parents and headlice

sorry if this is in the wrong section i was torn between here, school and punching bag

DD1 has come home with headlice 5 times since starting school yep 5 times!!! Now this school has no more than 60 students so you would think it would be easy to keep on top of. I spoke to the campus head (the teacher we have been having problems with) she said she would put something in the newletter (2 newsletters later and nothing) she also said a school without headlice is like a bbq without sausages ... wtf thats your approach to it? Fair enough in a city school with hundreds of kids but 60 come off it!

Anyway for her to come home that many times with lice it seems a lot of parents either dont care, arent getting rid of them properly or not checking there childs hair at all. Now there is this one kid at school in grade 2 and shes a leech as soon as we walk in there shes all over DD2 trying to pick her up a very very in your face child shes like that with kids of all ages and adults, i know at school she wont leave DD1 alone and i have a suspision this is where the lice are mainly coming from shes a very, how do i say it nicely, neglected child not so much neglected but her hairs never brushed, appearance is very unkept (??)

So i have come to the conclusion after discovering this morning DD2 also has lice and we cant even wash DD2s hair with no tears shampoo without everyone thinking we are murdering our child, so i think the nit shampoo is a huge no for her. Does anyone know a no chemical solution i can make up at home to help rid DD2 or lice and that i can also spray in DD1s hair before school to deter the lice?
Also any other tips to be free of the critters will be fantastic!

In a spray bottle of water put:

5 drops of tea tree oil
5 drops of Lavendar
5 drops of Rose Geranium
1 blob of conditioner

Then shake and spray on their hair every day.

I also make shampoo and conditioner up with these oils as well in unscented shampoo and conditioner I get from my local chemist.

Make sure the oils are 100% essential oils, they're not cheap but the fragrant oil ones won't work.

a vinegar and water solution with a few drops of tea tree oil, in a spray bottle, spray on before school,to get rid of crawlies, smother hair in conditioner and comb through, with nit comb, do eery day or night etc, for a week, then 3 times a week for the next few weeks...till the cycle is done.

One of the girls I used to work with, had the same prob with one of her daughters who kept getting them, what I mentioned above is what she did, also keeping the childs hair up, in a tight bun (harder for them to get in) and liberally spraying with hairspray (i know its not really natural, but it worked for her)

Where do you get the oils from tinks? And the shampoo/ conditioner does it say on it that it's unscented?

I'm at my wits end I'll try anything!!


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I get the oils from my chemist too.

The shampoo and conditioner I buy in 1 litre containers and i think it's called a base shampoo. They have some on ebay for around $10, if you search unscented shampoo it will come up. I've just had a look, there isn't any conditioner on there though. When you make the shampoo up with the oils make sure it's in a coloured clear or opaque container so the oils last. The same goes for the spray bottle.

Oh I'm so over it too :(
Mine have been free for about 2 weeks now, other than the odd one or 2. I can finally say today that they are also free completely of eggs (dead & alive)!
I have 2 sprays to do their hair in the mornings. Water & conditioner in one, & water with a few drops of both lavender & tea tree oil in the other. When I stick to it & don't forget the tea tree spay, it works well.

Such a pain isn't it clover! Do you use any particular conditioner for yours? Do the sprays go on in the order said?


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Mrs S I spray their hair every morning when I brush it, it's good for getting knots out too and smells beautiful. I wash their hair every couple of days with the shampoo and conditioner.

I also use the conditioner for combing out the eggs.

I don't see why you couldn't use any shampoo really, i just use the unscented one cos I found it one day.

I put all the oils in 1 bottle, so it's only 1 spray. Is that what you meant?

Tinks Im thinking the base shampoo/conditioner sounds the way to go because i dont want any other scent or whatever they have in it to disturb the oils that are needed to get rid of the nits you never know what they put it in that may effect it so it doesnt work iykwim

I use the conditioner spray for knots. I use oatmeal conditioner coz DD2 gets eczema & all the lice lotions & potions have flared it up, but if it wasn't for that I'd use any. Then I lift the hair & spray with the tea tree before I put it up, then I give it a quick spray over the top when its up. I also use the lice comb quickly in case there are any in there from school the day before, or from friends after. Its too hard for me to find the time every arvo to comb it out. I always get them into bed, then realise I was gonna comb, so now I just do it when I do their hair in the mornings.

The best way to ensure you're getting rid of them is to comb through her hair with cream conditioner and a nit comb every night for over a week. If it is such a problem at the school, then I would suggest doing this once a week (regardless of the status of her head) as it will break the gestational period of the eggs, as well as getting rid of any live lice that are running around. My SIL had this problem at her DD's school, and she now does this once a week for both of them and they have been lice-free all year :).

The lice treatments are all well and good, but they don't kill the eggs, you really need to be combing to fully break the cycle. I know it is the biggest PITA, but it's the only way to do it ;)

How timely!!
DS came home from CC with nits today :( First time! Not bad for a long-haired hippy to go so long, given he's been in CC one or two days a week since 19mo. I rushed out to the supermarket to get a treatment cos we don't have a nit comb and the only way I could get one from the only shop around that was open that would have them was to buy a treatment. Luckily, I found QuitNit, which has the essential oils as active ingredients and no nasty chemicals. DS is in the shower as I type getting shampood. I have all the essential oils listed, just no base conditioner, but might make up a spray using the Moo Goo conditioner I have.
DS is impossible, but we managed to get the stuff through his hair and DP managed to give it a good combing. Lots of critters...I thought I would be really grossed out, but because you can hardly see them on a tissue backdrop, there wasn't much to be confronted by. Except the knowledge that they've been crawling on his scalp and making him itch! He hadn't been around other kids since last week's CC session, really (playgroup he doesn't mix with anyone), so that's be where he got it from.
I'm under no illusion that it's the dirty kids who bring it into schools/CC - I reckon if he didn't have the curls I would let his hair get greasy so that the lice couldn't hold onto it! So, because it's long and curly, it gets washed every day. Probably what's attracted them!
So, should I isolate him from going to playgroup tomorrow? Or will having started the treatment be ok? I'm inclined to withhold him, but then I'll have a very antsy 4yo to deal with...and his long-suffering baby sister and I will have to bear it!

Maya I'd send him. Just comb again with a conditioning spray in the morning to make sure there are no live ones left to share, then make sure you do the follow up treatment in a week. I would do the follow ups for a few weeks to make sure that cycle is broken though.
I'd probably get into the habit now of combing every day or 2 as well.
HTH :)

I have been told that once the child has had the initial treatment which you have just done they are good to go! So i would send him tomorrow :)

Thanks, ladies :D

I've got a Robi Comb which works ok for us. DS was impossible to use the lice treatment stuff on (we got Moov) and I felt like I was torturing him :cry:

So we got the Robi comb which is an electronic comb thingy which 'zaps' the crawling lice. Of course, it does nothing for the eggs, but DS likes it so much he asks to have it done - so we do it every day and as they hatch, we zap 'em and we've now gotten to the point that we think we've gotten them all (haven't seen any for a few days now) so I think the lifecycle is broken! :leap:

oh Nettie whilst the sprays etc will be perfect for my eldest this zapper sounds perfect for my youngest where do you get them (chemist i presume) and a rough cost?

I got a zappy thing from the chemist last week, and it's just an electric comb that gets the lice and eggs. It's about $50, takes just as long as the conditioner method and is about as effective. I find wiping the comb on a tissue more satisfying ;) Apparently it's a safer option for pg or lactating women than the chemicals, so looks like I couldn't use the harsher options anyway...