Nits

[Pipsqueak]

Just wondering what you as a mummy/childminder think the best prevention and treatment for Nits is.



(touch wood) my boys have never had and the girls in my setting have never had either but I got caught up in a fracas at school yesterday with one irate (and rather foul mouthed) mummy.

I have some 'natural remedies' that I suggest to parents
I never recommend the over the counter solutions
I hear the the nitty gritty comb is one of the best
I personally would go along with lots of conditioner and wet combing reguarly / treat the whole family/ wash bedding etc etc



Mind you - have you seen? David Camerons kids have nits...... obviously good enough for number 10!!!!

BRING BACK THE NIT NURSE

[gigglinggoblin]

Conditioner and nitty gritty. For extreme cases (when my son came back from school with new ones every day) neem oil.

Most over the counter stuff doesnt work tho I havent tried the one that claims to shirnk wrap them (hedrin possibly)

[WibbleWobble]

tea tree oil in conditioner used to work with my kids with an old fashioned derbac comb...very very very fine tooth. much better than the ones you get today. its almost a family heirloom...it was my mums and used on me and my brother and sister...



mandy xxx

[sfox2003]

My favourite remedy is ALL OF THEM. I use everything, over counter stuff, nitty gritty comb, tea tree oil & combing with conditioner.

Whatever I can lay my hands on I use to rid the pesky little critters.

My daughter had them recently, I personally dont exclude for lice, however I had a parent complaining that they didnt want their child to catch them. I told them I wouldnt exclude their child with lice and I take every precaution ie treatment had started & hair was tied back & plaited. If that wasnt enough to keep her child off but she would have to continue to pay me. She sent her child surprise surprise!!! :D

However my daughters school excluded her so she had to stay at home with us for a week. I was told a week later when she returned that the person I had spoke to & the 2 people she had double checked with were in actual fact wrong and I shouldnt have been told to keep her off. I was not at all pleased.

[Pipsqueak]

I was told a week later when she returned that the person I had spoke to & the 2 people she had double checked with were in actual fact wrong and I shouldnt have been told to keep her off. I was not at all pleased.

you can choose to exclude if you want to.

[RachelE]

My dd got her 1st lot in Sept when she started school.

I got Hedrin (I think. -the 10 min one) It worked a treat. I also condition and comb regularly now.

I told the teacher that she'd had them and I'd treated and did she want to warn other parents, but she said that they arent allowed! :rolleyes:
So, I told as many parents as I could to have a check!
One Mum said her boy has them so often she gets really annoyed.
If parents arent told/reminded to check then its a vicious cirlce isnt it?

I found a good website which does packs for schools and reccommends every child is treated on the same night and this may help the situation.

Rachel x

[snufflepuff]

DS hasn't had them but we had to check lots as a mindee had them recently.

I'd go for lots of conditioner and combing through every night until they are gone and then keep going for another week just to be sure! Won't be using any 'treatments' on him. I remember my Mum having to use them on me and the fumes were awful, I could hardly breathe! I'm sure they are different nowadays but as he has asthma I won't be risking it.

[Polly2]

My girls had nits LOADS of times! both had very long thick hair and it was a nightmare however after trying all the potions everywhere I finally decided to wet comb with conditioner. I jsut did it every night - it became habit :rolleyes:

I just wasn't comfortable putting the chemicals on and they still kept being reinfected anyway.

Nitty Gritty wasn't invented then but I would definately use it now.

I read some terrible story about a parent who had sat her children infront of a gas fire for hair to dry and their hair caught fire from the chemicals :eek: it scared me.

[Pipsqueak]

http://www.vosenekids.co.uk/nitwatch



The perpetuation of headlice being so rife is more to do with the use of chemicals now. They are becoming resistant to them.

[Blaze]

Wet comb & nitty gritty - perfect!:thumbsup:

TBH there was a time where I used everything & IMHO full marks, hedren etc don't work all that well. (Neither do conditioner & normal nit combs).

Nothing beats conditioner & the nitty gritty comb - it's fab!:clapping:

[Mcgons]

We use this kit at home, got the link to this through NHS website:

www.chc.org

It worked really well and can be used to check every now and again as well.

[fionamal]

Well so far neither of mine have had them but I do check them every other night and have a nitty gritty comb in the cabinet as a just in case

[gegele]

As prevention : I use tea tree shampoo and conditioner on my DD a couple of time a week, keep her hair up usually in plated bunches.

To cure : DD had nits on my first day to childminding EVER!!!!:blush:

i tried the chemical stuff and lots of combing But the ULTIMATE thing to do is to sit with your child, a white paper on the side on top of a hard surface and go through her hair bits at the time and remove eggs by hand and pop them with back of nail on paper to make sure they're dead!!!!!!!:D

i can't do that all waiting business the eggs will slide down blablabla

REMOVE THEM!! you just need one resistant egg to start all over again!

my sister used to visit , she was covered!! i'll do a chemical first attack, and then i used a n electric comb twice a day and then watched TV for a long time while i went through her hairs strand by strand!!!

3days later all done!!!:D :thumbsup:

[manjay]

We use this kit at home, got the link to this through NHS website:

www.chc.org (http://www.chc.org)

It worked really well and can be used to check every now and again as well.

I like the idea of the book that comes with this:thumbsup:

My girls have both had them a couple of times. Complete nightmare with thick long hair. I personally wouldn't use any chemicals so have always used a comb and conditioner. I now have a nitty gritty comb but never used it as ds hasn't had them.

[LOOPYLISA]

Full marks :thumbsup:

Conditioner and comb :thumbsup:

E has long thick hair, nightmere :rolleyes:

Don't get them now shes at high school..........................touch wood :thumbsup:

[PixiePetal]

nitty gritty comb every time - I have tried all sorts in the past but nothing beats seeing the little blighters getting what they deserve!

the Kipper book is on Amazon and I have a Topsy and Tim one about nits (T & T have itchy heads) - kids love it :rolleyes:

[miffy]

Luckily never had them but would use conditioner and nitty gritty comb which looks as though it would see them off! :D

Miffy xx

[WibbleWobble]

crikey i am itching now!

I check ours DD is 19 and has long curly red hair down her back:(

Hubby has long curly hair too down his back:(

My hair is long too:(:(:(

it takes time! we have had them once whilst i have been married - so last three years (before i did childminding) OH was very patient!

[xdirtydancerx]

My dd has had them every 4-5 weeks since september. I tried 'prevention' in the form of vosene kids shampoo and spray but actually found that vosene for sensitive scalps seems to be working better (but I'll clarify this if they definitely don't come back this time!!)

[Ticktoria]

I wouldnt use chemicals, and would go for conditioner and comb option with a couple of drops of tea tree oil.

We use the vosene kids 3in1 prevention shampoo and spray (smells revolting at first spray but once on no smell) and we've not had a problem so far.

[The Juggler]

conditioner and comb:thumbsup:

[mushpea]

my daughter had a terrible dose in when she was at juinor school,,, didnt matter what iused they kept comming back, 6 wks later and a lot of money spent on soultions and still they were comming,, the best advice that i had and the only thing that worked and actualy stopped them comming back was ,,, and yes its minging,, is to wash her hair once a week in teatree oil then condtioner then not wash it all week,,, the nits cant cling on to the condtioner to start with and they like clean hair so because her hair ended up manky by the end of the week they never nested in her hair,,, she spent her last two years of juinor school only washing her hair once a week and it worked,

[Blackcat]

i use a nitty gritty comb and vinegar to prevent

[samb]

I use a homeopathic remedy on dd. When I worked as a nanny the children got nits quite regularly and we tried all sorts of chemicals. I was seeing an osteopath at the time who also did homeopathy and she gave me her "headlice killer" recipe. Well, it worked! So now dd is at school and has managed to also get nits I have bought the ingredients and started to use. If anyone is interested here is the recipe...

100ml veg oil
25 drops rosemary
12 drops eucalyptus
13 drops geranium
25 drops lavender

Rub and comb into scalp and hair.
Wrap head in clingfilm (!) and leave on for 2-3 hours (we play things like aliens to make it fun!)
Comb out – you’ll see dead ones
Wash out (2-3 washes as so oily)

Use a fragrance free conditioner with drop of the oils in

Then repeat 1 week later, then 2 weeks later

Keep using conditioner with oils in as a preventative

It smells divine too! We are on week 1, so am hoping they will not be staying to play here much longer!:rolleyes:

[Happy Bunny]

I have tried various lotions, but the best one i have found so far is from Wilkinsons. It is called What Nits, it is organic and very cheap.
They also have a spray to use after you have treated it. Since using this my lot have been Nit Free!!!!

[Chell]

Has anyone come across any good fact sheets to print and give to parents for information?

My DD has them just now, I've found eggs and a couple of lice. I've found eggs in mine too. They are visable by looking but I can see them in the conditioner on the nitty gritty comb.

DD is very itchy with excema so I don't want to use chemicals unless I really have to. I know one of the child I mind has eggs and am concerned they aren't being taken care of!

[PixiePetal]

Has anyone come across any good fact sheets to print and give to parents for information?

My DD has them just now, I've found eggs and a couple of lice. I've found eggs in mine too. They are visable by looking but I can see them in the conditioner on the nitty gritty comb.

DD is very itchy with excema so I don't want to use chemicals unless I really have to. I know one of the child I mind has eggs and am concerned they aren't being taken care of!

the nitty gritty website has lots of info - I got a free comb from them a while back and got sent info leaflets for parents which gave them a discount towards a comb - don't know if they still do?

just read childminders cannot now get the comb :( but can get a discount and download leaflets - look on the school bit of site :thumbsup:

[LittleStar's]

I have mindees that have them all the time , My daughter has very thick long curly hair so i regularly check, if she gets them I use the nitty gritty which normally does the trick xx

[arly]

I was at an Infection Control training night on Tuesday and headlice and nits were discussed....now excuse me if im bit silly but i assumed they were the same thing although they are in a way but headlice are the beasties and nits are actually the empty egg cases :blush: and anyone gets them no matter how clean or dirty your hair is and seemingly there is no prevention that all these rememdies etc are tales they havent been clinically proven but the best thing to use is Hedrin....1 dose then repeat 7 days later to nab the 1s that hatch. :thumbsup:

[xdirtydancerx]

My DD was a bit upset this morning as she hasn't had lice for over a month now but mindee walked in and said "My mum said I can't play with you because you're riddled with nits!"

Now, I'm not sure if mindees mum heard me discussing lice with another parent at school on Friday or if she's just generally told him not to get too close to other children so I can't really say much to him. I just said that DD hadn't had them in a while

[maisiemog]

I used to get nits all the time as a kid. Guess its a hazard of being in a big family and having thick hair!

I have always used tea tree oil and loads of conditioner. If you put really thick conditioner on and leave it in for about 20mins it is meant to block the oxygen getting to both the nits and their eggs. I used to do this daily.

Oil in the hair also really helps but takes FOREVER to rinse out! and the greasy hair look isnt exactly flattering!

[Gherkin]

My ds has no had them yet and he is in yr 2 but dd has had them twice since starting school and I just start to have a mini breakdown everytime.

I now use tea tree shampoos and conditioners and my daughters hair gets conditioned and nitty gritty combed every week. Prevention is better than cure I feel.

Itching just thinking about this.

[flowerpots]

my children are mixed race and the dd has very fine hair but its very, very curly and the thought of having to get a nitty gritty comb through her hair actually scares me so we use tea tree shampoo and lyclear repellant EVERYDAY lol! i have excluded for nits as i wouldnt want my children or myself catching it. (i sound like a nit phobe dont i? lol) :D

[Hebs]

my kids have never had them (perks of having really fine hair i guess)

a razor works well, no hair no nits :D :laughing:

just kidding

but we use tea tree oil once a week to keep them at bay so i guess it works :thumbsup:

[xdirtydancerx]

my kids have never had them (perks of having really fine hair i guess)

a razor works well, no hair no nits :D :laughing:

just kidding

but we use tea tree oil once a week to keep them at bay so i guess it works :thumbsup:

Gosh, my dd has extremely fine hair and caught them on a regular basis between oct and beginning of jan :panic:

[Pipsqueak]

I was at an Infection Control training night on Tuesday and headlice and nits were discussed....now excuse me if im bit silly but i assumed they were the same thing although they are in a way but headlice are the beasties and nits are actually the empty egg cases :blush: and anyone gets them no matter how clean or dirty your hair is and seemingly there is no prevention that all these rememdies etc are tales they havent been clinically proven but the best thing to use is Hedrin....1 dose then repeat 7 days later to nab the 1s that hatch. :thumbsup:

Hedrin is yet another chemical and headlice will become resistant to that as well. That is a contributory factor as to why headlice are becoming so prevailant again.

I just cannot see the point of using more and more chemicals constantly when the 'old wives tales' remedies and old fashioned combing does the trick. they may not have been 'proven' in a lab but they have been proven many many times with ordinary families over generations. Science often dispels folk/herb lore most often because they didn't invent it or see the benefits of it long term.

[LOOPYLISA]

my kids have never had them (perks of having really fine hair i guess)

a razor works well, no hair no nits :D :laughing:

just kidding

but we use tea tree oil once a week to keep them at bay so i guess it works :thumbsup:

Yet :laughing:

[Chell]

How long do you use the combing for before deciding something else is needed?

I did DDs hair three nights in a row. I found nothing on the third night. I then missed a night but she was scratching again yesterday. I found five lice when I combed.

Each time I have sat her in the bath and combed her wet hair with conditioner. I have combed for a length of time, probably fifteen minutes each day. I don't want to use chemicals due to her exzema.