wits end with head lice - should that be nits end

[Tasa]

Discovered head lice in two daughters heads twelve days ago. Firstly applied shampoo to kill lice and then daily applied homeopathic shampoo and tea tree oil. After sevn days I applied the chemical shampoo again just in case and every day , morning and night I picked the eggs out with my fingers - lovely. The eggs have reduced in number and size and then tonightafter washing hair I went through with nicomb and found three lice, not eggs. Where am I going wrong? Only consolation is that I now have greater understanding of the phrases nitpicking and going over something with a fine tooth comb- I can't believe how time consuming the whole process is. My daughter has just asked what she can take into school tomorrow for show and tell and my husband suggested she take the nit comb in . Any advice most welcome

We've had the same problem, complete nightmare
Have you tried Nice 'n' Clear? Get it in most chemists, costs just short of £10 but lasts for ages and is "natural"
Does your daughter have long hair and if so does she have it tied back for school? We noticed a huge improvement in the number of times she got infested since she started wearing her hair in plaits (as do most of her classmates now)

Do those electric things kill lice AND eggs? I thought that they only killed adult lice

I have the same problem with DD at the moment, they just dont seem to go or when you think you have beaten them you find another arrrrrggh

A friend of mine had this problem (daughter has long hair) and she found the electric comb made the difference. It certainly only kills the adult lice but at least that prevents further egg laying. Nit combing hair EVERY night with conditioner (and nit comb) will help. If it is a recurrent problem then the school nurse can be asked to intervene because it means someone is not checking their child's hair therefore causing reinfection. Heads can be checked at school by school nurse by parental permission.

It can take 2 weeks of combing every 2-3 days to get all the lice. If you comb through that regularly then you will comb out the lice before they get to the age when they can lay eggs. You will always miss some in the early stages, but you just pick them up later. When the lice are not fully grown then they don't more from head to head.

It will pass

Yes, they both have long hair and now wear it tied back. I didn't think the electric comb killed the eggs, I thought it was just the lice. In fact I now realise I don't understand the bloody things at all- how can there be lice tonight after the tiniest number and size of eggs last night- can you tell how much this is getting to me, not because of any feeling of being dirty or anyhting just the amount of time it's taking up, it's adding at least an hour to bedtime. I think I'll buy the electric comb anyway

Of course , meant to say thanks for advice.

Tasa - you will probably find that someone at school is not dealing with it. My sister had this problem and discovered that the children she gave a lift to in the morning had lice and their mother wqs not doing anything about it. The letter had come from the school, my sister discovered lice in her children and treated it. They were continually being reinfected by the children of parents whose children were infested but who didn't treat them for some reason. When that is the case, the school nurse can be contacted.

I'll keep going for another week, but the comb and contact the school if it's still going. the school sent a letter home about two months ago saying there was a problem in daughter's class, I looked and saw nothing. Then another letter came home to say the problem was still there and please check everyone in the family's head. I looked and saw nothing and then noticed both girls scratching their heads like mad but saw nothing. For some reason I thought lice were white and was looking for white insects. I even shampooed their hair with dry scalp shampoo and then next day was at friend's house for lunch and told her they w ere itchy but couldn't see anything and she parted my daughter's hair and pulled out a lice/louse- lovely. Anyway I was left feeling oh god. I haven't treated their heads and god knows how long they've had them etc so I know that it may be going untreated. I was wondering if lice today were perhaps fprm someon else in the class is that possible? One thing for sure, hardly the end of the world I just want rid of the damn things

Tasa, it feels like you're plagued for ever sometimes doesn't it? I tried the chemical stuff then fanatically combing every night until someone on Mumsnet posted this link and it made a huge difference to the amount of time I spent combing dd's hair. Mine was another matter as dh said it took too long for him to do it and it was a nightmare doing my own...

Keep at it, plaits etc have meant that so far we've had no re-investation.

Just ordered it Twink, thanks for that

t really feels at first like it will never end. my dd has hair almost to her waist,always tied back but she has had them twice and the combing takes AGES. Very frustrating. I dont use chemicals tho, and just combing has sorted them withinn two weeks. Apparently you only have to get rid of the lice, as the white eggs are actually empty 'shells' Can that be true? Not sure, but two weeks of combing every other night or so did do the trick. And my 2 ds's luckily never got them.

Tasa, probably worth reminding your daughters to make sure they don't share hair things (brushes combs toggles etc.) with anyone else or each other. Are you putting conditioner on their hair before combing it? It reduces the combing time enormously AND it gives you lovely silky hair.
Don't despair, it sounds like you are near the end of getting rid of them.

Soyabean - yes the white eggs you can see are actually the empty egg shells. The 'real eggs' are very difficult to spot - they are tiny.

Tasa - have you got half term now? Hopefully that will give you chance to get them clear without re-infestation. The lice take 8 days from hatching until they are big enough to lay eggs themselves. So if you comb really thoroughly every 2-3 days you should be able to get them really clear. I think it's better to do a really thorough job every 2-3 days than a quick one every day.

If you are not sure how to do it, or whether you're doing it properly, ask your school nurse for a demo. If there is a real problem in the class maybe she could do a session and invite all the parents. Our school nurse recently did a session for 'new school parents', showing a video, and doing a quick talk. It was very helpful to know what you are looking for, and good techniques.

I also got a book from the library called "I've got nits", which is hilarious. After talking to the boys about headlice, they are very co-operative with the wetcombing.

Anyway - hope you succeed this week! Don't let it get you down.

I thought these extra tips might help speed things along:
Lice tend to quickly become resistant to treatments, so try alternating shampoos/treatments.
Try changing pillow cases more often or place in a clothes dryer for 30 minutes at the highest setting to kill lice and eggs
Combing hair as much and as often as possible will help remove or at least damage and hopefully kill the lice, preventing them from laying more eggs.
Eggs take about 10 days to hatch so you need to keep checking daily until you find no lice for about 12 days.

I think they should bring back the nit nurse!! There is a girl in my daughters nursery class that Im quite sure is causing the problem - her mother often stands in front of me when waiting to go in and Im SURE her head is crawling - Im sure I can see lots of empty eggs littered all over her head near the roots - bleurgh feel sick thinking about it

Bleugh -yuck!
I'm itching just thinking about it.

Message withdrawn

Tasa I had this problem a couple of weeks ago and posted on MN(and I caught them too!).

Someone suggested using Tea Tree conditioner as it acts as a repellant to the lice. Wasn't too successful on my DS as he was too young tip his head back when rinsing and the conditioner stung his eyes.

You really won't appreciate me saying this to you but are you checking yourself and your DH for lice? You could well have got them from your DD's and then passed them back after the treatment. It only takes a cuddle!

Freddiecat, no I haven't got them, keep checking each other's heads but none so far. I was at the hairdressers today and the hairdresser said she had to ask three women last week to leave and come back when their heads were clear; every time she parted my hair my heart was in my mouth, not least because my colour so desperately needed done. Thanks a lot for advice everyone, very helpful.