Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Original poster

DS has come home from school crawling with lice

88 replies

ByPeach1 · 17/10/2024 16:04

DS9 has come home from boarding school with lots of lice. He boards during the week as part of a football programme so he hasn’t been home in 2 weeks and didn’t have them before. Does anyone know of a quick way to treat the lice? His hair is quite thick and just above shoulder length and I’m panicking as he has to go back on Monday 😫

OP posts:
MrSeptember · 17/10/2024 16:09

Go to a pharmacy and buy some Hebrin and a nit comb. Do the first treatment tonight, make sure you comb it through properly. If it's really bad, you may need a second treatment before he goes back again.

NewspaperDoll · 17/10/2024 16:10

Headlice? You have to treat throughout the lifecycle, ie kill the adults, comb out the eggs, go back a few days later and retreat to get the ones you missed and that have hatched. Not a 5-day job unfortunately. Ask your local pharmacy for the stuff you need. If you start with the first treatment, is there someone at the school who can take over? No idea how healthcare at boarding schools works tbh.

Original poster
ByPeach1 · 17/10/2024 16:15

NewspaperDoll · 17/10/2024 16:10

Headlice? You have to treat throughout the lifecycle, ie kill the adults, comb out the eggs, go back a few days later and retreat to get the ones you missed and that have hatched. Not a 5-day job unfortunately. Ask your local pharmacy for the stuff you need. If you start with the first treatment, is there someone at the school who can take over? No idea how healthcare at boarding schools works tbh.

Thanks, there’s a nurse who I can speak to, it just depends on whether they will have him back. I think I’m going to have to negotiate a DIY haircut to make it easier to treat.

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

9 year olds Families General health
DancefloorAcrobatics · 17/10/2024 16:21

Don't cut his hair!
Do the treatment ➡️ wash hair & use a ton of conditioner, ➡️ comb them out, ➡️ dry hair
.... and then fry the remaining buggers with hair straighteners!

Rowgtfc72 · 17/10/2024 16:23

Hedrin.
Comb.
Recomb.

HarrisObviously · 17/10/2024 16:24

Get a Nitty Gritty comb (they are really effective) and use loads of conditioner.
Not all lotions actually work.

SquirrelyWirrally · 17/10/2024 16:26

Nit comb, conditioner, comb for ages. Repeat every day.

Treecreature · 17/10/2024 16:28

If its long and thick you might be able to get away with an undercut and nobody will notice. Then you don't have so much hair around the back of the ears and nape of the neck where they like to hide. My mum did it to me when I was young and having less hair to deal with seemed to help. I have thick long hair and nobody knew unless I showed them.

Bluefields96 · 17/10/2024 16:29

He will not be the only student with head lice.

Ideally you would let the matrons know as soon as possible so that they can inform all the parents who can then check their own children this break and co-ordinate elimination attempts. Sheets and pillow cases also need washing.

The school should want to address this asap as otherwise everyone will face a continuous cycle of infestation.

Obviously a shorter hair cut will make things a lot easier.

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 17/10/2024 16:30

@ByPeach1 nitty nora, the hair explorer, in school, will be inundated with nitty boys. he will not be the only one with nits. the whole dormitory or class will also have them! is there any chance you can make him a day pupil for a week? combing it with the nit comb every evening is usually effective. also, you might need to treat yourself, hubby and siblings too!!

Yabbadabbadont · 17/10/2024 16:33

If he’s now crawling with lice he quite likely had them last time he was home they’ve laid eggs and now you can see mature lice.

Inform the school as the other children need to treat too. Do as others have said Hedrin, use a torch with nitty gritty to comb through and look for eggs attached to shaft of the hair.

I fear this may be an ongoing problem for you @ByPeach1 as it takes careful monitoring to rid them of them and unless the other people he’s in close contact with sort it out then he’ll just get them again.

RandomMess · 17/10/2024 16:34

Hedrin and comb everyday he's with you with a Nitty Gritty - conditioner direct onto dry hair, section.

Nitty Gritty is good at getting the eggs out and ripping the babies legs off 👌

yeaitsmeagain · 17/10/2024 16:38

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 17/10/2024 16:30

@ByPeach1 nitty nora, the hair explorer, in school, will be inundated with nitty boys. he will not be the only one with nits. the whole dormitory or class will also have them! is there any chance you can make him a day pupil for a week? combing it with the nit comb every evening is usually effective. also, you might need to treat yourself, hubby and siblings too!!

Thought nitty nora got killed off in the 1960s

Original poster
ByPeach1 · 17/10/2024 16:40

SquirrelyWirrally · 17/10/2024 16:26

Nit comb, conditioner, comb for ages. Repeat every day.

Thanks, I think this will be my weekend and leave the clippers in the cupboard until Sunday 😅

OP posts:
Username5000 · 17/10/2024 16:41

I once got rid of nits from my own hair by coming everyday with lots of conditioner, I didn't need to use the chemicals. You need to really go at it for a few days though.

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 17/10/2024 16:45

Would he consider shaving his head? It's what I did when DD managed to pass them on to me. I had quite long hair at the time that I wasn't exactly chuffed to get rid of, but much simpler than the faff of trying to get rid of them with combs etc.

He doesn't have to completely bic it, just going down to a number 4 should do the trick. Given that it's going round boarding school, if you get rid of them he's likely to pick them up again anyway without something drastic.

MassiveSalad22 · 17/10/2024 16:46

You’ll need to somehow get the other parents/staff of his dorm friends to check their kids too as they won’t have come from nowhere. Get the school to send a message out or he’ll have them til Xmas!

Potentialmadcatlady · 17/10/2024 16:50

What colour is his hair? Could he/you get away with bleaching it a little?
If not then Hedrin treatment then lots and lots of combing with nitty gritty comb with him sitting in front of you on a pillow with his switch or a good movie. Wipe comb frequently on pieces of kitchen paper sitting on a bin bag and bag the lot at the end.
And repeat. If he staying in halls then he needs new pillows too

Original poster
ByPeach1 · 17/10/2024 16:54

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 17/10/2024 16:45

Would he consider shaving his head? It's what I did when DD managed to pass them on to me. I had quite long hair at the time that I wasn't exactly chuffed to get rid of, but much simpler than the faff of trying to get rid of them with combs etc.

He doesn't have to completely bic it, just going down to a number 4 should do the trick. Given that it's going round boarding school, if you get rid of them he's likely to pick them up again anyway without something drastic.

This is going to be my last resort if not gone by Sunday. Do you mean you did your own?

OP posts:
CurlewKate · 17/10/2024 16:54

Hedrin is your friend.

Hedgesgalore · 17/10/2024 16:55

The only thing to work for us was a nit comb and lots of conditioner every day.

While dd was in the bath I'd de-nit then she'd count how many we caught. Grief I'm glad those days are over 🤣

Haggia · 17/10/2024 16:55

Ongoing - we kept them at bay with tea tree shampoo, if you can send him back with some post warfare.

stayathomer · 17/10/2024 16:56

No need to cut- it’s tempting but you definitely don’t have to. It’s all long and painstaking but he’ll feel so much better afterwards

TheYearOfSmallThings · 17/10/2024 16:58

If his school is full of nits, this might be the time for a buzz cut. They go round and round in institutions so as soon as you get rid of them, he will catch them again.

VimesandhisCardboardBoots · 17/10/2024 17:00

ByPeach1 · 17/10/2024 16:54

This is going to be my last resort if not gone by Sunday. Do you mean you did your own?

Show quote history

Yeah, got a set of clippers, something like these

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/3132793

and just went out in the garden and buzzed myself. It's probably slightly easier if you do it for him (although DP did mine once and got the giggles halfway through, made a right mess, load of weird lines in my head!)

Definately sorts the problem though, the hairs not long enough for the lice to cling on to. I did give a once through with the lice killing shampoo afterwards just to make sure but it probably wasn't needed.