Head lice aaarrrggghhhhhh

[acrabadabra]

We're going on for 2 months trying to get rid of the buggers. Dd caught them at nursery. Passed them to me. Dh and ds avoided for a while but as their hair has got longer they are now both infested too.

Used nitty gritty initially. Resorting to hedrin but that doesn't seem to be working either.

I'm at my wits end. And me and dd desperately need a haircut.

Any suggestions?

you and dh can dye your hair that will kill the fukcers.
get some clippers and give ds and dh a number three/four yourself.
use all the usuall stuff but also you could try a final rinse in vinegar and then blow dry. The vinegar dissolves the glue that the nits are stuck on with.

Had thought about diy haircuts.

Wasn't aware of hair dye or vinegar so will give them a go. Not sure dh can be persuaded to dye but vinegar might work.

Scared to use the hedrin again in case of building immunity. It works initially then within a day or 2 the itching starts again.

what if you persuaded him to dye his hair the same colour that it is now?
I am convinced that the vinegar works, and now is an ideal time to do it as it is school holidays, and the next day your DC will smell like a chipshop. Use white wine vinegar and do not forget the blow drying!
my polish exmil said that vinegar and a plastic bag on the head would work (to raise the temp) but I could not be doing with that so just used a blowdryer.
Also, there is quite a good tea tree spray that you can buy in savers.

Dcs are only 4 and 2 so no worries about school.

Dh has too much grey for dying not to be noticeable. But will do mine. Presumably it has to be permanent dye.

If I persevere with the nitty gritty should I comb it through every day? Poor dd hates it and has very thick hair. Was hard enough doing it once a week.

yes every day, every day, comb and condition

There is only one way to deal with this and it is time consuming and tedious. You need to comb through everyone's hair very carefully and thoroughly at the same time every two or three days for at least two week. You won't get rid of them unless you give very live louse out every time. Leave one behind long enough for it to lay and you're scuppered.

You can use vinegar to loosen the eggs but the important part is removing the live ones completely every time.

Wash and change pillow cases as well when you do hair,as eggs can be on them as well.

Wash and change pillow cases as well when you do hair,as eggs can be on them as well.

...and live lice. They can live for several days off a head. I've seen one a friend kept for about a week in a jam jar.

You need to use the nitty gritty everyday and on everyone for 21 days to break the cycle. Info here (scroll down)

Best way to do it with long, thick hair is:

Wash her hair with shampoo in the bath. Brush through (if it's knotty use a tangle teaser brush) or similar.

Cover in conditioner and then get her out the bath and comb through using the nitty gritty. Do it in sections so you don't miss any. Check the comb after every single comb through and wipe it. We also use a bowl of water to deposit any eggs or live ones and carry on.

If she gets bored let her play on your iphone/tablet or watch something on tv!

I dye my hair with permanent dye. A few school secretarys have poured scorn but it's worked every time.

Vinegar works as has been said.

I've had a pal use paraffin and comb them out but I've never used that one though.

But Ultimately.. it's nights and nights of something slippy on the hair and combing the bastards out.. there just isn't any way of escaping it I don't think.

COVER YOUR HAIR IN.CONDITIONER, USING A NIT COMB, COMB THE LITTLE BUGGERS OUT, THIS WILL GWT RID OF THE EGGS TOO....

Thanks all. I knew that was the answer but definitely not the one that I wanted.

My hair is halfway down my back atm (not by choice) so might have to persuade a friend to chop a few inches off to make it easier.

I always thought that the lice died off your head very quickly so never bothered with extra washes of bedding and towels. So thank you for that info too.

Nitty gritty out tonight

Do it in the daylight if you can, they're ways much easier to see in daylight I find!

I am a teacher and got nits as a lovely Easter present! My hair was also the same length but my friend cut it for me to my shoulders so was much easier to do then! Took me 5 days of combing everyday to be clear of the live lice and a few more days to be egg free. But you must kep coming up till 21 days to break the cycle and catch any hatched eggs you missed etc.

Wash all the bedding at 60drgrees (although they say 90 is better) and then tumble dry to kill off anything the wash didn't get off.

Sorry I have no idea why 'e' is missing in a number of words!!!

My dd1 had very thick curly hair and was always catching them. In the end - along with nightly combing tea tree conditioner - I sectioned her hair into small ponytails and then joined them together - looked very new agey - and she never had them again.
After she had them for the fourth time, I took one of the lice, put it in a baby food jar, it lived for over 2 weeks. I certainly never 'fed' it. Prob get done for animal cruelty now.

i tried everything from the chemist, never worked my daughters always came back with them. Having spoke with a doctor friend of mine, she suggested to stop buying from the chemist. Buy a cheap bottle of tea tree conditioner or any conditioner really, leave it in the hair, cover with a towel for a few hours or over night and then comb out. the lice and eggs had nothing to hold onto and would simply slip out. the next day i used a nit comb to comb their hair. Disappeared, very happy. i do this once a week now even though they dont have head lice.

Use Hedrin once on everyone at the same time so no one has any lurking and then use nitty gritty comb to make sure. It worked for us and everyone now nitty gritty combs their hair every other day just in case! No returning headlice so far!

We've had them couple of times, once you have got rid of an infestation using the nitty gritty then keep on top of it using a tee tree spray. Vosene make a good one. The one time we got them back I had lapsed into not spraying the kids hair daily. Any long hair at school should be tied back.