Headlice Treatment while pregnant - urgent

[Lulu41]

Have recently used a head lice product after ds contracted head lice at school - I am 35 weeks and stupidly did not read "contact pharmacist if pregnant" bit on instructions am now worried what harm I may have caused and as this problem appears to be ongoing ie. we have had them back I dont want to use anything that may hurt my baby - any doctors/midwives with advice - thanks

Hi Lulu41,

Sorry to hear about your head friends I'm pretty sure at your late stage of pregnancy you have nothing to worry about, but if it is concerning you why not give your midwife or GP a call, I'm sure they'd understand. As far as being able to treat it at the moment, I have found most treatments really don't work that well, and it worries me to keep using the treatments, Every time I wash mine/childrens hair, I always use conditioner and use the nit comb with the conditioner still in the hair, this seems to work ok for me, Good luck anyway!

Oh, I HATE headlice! We've just had them (and eradicated them) too. Sorry, I don't know the answer but agree, ring your doctor to check. You are 35 weeks though, not early on so I doubt there's much to worry about. As someone pointed out on another thread, since they don't test things on pregnant women they rarely say OK in pregnancy on the box. We got rid of lice using tea tree shampoo and conditioner and combing through with a nit comb EVERY night for 10 days. Boring, boring, boring but it worked. Good luck getting rid of the bu**ers.

lulu 41, agree about phoning doctor but if it puts your mind at rest then if it says "contact pharmacist if pregnant" it almost certainly is OK in late pregnancy - if not it says "do not use while pregnant" or "do not use while pregnant without medical advice".

good luck!

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I found the electic "zapper" comb very effective in getting rid of crawlies but no good at getting the eggs. Unsure of it being used in pregnancy though. I'll search out the box & post later - when we've eaten.

We are having a NIGHTMARE with bl**dy headlice. DS (2.9) and DD (17 mon) go to a childminder who has 3 kids of her own, and refuses to use any chemicals. To cut a long (and painful, not to mention itchy) story short, the kids have caught them 5 times in about 8 weeks. It is driving me mental and several family members have pointed out to me that I am becoming obsessed. DS and DD visibly quiver if I pick up the nit comb.

Spoke to the pharmacist again today and DH is giving up work to be a SAHD as of this coming Thursday but we have headlice again (the kids, not us) well, I found 1 adult on my daughters head last night.

The pharmicist suggested waiting until Weds night, checking their heads and if I find lice, treat them with Derbac M, but only if I find them. That sounds like sensible advioce, but it means leaving them crawling round my kids heads for 3 days - pure torture.

I am constantly checking their heads (poor little souls...) and always scratching my own head because I'm thinking about it. Headlice are taking over my life......BTW, I am reading this thread because We are TTC #3 so may also be pg!!

Also, the pharmacist said that if your kids are over 3, you can buy a lice repellent spray that you spray on each morning and it helps to prevent them getting it in the first place, although that is no good to me as mine are too young - may help you guys though

It's one thing not to use chemicals (I wouldn't either) but it sounds like she is not doing anything at all to get rid of the headlice. I assume she is registered? Seeing as your children won't be going to her for much longer maybe you could make a complaint and tell them that it seems to be a constant problem. It's not fair of her to keep inflicting headlice on your kids.

dcolagirl - you don't need to use chemicals but you do need to wet comb the hair with conditioner and a nit comb every night until the heads are clear. The electric zapper is also good to get rid of the lice, but the combing is needed for the eggs.

I found a "natural" treatment in my local Tesco, called Hair Wars. It was very effective, but they seem to have stopped doing it. My GP said to just slap on tons of conditioner & comb through.

I have just rid the family of head lice using the wet combing and conditioner line. It takes 2 weeks, and you have to comb ever 2-3 days to get them all out before they grow big enough to lay eggs. We now use a Boots own brand leave in Tea tree conditioner, that smells nice to us but nasty to the lice. That will help to keep the nits away. Horrid little things!

It makes my skin crawl. The trouble I have is that my kids are too young to understand they have to sit still for me to comb their hair. Short of buying a straight jacket and tying them down, I'm not sure what to do!

dcolagirl......it is hard. I tend to get them to pick out a video they like and sit them in front of it. That and bribing them with sweeties works best for us.

I can't wait till they are at school...threadworms, chicken pox, why is a parents' life so bl**dy hard???!!!

Have to add that wet combing is most effective for us. DD seems to be particularly prone to headlice, but does have a good school friend who seems to suffer a lot too, so I think it passes between them! Sadly, their family does not seem quite so hot on the erradication front It is a nightmare getting kids to sit, I agree: dd is 5 and can be bribed with a video but ds2 was about 14 months when we had the last outbreak and was very hard to treat.

Good luck to all fellow sufferers!

Hi all, just to add to the previuos threads on head lice, its very important to treat the "whole family", even if you dont think you or your partner has them treat yourselves anyway.. Having gone through the same as some of you with three children in the house.

Good luck.

I had to rid my stepkids (and my own ds) of nits for 8 months straight (I too was pregnant through all of this). Their mother never did anything about it and kept sending them down every other weekend crawling with nits. I found that gooping on lots of conditioner (helps with super thick wavy hair like mine) and combing through the hair every night for a week and then every few days for the next week and then every week from then on to check, works. My ds is 2.5 and the only way to keep him still was to either do it during his nap (he sleeps very soundly) or give him a lolly (keeps hands occupied) to suck on and put him in front of the tv. Poor thing, as soon as I pulled out the nit comb he would run and yell "No knots in my hair." (I thought it wiser not to correct him).
Don't forget to run your hair brushes through the dishwasher to make sure they are clean.