Headlice - How do you know if they've got them?

[fio2]

What do they look like? My friends kids had them recently and the school have had them also, but I dont know what to look for. Ds seems to have loads of grainy stuff in his hair this morning and I dont know what it is. I cant stop scratching my head either but I am sure this is just paranoia! Any explanations appreciated!

hovely i think headlice dies if it is not in hair

I asked this before but never got a reply - are those electronic combs that bleep when they find a louse any good?

havent got one myself but my friend swears by them

thanks fio2.

Thanks Jaybee - we haven't got them again since half term, but I think I'll go and see if I can find that repellent at Tescos anyway.

I got the electroninc head lice comb from Boots and it's brill My DS1 had head lice and I got rid of them with oil/tea tree but bought this in case of eggs or lice return. It's a good job I did as I had my mates two kids to care for when she was in hospital and her little girl had them. My mate forgot to tell me that she gets them regularly! Anyway as she's a close friend and I knew she wouldn't hate me (well not for long anyway) I zapped her and it went all quiet as they got killed Her son didn't have them but like others say long hair seems to attract em.

My DD doesn't usually get them as she always has leave in conditioner in her hair (it's afro), but her best friend's Mum swears by spraying her hair each morning with a spray of water with citronella oil in it (it's a natural insecticide)
Since using it (last Easter) she hasn't had an infection (unfortunatley we have, cos I thought DH did her hair with conditioner after swimming and he thought I did)

One of the teachers at DD's nursery suggested putting a few drops of tea tree oil in the bottle of shampoo. Then whenever you wash their hair they get a bit of tea tree oil in their hair and it will discourage the lice from going in to your child's hair - good if your child doesn't have it but there is an outbreak at nursery/playgroup/school.

We've just had our first significant visitation by the lovely louses !
A couple of years ago I spotted a couple of black blobs stuck to my son's hair about 2cm up from scalp (both at the same height!) I pulled them out, and my DH, being a bit of a scientist, examined them under a microscope. Sure enough they were nits, and you could see the louse inside, ready to hatch.

This time we weren't so lucky.
DD ended up with a head full of quite large black creatures - at first I thought they were fruit flies. I never knew they could grow so big ! Yuk !

But, after smothering her head in olive-oil ( with a little lavender to improve the fragrance), and lots of brushing and combing out with nit-comb, I think we're beginning to get on top of the problem.

I always thought I had a talent for nit-picking ! LOL :)