Headlice - am I getting this right?

[Nitnovice]

So I was combing DD1's hair, and found three menacing little bugs which I am 99% sure were live headlice.

I've treated her with headlice-killing gloop, following instructions, and spent the last 15 mins or so combing with fine tooth comb. Not a sausage. A few flakes of dandruff, but no more bugs and no eggs. And she has fine hair and I started right from the scalp and did every bit of hair as systematically as a first-timer can reasonably manage.

Is it possible to find three live ones and no eggs?! Do they live for a while before they start laying?

I confessed to her best mate's mum, so I have to get this right!!!

Do you mean you didn't find any eggs whilst combing? If so, then in my experience, and unfortunately it is vast, you won't see the eggs, just the lice. And, yes, it is possible to only find three lice...

Which gloop did you use? I found the Nitcomb, around a tenner to be the best comb ever.

Yes - I combed and didn't find any eggs, or any more lice. I used Wildchild, which seemed to be a relatively gentle one, as DD1 has sensitive skin. And a metal, fine-toothed comb.

nitnovice you don't need the lotion or whatever.

Our school standard letter on nits tells you to use it (grr) but if you prefer not to use chemicals then there's no need. Just comb through wet hair that has had lots of conditioner put on. Do this nightly until you don't find any more lice.

I have always found eggs and not always lice FWIW. Oddly enough never in DD but sometimes in DS1 and DS2 not sure why this is....

Tea tree oil is good too.

The eggs are tiny, quite hard to find, and not killed by the poison. That's why the insecticide is supposed to be applied again after a week (when the eggs have hatched but new eggs hopefully not laid yet), and perhaps applied aweek later again if the infestation is bad.

The ONLY way to get entirely rid of the blighters is lots and lots of combing and searching the comb for hatched ones, which is why many parents give up altogether on the insecticides and only comb, pesticides don't really help that much. And then some parents only apply the poison but don't do the combing, which encourages pesticide immunity.

I think most people would say comb every other night until at least 10 days have passed since the last live one seen. It really is a bstrd getting entirely rid of them.

the dandruff you saw could be the eggs, they look like a spec of white and usually on a blade of hair, you dont have to use treatments as tea tree oil conditioner is just as good as it stuns them and it makes it easier to get them out by sectioning the hair and coming through.

you have ti just keep wet combing every couple of days for a fortnight to be sure.

Does everyone know that the nitty gritty headlice comb is available free on prescription instead of paying the tenner?

I got one no problem, but I did print out the letter from the internet stating that they ARE free on prescription for kids.

Thanks all. Having had another go at her head this morning, I'm now finding loads of eggs - but they are dark, not light, which is what fooled me. And her hair is so fine it just slips through the comb with egg still attached.

Will keep combing diligently and see how we get on. I'm trying to stay upbeat about the fact that we made it as far as year 1 before having our first outbreak - so maybe she isn't too susceptible ........

Nitnovice, you have to physically pick the eggs out with your nails to get rid of them.

Thanks Sparkle - that's what I had begun to suspect. And she ain't going to sit still for long enough for me to get them all. Which is presumably why you have to keep at it until you stop finding live ones.

i find it easier to get the eggs out by checking the hair when its dry, and pulling them out with my nails. dark eggs are 'live' ones, ie ready to hatch, white ones are the empty egg sac left after the louse has hatched. using tea tree makes the glue the lice use to stick the eggs to the hair less effective, makes them easier to remove, plus the lice don't like the smell.

i only wet comb to get live lice out, they move too fast when dry. finding 3 live lice but no eggs or egg sacs means the lice have come from someone else. i had this last week, i check dd 3 times a week, on monday there was nothing, but on tuesday, she had 1 louse and about 8 freshly laid eggs. the louse i found was huge, for it to have come from her, i would have had to have missed it 6 times as i think, based on their life cycle, it must have been at least 2 weeks old. i've come to the conclusion that dd doesn't have headlice, but someone in her class does, and keeps passing them on .

As others have said, combing, combing and more combing. Not with nit lotion which is really expensive and unnecessary imo. DS2 had them constantly for a long time, there was a real problem in his class. I used headlice lotions to no avail, and eventually the only thing that cleared him was very regular combing with a nit comb. Combing through wet hair that has been plastered with conditioner. I did this every time, or every other time I washed his hair, so very regularly, and that seems to have done the trick. The thing I did use which may have been somewhat effective is a repellant spray. I used the Lyclear one. Gave his bonce a good spray each morning before he went to school.

Thanks Lucykate. You have confirmed my suspicions. She definitely had three BIG lice and I have now found about a dozen freshly-laid, totally black eggs.

Whereas her best friend's mum tells me she has found lots of lice, LOTS of white eggs and she only bought a proper nit comb for the first time after I confessed all on Friday.

So at least I know where they came from

On the bright side, it's nice to have someone to share the nit-busting campaign with - and I am ready armed with loads of useful info from you guys.