then!

OP posts:
shockers · 29/12/2009 23:11

Neem oil if daily conditioning and combing don't work. Tie hair up daily to avoid reinfestation. ( if all else fails, a mix of vodka and tea tree oil, I have been told!)

Original poster
sherazade · 29/12/2009 23:15

on the nitmix website it doesnt say exactly what is IN the bottle- or have i missed that bit?

OP posts:
cornishgal · 30/12/2009 13:52

It is a nightmare. Here's what I've found works and doesn't cost too much: Take a big handful of cheap conditioner and add lots of neat tea tree oil to it. Mix together and slosh all over everyone's hair in the bath. Then comb, comb, comb with the old nitty gritty (or similar). Wash the comb out between every combing into a full basin of water so you get rid of everything (as they are still alive, just stunned by the tea tree oil). Also that way you can see and count the nits and lice and it's a great feeling when the numbers go down.
You have to do this every single night for about three weeks, sorry but it's true!Apparently the tea tree oil temporarily immobilises the little b**ds so that they can't scurry away from the comb. I have boys so I got their hair cut really short, and kept mine constantly tied up and away from all children. Fun times....

nextyearwillbebetter · 30/12/2009 15:51

Am going to be very annoying here and say you are being a bit unreasonable, I dont really understand how you can be doing it daily and still finding that many eggs and lice? You dont need to do it every day anyway, every other day is fine, this way any eggs youve missed and have grown will not be at egg laying stage yet. Go easy on all the combing and treatment...you'll have no hair left and leave your child and yourself a paranoid wreck! As one of the other posts said...this will probably happen a lot more when they get to school so you need to chill about it a bit. Headlice dont live in duvets or beds, youd have to be pretty unlucky to catch them from there...save your money, cant believe you bought new ones! I find the best thing to do is sit next to a window in good daylight, seperate all the hair and comb through section by section (quite often I end up picking the eggs out with my nails...bit annoying when they get under your nails though) The first time I found headlice in my childs hair I freaked and kept him off school for the day....now I find the whole nit picking process quite therapeutic....

Original poster
sherazade · 30/12/2009 16:31

thats fine nextyearwillbebetter.. to be honest we needed duvets anyway. i doubt my child will be more prone to headlice than she is now at daycare- she is in daycare from 8am to 6pm as i am a trainee teacher and its v crowded the children do have naps very close together etc. i did buy treatment but havne't used anything after the full marks. i didn't say i was finding tons of lice a day but between 1 and 20. and did post recently to say our heads combed clear. since then i've found about 4-5 tiny newborn lice in each of our heads -over two days- so may not use the treatment as the combing and lice and nice and clear lotion seems to be doing wlel.i do feel i need to comb everyday or by bedtime i can feel them crawling..

OP posts:
tribpot · 30/12/2009 16:40

Another vote for Hedrin. It's so, so worth it. Many sympathies, it is absolutely grim.

Nefertari · 30/12/2009 17:02

Tea Tree oil is fine, but be careful as some people can be sensitive to it. I read a recommendation for a few drops per application. One good thing, is that we have proved to be ultra-sensitive, so when they bite, we immediately react and so know when they're on us. My dd is very prone, but DS is not.

Maleeka · 30/12/2009 17:06

Just had to go buy some more Hedrin for my kids . My eldest got them months ago and kindly gave them to her siblings! I know its good to share but bloody hell!

We got shot of them from her hair which is great because mixed race hair and lots of combing is not fun!.

Luckily her brother has more european hair than afro so his is a little easier, but i'm sitting here watching him frantically scratching even tho i couldnt find any a couple days ago.

His sister has taken to straightening her hair with some oven blasting GHD's, mainly cos she prefers it straight, but i suspect she rather loves hearing the buzz of a headlice roasted to perfection She'd be at the GHD's all day if i let her, but i have to keep restricting them to special occasions

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 30/12/2009 17:15

My MIL was telling me the other day that she used to swear by vinegar when her kids were little for killing the lice off.

blijemuts · 30/12/2009 17:27

Know what you mean!DD picked them up aged 2.5 and we have had twice weekly de-nitting sessions ever since.DD is 12 now and we seem have finally got shot of them. At one point her wavy hair was waist lenght so quite a task. we've learned over the years to learn to live with them,she didn't have them throughout those 10 years ofcourse but we used to combine our sessions with reading for school or just having a chat.DS has also joined in the de-nitting sessions from a very young age but the nits don't seem that keen to live on his head whereas DD's head must have seemed like Buckingham palace to the nit families. As said,we haven't come across any for the last 6 months but am almost reluctant to give up our twice weekly 'hunt'.Odd thought really,almost like a monkey family having a mutual grooming session.... always used lots of conditioner and nit comb btw.

tribpot · 30/12/2009 17:48

Maleeka, I scratched for ages after the little bastards were dead, it's an allergy to their - ahem, 'legacy' shall we say. I also had bites up and down my neck and shoulder blades - I have been waiting for them to heal in order to go to the hairdresser and insist on a GI Jane buzz cut for the future, it is just so grim.

newpup · 30/12/2009 17:55

Hedrin works for us too. DDs both have waist length thick hair and although the nitty gritty comb is good it is a devil to get through the hair. Hedrin is fab!

Headlice drive me mad. I always have their hair tied in plaits for school but DD2 sits next to a little girl with waist length frizzy hair that she is always flicking around, she has headlice every other week and passes them on to all!

There is another child whose mother does not treat them!! I mean not even wet combing or anything!

Grrrrrr!

FiveSoloRings · 30/12/2009 18:13

NITMIX is a particular mix of different essential oils. It doesn't kill them, they are combed out very easily with it and their nit comb and the rinsing oil mixture that you can also use in the daily spray keeps them from your heads in the first place as it disguises the smell of Human from them, so spray daily. It really does work

Original poster
sherazade · 30/12/2009 22:36

i'm interested in the nitmix but would like to know how much is differs from the nice and clear lotion- which is also a mix of essential oils and makes combing through very easy

OP posts:
FiveSoloRings · 31/12/2009 01:33

No idea, I've never tried that, but I've used the Nitmix for years now and won't use anything else. Dd is mixed race and has very tight curls...never much of a problem with Nitmix. Wish I was on commission!

Original poster
sherazade · 31/12/2009 11:24

how much nitmix do you really need per child it says one per head on the website but how many combings does that last for? how many bottles would you recommend for 3 heads- one short haired two long and thick?

OP posts:
Ivykaty44 · 31/12/2009 11:32

Last night I tried some advice I read on the internet about using oil so i drowned both our hairs in coconut oil last night, wrapped in plastic and washed on waking, only to find more lice crawling through our heads

Yes you are supposed to comb through the hair first before you wash it and get the lice out - you washed the hair and consequently washed the oil out of the lice so they could continue to live in your hair.

AitchTwoOhOneOh · 31/12/2009 11:39

re the cheap conditioner, i tend to disagree. we found that unless we used very good conditioner it was hellish to comb dd1's long ringletty hair. nitty gritty did work a treat, though.

fiveisanawfullybignumber · 31/12/2009 13:08

Tea tree conditioner with a couple of drops of geranium essential oil. Doesn't smell great, but geranium is a natural insect repellant. Leave on hair for 5 mins whilst kids play in the bath, then comb through thoroughly, rinsing comb in fresh water (in sink) after each comb through. repeat every other night till gone, then twice weekly to prevent re-infestation.

FiveSoloRings · 31/12/2009 17:39

I'd say you could easily just use 2 bottles, but you'd still need some in reserve, because you will need to repeat the process a week later. The postage is the same regardless of the amount you buy, so my advice would be to buy at least 3 and one bottle of the other one that you rinse with as that lasts ages. Try it out and see what you think. I've used Nitmix for around 7 years and I've only just replaced the original bottle, because if you use the daily spray, you rarely get re infestations IME.

Ivykaty, oil will not kill them, it wont suffocate them and it wont make them pack their bags and move on.
The oils in Nitmix are particular ones that have proved to make it easy to comb them out and prevent reinfestation. Try it. I'd be really surprised if it doesn't work for you if you follow their instructions.
You can see the people who have tried it on here have loved it and if you search Nitmix on here, you'll see I've recommended it many times. Those that have tried it have been glad they did.

Original poster
sherazade · 31/12/2009 18:49

ivykaty- i did comb and comb and comb before i washed the oil out, sorry if that wasn't clear. i combed after too, as i could feel them crawl.

OP posts:
misdee · 31/12/2009 19:07

i got so despearate the week before xmas, i shaved my head. 30mm blade, long hair now a crop.

castlesintheair · 31/12/2009 19:12

The best thing I have used (and DD1 had it for nearly a year at one time so I sympathise) was 'nitmix'. You can get it on-line. It's brilliant.

Alternatively, one of my friend's told me that she only washes her 3 dc's hair every 3 weeks and they have never had head lice, so that's something to consider

Stephief · 31/12/2009 19:14

We almost permanently have head lice in this house. I will get everyone clear (did us all last night so clear at the moment!) but the day the kids go back to school we will all be infested again! I use the nitty gritty everyday, but also use a head lice solution from my gp which we get on prescription when we are really infested. I have tried pretty much every head lice treatment and the only one that worked for us before was full marks, I have found that different treatments work for different people. We tried hedrin once but all that did was burned the kids necks! Didnt kill the lice off at all! But the one from the gp works brilliantly (and we dont have to pay for it which is a bonus!) We had to get one from the gp in the end as my daughter was born with a head full of hair so inevitably ended up with them too, and you cant succesfully nitty gritty a babies head, and the over the counter treatments were not suitable for babies! I would suggest seeing your gp if you cant clear them. It was the best thing we ever did.