General Chat

i smiled and chuckled Debbi xxxx

Many moons ago we had a visit from the 'nit nurse' to tell us that our son had nits and gave us some lotion to use. I treated my son and daughter's hair and my own before my husband came home from work. He walked in, sniffed and said 'Has the cat been sick?' - I said 'No - sit down you're next!' He thought I'd been disinfecting the place! -just thought I'd give you a bit of a smile! Magsx

thanks everyone these are fab ideas im defently gonna pass em on at school in sept thanks again annie

Well all I can say is that if everyone did everything mentioned on this page those dratted nits would be gone. I will use the above comment to bump this thread for today incase anyone missed it on yesterday. Fingers crossed then to a nit free Autumn term. Maybe those of you who know the culprit could print off the solutions and pass them onto the school and then onto the person concerned....just a thought!! Debbi ;0

Another way of getting rid of the nit cases or eggs, is to get a piece of cotton wool soaked in vinegar and kind of scrape the egg off the hair using your fingernails through the cotton wool. The vinegar dissolves the glue that the monsters use to stick the eggs to the hair. Grr. Beastly things, my baby is 24 now, but I still havent forgotten two years of constant nits, constant combing through three daughtes hair every night and my own obsession that I had them too, only nobody would look through my hair properly, so in the end I went to the baby clinic and asked the nurse there to have a look! She did and I didnt have them ....or so she said....

Yep these little blighter are the bane of my life, SIGH... LOL My three boys heads are now shaved, we brought a shaver from argos for about £20 and we do it ourselves when it gets too long, this also saves us a fortune on hair cuts at the barbers. I have to also add that i paid out for the electronic nit comb and found it to be a waste of money, but each to their own. We also have a family at the school who never check their kids hair and of cousrer they have a daughter in both my daughter's and the twins class!!!! We even watched her screw up the routine letter we recieved informing us of another outbreak. In the end several parents complained to the head and after a major row in the playground LOL the problems did ease. Am hoping now my daughter has left primary the problem will ease. But if it doesn't then good old conditioner and a leave on conditioner works ok. But i'll certainly bear in mind the listerine anything is worth a try when daughter has them ( she has waist long hair) Shelli

There has been one child in my son's class all the way through the last year at school who constantly has lice and whose parent does not treat them properly. As a result, there have been outbreaks in the class every couple of weeks. I do loads of things - tea tree shampoo and conditioner etc - but at the end of the day the best way to keep them at bay is to comb children's hair through with a nit comb morning and night so it is part of their routine. That way if a louse has walked on to their heads you find it quickly. If you find a louse in the comb, then you know you need to do all the other things that people have suggested to get rid of them. I have personally used chemist-bought treatments on my own hair as it is very thick and curly and I cannot get a nit comb through it (I destroyed 3 in 5 minutes last time I tried) but would never recommend these chemicals as a first resort. It's a lazy way out, not good for hair or child, and the lice become immune to them if you use them too much. Angela

Shave the hair off. Not popular with girls but very easy to do with boys.

Hi Debbi, oh so been there! I'm a nanny and had three boys riddled with lice all at once--horrible! It's usually down to one or two parents who don't know that you have to remove every single nit (these are the eggs) to eliminate the problem completely. It only takes one egg to be missed in one childs' hair, and you have an outbreak! I was given great advice by a nurse (if nit nurses were still about, the problem wouldn't be nearly as rife)-- Firstly, I never use the pesticide shampoos--they don't kill the eggs, and they are very damaging to the hair, let alone what they could be doing to the child's insides! The best and safest method I've found to get rid of lice is an electronic lice comb, available in Argos. It's about £18, but that's only the cost of 2 bottles of lice shampoo, and it lasts a lot longer! It doesn't hurt the child (though be careful around the ears), but electrocutes the lice and kills them. Comb the hair through with a normal comb first, then use the electric comb. The dead lice gather in the comb, and you remove them. It is a good way to keep a check in between attacks--the comb buzzes if it catches a lice. Once you have killed the lice, you need to remove the eggs--every last one of them! This is an incredibly laborious task, but it's the only way to get rid of the problem. I find the best thing to do is to sit in really good light, but in front of the tv so your the child has a distraction. Get some squares of damp kitchen towel, and a normal lice comb (available in chemists). Go right through the head section by section, removing every egg (small circular pale brown lums, usually near the roots) and wiping it onto the wet paper towel (the paper towel helps as you can see clearly what you have removed, and it's a handy way of disposing of them). I once removed over 200 eggs from a toddler's head--it took over two hours, and was very VERY boring, but it did clear his head. To prevent another attack, it's best to keep hair short, girl's long hair tied back at school, and use spray-in conditioner (slippy hair is harder for the lice to land on and attach to). Tea tree oil helps, and also teach your kids not to lean there heads against their school pals' heads! I check all the kids heads, even baby's, once a week. I also regularly run the lice comb through to be absolutely sure. Hope all this helps!

yes please my daughter has just got over these but they keep reappering.it's not tea tree shampoo is it .that's supposed to be good.

Awhile ago all the shop bought remedys were not working as nits were getting immune and also there were concerns about them causing cancer in rats so Doctors stopped giving it so freely and everyone looked at natural remedys. My mates also just told me to get rid of the eggshells they leave behind, get a strip of sellotape and use it like you were defluffing a jumper lol.....I know the eggshells hang around looking awful long after you have gotton rid of the nits themselves. Worth a go girls huh?!! Also she said her kids slept with a shower cap on after applying the listerine and I did the same with the liquid parrafin. Debbi xxxxx

Thanks for this, my daughter has long hair and they are a constant problem. Even when she's free of them it doesn't last long, her hair is so thick that combing alone is not enough. The standard lotions really affect her breathing and the last time I used them she went blue in the face!! never again! I also used Mayo.... :-o Her hair was beautifully soft......for the headlice to make a lovely home in! Listerine here I come :)

debbi i used to use liquid paraffin or my babies when they had cradle cap its brilliant stuff susie

Thats great, thank you!! My poor sister gets them ALL the time bless her and all the shop stuff makes her scalp so sore, im sure we will all be trying that out in September!!! Steph -x-

I'm sure my Dad used to have a spoonful of liquid paraffin every morning (one of those "keeping regular" things).

just comb the kids hair everynite with a nit comb this breaks their legs and they cant mulitply however i used and stiil do (i work in a nursery) derbac to wash my hair in wen i have them

Hi, Right well I used liquid parafin cos its suffocates the blighters and is easy on the scalp if the child has excema, but have been told that liquid parrafin is nasty stuff if it enters the body. But the new solution is LISTERINE apparently you cover the hair in it, leave it to dry and then comb through and they'll all be dead. Wash as normal and condition.Better than chemicals in shop bought lotions. My friend told me it worked on her, hubby and 3 kids.I tried it and it worked on 2 girls with long thick hair. Also they dont like Olbas oil so add that to conditioner(the smell is gone by the morning lol). I hope it works for you, just dont use it on a sore scalp!! If anyone can confirm or deny liquid parrafin being dangerous please let me now as it leaves hair in wonderful condition and as it is shiny the nits dont cling. I think we should have a nit nurse in every school.I hardly ever remember anyone having nits when I was at school and yet today all under 12s seem to be constantly infested. Anyway, hope this helps you all, Debbi xxxx

I have used everything I can think of - conditioner & comb, teatree, all the chemical stuff - was even advised by a pharmacist to use cooking oil (eeeurgh!!!) so any new suggestions gratefully received.... Sarah

Yes Please. I too have hesrd that Nits dont like the taste/smell of tea tree. I use tea tree shamp/cond as a prevention.

I would. The minute my nieces go back to school they'll be rife with them - and every time they get treated they go back in teh next day and it starts all over again because some parents just don't bother doing anything about it. I remember when I was little the school nurse used to come in and treat the whole school at once - if you had them you got sent home and weren't allowed back until they'd been treated. These days my sister-in-law seems to be fighting a losing battle