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Original poster

NEED TO KNOW, IN DESPAIR ABOUT NITS

66 replies

jollymum · 08/03/2007 08:29

My son's hair is way past his collar becaue I can't get it cut! I hedrin him one weekend, do it again on the next weekend and by Thursday he's riddled again! Today I sat him down and have combed out about 10 big lice, loads of babies but my main problem is this. He's got millions of eggs (am I right that the black ones stuck to the head are eggs and the white ones empty cases?) and I can't get them out. If I sat and scraped them out with my nails it would take me an hour to do a small square patch. What can I do and would a hairdresses cut his hair with eggs in it? It's too long to clipper and I don't know how to anyway. Feeling rfeally p off about it, 'cos I can see them in his hair when he's close to me so his teacher must think I'm an uncaring dirty cow

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 08/03/2007 15:07

I had them towards the end of last year and did a chemical treatment (Debro or something?) followed by rigourous combing several times a day. The chemical treatment didn't quite finish them off, but the combing did. Absolutely horrid and I feel sorry for anyone who has them...

mankyscotslass · 08/03/2007 15:58

I got caught too, and DH does not have the patience to go though mine, keeps giving up saying its impossible with all my hair....grrrr

gobshite · 08/03/2007 16:14

Boots have stuff called Lice Attack, which is a heavy shampoo based on cocnut oil. You put it on dry hair, leave if (for ages if you like, as it's got no pesticides) and then comb out with the plastic comb that comes in the box. Then you just wash it out, like any shampoo.

It worked on my dd, where Full Marks failed, and left her hair very shiny

whitechocolate · 08/03/2007 16:18

A hairdresser will not cut nitty hair no matter how you might beg them. Do what I did - get full marks mousse or similar and nuke them . Wetcombing conditioned hair - you can get little nit combs in the chemists for about a quid - is brilliant for destroying the eggs and the nits themselves can't cling to slippery hair.

Lizzer · 08/03/2007 17:18

White choc...never thought about the buddhist point of view on nits! Or tics for that matter....

Totally sympathise jollymum, out with the comb I say (it really is the only way, every evening for a week then twice a week after that )

Just to add a recommendation for nit prevention which has (touch wood) worked this year for dd is the Wild Child Quit Nits repellent spray (got mine in boots) Its pricey (£10) and stinks to high heaven (australian sandalwood apparently) but worth spraying every morning I reckon. Also, I know this sounds a bit minging, but I've stopped washing dd's hair through the week. It gets done on Sun and then Fri after school. I'm going with the 'nits like clean hair theory' Its always plaited to within an inch of its life at school so you can't tell! Good luck

peanutbutterkid · 08/03/2007 18:29

Buy a haircutting set from Argos (about £15, I think) and buzz his hair short yourself (cut off the longer stuff with the supplied scissors, to start). It's almost spring so you can go for a number 2 buzz. The set comes with instruction video.

7yo Lad in DS class has shaved head except a few long scraggly hairs in the front; I think it looks horrid, but is apparently some new footballer's look and very fashionable. Any attempt to clipper it by yourself can't possibly look half as bad, you'll get better at it with practice, and will save you lots of money+stress in future.

fizzbuzz · 08/03/2007 18:51

I bought one of those things from Argos.....when I had used it, ds looked like an orpahned and neglected child. It was stubble in parts, and some bits were longer, it was a right mess!

He was 7 at the time. Now age 13, and has never ever forgiven me, or forgotten it!

I found them almost impossible to use, dh had an interesting one sided mohican look as well

Original poster
jollymum · 08/03/2007 19:00

Thanks, the nit combs don't get the eggs out though. He had all of his live ones taken out this morning, but I bet some have hatched today. I was wearing a white dressing gown this morning and the buggers were leaping out of his fringe onto me!! Did you know that you can't use tea tree oil or shampoo on coloured hair, I didn't and just read the instructions. Will comb him through again tonight, have done the letter at school and am really fed up. Because his hair is long, if you stand close you can see loads of eggs and it makes me feel like a crap mum

OP posts:
bucksmum · 08/03/2007 19:04

Liquid parrafin is the answer costs hardly anything from hardware shop. Dab it over all over head it kills or the headlice softend the hair and the eggs will all slide off with a nitty gritty comb Then cover head with shampoo rub in then shower then wash and condition and do final comb through. Did this out of deparation after months of nits and have had no nits for ages now!

Justaboutmanaging · 09/03/2007 08:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

3littlefrogs · 09/03/2007 09:11

I had one of those electric clipper things - can't remember the brand - it cost me £24 15 years ago and It was so easy to use. You put the required attachment on for the length of cut, then start at the front and work towards the centre of the head, all the way round. The trick is not to press hard, and keep the cutter parallel to the scalp. I used it on both my boys for about 12 years. Saved me a fortune. They never had nits/lice. My daughter has had them twice, and we do the conditioner and combing every hair wash. It is so much more hassle with long hair, it isn't worth it IMO.

LucyLouise · 09/03/2007 11:36

My DDs had nits over christmas. I found to my horror I'd picked them up too. Because I'm pregnant I'm limited with what I can do without using chemicals. Tried Full Marks on the girls but tbh I dont think it had much effect (apparetnly there is a new breed of super-nit which is becoming immune to the chemicals)
I found the only real way of gettting rid of them was to wet hair and pile in conditioner (can be cheap stuff - no need for fancy expensive brands) and comb thorougly with a nit comb. Ours were 4.99 from Boots.
Dh and I did the girls, one each simutaneoulsy, to save time. We found plonking them in front of a favourite DVD took their mind of it (my two HATE having their hair brushed at the best of times!). You cant remove the eggs but you catch the big egg layers and immature ones as they hatch but before they can lay eggs, hence breaking the life cycle. Treated my same (thick) hair in the same way.
Perseverence is the key. After 2-3 weeks of daily/every other day combing all the nits had gone. Still got some white empty egg cases left but I nit comb every month now so I can spot a reinfestation and we haven't had one yet.
Good luck.

englishabroad · 09/03/2007 13:11

Hello all. I am a school nurse and have doen a lot of back ground reading in to head lice and their treatment. When treating headlice you have two options. Either using chemical shampoos whereby you treat and then 10 days later treat again with the shampoo so that the lifecycle of the lice is broken. The problem with this is that the lice are becoming more and more resistant to the shampoos and you may find that the one you try may not do the job for the lice on your childs head. You must only use these strong chemicals on a head if you find live lice and never just in case. The other method is combing whereby every day you wet comb your childs hair with a fine tooth comb and remove any living lice, before they get to sexual maturity. Wet combing should be done on wet hair with a little bit of conditioner put in the hair to allow smooth running of the comb. Small sections of the hair are taken at a time and the comb run through. Then wipe the comb on a white tissue to see if you can see a live one. Nit picking is the removal of the eggs. They look white and tear shaped. They are glued on to the hair shaft so you can not flick them off but rather you have to use your nails to pull them off. when the eggs are translucant then they are empty shells. New eggs are laid about 1 cm from the scalp so if the eggs are 5 cms away from the scalp then it is a good chance they are empty. There is a web site called bug busters (google it) which gives a step by step method of how to do this. A few other points about head lice. They will only leave a persons head to go to another shaft of hair. So they do not climb on do cuddly toys and wait for the next victim. If the head lice fall of the hair this is because they are dead or dying. Changing pillow cases regulary is recommend as complete hairs can fall out and be left on the pillow, but the whole bed does not need to be washed. Toys do not need to be bagged up. Other areas that will need cleaning items are against the head and a hairs may be rubbed off such as hats which can be washed, riding helments, bike helments which can be hoovered, car seat head rests - hoovered, brushes/combs should never be shared nor should towels. Don't forget to check your childs eyebrows/lashes as well as the lice can live on these as well. Research done at Harvard Uni has shown that tea tree oil has no effect on detering head lice, so don't waste your money. Products such as paraffin oil was used in the past suggesting that the oil suffocates the lice in the eggs - this has also been disproved by harvard - the eggs are able to survive this and being under water. The problem with paraffin oil is that it is highly flamable and that there were many cases of childrens hair catching on fire as this had been used on it. I hope this helps and good luck with it.

fruittea · 09/03/2007 14:02

great post, thanks for taking the trouble!

gobshite · 09/03/2007 15:13

Great post, thanks

Englishabroad - are you by any chance in South Africa? Something in your phrasing made me think of that

englishabroad · 09/03/2007 15:27

No Switzerland

stleger · 09/03/2007 15:39

My dd2 is a nit magnet, I have tried all kinds of thing. I'm horribly used to lice and nits, but I can't stand the idea of them having orgies in her hair. On one ocasion we combed a lot out of a certain part, and she told me it was an apartment block.

fizzbuzz · 09/03/2007 16:21

But Englishabroad, when my ds had headlice, we thought we had killed them off.

A few days later we were playing on my bed, and when I returned to it, a couple of hours later I found one of the sods crawling across the bed. I didn't know what it was at first, and just thought it was a bug, but it looked like a louse.

Later inspection of ds's head revealed they were still alive and kicking, and they were IDENTICAL to the thing on my bed!

tearinghairout · 09/03/2007 16:41

Haven't read whole thread, but despair not!!!
Nitty Gritty comb is the answer - here's their website:

www.nittygritty.co.uk/ng/index.jsp

My daughter had them for about 6 years, and the nitty-gritty comb cleared them after a fortnight. Its secret is that the teeth are close together - they strip out the eggs & break the life cycle. They will send to you, about £10 incl p&p, and it works!

Bamzooki · 09/03/2007 17:01

I went to my local herballist for options other than chemicals when DD became infected AGAIN. I was advised to try Quassia bark (you simmer it in water for 5 mins to make a rinse). I did the usual conditioner and combing routine, then used the liquid as a final rinse. It doesn't smell of roses, but smells better than the chemical shampoos we have used. Did this every other day for a fortnight, and am now using an essentail oil mix from the same shop, few drops in water to spray over her head. This is supposed to deter the lice from transferring to her head in the first place.
I have no idea if this has been proven to work in any study, but so far we have had no further infestations and I know there are at least several classmates who are pretty much always carrying 'visitors'!
The bark is cheap enough that I keep a stash in the house and do a rinse once a week or so, just to be sure!

peanutbutterkid · 09/03/2007 18:39

they can live for at least 24 hours off the human head (unintentional experiment finding).

fizzbuzz · 10/03/2007 07:50

ugh . How did you find that out?

Blandmum · 10/03/2007 07:55

But those that volentarily leave the head are dying anyway

whitechocolate · 10/03/2007 09:22

PBK - my DD picked them up from a carpet that a playgroup played on!! The children weren't there at the time so they must have been nesting in the carpet .

Nits like warmth so if you have an infestation or a suspected infestation do not blowdry hair after washing it as I did this one day (not being aware at the time DD had nit eggs in her hair) and suddenly I was overrun by the little blighters - and they seemed to be overlarge as well. Luckily I only live five mins from Tescos which has a pharmacy, but I hid the bottle in about 5 carrier bags . Guess how I spent my Sunday afternoon... .

sunrays · 10/03/2007 13:43

Actually, drying with hairdrier for 30 minutes has been shown to kill them