Headlice questions

[LucyJones]

We haven't had it here before. When dh dropped ds (3) at nursery this morning there was a sign saying ds' room has had 3 cases of headlice.
So how likely is it that he will get them? Will he come home with them tonight?
Should we treat his hair tonight in case he gets them or wait and see if he gets them?
What am I looking for anyway? Eggs or jumping things?
Please help!!

Buy yourself a nit comb. Always handy to have in the future.
Wash his hair, put plenty of conditioner in and start to comb.
Sometimes you can see the lice moving. Eggs are usuall stuck near to the scalp, especially behind ears and in nape of neck.
They don't jump but transfer over to other heads by crawling.
You have to keep combing each day because unseen eggs will eventually hatch.
It's a complete pain, along with verrucae and worms.

Don't treat unless he has moving lice in his hair - in fact I'd say don't treat at all, wet combing is just as effective.

Get some cheap conditioner (Boots or Asda do bottles for around 30p) get a nitty gritty comb, either bought or on prescription. Put on loads of conditioner then comb through the hair and see what you get. Comb the hair in different directions - how you would normally then from underneath, then every which way you can.

If you find any, repeat the process every 3 days for a fortnight and then continue for another fortnight after you found the last one.

Nitty gritty: www.nittygritty.co.uk

It'll be fine. In a way it's best to get it over with because you WILL be encountering headlice from time to time as he goes through school. Welcome it as a right of passage.

Hedrin is the only thing which works and is available on prescription. It's also NOT nasty organo phosphates but kills them by suffocating them or something. Great stuff.

I'm a seasoned nit comber.

so I ned to do that tonight even if I can't see anything?

Yep.

You need to comb his hair through when wet with a fine toothed comb, you will see the lice on the comb and then you can treat. We had the same thing with our dd, we used lots of conditioner as her hair is long and we were advised that it stops the lice from gripping. We did it a couple of times a week and when we did see the lice we then treated it with some stuff from the chemist - tried just wet combing, tried herbal stuff neither worked - then carry on combing when you wash his hair until the threat has passed. My dd has now stated school and hasn't had a problem since

No. Only if you see a moving louse. Do the check anyway. It's quite right that the Nitty Gritty is the only decent nit comb. You need to invest in one.

thanks everyone

if we do get them what happens about going out? Sorry to sound thick but say if dh gets them can he go to work?!!

Going out is fine. Just be religious about conditioning and combing every day.