Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Nits

[Marne]

Dd1 has nits, whats the best lotion to buy, i'm off to boots as soon as they open, i think i may have them too , do i need to treat the whole family?

my dd had nits, we were told by doc to use conditioner in wet hair and get a nit comb to comb through, this will get all the little nasties out, but you need to repeat every couple of days, docs don't advise you use a chemical lotion as they are too strong and can cause irritation on the child, we did try a lotion before contacting the doc as i went into a panic, but the lotion burnt my dd's head and neck like sunburn and was sore for a good couple of days.

if it happens again i will take docs advice and just use conditioner.

Thanks, i put 'full marks' in her hair as you only need to leave it in for 10 mins and then combed through, i found quite a few but they were all dead (so it must have worked).

When i phoned school this morning they told me to just send her in , is this the norm? I treated her and then sent her in.

get a nitty gritty comb - its about £10 and is fab! although its pretty gross combing out the live wiggly nits! but it gets the eggs out to.

Wet her hair apply conditioner, section the hair using bobbles or clips and comb and comb and comb until you find no more of the little sods, we did this for two week solidly, every night 20 mins of wet combing (i used a leave in conditioner so then didn't have to wash her hair again) generally sat in front of the telly. Rinse the comb in a bowl of water or wipe into kitchen roll between combing.

Second - third even - the wet combing. And you HAVE to do all the family, not just the one who you've seen with them.

Having had nits in the family about a million times I am terribly experienced in this department and have tried literally everything over the years.

Chemicals and lotions are expensive and most require combing anyway - AND they do not work in my experience. Get yourself a nitty gritty comb (you can get them prescribed by gp if £10 is too steep) and some cheapo conditioner (Alberto Balsam tea tree tingle is great). I don't do it every night (god, I'd die of exhaustion the amount of hair in our family...) but do it every 3 nights for 2-3 weeks until they all gone. It takes a long time to get rid.

Apparently there is something made by Nitty Gritty (?) that you can spray on their hair daily that repels nits. Has anyone used it - and more importantly - does it work?

And if kids were sent home for nits, most kids would be off for at least a quarter of the year!

Another nitty gritty nit comb fan here. DD had them for ages, I tried all the different potions but found the only thing that really worked was the nitty gritty comb with loads of cheap conditioner. Did it every 2-3 days for a while and it worked. I sympathise, tho, it's horrid!

I've used the Nitty Gritty repellent spray since dd1 started Reception - no nits so far, which proves nothing really, but lots of her classmates have them so maybe?

I also tie her hair up in plaits or a ponytail (its not very long) and clips, so risk is less. That said, I'm not expecting miracles

We have the nitty gritty comb, i have sprayed her with the repellent spray so fingers crossed she won't get them again.

My dd usually has plaits, bunches etc too though we still get them... but if she had her hair down, we'd just have them all the time!

I am def going to buy that repellent - a mum at school told me about it, said it was expensive but worth it because her dd hadn't had them since she's been using it - and she had them loads before because she is such a friendly, affectionate child

Dd has gone to school today with plats and i will carry on putting plats in if she will let me. I am shocked she has got them as she tends not to get to close to people (she has Aspergers).

oh nits are pioneering little buggers - I can't believe that they don't fly, jump or swim - they seem to infest our family within seconds of dd coming home from school.

Do so soooo sympathise, if there could be one creature we could erradicate from this earth, you know what I would choose...