I'm very concerned about viruses and lice at nursery

@BananaPalm that's interesting. I think Friday is a common wfh day, so allows for more parents to keep children who really shouldn't be in school/nursery home due to illness. I also wonder how many days of illness keeping an unwell child off saves others by breaking the transmission link.

There should be more recognition for responsible employers as they save the taxpayer alot. Even just taking covid as an example - look how many parents are no longer able to work or how many tens of thousands of kids in England now have long covid. That's just from one illness!

You too will send your child in with a snotty nose. You will do it because they aren't ill, just snotty. It's an unfortunate truth that once a toddler gets a cold, they then hang on to the excess mucous for a good 3 months. They are happy, well, full of energy, running everywhere but they just drip as they go.

Get some of the lice repellent shampoo/spray with citronella or tea tree oil in. It's not a guarantee but it does seem to help. Then just build it into your routine to check weekly.if he gets them then they are easy to get rid of you just need patience and perseverance in combing it through very very well, every other day for a couple of weeks.

Tie your kid's hair in a pony tail. Wash it in tee tree oil shampoo. There's a kids anti headline one
They will still get head lice at some point but you can limit it.

We got away with one daughter catching it at primary and one at secondary.

Yeah the "thanks a bunch" cracked me up 😂

As to germs and nurseries in the UK, I also grew up in Europe and also haven't known anyone in my life who had headlice nor heard of many of my DS' illnesses (wtf is HFM?! now I know, three times over, and learnt it the hard way).

Personally, I think it might be related to how much paid time off parents get when the kid is sick. At my work, I have 12 sick days PER YEAR for both me AND my son while my husband has 0 for our son (he'd need to take unpaid leave for that). Both professional jobs. My friends in my home country take as much time off as the kid needs, usually it's at least a week. And doctors just give you a slip which you present to your employer who can't punish/discriminate you for that. So the kids don't infect each other so much and therefore they get sick less. Here I send my son in with coughs, runny nose etc. as long as he doesn't have fever. I just don't have enough days off to keep him home for a week each time he's got a cold...

Think of the poor staff! The amount of times we’ve had to phone parents because their child has a temperature and get “oh yeah I had to give them some calpol this morning”

You can get a citronella lice repellent kids hair spray but they are probably going to get lice in any setting.

Me and my husband work in schools and still catch every cold going (even in secondary) so unfortunately it's going to be a thing for years.

I was going to say the same thing - primary school being worse than nursery. I didn't get them as a child, mainly because my mum used to use a preventative shampoo (Suleo) on my hair which I think is now banned.

But when ds was about 6 I got a really itchy head (I've often had an itchy scalp for other reasons) and then a letter came home from school about lice and the penny dropped. I checked my hair and a big fat headlouse came out! DS had them of course. He got them twice while at primary school.

@greeny369 The Goblin Tools website - judge is great for working out the meaning of things that you might not be familiar with.

If you input "Thanks a bunch" it spits out:

The phrase "Thanks a bunch" typically conveys a sense of gratitude, but its emotional tone can vary based on context and delivery. Generally, it expresses appreciation in a casual, friendly manner. The use of the phrase "a bunch" suggests a warmth or playfulness, indicating that the speaker feels thankful in a lighthearted way.

However, the phrase can also carry an undertone of sarcasm, depending on the context in which it is used. For example, if it follows an unfavorable situation or a minor inconvenience, it might imply a sense of frustration masked by an outward show of thanks. In such cases, the emotional rendering shifts from genuine gratitude to a more ambiguous or even negative sentiment.

Overall, without additional context, "Thanks a bunch" primarily suggests a positive, informal expression of appreciation, with the potential for deeper emotional layers if other elements of communication, such as tone of voice or situational background, were provided.

However, I would say if it can be said sarcastically the chances are a native English english speaker will generally mean it that way. We're a passive aggressive bunch.

OP I admire your response! You've taken the occasionally a little too harsh responses very graciously!

Can I ask, are you a SAHM sending your child to a nursery setting, or working? If you don't work it's much easier to say "I'll keep my child off if they're under the weather" because you're not having to call into work AGAIN.

Re headlice, get yourself a nitty gritty comb and cheap conditioner and you're ready to go.

Snotty noses are pretty typical of this age, and like a previous poster my DS has always had colds on his chest, coughing horribly for weeks afterwards even though he's fine.

Some children are also a little more resilient, I don't think either of mine had much time off throughout nursery/primary for bugs and viruses. We had a lot of headlice though as there was a child in my son's class who came from a more chaotic household and it was very clear she wasn't being treated 😔 as a result they were rife in class, but we just worked a quick lice check into our bathtime routines and honestly it was fine. Almost satisfying in a gross way!

Re context, take it from me, “thanks a bunch” is never said non-ironically by a native British person.

Use “thanks a million” instead, that does the job.

here’s a video explainer

Hi OP.

You say you didn’t grow up in the UK so I’m telling you this in case you inadvertently offend someone in real life - “Thanks a bunch” doesn’t mean “Thanks a lot” or “Thanks SO much!” in British English. It’s the opposite- a sarcastic phrase meaning “well thanks for nothing” or “thanks for dropping me in it” eg “I know you love volunteering so I’ve put you down on the rota to clean up dog poo in the park” “Thanks a bunch!”

or “I need to go, sorry to leave you with all the clearing up!” “Thanks a bunch!”

So you basically just told everyone who commented on this thread that you were not at all grateful for their advice and in fact annoyed at them for giving you all the information about head lice. Unless that is what you mean to convey? 😀

You've got more chance of finding a nursery where the children are all doing university level astrophysics than you have of finding one germ and nit free.

Tea tree shampoo will make the hair smell nice and fresh but nothing beats plenty of conditioner and a fine tooth comb once a week.
Oh and getting the viruses while very young is a great boost for the immune system - some of the childhood viruses can be nasty in adults.

In my experience nursery, although there are outbreaks, isn't the worst for nits. It's absolutely rife in most primary classes though - maybe easing off around p6 (year 5). This is something I'm afraid you'll need to get used to it as the most effective way to get rid is to comb them out! 😬

The year my kids both went to nursery after COVID/maternity leave, there wasn't a week from September to August (when we were on holiday) that someone didn't have a cough and/or runny nose. I couldn't possibly keep my kids at home for every minor cold. They have to build up their immune system and they are little germ monsters.

It gets easier & actually when it's your own DC you sort of put your fears to one side as your desire to help them over rides the fear/repulsion.
If DC does get nits you will be so concerned with helping him & getting rid of the itching you won't even think about them being insects.

I used to be really fearful of vomiting but when it's my own DC I just want to help them when they feel so poorly.

You grow a thicker skin as they get older & then don't bat an eye lid at these things. You'll prob look back and laugh at how unnecessary some of the anxiety was.

A nanny would avoid a lot of this. Is that an option? Far less likely to be around other poorly kids as the nanny can just reschedule play dates.

I grew up in Europe. When I was a child, lice was a pretty rare occurrence

In a lot of countries headlice aren’t as common as in the U.K. because it’s just too damned cold in winter for them to survive. The eggs can survive freezing temperatures but the the lice themselves can die in very low temperatures.

That can be a disruptive factor on the cycle of nits which means countries with very cold weather and a culture of playing outside have less trouble with headlice than those with a milder climate.

Hi OP thanks for updating.

I hope you're feeling okay about things now.