Nits!

As I mentioned head lice in the QVC Wen thread it reminded me that it's been a couple of years since I last mentioned an effective head lice treatment which I discovered after years of daily conditioner combing of my dd's waist-length hair. Autumn term tends to herald the almost weekly letters home from primary school saying there's a class-member with nits. We wasted £££ on the chemist leave-in-for-hours chemicals which didn't work anywhere near as well as they claimed. I did find that fastening DD's hair in tight pigtails helped (maybe headlice get dizzy going up a spiral staircase?).

But by far the best treatment is Delacet. It's a weird green watery vinegar with some plant or other (possibly larkspur). It's best done surrounded with towels and a Disney movie as a distraction as it's cold and drippy. But it works not just at killing the live ones but also softens the nit cement so they rinse away.

Once DD got to middle school and didn't spend so much time playing in huddles with other kids the problem ended anyway. But I have teacher friends whose class is always generous in giving them headlice at least once per school year.

I know it's an on-going problem but I can recommend this stuff, I think I bought mine from ebay.

I always used to add tea tree oil to normal shampoo and conditioner. (just as efficient and much cheaper than the specialized shampoo's)
This not only killed off the nits but the tea tree that is left in the hair acts as a repellent
I also used to make a repellent spray from tee tree, lavender and rosemary essential oils in a spray bottle with half and half vodka and water, shaken not stirred well before each use . I just used to spray it on to dry hair before I put it up into bunches.

I remember the Nit Nurse came round and did the whole class. Shortly after the teacher stood up and called out certain children's names as they had been given free tickets to the cinema. I went home crying as I never got one. Turns out they had nits and the teacher didn't want the rest of the class finding out. Found this out after my mum went up to complain about my not getting a ticket!!!!

My granny went over my head once a week with a fine tooth comb. If you so much as put a hand near your head she was combing like mad looking for nits.

The nit nurse used to come into my school every week and she used to check the children's hair while we were trying to teach them. It was really odd doing maths while she ferreted around in their hair but, give them their due, the children didn't let it distract them. I suppose they got used to it.

We no longer send out a letter to tell parents that there are headlice/nits in a class (L.E.A. policy) but if we spot anything then we quietly send the child to the office and the Head then rings the parent and asks them to collect their child so that their hair can be treated. The treatment recommended by the chemist seems to change on a regular basis, but I assume that's so the lice don't get immune to one specific brand.