Head lice, what is the definitive treatment?

[FiveOrangePips]

I know this topic must have been done a million times but I have found two live lice on my dd, she has long straight hair. I have never seen live ones before in rl, they are yuck.

What do I do once the hedrin treatment is finished?

Do I just wash it and leave it? Or do I wash it and nitty gritty comb it today?

I have spent £20 on treatment already and I spotted the first louse before she went to school - so I kept her home, I realise this might be an over reaction, but she has such long hair that I wanted all day to make sure I treat it really carefully and get all the little beastards.

Anyone else care to join me on nit watch?

I have let the school know and told my fb friends who have children who play with dd to get their nit combs out.

[Al1son]

Lavender you'll get lots of these letter through nursery and school.

The best prevention is to catch the lice before they have the chance to lay eggs so comb your little ones hair through with a nit comb when she gets home each day. This shouldn't be too difficult at the moment if she only attends one day a week.

When she goes more often, if that's not manageable, make sure you comb her hair through with a nit comb and conditioner at least once a week when you wash her hair. This should ensure that you never get a major infestation to deal with.

[lavender11]

has anyone tried that vosene anti lice shampoo / spray and if so, is it good or just marketing spin
Is there any truth in teatree oil being a repellant?

[meltedmarsbars]

Conditioner and a nit comb.

Every time.

[Al1son]

I've been wondering for a while if there have been any proper studies. I can't see how you can ever know if the 'repellent' qualities of these shampoos are successful. Whether your child gets head lice depends on whether the children they get up close and personal with at school are infested or not. My DD went through a couple of terms of catching them constantly because an untreated child was in her class. Then she went years without getting them at all and I didn't use a repellent of any sort. If I had I'd probably have happily sworn to it's effectiveness.

Vigilance and regular combing and conditioning are the key words for prevention of head lice infestation.

[FiveOrangePips]

Al1son, I agree re vigilance and regular (weekly) combing.

I wonder how many people actually do it? I spoke to my sil after I found lice on my dd, because our dc had been playing together - she was going to treat her children without actually condition combing. I wonder if most people don't actually condition comb when they are checking for lice?

I condition combed again tonight, 26 eggs!!!! I didn't find any more lice, but I am surprised by the number of eggs. I will be doing the follow up hedrin treatment again in the next couple of days. Really hope I have managed to nip the infestation in the bud!

[usefultips]

Research shows that bringing back the 'nit nurse' will not solve the problem of head lice and therefore it was a waste of time and recourse. Checking through hundreds of children's dry hair will not detect live lice as they are crafty things and hide. You can not stop a louse crawling from one head to another but you as parents CAN stop an infestation. Regular preventative bug busting method is recommended in order to monitor whether there are eggs or lice. This is cheap as all you need is a comb and a big bottle of cheap conditioner. The more conditioner used, the easier it will be to comb through the hair. Medicated head lice treatment is only recommended if a live louse is found. As from 2002 you can get bug busting kits free on an NHS prescription, either from your GP, health visitor or school nurse providing they are trained to prescribe. It is parents responsibility to keep their children free of an infestation.

[OffToNarnia]

I have used over night hedrin recently and people complimented my hair the next day... all soft and shiney like I had used a conditioning treatment!

[user1465294717]

Sorry to reopen this but have tried 3 kinds of shampoo (Hedrin, Derbac) once a week for 3 weeks and combing after with the comb and the blighters keep returning! In a state and embarrassed! - are we just going to have to cut hair short, is there no other way? Have I missed something? Soz!

[lanalana]

Thanks you guys! I tried the Nitty Gritty and Hedrin and both worked better than anything I've tried! Cheers

[PollyDolly88]

I used to get full marks solution when my daughter got head lice which seemed to do the trick. Always was a bit greasy though as she had very long silky hair so had to wash it a few times to get it back to normal. I researched the eucalyptus spray apparently deterred nits so she went to school with that on her hair (poor kid!) but I have to admit she never got them after that! Obviously hair up from then on too! I'm itching my head thinking about even 9 years on!!! 🙈