Head lice!

[clairemagnolia]

I shaved all my hair off yesterday as a simple, although somewhat drastic solution to headlice discovered on Saturday. It is at a number one, so there is still a tiny bit of hair left. I've conditioned it twice since and combed it each time and not found any evidence of eggs, but I'm still paranoid that there may be some I have missed. My ds, age 2, was also infested and though I have conditioned and combed his hair out I can still see eggs on his temple area, hence the concern about my own hair - his is blond, mine is black - so easy to spot on his (now I know what I'm looking for), impossible on mine.

I know the eggs take about a week to hatch, do I just have to wait and see?

I called NHS Direct to ask for help with this but they were singularly useless, the nurse just babbled on about not being able to make the decision to shave my head for me and didn't seem to understand that I wanted information on how to care for my head AFTER I'd shaved it - so if anyone out there has advice on how to care for a shaved head (with or without lice!) it would be gratefully received. I've decided to keep it shaved and wear a headscarf until ds is completely clear to avoid cross reinfection.

Sorry this is so longwinded!

[johno]

i suffered with headlice while i was pregnany with Ds, dont know how i got them as i didnt have any children i just kept combing and conditioning for weeks, i also put vinegar on my hair as they dont like the smell

[prettycandles]

I used stuff called BizNiz conditioner (sorry, can't remember the make but it began with M and came from the health food shop) on my, dh and dd's heads when ds caught headlice. It is supposed to stop cross-infection, which I suppose it did, because none of us caught headlice despite plenty of head-to-head contact with ds. It also smells lovely (much nicer than vinegar ) and is marvelous for the scalp.

Dh generally has a no3 or 4, going down to no1 at the back. Very very easy to comb and to detect beasties in it. I don't know abou tthe eggs, never saw any on ds, just the beasties. I would say just comb as you would your ds, every day or two until you have had 2-3 combings without collecting any lice, then weekly.

[clairemagnolia]

Thanks Johno and Prettycandles. I'll try and get hold of some BizNiz as I can't stand the smell of vinegar either - except on chips of course!