Tips for preventing lice for when my little girl starts school

[Worriedmumofone1]

So far I’ve been told to make sure her hair is tied up and to use vosene shampoo

My DCs didn't get them till my younger one was about 8 meaning my older one was already in secondary school. They hung about for years because I was trying to treat then leave them alone for weeks hoping the treatment had worked. We did full on conditioner and combing every 4-5 days once we realised the lotion hadn't worked and months and months of that worked.
However if they came back/I was afraid of them coming back I'd do what you have done - proper comb through once a week.

My daughter escaped it until primary five, yet has managed to catch it 4/5 times in the past year!
Keeping hair tied back doesn’t help as much as you’d think, my dd always has hers up but still caught it.
Keep her hair nice and soft with conditioner- much easier to check and treat.
Get some treatment and a bit comb to keep in the house just in case she has an infestation. Better than running to the pharmacy if you discover it at an unsuitable time. You can buy it but it’s also available on minor ailments from the pharmacy.
They are very hard to spot! Literally the only way we even knew was when she was scratching.

The best advice I was given was to use a little spray bottle with water and a few drops tea tree oil in. Spray a little bit on the hair every day before school.
We got through all of Primary without any nits 🎉🎉🎉🎉.

My sister’s girls got nits time and time again. They came to my house for an all day Christmas party with nits two years in a row (my sil spotted them both times) and yet my kids never got them. I think nits prefer some people to others- and I’m not suggesting this is a cleanliness issue.

Primary teacher here.
It is is very dependent upon who is in the class. I have had classes with children who consistently have them and,for the whole year, I have needed to be vigilant. The best solutions I have found are tea tree shampoo/ conditioner, bun/ french plait (sadly not a style I can wear) and lots of hairspray. I did buy the leave-in preventative spray, it works but it does make hair look greasy.
Good luck

I'm feeling itchy now.

Spraying her hair with diluted tea tree oil is excellent for preventing lice infestations.

It might not happen. My two went through primary without catching them (one long hair, one short hair, both thick and wavy and "big"). We only ever had the "there's head lice in your child's class" letter once.

1. I had a tea tree oil detangling/ leave-in conditioner spray. I would spray their hair in the morning with it and comb it through
2. I’d plait my girls’ hair
3. In the evening bath, wash their hair and comb conditioner through it.

I don’t think you can do much more than this.

We managed to make it all through primary without nits and then when she went up to high school she went round to a new friend's house and came back with them. Of course I didn't know she'd caught them there so I was mortified and phoned the other mother all apologetic and she said yes she knew, all her kids had them at the moment, well thanks for the heads up! I had to cut her hair which was very frizzy, to manage to deal with them, and it was torture for us both. The other mother was completely unabashed.

Wash their hair in tea tree shampoo.

Plaits, tight tidy plaits. Makes it much harder for the little suckers to get on board.

Hair up, dab of petrol on the back of the neck (it really works), comb hair a couple of times a week when it’s washed, always us me conditioner and then start to pray

Braid it tightly and loads of hair spray. If they try and get in they'll ping straight off 🤣

I’ve been through this and I recommend tea tree shampoo and spray (I made one with diluted oil), tie hair up then hairspray, plus get a nitty gritty comb! Check hair twice weekly, three girls with long hair and other feckless parents that don’t check taught me!

My daughters are 18 and 8. I always have their hair in French or Dutch braids, with a very light sheen of hairspray. The occasional bun too. Neither has ever had in school, only my youngest once in nursery. That was before her was long enough to put up.

You're not going to prevent your DD from getting it. Unfortunately girls like to hug each other and lice jump!! My daughter didn't get them as the major culprit in her class I told her to keep away from her. The little girl came from a troubled family and I felt very sorry for her but I couldn't have coped with my daughter getting them as she has long curly hair!!

We used Hedrin Protect & Go religiously. Spray on after each hair wash and comb through. Never got nits. You can buy it in any chemist.

https://www.mypharmacy.co.uk/product/hedrin-protect-go-spray-120ml/

What is petrol a typo for please?

Because you really can't put petrol on children.

Sorry @ReefRay, I somehow tagged you, but I meant to tag @MaryTheTurtle.

Oh god the nit years. DD always had long hair & there were many, many nights of sitting with the bloody comb going through her hair. In the end we tried mixing tea tree into the conditioner & between that and a new battery operated comb that zapped the live ones and the eggs we got her clear. Obvs the battery comb can only be used on dry hair so there was always an element of checking with the original version too.

The worst bit was having to tell 3 colleagues that I might have passed nits to them. Luckily all were parents too

But yes - plait / bun for long hair & tea tree into the conditioner, a comb and luck.

good luck

My kids never got them! They're all in secondary school now so I think we've escaped. I didn't do anything particular to prevent them. Just luck.

Our DD got them a few times in primary school, more KS2 from what i can remember, even had them the first week of covid lockdown
Always treated her hair but I know other families didnt so she got reinfected, all finished tho, think in Y6?
Our middle DS got them once in secondary school! He did have quite long curly hair , he was close to his “girl friends” -came out at age 14, ( he said he was confused at age 12) told him its ok , you’ll work it out (i kinda knew from age 3 ) he loved snow white, dora the explorer, his shiny accessories, anyhow gone off on a tangent.

Hair up always.

My 2 are 9 & 12. No nuts yet! Probably lucky also the girls in the class all seem to have parents who are amazing at doing perfect French plaits so there aren’t lots of swishing ponytails to avoid!