9yo & Headlice

Anonymous

9yo & Headlice

Mums, I'm at my witts end šŸ˜­
I can't remember the last time my 9yo didn't have headlice!!
She has long, fine hair that I treat constantly with good headlice shampoo and the comb, but since she a stubborn little sassy thing, refuses to wear her hair up at school because she self concious of her hairline and hates wearing her hair up. She has a big cowlick at the front which means no fringe. I'll put it up in the morning and when I pick her up..... it's down. She's a very social girl, always hugging her friends, playing with each other's hair.
I'm constantly washing her bedding which is exhausting.
Her dad and I are separated, he's never treated her hair and God knows if he actually washes her sheets. He never brushes her hair, he leaves her to take care of it. Im honestly not sure he'd know what headlice would look like. He's never seemed bothered everytime I've said she's got nits. Just said it's not too big a deal, she'll grow out of getting them all the time.
I don't know what to do. I've threatened to get it cut off, but she's never lice free to take her to a hairdresser. I've threatened to tell her teacher so she can make sure her hair is always up, but her teacher is a very old harsh lady and I'm worried she be mean about it and humiliate her infront of the class. I've told her she's not having a sleepover party next month for her birthday because I'm not giving her friends "nits in their party bags..." Her response was "fine, I'll have my party at dads".
I use the anti nit spray everyday but not sure why because they always come back šŸ˜­
I need some advice please!!

Posted in:  Kids

7 Replies

Anonymous

Use the nit shampoo, blow dry and then take her to the hairdresser on the same day

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Anonymous

You need to let the school know so they can send a note home to every family, and hopefully every family will check and treat their childā€™s hair. My youngest is in grade 12 and I still get emails home at least a couple of times a year that there has been reported cases of nits in my childā€™s year level.

Have you tried changing the products you use? They could be becoming immune if you are continuously using the same product. Is there a headline removal place near you? Iā€™ve never used one, but apparently there are some places, possibly like hairdressers, that you can take your child to and they will treat the hair for you.

I completely get how frustrated you are feeling. My boys would constantly have them when they were young, about grade 1 and daycare. I was letting the teachers know and getting told they hadnā€™t had any other reported cases. Let their dad know as his partner had a daughter a couple years older than my eldest. Still kept happening. Eventually worked out that I was getting rid of them only for them to be reinfected after a weekend with dad. The daughter wasnā€™t being treated. I started drowning their hair in the KP24 preventative spray on Fridays before they went to his place, which helped a little but didnā€™t stop it completely. It wasnā€™t till that relationship ended and my boys were no longer spending time with the daughter that they finally stopped getting nits.

Do you know the parents of your daughterā€™s friends? Can you suggest to them that they treat their childā€™s hair? Or maybe suggest a nit treatment party so everyone can have their treated at the same time and hopefully get rid of them once and for all.

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Anonymous

The key is getting rid of the eggs (and you definitely need to notify the school every time)! Most chemical nit treatments easily kill live lice but are not that effective on the eggs and it only takes a couple of missed eggs to kick-start the whole cycle again.
You definitely don't need to go nuts washing everything either, a fresh pillow case daily and cleaning out her hair brush daily should suffice. Live lice don't live for very long off the head.

Instead, load her up with cheap conditioner and comb through her hair meticulously, section by section. Paying particular attention to the area above her neck and behind her ears, ie, the warmer spots. I tend to do this every second night for 2 to 3 weeks just to be extra thorough! Some of the really stubborn eggs I've even had to slide our with my fingernails on my fine haired daughter.

You can even teach her how to do it herself in the shower or bath so she's not relying on her dad.

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Anonymous

My kids always had them. I think I had them more times as an adult then as a kid because of it.

I started combing hair every night before bed. Sprey hair with witnitz lice repellent every morning.. told my children to not play with each other's hair. Condition and comb every other day. And nit wash once a week. It took about 2 months to break to cycle.

As for hair. Tell her, keep it up at school, and get a bob. And follow through. It's hair, it will grow back. My 15 yp learned the hard way when she was 9.

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Anonymous

I feel this pain except my girl has super thick hair and down to her bottom. About 4-6 hours to de-lice. I almost had a breakdown one year because it was recurring for 3 months.

Would she wear a wide stretchy fabric headband to cover her cowlick?

Hair straightener kills the eggs too.

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Anonymous

Exelpet flea treatment for kittens - $20 for the topical tube (not pills) at Woolies . I kid you not a medical professional advised me to use this.

1 treatment gone

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Anonymous

Wow. Threatening a child when itā€™s not her fault for getting the lice. šŸ¤¦šŸ½ā€ā™€ļø seemsā€¦..reasonable.
She has no control over getting them.
It could also be your car. Treat the headrests in your car, as lice/eggs can be transferred through there.

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