Damn it!! We have NITS!

[Marlene]

I have never done the vinegar...I will definitely be trying that one next time lice visit this house

[Marlene]

Can someone please explain the vinegar? Do you just put it in like shampoo and rinse it out or do you leave it on the hair for a while? How long? Does it smell?

[Rivlas]

Have just found one of my old housekeeping books and it says to wash the hair in vinegar and water, then use a fine tooth comb to comb through the hair.
From memory the vinegar smell doesn't stay long.
When you wash the clothes hang inside out so the sun can get into the seams. Yeah, I know, some places don't have much sun at the moment.
You could probably put the clothes in the dryer for 5 minutes or so and that should kill them off.

[~clover~]

I haven't tried vinegar yet either. I haven't been home for a few days to make sure DD1's hair is sprayed, so I'll try it tonight. Can guarantee they are back!

I got over wasting money on nit/lice products when Jaz started school. I've tried them all. & I gave up on them all.

The only one I use now is pyranel foam. You just use it like shampoo, leave it for 5 minutes & rinse out. It smells if you are close to their head after, but it works for the initial treatment & is only about $8 at woollies.

I do that 2 days in a row, to make sure I didn't miss any the first time, then I condition it & comb it through with my trusty KP24 metal comb. Its prongs are close together & strong & it drags out the eggs. If the hair is wet, they won't pull on the hair. If its dry it hurts like hell!

I do that once a week & spray with a mixture of lavender, tea tree oil & water every day before school & put her hair up. I use the spray instead of conditioner sprays to brush her hair.

Have you got a good DVD that she will sit still in front of? Thats how I do it.

You can buy tea tree conditioner too. The smell hangs around for a few days to deter them.

Hair dryer helps. They hate heat, & washing all the sheets isn't always necessary, you can just hang them in the sun.

Mum used to have a bowl of metho when combing & would put them in there. She actually sprayed the metho into our hair. It kills them. I use a towel & we all get completely changed & put everything in the wash afterwards.

I'm lucky DD1 is the only one that really gets them. DD2 just doesn't. Don't know why, but I'm so greatful! She has so much hair on her little head!

Don't waste your time trying out deisel...its a tested theory that doesn't work

[toomanyshoes]

Best tip is to lather them thru with conditioner and comb thru while they are sitting in the bath happily playing with their bath toys. You will need to do it every day until they are all gone and then do it again once about three days later in case you missed any that hatched. This is the quickest and simplest way I know.

Totally agree with the above, but make sure you get the metal type combs because the plastic ones are useless! We always have nit dramas with our kids...it was driving me crazy, tried everything under the sun to the point where both kids came up bright red last time i tried a treatment. Combing them out is the only way!

[dust]

ah the dreaded nits n lice!! The first 3 months of DD starting primary school her class kept having lice problems!

Use the conditioner (any cheap one) and comb method. I used the cap and the 15min lotions on my girl only to comb afterward and only find 1 dead nit! The other 20 or so were still alive.

The conditioner "stuns" nits, which is handy because these guys travel quickly and are a big pain in long hair! I have used pantene detangler and altho it didnt stun them and i combed for 3-4hrs it was easier to see them and clean the comb than using plain conditioner.

I will never waste money on lotions etc again. I have a anti nit spray made of all sorts of oils which i found at the pharmacy and use it every so often. But basically i try to prevent it by always having her hair done up and plaited then sprayed with hair spray. I also now check every sunday arvo.

[Crystalwings]

Coming from a house of 4 girls all with long hair and working in early childhood I have experienced nits lots of times. The conditioner treatment works the best but can I also say that the best way to get out the eggs is to use your fingernails. Most of the combs are pretty hopeless and this way you know that all the eggs are out. Section the hair into four sections using clips and comb with conditioner then go through with fingernails the next day, especially around the ears and hairline. Spray daily with dialuted tea tree.