Not really help but some questions from a nit virgin...

[wheelybug]

Picked dd up from pre-school and Mrs Jobsworth who loves imparting bad news pulls me aside and tells me that 'one of the members of staff' was playing hairdressers with dd and found some nit eggs.

I can't see anything apart from the cradle cap she still has so partly wonder whether one of the less experienced members of staff saw this and panicked.

However, I guess I have to do something about it as they told me too. So.....

What do I do ?

Buy a nit comb and some conditioner. Cover your DD's hair in conditioner and comb through. If she has lice, they will come out with th ecombing. You need to do this thoroughly every few days to get rid.

Or just buy some stuff from the pharmacy to get rid of them.

The eggs stick to the hair, so if you can't easily pull it off, it's more likely to be an egg than flaky skin.

Nit comb and conditioner. Park her in fromt of a viedeo if she needs help to be still while you get on with it.

Thanks. She hates having her hair brushed so I think we're in for a miserable afternoon .......

NITMIX.

hedrin is really good put it on leave overnight and then wash haiir, lice practically just fall out over night so you will need to change bedding

Make sure she has them first...do you know what they look like? The eggs usually stick just above the root of the hair.

Thanks all ! Am still convinced she has/had them - I did the conditioner comb trick and got nothing and then when it all dried on her hair (because a friend came round) there were a few 'bits' and so I couldn't decide if they were eggs or just bits from her cradle cap.

The chemist had given me something which was oil (almond and some others I think) which just made it harder for eggs to stick so I did treat her with that but I am sure the bits are all concentrated around 2 patches of cradle cap.

We're off on hols on saturday so I'll give her another check when we get back - before she goes back to nursery - and see whats what !

Hi Wheelybug - the Smittals household just lost its nit virginity too! Yuck! I couldn't see them just by inspecting DD's dry hair, but doing the combing (with one of those 'NitFree' metal combs & conditioner) got a whole herd out - you can def. see the evidence when you comb, no doubt about it! Looks a lot different to bits of cradle cap. If you wipe the comb on a white tissue after each stroke, it's easier to see what's going on.

Now I realise where I've been going wrong & why my daughter has had nits for an eternity! I've spent nearly £150 on nit combs, headrin, nit free, everything but I've been washing her hair, conditioning and combing whilst its wet with a nitty gritty comb......is that wrong??

Chipstick,your method sounds just right to me,the nitty gritty comb has been a godsend in our house but best results on wet conditioned hair.

Phew!! Thanks for your reply. Night off combing tonight - that pleasure is saved for Sunday & Wednesday nights

Are you rubbing the conditioner right to the roots, and drawing the nitcom through the hair from the scalp to the roots? The beasties themselves crawl on the scalp, so if you don't draw the nitcomb acrooss the scalp (gently!) as well as the roots and hair, you are liable to miss them.

Hedrin.

For weekly or twice weekly "maintenance" use ordinary tea tree conditioner. Gather up all the top layers of hair in a clip or ponytail and really concentrate hard on the lower layer immediately around forehead, behind ears and nape of neck. Get one of those £10 combs that look like a jellyfish (nittygritty?) with the spiral prongs. Do 10 mins combing with frequent rinses in hot water on those bits, then 10 mins on the top layers.

The eggs are laid close to the hairline. If you get everything out of those areas then there is no chance of eggs hatching into adults.

You've got no chance unless you really get the lower layers clear.

chopstick - are you washing out the conditioner before combing or after? i was told to comb with the conditioner in to keep the lice in place while you comb, and makes combing easier.

I always wash the conditioner out then she sits with towel round her watching cbeebies or the like whilst I divide and comb the hair. I always put on loads of conditioner and it makes her hair so soft that combing it is really easy.

Don't wash the conditioner out before combing. Wash what is left out after you've done the combing.

oddly, when the DDs have had nits, they've been most prolific on the top of the head, rather than around the hairline. Maybe we just breed weird nits [scratch]

What I did with dd (long hair, barely tolerates nitcombing) was to liberally apply conditioner to dry hair section by section as I combed. Then she'd go for bath and hairwash after the nitcombing session. I know they say wash first, but sometimes you have to wing it. At least this way she allowed me to finish the job. Had she had to sit through a hairwashing, nitcombing, and second hairwashing...well, tears before bedtime would be an understatement.

i think there is a moose that just kills them dead.Also when my daughter had them there was a product in argos that was like a comb but it exlectroted them(nits i mean.)Wot a pain nits like clean hair i was paronoid when my kids had them very catching as soon as i got rid of the nits they caught them again.Maybe ask at the chemist to see what they advise.

i think there is a moose that just kills them dead.Also when my daughter had them there was a product in argos that was like a comb but it exlectroted them(nits i mean.)Wot a pain nits like clean hair i was paronoid when my kids had them very catching as soon as i got rid of the nits they caught them again.Maybe ask at the chemist to see what they advise.

Yes,I bought the electric zapper comb a few years ago when they first came out found it no good at all,but it was good for cat fleas they are a lot bigger than head lice