Best way to get rid of nits / headlice?

[Fidgetsmum]

I've done a search and come up with nothing on EDF. Either nobody likes to admit it or my daughter truly is the only child to get them (obviously excluding the chid she got them off!)

Advice and recommendations please. My daughter HATES having her hair washed so can't say I'm looking forward to all that is to come!

Anyway. Best shampoos, tricks etc please! And how long is it before one can safely say they're gone?

Thanks

[womanofdulwich]

i think there is an electric devicethat looks good- i have seen it at the pharmacy next to the half moonpub in herne hill.

[bawdy-nan]

Combing, combing, combing. You need to do it wet (with some conditioner for ease) and witha decent comb. My absolute favourite one is "nitty gritty". Pciked mine up at SAinsburys - its a bit more expensive but seems to also get the eggs whichis half your battle. Basically if you find an egg or a louse you need to comb every other day until you don't find anything and then keep combing every three days for a bit after that. Sometimes you think you've got everything and then just one stray egg can set it all off again.

Its dull but I find an audio book or a film helps for the child. There's a weirdly satisying pleasure for the person doing the combing.

Maddeningly I think we're going to be doing it for years as there never seems to be a point when noone at school doesn't have them.

I've become the kind of mum who casually rakes through my child's hair with the trained eagle eye of the provfessional nit-picker - at bus-stops, in shops - basically anytime I;ve access and my chidl is still.

Good luck!

[KateW]

GHD hair straighteners got rid of my old flatmates nits in one go! (The heat burned the buggers out!) Not sure how old your daughter is so she might not sit still for long but you could always turn it into a 'pamper' session (doing hair, nails etc) and straighten her hair. Just a thought. It worked a treat!

[zeban]

Every child gets nits Fidgetsmum don't worry. I remember my Mum also combing over and over with the proper comb.

[Fidgetsmum]

Thanks for all the advice. She's only 3 so sitting still for any length of time is a challenge. Shall try the DVD route I think.

OfF to Sains to get a nitty gritty comb.

Now my head's itching. Oh lordie.

[Moos]

My son's nursery is on nit alert at the moment, so I'm combing 'casually' through his hair a lot. The advice we were given was that if you find eggs you need to comb first, and the whole family should use the shampoo and wash their bedding.

If it's any comfort, I have heard nits only like clean, well-cared-for heads.

[Trish]

I used Derbac M on my daughter's hair - she was crawling with them to my disgust, which I think I hid rather well from her. I was totally freaked out and didn't know how I was going to bring myself to deal with them without alarming her, but she was remarkably cool about it. After using the lotion I followed up with combing.....which became strangely compulsive and satisfying. I was pregnant at the time and quickly realised she'd passed them onto me. I obviously couldn't use the lotion so relied on combing alone. I got rid of mine reasonably quickly but the lotion definitely did it faster and killed the eggs too.

When my little girl became bored of the combing and refused to let me continue I explained what the bugs did in her head and she quickly let me do it - so it was kind of a process of drip feeding her information on an as needs basis....but could be too brutal for a 3 year old.

[Dorothy]

Hedrin is the best of the treatments.

Conditioner and nitty gritty comb are also essential and you have to do a lot of combing, every three days at least.

I am veteran of 5 years and counting of having to deal with lice (have an affectionate daughter with amazingly thick hair).

Also, tying hair back, using headbands, or those little scarves - even on a 3 year old - will all help.

[mynamehere]

My son had lice from Year 4 almost continually through Year 6...

First Conditioner to comb them out

Then VINEGAR which disolves the glue with which the eggs are stuck to the hair shaft

With a boy I shaved his head!

[Mook]

A hairdresser once told me to rubbing a thin layer of conditioner into my scalp and then rinse as a good preventative to nits, as it puts a layer of "debris" on the scalp making it very hard for the lice to get to the scalp and lay eggs.

Sorry it's not a cure but I believe it has worked for me (have worked with children for almost 20yrs, some nit infested, and never caught them)