omg the dreaded nits!advice please!

[pinkcowprint]

my nephews have just had nits and to my horror found some in my 2 year olds last night!
they were tiny,fullstop size so sent hubby for some stuff,he ome back with hedrin,we put it on him,this morning got rid of them and cant find any eggs so hopefully might have caught them quickly as been checking him obsessively for the last few days!!the chemist woman said we cant use it unless we have visabile lice moving!!so are we supposed to wait until heads crawling or what?both our heads are itching like mad,is this subconcious though??we are checking each other and cant see anything,ive been using tea tree oil on mine for last 2 days in the morning,is there any other prevention or should i just ignore chemist and whack it on us?!thanks

[zzxxee]

you should treat all family members at the same time xxx

[pinkcowprint]

even if we dont think we have them?thats what i thought too.

[sara3]

and wash your pillowcases and towels on a hot wash.

[zzxxee]

yes they can be overlooked !!!! it should tell you this on the leaflet of nit lotion you used on your little one

[puzzled54]

I used to go thru my kids (and my) hair with a nit comb morning and night when I knew the little beasties were about. Either when hair has just been washed, or spray with leave in conditioner and comb thru. Catches any that are there, and stops any more eggs hatching. They can't fight the nit comb!

[puzzled54]

As for subconcious itching - yes, I only have to think about it and I'm scratching too. But you should go thru your hair with the nit comb.

[andy-hughes]

It's a royal drag isn't it?

Even is 2010, parents still avoid the 'stigma' of admitting that their child(ren) have nits, and so the infections spread.

I have always regarded nits as in the same brackets as colds - something to which children are exposed, and which they will catch eventually.

As well as the esxcellent advice above, you could comb conditioner through everyone's hair - the little monsters can't grip onto a condition-covered hair, so it helps when you comb them out.

Do tell your school - someone has to break the secrecy that allows this archaic infestation to continue. Remember - there is no shame in headlice, any more than a cold.

[ummmm]

I have never treated my hair when the kids have had them. You have to remember...it's like putting pesticide on your head and nits get immune to them.

I once went to the chemist to get yet more nit lotion and he refused to sell it to me. He said I had bought too much over the months and overuse is not good. I had to stick with the conditioner and nit comb every night....took about 3 weeks to clear.

Then I cut her hair...

[sherrardk]

You can spray teatree oil at the nape and behind the ears as this is meant to 'ward them off'!

[tgm1974]

Hello

Thank God for this question as Ive just discovered my son has it too. His neices had it just over a week to 2 weeks ago. Ive been checking him like mad and it came to the point that he hadnt seen his neices for just over a week. This thursday he was in the company of his cousins and that night I had found 3 live louse in his short hair and alot of eggs. I dont know if it was from the girls as when I asked my sister she said that the girls were OK ... from what Ive read and people have told me for the amount of eggs in his head they must have been there for some time. Arggghhh! Anyway we spent 2 hrs (in the middle of the night as found at midnight) pulling the eggs from his head before we decided enough was enough.

Following day I covered him in conditioner and combed the nit comb through him as often as he would allow me (hes nearly 3 and will not sit still)!. I got a fair few out again to my surprise as you always think you've got them all but they still pop up. Hedrin was applied for the 8 hrs and then I washed his hair with some tea tree shampoo (89p) from Home and Bargain.

I checked my own hair and nothing was coming out til I got to the back of my head --- I admit I was in a blind panic when I had pulled out a live one yet only about 5 eggs. Hedrin was straight onto my head followed by the tea tree shampoo and then a conditioner. From the Hedrin instructions a louse only lays between 5-7 eggs per day so I assume I had just caught the blighter as she arrived!!

(PAUSE NOW FOR A QUICK PSYCHOLOGICAL SCRATCH)

My partner trawled through my hair last night and think he got three more eggs ... so far nothing more but it has really got me paranoid that I will always nit comb my hair no matter what.

I hope all is back to normal with your family!