Headlouse beginner -please help

[lucasnorth]

DD's nursery had a sign up saying please check your child's hair as one of the class has lice.

I bought a little plastic comb, and I think there may have been some eggs. There was a patch of hair where there was quite a bit of what looked like fine dandruff.

Does this sound like lice? Or are there always adults as well as eggs? And how do you tell the difference between eggs and dandruff?

I put her in the bath and combed with conditioner for about half an hour, and have put all her bedding etc in the wash. Is there anything else I need to do?

Ugh. Thanks for any advice.

Was the dandruff black?

No, white.
Possibly a little brown too but that may have been food

It doesn't sound like she has them, but a quick check when you wash her hair for a wee while will make sure, it's always a good idea to comb through every so often anyway.

If you wet combed with conditioner and you didn't find any black bits then it's most likely she hasn't got any.

Nitty Gritty combs are the best comb to have.

I've never bothered with any of the lotions, always used the nitty gritty comb and loads of conditioner.

I've also never washed bedding or towels.

How did I get to be this old without knowing this stuff?!

Thank you both. Definitely no black bits, so will just keep an eye out for the next week or so.

Off to Google Nitty Gritty now; I assume it's a brand of comb?

Thanks again; I'm feeling less itchy already

They're pretty unmistakable when you find one. If you look with a magnifying glass you can see their legs, they're like little lobsters.

If she's caught them from someone what's in her hair is going to be an adult, so quite big. It's when they've had them for a while and they've multiplied that you get the different sized ones and eggs.

Hatched eggs are white.

You might be able to get a nitty gritty comb on prescription from your HV or GP. Otherwise they're available online.

I was clueless when dsd first arrived with them! It's not the sort of thing you read up on unti you're faced with them.

Oh the other thing is when you are combing the hair comb it in the opposite direction to how you would normally, as well as normally.

Yuck!!

I've bought a comb online. The plastic one I got on the way home this evening (all of £1.29!) was pretty useless, and I'm pretty sure I'll need one sooner or later.

I only comber the hair the normal way; next time I'll do both ways!

Thanks again