Head Lice - A Definitive List of What I Need Please!

[OllieWollieWoo]

Several kids in DS1's class now have head lice. I'd like to stock up on products in case DS1 gets them too, but am at a lost re what works and what doesn't!

Is there a definitive MN inspired list of what to buy?!
TIA

I don't have specific advice about what to buy once you have them expect a good nit comb and some solution.
However, in order to prevent your DS from getting them in the first place, use Tea Tree Oil. Comb a few drops through his hair in the morning and it will help to repel the nits so that he doesn't catch them.

Get a Nitty Gritty comb. Not cheap compared to the plastic ones but they are so much more effective.

a lot of time and some patience.

Use your straighteners, kills the animals and burns the eggs. It is free (as long as you already have the straighteners at home )

Hedrin. I keep a bottle of that in along with a Nitty Gritty comb. Also use the Vosene 3 in 1 repellent shampoo and a spray comb-through tea tree repellent. DS had it once, and I got them too, that was enough, horrible. I comb through his hair a lot now and (touch wood) nothing since. Very interesting about the straighteners Maelstrom I will certainly try that if we get them again, fantastic idea!

Big bottle of cheap conditioner, nit comb (I just have the basic white plastic kind that came with some nit lotion ages ago - gave up on the lotion, still use the comb), lots of patience, and possibly a decent dvd to keep the children sitting still if you do it in the living room.

I tend to do it while DD is still sitting in a nice hot bath - wash hair, apply loads of conditioner, rinse, then comb through. Bright bathroom lights help spot the critters.

Repeat every few days until you stop finding live ones, repeat again after a week to make sure you didn't leave any unhatched eggs.

Oh, and if they are going round but your DCs don't actually have them yet, still do the condition/comb thing at least once a week - that way you can catch them before the first few have had time to multiply.

Hedrin.

Nitty gritty comb.

That is all.

Conditioner.

Nit comb.

Patience.

Agree, there is no key product. Just combing and combing and combing every 3 days until all gone.

Tolerance

Cash [for repeated applications of useless lotions £££££]

At least two Nitty Gritty combs as one always gets lost

Seperate brushes for each child and yourself.

Wine to help you wind down after the latest round of combings, whingeings, finding of adults/small ones/eggs, treatments, combings, whingeings, finding of live lice again......ad nauseam

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I've just oredered a nitty gritty comb (who thinks of these names?) and some Hedrin. No sign of the little blighters yet but am on lice watch!
(Actually - I live in the Netherlands and parents have to take it turns via a rota to check the heads of all the kids in their son or daughters class every 3 weeks! Its called Lice Control, I call it the worst job in the world!)

I'm on lice watch too as we keep getting notes from school so this morning I've conditioned, combed and sprayed nit repellant in dd's hair AND told her not to put her head near anyone elses head if she can help it!

I hate them, they actually give me nightmares!

Nitty Gritty comb - worth it as it has a lifetime guarantee and you will end up spending more on the plastic ones in the long run as they always break.

Don't bother with the chemical applications you can get. Just buy some really cheap conditioner, and tea tree oil and lavender oil. Get a huge dollop of the conditioner and mix in a few drops of the different oils. Slather it on the hair and leave for a few minutes if you can. Then comb out with the nit comb. Nits cannot bear tea tree or lavender so they will repel them.

Email from school today about headlice

I have tried hedrin in the past and not found it to be very effective.

Delightful isn't it ! We currently use the Tea Tree shampoo/conditioner/spray from Morrisons(Ascenti?) and check with a Nitty Gritty comb weekly but I noticed in Wilkinsons the other day that they have a teatree oil scalp rub treatment for just £1.60 !

My dc's headlice laughed in the face of every commercial product.

The Boots pharmacist told me that lice have become immune to Full Marks. You're telling me.

Hedrin - which is supposed to gas them - also failed.

I agree that the only route is hours of combing and unlimited patience. Recently I was in tears of frustration as dd was infected yet again. I know that the "Typhoid Mary" in her class is someone from a very large family, so I can understand why that mother can't keep on top of them. You need to spend at least an hour at a time virtually every single evening to stand a hope in hell. The horrible things must be shagging (or whatever lice do) non-stop!

How on earth can straighteners be helpful - most of the lice live very close to the scalp, and the eggs are there too. so you would need to practically burn your child in order to kill the lice.

Any parent using straighteners as headlice control is being very silly! Let alone irresponsible.

We have been told to keep our kids at home till they've been treated, so we do. I wouldn't dream of sending in ds if I hadn't actually used Hedrin or similar on him.

Imo nothing works but conditioner and coming, not Hedrin not Full Marks, just combing every 3 days.

Catch, I've never heard of that - is it a state primary?

Yes, it is - they just say keep them at home till treated.

I always comb with conditioner as well as using hedrin - just to be sure.

Waste of money if it doesn't work though, thanks for the tip off.