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

This was us the bloody nits had boots on!
tea tree is meant to be a good repellant but apart from that keep hair plaited up out of the way and fingers crossed 🤞

There have been very few cases, both in the schools I work at and those of my DC. Treatment is so simple, a shampoo, so different to Nitty Nora and the comb and cream!

Not much you can do to prevent it yet easy to deal with, when and if it happens.

Nothing to worry about. It is not a big deal. My first two never had nits (age 13 and 11 now). My youngest had them once (age 5) and yes a slight pain at first, but not so bad once you understand how to get rid of them. And no one else got them. No point in worrying until it happens....if I worried about them before my first started school I would have wasted so many years, as she has never caught them until now....

I think it’s pure luck!
DD is going into Y6 in September and has never had nits…. I assumed she’d get them several times during primary.

Never done anything and DD has never had them.

Had them several times as a kid and we always used vosene.

I think it’s pot luck.

Leave in spray conditioner. Brushing twice a day. Putting hair up.

Luck of the draw I think? My DS never got lice, no idea why! Still grateful though.

And should have said, never did anything, he just never got them.

Holland and Barrett pure tea tree oil . Put in a spray bottle with water and spray each morning and night . I swear by it .
Nits hate it and is a brilliant repellent

French plaits can help keep hair from flying around.

Avoid situations where kids throw coats, jackets, hats, or scarves down in a heap. Make your child stuff hers into her backpack.

Tell her never to wear anyone else's jacket, hat, or scarf and to never let anyone wear hers. Obviously sharing hairbrushes or combs or hair elastics would also be a huge no-no.

And cross your fingers...

Agree they like clean hair for some reason. I wouldn't say my DCs' hair was dirty, but it was washed about twice a week, and we used (cheap) coconut scented shampoo and conditioner. Five DCs, several nit outbreaks in their classes in school, girl and boy scouts, and in sports teams they were on, and we never had nits.

Dd now 16 has never had nits thankfully! Curly hair and always tied up and in a braid or two for school in primary. I also think it maybe due to me not washing her hair as often being curly, and using lots of leave in conditioner/serum. Not sure if true but wondered if they couldn't grip on due to the oil!

Our nanny is a former school nurse (when that was a thing), and reckons nits don’t like hair with “product”, that it’s harder for the nits to hang on in it.

I think it’s just luck really. We were required to have our hair tied back, but I always had very long hair. I managed to avoid nits for the whole of primary school, and only got them for the first time when I was around 13. I caught them again a couple of years later, and that’s the only time i’ve ever had them.

My mum used to dab tea tree oil around my hairline, heard some parents used vinegar. I did get them a few times in primary school and my Mum would go throught my hair with conditioner and a nit comb. We also had a really good nit shampoo from France but can't remember what it was called.

I second hair spray. As a teacher of young children I used this and never caught them despite it being an occupational hazard. I also did the nit comb and conditioner treatment every time I washed my hair.

It's not the end of the world though. My grandsons caught head lice several times in Primary School. Be vigilant and treat them as soon as you see them.

They don't jump, they walk. You have to be head to head not just close.

I also use Hedrin Protect and Go spray twice a week for my kids. Although there have been several rounds of nits in both their classes, my kids haven’t any (so far).

I do too. My son didn’t get them at primary school at all, but he did get them a couple of times at playgroup.

I used a Milky Bar as bait, and the iPad with his favourite programs on iPlayer to keep him sweet/still.
I bought a big bottle of conditioner from the Pound Shop, and used the Nitty Gritty comb. It was quite satisfying seeing the little bastards on the toilet paper.

vosene is horrible. Just go through her hair with a nit comb every 2/3 days, with it full of conditioner, when she’s in the bath. If there are a couple you’ll get rid of them and they’ll never be just left to multiply.

I didn't do anything in particular to try to stop DS from getting nits - he's 15 now, ans has never had them.

I think using any extra chemicals continuously to try to prevent nits is at best a waste of time, and at worst could cause more problems in the long term.

Imo, it far easier with boys’ hair. You can keep their hair so short, you can see nits at any time. It’s also easier, if they have blonde hair. Girls want long hair, and it’s more difficult to see nits in long brown hair!

You can't prevent them. You manage it/them.

Get your dd used to a co dictionary and nit comb every time her hair is washed. Then if one hops on, it's quickly caught before too many eggs are laid and hatch. If eggs are laid, the little nuts will be combed out when tiny and before they have a chance to lay eggs.

We caught a louse at every wash when dd was in Y4 and sat next to a certain child. It wasn't an issue. We dealt with it and never raised it, the child was in desperate circumstances.

yes, it is always the same long-haired girls in my children’s classes who keep getting nits