Help, headlice in child who refuses to let me comb her hair!!

[LUCIA22]

My DD (3yrs) had her first case of head lice at the weekend. I had never seen them before and was quite shocked to suddenly see them crawling through her hair. Went straight to the chemist and bought Full Marks as it looked easy to use and only took 10mins. It successfully killed all the lice but I couldnt really get a good go at it with the comb as she wouldnt sit still long enough so I was pretty sure I hadnt got all the eggs out. It said to repeat in 7 days but I noticed some tiny ones crawling around this morning so did it straight away as I couldnt bear to leave them and she has a friend to play today and would be mortified if she caught them!!! This time she completely rebelled and all I could do was get the solution on, leave for 15 mins and then wash off, she wouldnt let me anywhere near her with the comb. Am I ever going to eradicate them? Does anyone have any ideas?

You do realize that it takes about 40 minutes to nit comb one head properly to be sure of getting every nit? Does anyone really hold down a screaming child for 40 minutes?

And I hate this "if you don't let me do this horrible painful thing to you because of something that is in no circumstances your fault, I will cut your hair off" idea. Particularly as nits are a fact of school life - you've got at least 7 years of dealing with them ahead you you.

Hedrin, or another non pesticide lotion. But not the herbal ones, they are useless. Do everyone in the family. Then bribe bribe bribe until you can get the comb to them. Make sure the hair is completely tangle free before you start. Then use a plastic nit comb before you use a nitty gritty or other metal one. Brush, then wide toothed detangling comb, then plastic nit comb, then metal comb. Be super careful with the firt two so you don't pull their hair at all. Then with a bit of luck, you can do it without all this angst.

Thanks eveyone. I also read on another thread something about tea tree oil being a deterent so I combed her hair through as best with the special comb as I could on Thursday, spraying each section as I went with a mix of water and tea tree. I didnt think I had done a very good job and was expecting to see all the hatchings this morning as it is day 7 but cant see anything yet. The other tip was to put tea tree oil in the shampoo so that the deterent is ongoing. I have done that so will wait to see if it works.
I was pananoid about telling them at nursery as someone told me that they wont take them if they have head lice. I know she cant pass it on as I treated all the live ones as soon as I saw them. It has become an obsession and I find myself picking over her head like an ape at every opportunity!!!!

Thanks seeker. I also dont like the threat approach. It is not her fault that she has the lice. I have explained to her what it is and how important it is that they are removed as they are biting her. I think that alone is quite upsetting for a three year old. I hate the idea that I have had to pin her down at all but that is a last resort just because it has to be done but she gets lots of cuddles afterwards. I hated having my hair combed when I was little and mine was straight! Hers is very fine and curly so tangles very easily and it does hurt when it is combed so I cant really blame her, I was just hoping that there was an alternative.

We tend to sit in front of the TV with a special DVD for the combing. It is just non-negotiable, and if she makes too much fuss its the News on instead.

Do use lots of conditioner as it makes combing easier. I usually comb first with a normal comb, to get rid of the knots, and then use the nit comb. We talk about bugs in her hair. She needs to get used to the idea of head lice, as this won't be the last infestation. She will need nit combing at least once a week just to check, as well as every other day for infestations.

However if it is really bad, if the chemicals aren't working you could try olive oil. You cover the hair with olive oil, wrap it in cling film or a bag for an hour or so, and then comb. The lice die because they breathe through their skins, and it suffocates them (most, some migt not get coated enough). But you will still need to comb every 2 days to get the newly hatched ones.

I tend to think hair gets more knotty when there are head lice. I'm not sure if its something they secrete or just all the scratching.

Good luck!

"I was paranoid about telling them at nursery as someone told me that they wont take them if they have head lice. I know she cant pass it on as I treated all the live ones as soon as I saw them."

I'm sorry, but she can pass them on - the new hatchings are too small to see. And she must have got them from someone - you need to tell the nursery so they can send a letter out and everyone can check their child.

50% of children with lice don't itch, so don't scratch. So it's easy for even some really alert and aware parents to miss them.

ANd you are treating everyone in the family, aren't you? If she's got enough lice for you to see them crawling about, then the chances are you and her father have them too.

My dd's both have very knotty hair and we have a piece of fabric called 'the hair mat' (arf) and a box of toys that we only play with at hair brushing time.

The only thing that works IMO is combing. You have to do it every other night for quite a while. Obviously it will get worse if you don;'t get them out and she will be teaming with them. Then everyone will see them!

Do the full marks once week - keep it going for as long as the packet says you can but don't used it more than once a week. Eventually it should deal with it. In the meantime best to do everyone else too and gently get her used to a weekly nit comb with lots of conditioner. Mine always quite enjoyed it - loved the fact that mini beasts were appearing for inspection! Think I was lucky though - ds wasn't too bothered and had a no. 1 cut as soon as the nits cleared up. DD got a weekly nit comb from a baby so we never had to go through it again.

Be really honest about why it's being done and perhaps a treat if she co-operates. Park, conker hunt, ice cream!!

Thanks Blueberry pancake. I will step up use of the nit comb. He also still has cradle cap and usually has sand in his hair from playing. He is in daycare so i suspect we are all reinfecting each other! I teach primary children and they/I have all had them too. Some days it feels like there is no escape! Off to get the conditioner and comb now.

I found using hedrin was best. DD only had headlice once, in P4. To make it easier to comb through the hair, I also used a conditioner - DD had waist length hair so a hair 'slicker' was needed and conditioner was ideal. I would just talk away to her about various things and would normally have a treat for her which DD would see beforehand so she knew it was there waiting. Or I'd have bought her a new comic to look at while getting combed.

Incidentally - and this is just a related aside - when the school had it's lice outbreak the only way parents/guardians got to know was word of mouth; the local authority had decided that schools would not send out warning letters as this may potentially cause victimisation of the child who brought the head lice to the school. Ignoring the fact that children weren't ever mentioned in the letters, it was always a 'we're making parents aware of an outbreak of...' But just in case the warning letter was banned. Very annoying!!