Head lice nightmare! How to keep them away?

[Shootingstar2289]

My three year old son keeps getting lice at nursery. I think the problem is my son is very cuddly and often likes to cuddle the staff who perhaps have lice or he gets them from other children. I check his hair all the time and I'm almost guaranteed to find one in his hair.

My son has never had loads as I check regularly and use the nitty gritty comb twice a week. Which is a struggle as he's started to hate having it done :/ I give up with treatments such as Hedrin as they are expensive to buy often and never seemed to work properly.

I wash his hair every day as it's very blonde and he seems to get it so dirty when he's out and about.

I've tried using the vosene shampoo and spray which is meant to act as a repellent but hasn't seemed to work.

Any other ideas to keep them away? I'm going slightly mad at combing so often (as have to do my long hair too). I've heard tea tree oil is good but worried as me and my son appear to have sensitive skin and worry it will be harsh on our scalps.

Any advice?

[wheresthelight]

Neem oil or tee tree is the best thing!! You can buy a spray in most pound shops or home bargains that you spray on and leave

But you have my sympathy as I spend hours treating my dsc's only for their mum to do FA and they come back to us riddles again

[rainbowshine1]

I could have cried last nigt, I do my daughters religously. Nitty gritty comb, tea tree shampoo / conditioner, tea tree leave in spray, headrin spary, headrin leave in for 4 hrs, lyclear, you name it, we've tried it, usually only get one or two runners, last night was INFESTED! I literally pulled a clump of the blighters out. So we combed and combed and combed some more and we sprayed and I read about hair straighteners to kill the eggs? So we straightened within an inch of its life......fingers crossed!

[Kirky12]

www.amazon.co.uk/Nitty-Gritty-Head-Lice-Metal/dp/B001PML6Y6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

I've just bought this for my DS2 who is three. Weirdly my older DS1 who is at school has never had them but they have very different hair type. Anyway I was away for the night and my mil took it upon herself to go and y some horrible chemical treatment so I can't vouch for it yet ( seething about this but that's another forum )

[MamaMimi]

DrankSangriaInThePark, you do have to smother your head in the Dr. Bronner's soap solution which will smother the lice, and wetting the hair will render them immobile but they aren't killed by being smothered/suffocated they are killed because the soap dissolves the lices' exoskeleton.

It just kills them physically, not with chemicals as such, therefore there is nothing for them to become immune to.

This soap solution works the same way on aphids, dust mites, ants and anything else with an exoskeleton.

If I hadn't discovered this method I would continue using our Bug Busting Kit and do the conditioner & combing routine with the combs from that. But you have to be so thorough with it and it is tricky to do on yourself. I have found an effective alternative that doesn't require the same amount of work and is easier to do on yourself and it is the method I will be using at anytime in the future should either of our dds bring lice home again!

[bigbuttons]

I always use listerine original now, it works. Doesn't kill the eggs so you need to repeat weekly for a couple of weeks. Strangely it is always my 12 year old dd who has them, none of my primary school age dcs

[BritInTDot]

I'm in Canada and here the schools have lice checks every month. If a kid is found with eggs or nits they are sent home and can only return when they are completely nit free, and a letter is sent out to parents to be extra vigilant (child is kept anon of course!) My daughter has only caught them once in the three years we've been here and it was only a mild case.

Personally I get the GHD's out and burn the little blighters after having washed with tea tree shampoo and conditioner, combing through with the nit comb and removing with my fingers to if necessary. I then spray with a heat protectant and a homemade spray of tea tree oil and lavender oil in a spray bottle with water before drying and bringing out the GHD's. I finish with a thin layer of coconut oil on her scalp after straightening. She has a thick mass of curly hair and loves having easy to comb straight hair for a few days so it's win-win. If a letter goes out, she gets this treatment and we haven't found any since that one time.

As you have a boy, I would just cut his hair and keep it short until he's a little older and stops getting them.

ewww just typing all this is making my head itch!

[dreamingofsun]

do you use conditioner? someone once told me to and kids never had them again. may have just been co-incidence. i think the view was that it made the hair shinier and therefore harder for them to grip.

[VenusDeWillendorf]

OP it sounds like you are never getting rid of your own child's nits.

Try hedrin, and re try a week later. All this "use tea tree or lavander oil" is actually very bad advice.
Lavander and tea tree oils affect your child's hormones, and can bring on puberty. My dd's endocrinologist is adamant that the over use of "natural products" is causing our children to have precocious puberty. Think about it, why are oils like this banned in pregnancy - because they have an effect on the hormone system.

You're much better going for a tried and pharmaceutically tested product like hedrin.

Also, most people dont know that it is absolutely necessary to vacuum all around the beds, wash all the towels, pillow cases and bedding in a 60degree plus wash, every time you notice the nits, and every week anyway.

Get your boy's hair cut, or tie it up, and see if he'll wear a hat for you if he insists on hugging other children- he could give them nits!

[DrankSangriaInThePark]

Nothing much to add to all the remedies etc.....(Last year I did the lot, cider vinegar, gold Listerine, you name it I lobbed it at my head) BUT.....for everyone talking about getting them again. You're not, you're not eradicating the first lot properly, trust me....I had them last year for almost 5 solid months, and as an almost 50 yr old grown up, I know I wasn't rubbing my head against anyone else's big or small!

I caught them from dd, and fairly quickly (every other day nitty grittying with conditioner after initially hedrin-ing) got rid of hers, but because I was nitty-grittying myself, I never quite managed to get the lot.

The only remedy listed here I haven't tried (because finally got rid) was the Dr Bronners (but I remember the poster telling us about it, and I got some in, just in case) but IMO the only way is the daily conditioner and nitty gritty. (I guess the Dr Bronners works on the same principle, smothering the bastards)

[MinimalistMommi]

Did you know that any child can get head lice lotion on perscription from their doctor?

[poorfoxyloxy]

I swear by Loreal Elvive Full restore spray for hair. Bought it originally as a detangler... my daughter never gets lice, except for the time that we ran out and never used this for a few weeks. Back to using it and throughout school outbreaks she's not had the bugs!! could be coincidence of course!!

[upupupandaway]

I'd go with a nitty gritty comb , ideal for short hair. The nursery cant be held responsible, it's just one of those things. Head lice are becoming more resilient to chemical treatments so a physical remedy is the only solution. You could just try shaving his head! Joking, try neem from Asian grocery stores, it works on my carrot fly.

[MrsLoada]

I use the neem based shampoos, these seam to work better than tea tree.. And to kill them the zapper comb no more chemicals on the hair then,. Or the good old fashioned nitty gritty comb and kill buy squashing.

[MamaMimi]

OK DoingItForMyself, here it is:-

All you need is to buy some pure castile soap in liquid form, I would strongly recommend Dr. Bronner's Baby Mild liquid castile soap as this is the one that I use but I assume that any castile soap would work as it would be the same principle. It's just I know that Dr. Bronner's is an all natural product, you can get it from online companies such as 'big green smile' and 'www.lucyrose.biz' (sorry, not sure how to link). I use baby mild as it is non-fragranced but they also do a tea tree fragrance which may add to the effectiveness, who knows?!

Castile soap works on lice because they have an exoskeleton which the soap dissolves, thereby killing them. It works the same way on anything with an exoskeleton such as ants and greenfly, so could be useful elsewhere too!

Anyway, the method....

....make a mix of the soap and some water in a spray bottle, 1:1 ratio. You then need to thoroughly soak the hair with this solution, rubbing into the scalp as you go.

Word of warning though, as this is pure soap you must make sure the eyes are protected and that the inevitable run off doesn't get in the eyes because it will sting.

Also you will need to cover the floor under where you are working with a towel and wrap a towel around the shoulders as the solution does tend to drip, especially once there is lots on the hair.

Once you are satisfied that the hair is completely covered and soaked with the solution, and that you have rubbed it in well, just wrap a towel around it and leave the soap to do it's stuff. Leave on for at least 10 mins. I usually give it about 1/2 an hour.

After this time you need to thoroughly rinse the hair of all the soap, as a bonus it will have cleaned the hair too!

When I rinse I do it with a shower attachment over the bath with the plug in, this way you can inspect the water afterwards for the dead lice.

They are quite easy to spot as little black specks in the water.

To be sure you are getting rid you need to repeat the above every 3 days for a couple of weeks. Slightly annoying but nowhere near as hard work as the pain staking combing with conditioner which, btw, I feel is the only other effective method to use.

Put simply; Spray on, rub in, wrap in towel, leave for 10-30 mins, rinse off, job's a good 'un

HTH

[DoingItForMyself]

Yes please mama. My dd had her first bout last week aged 7 (thought we were getting away with it because she only washes it twice a week, but apparently we've just been lucky!)

I did the conditioner and comb thing (she has a bob, so not too arduous) and then blow dried and straightened it. A friend whose dds have them all the time recommended straightening to fry any remaining ones as she's found all the lotions limited in their effectiveness.

So far there don't seem to be any new lice and no sign of any eggs so I'm hopeful it has worked! but if not I'd like a solution that doesn't involve 3 solid weeks of combing!

[MamaMimi]

.....BUT I do have a method that I would recommend for eradication that does not involve the time-consuming wet/conditioner combing every 3 days and that does not require any expensive or potentially harmful chemical treatments.

I have only used this method on my eldest dd, which got rid of the lice she had, and on myself to check if I had any, which I didn't.

I have posted about this before on another head lice thread a while back and it I will describe the method here if you are all interested, but in a separate post so it doesn't get passed over as it could help everyone.

Anyone interested?

[MamaMimi]

Myths about headlice don't help the situation.

Excerpts from the 'bug busting kit' booklet:

• 'There is no consistent evidence that any substance, from essential oils to vinegar, repels head lice (and repeated use of concentrated substances such as essential oils is potentially harmful).'

• 'Anyone with hair on their head can catch them. Clean hair is not a protection against head lice. Lice do not thrive better in dirty conditions. Their sole food is blood which they draw when they bite.'

• 'Lice that involuntarily fall off the head or clamber onto head gear, pillows or cuddly toys are dying and harmless. It is not necessary to launder or dry clean these articles to eradicate head lice'

• 'Louse eggs are glued firmly onto hairs where the warmth of the scalp will hatch them.'

• 'To prevent head lice from spreading it is critical to remove them from the head before day 6 after hatching.'

It would seem that there are no universally consistent deterrents.....

[ppeatfruit]

I 2nd the pure Tea tree oil it was the only thing that worked on all of us (me and 3 dcs) I just put it behind our ears and round the back and mid partings .End of the little critturs. I've got sensitive skin and I use it for everything I love it!!

[MyrtleDove]

Hubbubs tea tree and lavender don't kill lice but it does repel them. Obviously it's no replacement for vigilant checking but it helps.

[Hubbubs]

Home Bargains and those cheap chemists that look like poundshops sell very cheap branded lice lotion such as Hedrin wash and go or whatever it's called, for around £2.99 compared to £7 in major supermarkets.

I emailed my children's school once and they put a lice notice up outside and in the newsletter, but if not everyone is regularly vigilant at checking and exterminating, headlice are just going to be one of those things like threadworms that we just have to put up with through their young childhood.

I don't know what difference the nit nurses made in days of yore. I only remember having lice once but I was 15 then. Petitioning for reinstatement of nit nurses probably wouldn't be cost effective for the government as ultimately it's down to parents to be vigilant.

I've heard of private companies that do nit checks and I wonder if primary schools have any budget for hiring them to do the whole school regularly? If people like Hedrin subsidised the private nit checkers it could benefit them as they'd effectively be selling their products at the front line. I might suggest it to them by email actually.

For what it's worth, if you find a live adult, lotions will kill them and you comb them out, but you have to repeat a week later to get any eggs that haven't hatched.
But as everyone else recommends, the only real way to stay lice free is to thoroughly check once a week and use a leave in conditioner daily as they don't like slippery hair, their eggs won't stick to it.
All this tea tree or lavender stuff is pointless. I've put live lice into a dollop of both and it doesn't kill them. It might also make you too complacent about checking.

I have noticed a pattern of live lice appearing at either the start or end of school terms too.

[MyrtleDove]

This is the head lice repellent shampoo with neem - there is also a leave-in spray. I've seen them in Home Bargains, 99p Store etc as well as Poundland.

[MyrtleDove]

Oh and ditto to washing pillowcases/towels/bedding etc on a hot setting - add a few drops of olbas oil (yes really!) to the drum as the essential oils in it repels head lice and also kills bacteria.

[MyrtleDove]

Neem oil is fantastic for getting rid of head lice. If you have an Indian supermarket near you, they should do neem shampoo and neem oil for doing treatments. If not, you can find neem shampoo easily on ebay (shampoo bars will probably be the cheapest since they'll last ages). For a treatment, mix a few drops of neem oil with olive oil and rub into hair, making sure you cover the scalp. Leave for 10-20 minutes, then shampoo out.

The head lice shampoo and leave-in spray in pound shops (Anovia? white packaging) contains neem and is apparently very good.

[aquashiv]

buy the cheapest hair spray you can find works brilliantly

[Thenapoleonofcrime]

www.chc.org/

I post this link every time there's a nit thread- but here it is again, these Bug Busting kits are great, I've had two in 10 years and you can get them on prescription. They are good as there are two combs, you brush with a normal comb, then use the progressively thinner one, the thinnest one of the two gets out eggs as well as tiny lice.

Never failed to get rid of them with conditioner and these combs within a couple of goings-over the head, perhaps three/four gos if the nits are extensive like the time I went on holiday and my husband didn't check their hair for 10 days like I told him