Nits

[The Juggler]

conditioner and comb

[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!

[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

[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 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.

[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)

[Hebs]

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

a razor works well, no hair no nits

just kidding

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

[xdirtydancerx]

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

a razor works well, no hair no nits

just kidding

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

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

[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 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.

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

just kidding

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

Yet

[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.