to think that if your dc has head lice, you should inform the school??

[CocktailQueen]

Gah. Noticed ds had headlice last week. Treated him then sent to school as normal, and told school.

Checked dd when she got home - different school. Lots of headlice . Treated her, sent her to school the next day, told the school, and same day got the Text of Shame saying 'a dc in your dc's class has headlice, pls check your child'. DD came home from school on Fri and said that a girl in her class told her she had had headlice for 2 weeks!!

Gah. Shouldn't her parents have informed school?? It's probably spread round the entire class! So selfish.

DC havent had headlice for 3 years before this!!

[Mellowandfruitful]

Yes, they should have said. In fact if everyone just said so when it happened there would be nothing for anyone to be ashamed of.

[Wandastartup]

I told the school when mine did who seemed spectacularly dis interested. No texts or notes. Sti struggling 1 week on and am sure they've been reinfected( alternate day combing plus leave in solution x2)

[ilovepowerhoop]

we dont get letters/texts about specific cases, just a general bit in the newsletter. I never notified the school when dd got headlice but I did treat/comb her.

[phantomnamechanger]

in any school there are the few parents who just don't bother - checking, treating or informing. In some schools they are so rife they do not give out letters its a given that they are permanently about and the diligent parents keep a very regular check and comb with conditioner 3 times a week just in case.

[mrsjay]

I always told my dds school when they had them they both had them for about a year I could not get rid of them used to drive me and them up the wall,

[Joysmum]

I just assume somebody always has headline as that's generally the case and DD checks with a nit comb very week with conditioner in her hair.

Personally, I believe it's those who don't do this who are responsible for spreading them. It shouldn't need a newsletter mention or others to mention it.

[Joules68]

But you sent yours in the next day? Treated or not, yours will still have them..... Eggs hatch quickly. Your dc could have infected others...

[ilovepowerhoop]

of course you send them in. There is no exclusion period for head lice

[MostWicked]

Fairly irrelevant information to be honest. There are always some kids with lice or eggs. Parents need to keep a check regardless of any notes from school. Some kids regularly get them, other kids never do. If they regularly get them, then you need to comb regularly.
My kids never got them even when they mixed with friends who did.
Lice seem to like some kids more than others.

[AnnieLobeseder]

If I find lice on my children I just treat it. It has never occurred to me to tell the school; it's just part of childhood and they're always around somewhere in a school.

[ilovepowerhoop]

p.s. it takes 6-10 days for baby lice to become fully grown and it is only then that they can crawl to a other head

[trixymalixy]

I have told nursery/school when the DC have had headlice. They could not have been more uninterested and no notification was made to other parents.

I use hedrin once, it kills the headlice within 15 mins and stops any eggs from hatching. No way am I using precious holiday for headlice!

[Joules68]

Headrin once doesn't even kill eggs anymore

That's the problem with 'treatments', they become immune

[trixymalixy]

No they don't become resistant to Hedrin. It's not an insecticide.

[NearTheWindmill]

Well DS had a monstrous outbreak when he was 6 because I thought it couldn't happen to us and took my eye off the ball. Took me three weeks to clear it - hundreds of the buggers - learnt about every stage of the nit cycle. boak. Thereafter, I nit combed them both at every hairwash. Very occasionally thereafter I found one or two lice in dd's very long hair - usually big fat gestating ones and knew that she was sitting next to an untreated child. Never much of a problem because I kept on top of it.

Always mentioned it; "found a louse, someone's must be running alive". Teacher would say, eew, I'll comb mine out tonight - thanks for letting me know and the letter would go out the following day.

Scratches vigorously - my head is really itching now.

[trixymalixy]

And Hedrin once does kill the eggs too.

[CocktailQueen]

Thanks all! Sounds like schools all deal with it differently. We get a text from lower school if there is a headlice outbreak, and a letter from dd's school.

[Joules68]

It smothers them, but isn't that great at it

[trixymalixy]

Well my experience of using Hedrin Once was that it was pretty effective. The lice did not reappear after one 15 min application.

[Goldmandra]

The problem with the oils isn't them becoming immune. It's that it only takes one being missed for reinfestation to follow.

You have to keep checking with conditioner and a decent comb.

This is why I like dd1 school. They set a weekend they request all check and treat and follow up following week, it stops the cycle.

This should be rolled out across the country.

Perhaps the first Saturday in March could be designated MN headlice check/condition and comb day and, if enough people follow it and ask their children's schools to publicise it, the general population across the UK could be reduced for a while?

[SaucyJack]

Depends on the school I reckon.

At ours, headlice are so rife that they're nothing worth mentioning tbh.

I save my best efforts for the pinworms these days.

[trixymalixy]

You have to comb out the dead lice and the nits even if you use oils, so surely you're more likely to miss one with just combing alone? I do check regularly like you're supposed to.

[coldwater1]

I have 9 kids. I go through all their hair with the nitty gritty comb at least once a week, that way if one has caught them i can nip it in the bud straight away. I always keep a bottle of headrin in the cupboard so the child with nits gets treated as soon as i find a nit. I used to tell the school but they aren't interested so now i just make sure i check every week and treat.

[MostWicked]

There's a Which report that looked at the different treatments.

Which Link

It says about Hedrin:
"Because these products kill lice through physical action, head lice cannot become resistant to them. They don't kill eggs though, so you'll usually need to repeat treatment after a week to kill any lice that have hatched since the first application."

In summary, looking at all of the options, it says:
"However, our survey also revealed that no one treatment method is necessarily superior in terms of satisfaction – overall, members were satisfied with whatever type of treatment they used.

These mixed conclusions show there’s no clear winner. Only you can decide which treatment is right for your child, as personal circumstances, including time and hair type, will affect which is best to use. If you are unsure which product to try, speak to your pharmacist."