Return of the NIT

[tgm1974]

I found my son had head lice a week ago today. We discovered it at 12 midnight when he woke and had a head scratch. His two cousins had had them 2 weeks previous so as soon as I saw him scratch I was onto him. We found the blighters had landed and from 12-2am we trawled his hair finding 3 live ones and a good few eggs.

Following morning i was at the chemist for 9am and he was wearing Hedrin as soon as we got home, 8hrs later it was washed off with Tea Tree shampoo then throughout te day he had the comb done wether dry hair or with conditioner. Anyway I know we managed to extinguish the thing within 2 days as his hair is short and blond and so easy to see anything.

Yesterday he came home from his cousins and my paretns said he had
scratched at one point yet he hadn't for at least 3 days prior. My sister said the girls are clear but did comment to me that she isn't as an*l as me with all the hourly checking!! Do you think they could have reinfected him as i know I'd cleared him!?? The live one I found last night was minute compared to the ones we saw when it all started!!

[Mosaic]

I don't know enough about the life cycle and the efectiveness of hedrin. It seems to be the case that the nits build up resistances to products, so pharmacists change around (or should change around) what they are offering from season to season - what I'm saying is, an egg might have escaped or got lucky. or it could be reinfestation (it's not an infection, tgm!).
I know they're horrible but please try not to over-react -all kids get nits, mainly because some parents do no checking at all. So any child he's in contact with could be passing on the good news.
One of the reasons some parents say nothing is because they're scared of over-reaction.
Your child having nits is a fact of life - it does not show that you or anyone else is dirty, failing as a parent, or likely to catch anything else. They're just nits. Katchem and killem, as they said in Amityville.

[cazzz1975]

bizarre having your son up for 2 hours at night trawling his hair?! I dont think you are supposed to keep hedrin on for 8 hours either?

you are going to give him issues about it with that kind of behaviour, my son contracted nits at school but as he is disabled I shaved his hair to a number 1 which got rid of them (no hair shaft to stick to)

[MickyMacgraw]

I've heard that Coconut oil works.

http://www.peoplespha...3/27/coconut-oil-for/

Google for more review and advice.

[chelle7272]

Kids will get reinfected all the time, simple fact of life. I have to say you seem to be a bit over the top about it.
i did the same as cazzz and when mine was little he had his head shaved to avoid getting them. simplest answer. And he mch preferred the haircut than the constant treatments.

[tgm1974]

Hedrin needs to stay on for 8hrs as per instructions. I'm sorry to sound over paranoid but finding them that night and even contemplating leaving them to walk around his head whilst he slept was a NO NO!

His hair is cut to a number 3 and i will keep it that short or shorter.

I just couldn't understand how he's got it back again, extremely mildly, when I know I got them all out. Even boil washed all his bedding, clothes, etc!

[chelle7272]

I know it will drive you mad, but it only takes one to be missed, and you can never account for other children, (or lazy parents!). At least his hair is short so it's easier to deal with.

[tgm1974]

I know .. thanks for the replies. Just an over protective Mother I suppose. I know they can't hurt him or anything but the thought of something crawling in his head or could hatch and start it over, just winds me up.

I hate the fact I can't kill the eggs with this stuff so it's literally picking and combing to get rid?!

[grasscarp]

It's incredible if you think about it. We can send people to the moon but cannot market a product that can kill head lice AND their eggs in one treatment! I can only assume that it is this way to keep the industry in business as an efficient product would only be purchased once.

[chelle7272]

i know, i used to retch at the thought but had to get used to it! My son has really fine hair so getting the eggs out was quite an ordeal at first. Unfortunately there is no easy way! good luck with it :-)

[Mosaic]

You are indeed killing the eggs, re-infestation is normal when there's a break-out. Give yourself a break and don't get obsessed with clothes and bedding - the little nits live in human hair and drink blood, they have no interest in textiles because they aren't made of hair and don't supply warm blood. It will pass, just keep regular and calm routine of nit-combing.

[tgm1974]

Thanks everyone ...

It's my sons 3rd bday on Sat and his cousins are
coming the party, I will be secretly checking them!!!

[woofgang]

40 odd years ago when i was a kid, Nits was a big deal, and it was quite unusual for a child to get them unless there were...social issues....with the family. Now it seems expected almost....I wonder why the change?

[boxtops]

You can't help it tgm, it's an unfortunate fact that nits like clean hair - you just have to keep an eye on it, but don't get obsessive otherwise it will really get to you and your son.

[tgm1974]

My son is fine as he loves having his hair brushed so that's a blessing .... he doesn't really understand what's happening as Im not saying "let Mummy get the spiders out of your hair", then he'd really go mad!!

[ann_h]

Woofgang - I agree it was rare in our day, I remember it being an issue once in my whole childhood. I believe this is because schools no longer have the Nit Nurse who made you go home and sort it out. So any infestation can run riot and schools can only request parents' cooperation.
My girls first got them when they were 8 and were reinfested constantly until they were 11 and went to secondary school where the girls were old enough and bothered enouh to keep it under control!

[ummmm]

Same as ann....I think I had years of nits. My daughter infecting the boys.

[annie0000]

I didn't realise it was such an issue - I had them once as a child and my kids have never had them.....yet! They are 10 and 9 now, so probably out of the danger age. Can't really recall any playground talk about them either from when I used to pick them up, maybe we have just been incredibly lucky. Verruccas though, that's another matter - I have the verrucca battle rather than the nit battle!