This page contains the experiences and advice of parents who have experienced dealing with headlice.

Please note that this is not the direct advice of forparentsbyparents and if you have any medical concerns you should consult your doctor before trying out any treatments.

Trust William – a retailer of natural healthcare products – have the following natural solutions to help get rid of head lice:

• Tea Tree Oil Shampoo
• Quit Nits for children

Your Views and Comments

My daughter is 4 and has just got nits. After asking around many people about solutions we are using the wet combing method, adding tea tree oil to shampoo and a great suggestion from my sister in law is to have tea tree oil and water in a spray bottle and spray the kids hair as we leave the house. Am in the process of trying it so will see how it goes.

Jo

I found Delacet from Healthpol by far and away the best thing for treating headlice. I and my daughter have thick curly hair which is a nightmare to comb through. This stuff absolutely stinks to high heaven but since using we have had nothing back. Its herbal so no chemicals and it really does work. I rave about it to everyone and I work in schools so its an absolute bathroom cabinet must.

Lisa

I have used to get out the eggs in the hair, either washing the hair in coke as the acidity of that will loosen the eggs on the hair. Or use vinegar in water to wash hair.Vinegar I must say smells bad but the coke is very good and worked for me and great fun for the child to very amusing.Another bit of advice would be to soak the hairbrush in vinegar for hour and watch the eggs just come off and then put in carrier bag the brush and put in freezer for a night.I got this info off a friend and works for us.

Adele

I too had a real problem with my daughter and head lice. It took nearly a month of religiously checking her hair and getting rid of the eggs and live ones. I must have spent a fortune on natural solutions as well as the chemical ones which did not seem to help. Finally discovered a tea-tree oil and lavender spray from Asda which has done the trick and of course a lot of hard work everynight for a month. Anyway try this spray and use it as a repellent.

Smita

"We did really well to avoid head lice till Emma was 5. We had survived massive 'outbreaks' at nursery. School reception year caught us unawares. I put the scratching down to shampoo left in the hair and was horrified when I caught my first live one!!

I was always concerned I wouldn't know what I was looking for and miss them, but trust me, the live ones can't be missed they are about 3 mm, black and move.

The nit comb will get the live ones and even the dead ones that have hatched and not survived (these are smaller, black and 'fly like'). However, the comb will not always get all the eggs which are white and attach onto strands of hair, usually near the roots because it is nice and warm there yuk.

While the chemicals we used were OK and I reckon killed those living and stopped certain ones living any length of time, the chemicals, and we tried several types, did not get rid of the eggs. More to the point, they are hugely expensive, we spent £15 to not solve the problem.

For this reason they lasted about 10 days and needed nightly application of conditioner (tea tree to prevent them coming back) and rigorous combing. To be honest it's only because we did this every night that we got rid of them.

So my advice is forgot any 'quick fixes'. Nightly combing with lots of conditioner will eventually get rid of the eggs that are the main problem.

Let's hope we are shot of them for a while at least. I am continuing with both Tea tree shampoo and conditioner so they will hopefully find another home rather than picking Emma again." - Sue

PS - tea tree shampoos and conditioners can be bought in most supermarkets very reasonably - I put a few drops of oil in the shampoo to give extra 'bug busting' power!

"I thought I'd share my experience of dealing with headlice and asthma!

My daughter caught head lice from a childminder some 3 years ago. She and I were asthmatic, so you can imagine the hell we went though getting rid of the darn things.

It seemed that no matter what I tried, they kept coming back. (have u ever tried nit combing a 3 year old when she doesn't like it) We had been though everything. But because we were asthmatic, we couldn't use the blue derbac. Only the red derbac, which didn't kill the eggs. We tried everything, even the electric combs. But they didn't go away.

The problem was, that the eggs were often too small and they slipped though the combs. We both have naturally thick hair and it was really getting me down. I pride myself on the cleanliness of my children and it was embarrassing to be called up to the school to collect my daughter because she was scratching her head.

We went through hell!

Then finally although it wasn't recommended, I decided to use the blue derbac solution. This remedy kills the eggs but is not recommended for asthmatics. I decided enough was enough and put the lotion on everyone in the family for the 12 hours required, We did it during waking hours once a week for 3 weeks. So that I could monitor the effects on our respiratory systems ( I have the most serious asthma and didn't have a problem). I'm happy to report that there were no problems whatsoever. And we have been clear for almost 8 months now.

So, as a last resort, I would recommend that any asthmatic families try the blue derbac solution, consulting their doctor first of course as a matter of precaution." - Jen

"My daughter was catching headlice from persistent non-treaters at her school. I found a way to prevent them from infecting her head without resolving to ££££££££££ expensive after treatments.

Like mosquitoes it is smell that attracts them....and repels them....hence the effect of Tea Tree Oil products. Having lived in the tropics and found a way to deal with those blood suckers....and because my daughter hates the smell of Tea Tree Oil......I found a solution here too.

Put a capful of Dettol in their baths and hair rinsing water (if washed seperately) this will leave an odour ( not detectable to us) that will keep your childs head clear.

I've used this system for 1 and 1/2 years now with no further infections." - Ms. K. Leigh

"We were in the same position as Sue with our daughter, she was free from nits right up until the time she went to junior school. The scratching was something we were ready to for. A friend of ours recommended a trip to a health shop in order to buy a two part treatment for the nits. Entirely based on Tea Tree oil products the two part treatment consisted of the shampoo and oil (total £8.00) with hair conditioner applied after shampooing (like Sue we added oil to the shampoo in the cup of the hand and mixed them before applying, but we added 4 drops in each 2 tspn of shampoo), the conditioner not only partly counters the drying effect of the Tea Tree treatments on the hair, but also reduces the grip of the nit on the strands of hair that it is clinging to. Repeated applications of conditioner in between weekly treatments also reduced the grip of the egg sac. The worst part of this treatment was the combing through afterwards of my daughter's thick, long hair. Tears before bedtime!

Another friend came along with another solution and we decided to combine the two for the next infestation, and believe me there were many! Their suggestion involved more money (about £12 from Argos) but greater effectiveness, it was (and still is) very effective, a ROBBIE comb. This little device electrocutes the little beasties, eggs and all.

Use the Robbie after the first Tea Tree oil treatment, you must dry the hair thoroughly and comb the hair through with as fine a comb as you have, even with a nit comb if you want, and then comb it through again with the Robbie comb. I was surprised that even thorough normal nit combing missed as many nits as it did. The Robbie is powered by a single AA battery and passes a charge through the body or egg sac of the nit as they pass two (of many) alternately charged teeth. A little high pitched buzz from the Robbie accompanies the combing until you hit a target, then you have to brush the victim out to clear the teeth and regain the buzz, ready for the next victim to make the circuit. This is the reason why the hair has to be dried before using the comb because otherwise you 'make' the circuit with the wet hair. Before the two treatments were combined, the three week cycle went on into 4 or 5 weeks, but with dogged determination we were able to prevent major infestations in their tracks.

The comb has been passed around a bit too. It has gone to the in-laws and out-laws for their kids and parents. The Tea Tree oil treatment stays with us though!"- Stuart

We have also been recommended the The Bug Buster Kit that works by combining specially designed combs with your usual shampoo and conditioner. This kit can be bought online for £6.45 and is apparently really good and endorsed by NHS. They also produce a 'Demonstration' video that shows you how to check for and treat head lice effectively.

For more information visit www.nits.net/bugbusting.

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