Nits - need advice

[knittingfog]

ds has picked up nits from nursery and I wondered how infested we were relative to other people's experiences.

I found a couple of big adult ones and lots of eggs in his hair by using a shedload of conditioner and a metal "nitty gritty" comb. After he'd gone to bed I started to feel itchy myself so I did the same thing to my own hair and found about 10 adult lice and even larger sized eggs than I found in his hair. (I have collar length hair which is quite thick in texture wheras ds's is very fine 3 year old type hair).

What scores have other people notched up ?

Also, given that I was actually more infested than ds, could I have picked them up somewhere and passed them on to him instead of him bringing them home from nursery ? He has currently been co-sleeping quite a bit with me so we were bound to share our new found pets quite quickly.

I have bought some over the counter stuff but everyone seems to say that there's no substitute for repeated combing which is easy if you use a lot of conditioner and my HV says that a lot of the treatments don't seem to kill the bugs anyway.

Any positive experiences of getting rid of the little blighters ?

I always had the most success with the NittiGritti stuff and loads of combing. His nursery seemed to be alive with the little beggers, so there was probably someone not getting rid. Using the prevention spray seemed to help alot too

anyone ?

With my daughters first infestation I used a chemical one and it didn't work at all. Then I got a natural headlice remover kit from boots that is basically conditioner with tea tree oil in. You comb every three days for two works to break the cycle. Worked a treat but dd hated having it done but needs must. Just make sure you take you're time and work around his head systematically so you know every piece of hair is done.

Ds hated having it done and I was a bit limited by how long he'd sit still for but I told him we'd have to do it every night until they were all gone. Should I stick to nightly combings given that he will only tolerate it for so long and I have a baby to see to as well.

No-one has commented about the massive number I found on myself too. I was horrified, surely 10 adult lice is a lot ? Where have all the little bu**ers sprung from, I wasn't remotely itchy until I realised ds had them.

I have had more infestations since the first and this time ds 3 yrs getting them as well. The only way I can comb him is while he is sitting in the bath playing otherwise he just won't sit long enough.

Doing it every 3 days should be fine as long as you are confident you have done a thorough job. Any more nits hatched in the 3 days are still not mature enough to lay more eggs so you are breaking the cycle.

10 isn't that many. I try to check dd every week but got a bit lazy over Christmas and found about 10 on her next time I did and she wasn't itching. Checking every week is the best way of catching them early and nipping it in the bud.

Dd1 had them 3 times in a month, now i wash all our hair in tee tree and we use the prevention spray. Keep combing, its the only way to get rid of the eggs!