Things they don't tell you when you have a baby (Derbac-M Liquid)

Member Name: zerub

Product:	Derbac-M Liquid
Date:	25/03/09 (294 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It works

Disadvantages: It smells and you need to leave it on for 12 hours

When you first think that you might like a little darling baby of your own, they don't tell you that one day that darling baby will grow up, go to school, catch nits, come home, and give them to you!

I caught nits whilst living in hospital ... I was on the antenatal ward for several months, and I got the nits from my daughter on a visit. Some present. I didn't notice for a while, and when I did, I thought my itchy head was pregnancy-related. The rest of my skin was itching like crazy too - enough for a midwife to notice and take blood to check my liver was working properly (it was, I just had dry skin). But one morning I scratched my dreadfully itchy head and came away with a louse. Eeeeuuurgh!

So there I am, in hospital, with nits. My husband is at home with the older two children, one of whom has nits too. Now ordinarily I'd advocate lots of conditioner and a nit comb, but that requires a second person to do the combing, and I didn't want to waste precious visiting time on it. So I consulted the midwife, who reappeared later with a bottle of Derbac M Liquid.

It is safe for use on pregnant women, the antenatal department at Addebbookes hospital says! Actually the box says it is safe from 6-months upwards - I can't imagine having to treat a 6-month-old baby for nits though.

The active ingredient is Malathion 0.5% w/w.

--- Use ---
The liquid is white, quite runny, and smells like insect repellent. You massage it into your dry hair, rather like hair dye. It's a bit tricky to do as the liquid is very runny and you mustn't get it into your eyes. It is particularly tricky to do in a small hospital bathroom! I imagine that most people are rubbing this into their child's hair, which would be easier (if they kept still).

Once you have rubbed it in, you end up with sticky wet smelly hair. Then you are supposed to leave it there for 12 hours. Nice. So it is best to put it on just before you go to bed.

It took me about 10 minutes to put it on, followed by 10 minutes spent fervently praying that tonight would not be the night when I'd have a crisis and get rushed off to the operating theatre to have my baby whipped out. The thought of all that happening while my hair was sticky and smelly was just too much!

The box says it is suitable for those with asthma and sensitive skin. I have both of those and had no problem with this.

The next morning I awoke, thankfully still pregnant and in my bed. So went to wash the stuff out. This is just like rinsing your hair really, except for making sure you don't get it in your eyes. I washed my hair afterwards too.

And oh the relief! I knew it had worked because my head didn't itch any more.

The instructions say that one use is effective. The doctor said I should do it twice, the second time a week later. But I had my baby in that week, so never got around to it. The nits were all gone.

Summary: Next time my child has nits, I'm not hugging her!