I reackon I became an expert on the life cycle of lice. I can tell you it is a 21 day cyclye form egg to full grown adult. Your kids might have just one jump on their head. It may lay what seems like thousand of eggs. Oh boy I'm

starting to itch just thinking about the subject. I can tell you lice don't care weather the head they jump on is clean, dirty, black, brown, white or brindle. They just need a place to mulitiply. Something they do really well, as anyone with children who've had them will vouch.  Some kids just seem to get them all the time and kids the really lucky ones, never seem to get them. 

My eldest child (now 27) seemed to forever be getting them in his first year of school. Back then you could get free treatment from the local council or the clinic sister. The stuff stunk, but it worked really well. I followed the instuction carefully, including washing the bed linnen and putting it out in the sun to dry for 24-48 hours. Yet the very next week  or sometimes just a few days he'd have them again. I was beside myself. The year was 1988 and from memory it was a particularly bad year in W.A for them. Our school among others actually had the health department come in and check every child that was at school on a paricular day. We parents were notified by letter before the event and if your child was found to have nits they were went home. They were not allowed back at school without a letter from a G.P saying that they were clear. I know this sort of thing doesn't happen these days and I only remember it happening that one time. But that goes to show you how riffe they were that particular year, it would have been a costly exercise to do. Back to Daniel, he it turned out was being reinfested because of a favourite chair he sat in. It was a small armchair (his only), I guess a few strand s of hair with an adult lice may have been left on the chair and of course the next day (after treatment) when he sat back in his chair to watch T.V the lice would jump back on board his head and lay more eggs. It was the clinic sister who suggested a chairmight be the answer. As we went through everything I did to treat including combs and brushes. Anyway when Daniel was at the end of year 2 he wanted a haircut just like an older neighbours boy. It was a really short # 2 with a flatop on top. He never got nits again. I think it was because the hair was so sort. Or maybe it was just coincidience, whatever the reason I was relieved. Jessica was the lucky one out of the two of them. Her hair was long but very fine. I think she only got nits a few times in primary school. And once in high school, although I suspect she go them from Natalya who had them at that time. 

Then when Natalya and Ben were under 5 years of age we contsanley battled with them. I worked at a creche' five days a week and one night. I even picked them up from there. I guess it's just one of those things when you're constantly picking up and cuddling children. I mean if they're crying because they don't want Mum to go you don't check their hair before you pick them up.  I  had really long hair back then and ended getting it cut for that very reason. 

For years I used whatever type of treatment that caught me eye at the supermarket or the chemist. They stopped giving away the free stuff which stunk in the early 90's I think. I came across the Robi comb and used that with great sucess for a couple of years. The thing I found with the Robi comb was it was more if you only had a few. It's no good for the eggs(nits) only the live ones (lice). So it was good if you checked the hair regularly like every day. I know my sister in-law does that with her kids with great sucess. Because she does everyday after school or when they been to visit anyone on the holidays. This keeps it under control for her. I'm not so disaplined and would forget. By the time my second Robi comb bit the dust I decided not to buy another. 

The health department used to do a great leaflet that gives you all the facts. In this it explains about their being three different umbrellas of treatments available. One type contains the active ingredient of pyrethrin, another permethrin and the tird malathion. The thing is that lice can develop an immunity to any one of these treatments. If you treat and then find you still have live lice in the hair this will probably be the reason why. If you were to go and buy another product contain the same active ingredient it will NOT work. You need to get a treatment from a different umbrella of active ingredient. In the years Natalya was in early primary school pre-primary & year 1, I had some success in preventing her from getting lice. I sprayed on her hair every morning a mixture of tea-tree oil, lavender & a third ingredience I can't quite remember. But in the end I stopped because she hated the smell. I also made her wear a scarf for a time maybe 6 months. She hated being different so I stopped that practice. I have to say we did laugh because the way she wore the scarf made her look like a little old russian woman. My husbands family were russian.  You can probably guess by all of this she was my other child to constantly get nits. Even now she's in high school if there is a lice anywhere near her it will find it's way to Natalya's head I'm sure. But we have found a treatment to beat em all.

You name the treatment natural, insectacide, conditioners I have probably tried it. My sister in law used to bring this stuff back from bali. It was in a tiny bottle and look just like calamin lotion. But it was the first one I came across that would have the lice literally running to get out of your head. I would put it on and send them to be with a towel on the pillow. Next morning you would have all these dead lice on the towel. It was just amazing. But of course it's hard to get. Especially since I've not yet been to bali so I relied on others to bring it back for me. And of course it's written in a foriegn language so you don't really know what's going on your child hair. Oh by the way she bought it in a chemist in bali not off the street.

But then I came across the best ever treatment and you can buy it right here in  Australia. Either from your chemist or from the supermarket. Now before i tell you what it is please keep an open mind. I was horrified the first time it was told to me. A friends sister who comes from way up north in W.A told me about it. She'd been using it for years. She said where they came from (which I won't name) nits were riffe all the time. She said the best treatment you'll ever get is Rid. I said WHAT. That's for insects. She said what do you think lice are. And if you think about it it is made to go on you skin so fo course it's safe. Not convinced I went to a chemist and picked up a bottle of Rid (the lotion type, the others too runny) and took it to him. I told him what I'd been told and asked if it would be safe to use. He replied in a small number of cases you might find someone who could react to it, but they wouldn't be able to use it on there skin either. He also said it had been developed in Queeensland for insects (mossies) so he could not see why it wouldn't work. The lady who told me about it also said the lice came out of the hair to get away from the stuff.

Yep sure enough when I tried it they did. When you go to comb them out usually there is none left in the hair. Because like the pink stuff they came out onto the towel. I have never had to re-treat when using rid because I think as not many people use it there seems to be no immunity to it. It cost usually $6.00- $8.00 to buy a bottle, much cheaper than most of the nit treatments. I have on occassion used areoguard lotion it works just the same. The funny thing is the hair is really lovely after because the lotions contain sunscreen which leaves the hair really soft.      

I found info on this site about Lice & Nits if you need to know more it's www.health.wa.gov.au/docreg/Education/Diseases/Communicable/Parasitic/HP0149_head_lice_FS.pdf

I hope if your having trouble with lice you don't get to disheartened and this article might help you a little. If your childs only a little one please remember we all usually experience nits or lice at one time during our children growing up. It's just another part of the parenting cycle.