Nit advice needed from more experienced parents

[Janefx40]

Hiya!

So we have our first nits incident at home! My daughter is 5 with long thin hair (if that makes a difference?!).

I tried Hedrin Once last night but there still seem to be eggs this morning. I also combed with the nitty gritty comb. And I did me too and also seem to still have white specks in my hair!!

What happens to the nits after using Hedrin? Do they just fall out - there were some grey bits in my DDs bed this morning. Could some of the white specs in her hair be dead nits or does the fact they are there mean I missed them all?

Can I use the nit comb on wet hair - say if I am in the shower and apply conditioner can I then use the comb in the shower or does it have to be dry with conditioner?

I am not good at being systematic but I really did try!!

All advice welcome x

I always used to do the wet hair/conditioner/ extensive combing on my sons hair. Then hit it with the hedrin. Quite often used to see parents pulling nits from their child's hair at the school gate 🤢🤢

Shampoo / lotion for lice only kills the hatched lice. The nits are glued onto the hair and have to be scraped off - I find using my fingernails is very effective.
If you used the lotion yesterday, use it again in a week. In the meantime, use a nit comb every night for at least 6 weeks as thats the life cycle of lice. They’re a bugger to get rid off!

Wet, loads of conditioner, wipe thoroughly between each sweep through your hair. Do the whole head several times over - it takes ages but it’s the only way.

Nitty Gritty will dislodge any dry skin on your scalp as you comb firmly, so it is common to notice that afterwards.

Every second day I would coat my child’s hair in cheap conditioner and go through with the lice comb. I did this routinely in front of the tv until nit season was over. I felt better doing this than the constant chemical lice treatments

Thanks so much everyone.

The Hedrin says it kills everything and it can only be used on dry hair!! Otherwise I would comb first then treat. I may get a different type of Hedrin.

It's bad timing for me too as my hair has just started falling out post baby and now I'm nit combing it so it is coming out in droves!!!

The nitty gritty comb is brutal! It ripped my hair to shreds

Once I’d never enough. When we had our last infestation I covered mine in coconut oil and left it for ages and then brushed it though. Ive then read coconut oil is bad for your hair though.

Another one who did hair with conditioner and a nitty gritty comb, every other day for weeks! Wiped the resulting white conditioner residue out into toilet paper. You can see the lice which can be satisfying. Carried on till no more lice for 2 or 3 weeks, then you have broken the cycle .

once you’ve got rid you need to take preventative measures- lice repellent leave in conditioner- comb through and check every hair wash.

There are two schools of thought:

1. chemicals all the way, the stronger the better.
2. conditioner is great and does the job.

Personally speaking we go for the chemicals. If I’m going to be going through the pain of combing through I want it to be done with the backing of chemicals. Conditioner just doesn’t cut it for us, it just means more evenings of combing. Sob.

We like NitWits, expensive but gets them all and isn’t super greasy (only one wash needed afterwards) But you might find you need to alternate treatments as they can become resistant (not sure if this is a myth)

I used to leave the Hedrin Once in overnight, wrap the pillows in old towels. I either did it on a Friday night so that I could wash it out at the weekend or, if it was a school night, I just towelled off as much as possible and sent them into school with slightly greasy hair and washed in the evening. The eggs will still be there because they don't dissolve or anything but they shouldn't hatch.

The most difficult part is preventing reinfection. Always tie hair back if long and keep as short as possible if short. Get a little spritz bottle and put a few drops of tea tree oil into water, shake well before use and spritz over their hair every morning.

Use garlic oil or neem oil. Kills the lice and eggs and makes it easy to comb the eggs out.

Derbac it kills everything its expensive but works

Our last infestation took 2 months of treatments and combing through with conditioner to get rid of. It wasn't until she moved seats that it went so we think she was picking them up from whoever was sitting next to her

I'm afraid my daughter with very long thick hair suffered with nits through her entire primary education. I would put the nit comb through every night with tons of conditioner. Kept it in a ponytail. I tried all of the lotions available then and nothing worked. I imagine there are more effective treatments now as she's 26 and long out of primary. The issue we had was that there was a parent who refused to treat them so it was a never ending cycle. I presume the school are on top of this and making sure all kids are checked?

I found Hedrin Once worked really well when we used it. It does not remove the eggs tho - you need to keep combing with Nitty Gritty comb and loads of conditioner. Can do this in the bath or shower, or if child is wriggly sit them in front of tv and use a spray bottle to wet their hair. It will also remove dead lice 🤢.

Keep combing every few days and treat again in a week in case any survived.

You can get sprays that are supposed to repel lice. Make sure you tie child's hair up to try and avoid reinfection. Tell school as all parents need to check. There's usually someone who is a super spreader 😂

I tend to do my own hair with conditioner and the comb in the shower - it's not very systematic but better than nothing.

Hedrin etc should kill the live lice and the eggs but will not remove the eggs from the hair.

The eggs are glued to the hairs, the unhatched eggs are nearest to the scalp for warmth while incubating, and therefore less noticeable as they are darker than hatched egg-cases and blend in with the hair colour, Hatched eggcases (nits) reflect light and appear lighter and more noticeable as they get further away from the scalp. These will persist in the hair after chemical treatment until combed or picked out.

Most chemical treatments must be used on dry hair.
it is vital that chemical treatments are left on the hair for the length of time recommended on the pack.

If you have been combing using conditioner, then this should be washed off before chemical treatments are used, and the hair dried, as the conditioner, especially silicon containing ones, can prevent the chemical treatments getting to the lice and eggs sufficiently to kill the lice.

Also chlorine can deactivate some chemical lice treatments, so washing hair after swimming, and maybe not swimming for a day or two after treatment, can help to ensure the treatments work.

Itching can continue for a week or two after all the lice treatment.

Chemical treatment should only be used if you find live lice, not ‘just in case’, and you should check everyone in close contact with your child’s head, including grandparents etc if necessary.

Lice are happier in clean hair as it it easier to get the blood meal the female needs to breed. They don’t like coconut, so that’s a good choice for conditioner.

Lice don’t live long off the human body, but if there is a heavy infestation, then changing bed linen and washing at 40 degrees, pref 60, with a few minutes in a tumble dryer, is a good idea, preferably coinciding with treating the lousy heads.

Many people will avoid chemicals and prefer ‘nit-busting’ with nit combing. It can be effective if you are prepared to do this several times a week, for several weeks, and frequent inspections between times. And your child will cooperate.

It is pointless schools sending out ‘Lice Alert’ letters, apart from occasional reminders at the start of school terms, as 20% of school kids will have head lice pretty much all the time, not always the same kids obviously.

Head lice infestations are not limited to primary schools, can happen at secondary also, so don’t think you are safe when your DC’s leave primary ☹️.

Wow!! Thanks so much for all your advice. Just about to go in for night 2 combing and treating!!! Have more Hedrin once left so will use that for now.

Really appreciate everyone's input. Will let you know how I get on.

Great advice already but to add- straighten the hair when you’re done with all of the above. Anything left remaining will be fried to bits!

We're on week 3 of hedrin once. Just one little blighter so we go again. This is our first time and picked up from secondary school. Once sorted, I'm shaving his head!!!!

We were traveling overseas and our daughter got nits. Couldn’t find any treatment so we put sun-in in her hair (she was five!)!
it worked really well, and seemed to be preventative too, we used it again when she was a teen.
its a bit drastic, but desperate times…

Flea combs work just as well and often you can get them with a handle so they are much easier to use.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rounded-Grooming-Haired-Kittens-Puppies/dp/B0BR91KDRN/ref=ascdfB0BR91KDRN
Just get a big bottle of slippery conditioner like tresemme or Pantene. The new nits don't stick quite so well then.

Comb yourself every time you shower, using a wide tooth then ordinary comb first to make it easier with the fine tooth comb.

It also helps to give the conditioner 5 minutes to soak in, then add some more for good luck.

Did a nitty gritty comb through with conditioner this evening. Loads of eggs tho it's possible they are dead ones. Also found one dead louse which we looked at in her insect magnifier thingy!

I was very naive to think I could use Hedrin once!! Feel like I've got the hang of combing now tho. It's quite therapeutic! Just got very late as couldn't start until the baby was in bed and out the way.

Also my head is super itchy but nothing really coming out when I comb. Possibly one or two eggs but could have just been specks of something else. Maybe I don't have them (badly) or maybe it's just not as easy to comb your own head. So why am I so itchy!!!

I always itch when I read these threads lol. We used a chemical treatment and also put olive in hair for a few days and combed.

Remember to put any teddies in a plastic bag for a couple of weeks - my DD was beside herself when her fav shark ted had to quarantine.

I’m combining the hedrin with combing once a week now. I don’t find hedrin kills all the lice either but my daughter has very very long hair annoyingly. So once I had done it every 4 days (combing that is) I’m now doing both hedrin and a nit comb weekly until I find nothing in her hair.