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Original poster

Aaaargh! Nits .... advice please

32 replies

Easy · 27/10/2004 12:38

We have spent the weekend with my sisters family, and my mum. My ds slept in spare beds at both houses, we went out yesterday with SIL (who is always hugging my ds).

This morning ds went to childminder who has sent him back as he has nits (how come I didn't know? He hasn't been scratching or anything)

DH is treating him at this moment with 'Full Marks' lotion. Do we need to let everyone know? Do I have to change ds's pillow as well as the bed linen? Are we okay to meet up with friends to play tomorrow?

Am I being over-paranoid?

Help please

OP posts:
blossomhill · 27/10/2004 12:46

As long as you have treated him and continue combing through for the next 10/14 days I wouldn't worry!

ebbie22 · 27/10/2004 12:47

No your not being over paranoid as nits are buggers who will get to everyone unless treated asap...Has your son got lots of white eggs?You might want to let your sil know but dont worry to much about the bedding although i always do...

Original poster
Easy · 27/10/2004 13:37

anyone else?

OP posts:
emz31 · 27/10/2004 14:05

nits are real buggers - i used to teach nursery and have caught them at least 5 times in 6 months. the only way to prevent them is to use the wet combing method every time you wash hair. buy a nit comb and after putting loads of conditioner on, comb it through. any nits, eggs etc will come out on the comb. i now do it as routine. wouldn't worry about bed linen as nits can't live outside of hair and scalp - sounds gross but they need blood to survive!

secur · 27/10/2004 14:08

Message withdrawn

emz31 · 27/10/2004 14:19

ugh gross - can feel myself itching already and have a really bad urge to wash all my bed linen even though i've not been near a child (except my own for the last 6 months!)

august24 · 27/10/2004 14:23

just went through this with my daughter. We changed schools in Feb. and none of the other families told me there was alittle girl who has in constantly and whose mother does not treat!
The best luck I had was to "wet comb" her hair, which is when you put tons of conditioner in the hair and comb it through, and then pull out any eggs you find(to be honest I didn't get any on the comb, I just picked what ones I had out with my fingers.) I didn't use the chemicals. If my daughter had been a boy I would have just shaved her head. New information says that you don't need to treat stuffed animals of bedlinen, but I did just to be on the safe side.

august24 · 27/10/2004 14:25

I would tell others, I was embarrassed to, but once I opened up to the others in my class I found out about that little girl(and now know to stay clear of her and tie my daughter's hair up. I would also let your little boy play with other children.

Original poster
Easy · 27/10/2004 14:35

Thanks.

Of course I've been itching since we picked him up this morning! Have spent the last 20 mins combing partings into my hair in front of the mirror. Can't see anything tho'.

Bedlinen is changed. Now what?

OP posts:
bonym · 27/10/2004 16:46

My dd has had nits on and off since the beginning of the year. I have spent a fortune and tried everything - various chemical treatments, herbal treatments, 4 different types of nit comb (the best is the Nittygritty comb -you can find it on the web if you Google - as it seems to get a lot of the eggs out as well). I have found that the only thing to work, as others have said, is to wet comb with conditioner each time you wash the hair. I don't bother with chemical treatments any more as not only do I think they can't do your child much good, but they also don't seem to kill the nits - even after being left on all night! I can confirm that they will live off the head as I have twice found the little buggers crawling on the sheets, so you do need to change bedding. I also take away any soft toys that have been in the bed and swap them with others. I think the problem is that if your child is in nursery or school, no matter how conscientious yhou are about treating them, there is always someone else waiting to pass them back again! Good luck, but be prepared for this to be an ongoing problem if in contact with other nursery/school age children. You might be lucky though as boys tend to get them less than girls (don't get so close to each other apparently!

Wifeof · 27/10/2004 16:59

Agree about bed linen, also any clothes with collars - I washed all my ds and dd's when they had them.

If you can bear it, have your ds's hair cut as short as possible and try using Boots/Tesco tea-tree oil shampoo regularly as well as the wet combing. Prevention is definitely better then cure for the little sods!

Good luck, and try not to get too stressed out - it's more common than you probably think right now and nothing to be ashamed of, honestly!

Original poster
Easy · 27/10/2004 18:00

Thanks, we'll see how we go. DS is 5, half way thru his first term at school, so I suppose i'm lucky we've got this far without catching them before.

I don't like REALLY short hair for him (think it makes him look like a thug, why give everyone the warning ), but if it is a persistant problem will do that.

Oh, and I'm not ashamed, I know it happens to everyone (except my childminder, who claims her 2 have never had them).

OP posts:
vanessa13 · 27/10/2004 18:37

hi easy for a start your just being a mum.
i have three young children and since my daughter first started school all of us have been riddled with them its not easy to get rid of them apart from carrying on with what your doing and also keeping there hair up as much as poss.i think as long as your friends know your son or daughter has them they should respect that it is a fact of life im sure it will be ok good luck

Tessiebear · 27/10/2004 18:59

Dont know whether anyone has already said this but my DS sleeps with Teddies and i washed them on a hotish wash too!Also i used to go through his head and remove the eggs from the individual hair by pulling them out with my finger nails - no comb would pull off the buggers as they were so stuck to the hair!

Batters · 28/10/2004 09:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Easy · 28/10/2004 12:20

Cheers Batters

I've examined my head again this a.m., but think I'm clear, and can't see anything on ds's head either. Obviously will wet-comb again for quite a while, and get some tea-tree stuff.

Should I tell school when it starts again next week? or do they get so much of it they'll not be interested.

OP posts:
Wifeof · 28/10/2004 12:33

I told my children's head teacher and he said there was nothing he could do. Apparently our LEA ban sending out warning letters as it causes undue stress to parents!!!!!!!

listmaker · 28/10/2004 12:40

We've had a few really bad bouts of headlice. In the end the only thing that worked was conditioner and combing every 2 or 3 days with the nittygritty nit free comb someone else mentioned. It took about a month to get rid of them all - my dd has thick hair and I hadn't noticed til she was pretty well infested !

I now comb them every week as a preventative measure.

cartrefle · 28/10/2004 12:41

Yes, do inform school as they should send home letters encouraging all parents to check for nits - as always sadly it's likely thaere are some that won't! Used to teach a boy who's hair was moving with thecreatures but she still deied he had them!!!

cartrefle · 28/10/2004 12:42

or denied, even!

Original poster
Easy · 28/10/2004 12:43

Don't you feel like a bad parent when you didn't know? I don't understand it, ds wasn't scratching at home or anything. So how come the childminder knew and I didn't?

OP posts:
cartrefle · 28/10/2004 12:48

Is it possible you could just be a busy parent trying to juggle 100 things a day? Despite my kids having been previously infected it took my dd scratching to check my non scratching ds & realise he was alive with them!!!!!!!!!!!

Original poster
Easy · 28/10/2004 12:50

can't school suspend a child who is infected if not treated?

OP posts:
cartrefle · 28/10/2004 13:03

Don't know the answer to that one...suspect it may contravene human rights or something like that - not saying we live in an overly PC world or anything!

Original poster
Easy · 02/11/2004 10:07

So we discovered them last Wednesday and treated him.
Combed with conditioner Friday and Sunday (nearly caused World War 3 on Sunday).

Childminder picked him up from school yesterday, and phoned me to tell me the little b*ggars are back again!

Bath, combing, tea-tree oil rinse, fresh bedding (including pillow and duvet, his have been sealed in a plastic bag and put in the shed to get cold and kill the little bstrds).

Now what please?

OP posts:
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