Nits - Help!!

Paradose works well, we do 2 treatments plus a shave. Hot wash all the bedding and hats and leave in the sun for a day :)

Thanks ladies - it was quite a day.

During the day I washed all the towels, bedding, hats (thanks for that tip Rexy!) and soft bedtime toys on a hot wash to kill anything that might be lurking. Apparently lice can't live off the body for long (and definitely not more than 24 hours) but I wasn't taking any chances.

Then in the evening it was DS1's turn - first we used a chemical shampoo (we used Parasidose - I suspect they are all pretty much the same but this one you only had to leave on for 3 minutes, although you do it twice - easier than keeping him still(ish) for 10 minutes in one go though).

Then we did the combing - sooooo gross.

Then we gave him a No 2 - this isn't enough to get rid of everything because the eggs are so close to the scalp but it makes it much easier to see the eggs (which you can get off with your fingernails) and if the eggs hatch before the next treatment you will immediately see anything crawling around (especially on a blondie like DS1 - he basically looks bald, like the boy in the striped pyjamas!).

As for DS2 (9 months) - he was clear but I wanted to take preventive measures. The chemical repellent sprays can't be used on babies so I made my own natural one using essential oils in water (tea tree, eucalyptus and citronella - apparently these are effective) and sprayed that on him this morning before he had contact with DS1.

As an extra precautionary measure, I also sprayed DS1 with the parasidose repellent spray. We have a playdate today with some friends (I have disclosed the nits but she is happy to chance it after my fumigation!) and I will suggest she spray her kids with one of my sprays as well, JUST IN CASE!!!

Finally, in 7-10 days we will shampoo and comb him again to be sure that everything is completely gone.

What a mission, I really hope I don't have to go through this again for a while. Thank goodness for having boys with short hair!

Interesting you say that re the 7/10 days for re-treatment - the pharmacist told me that although the bottle says 7 days it is better to go for 10, something about better timing for breaking the breeding cycle - all the eggs left will have hatched but they wouldn't be old enough to lay more eggs, so if you kill them all then you should be done. If you do it too early there might still be unhatched eggs. Or something like that! I would rather go on the word of a mum who has experience in these things though :)

Yup definitely glad daycare is done for the year (in that respect, anyway) - obviously other kids there will have them and hopefully we will all eradicate over the break and start nit-free next year...