Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

to want to have "words"?

42 replies

Bogeyface · 06/01/2011 21:40

with whichever mother in DD's class that either a) thinks her little darling couldnt possibly get nits or b) cant be arsed to check and deal with it.

Every single fucking week I nit comb all the kids several times and every single fucking week DD2 is riddled. Its disgusting, big fat black things that are way to big to have grown that big in the 48 hours (max) since the previous combing. And of course that then means that the others get them and now I have them too.

I use a nitty gritty and am giving in tomorrow and buying hedrin to ensure totally clean heads to give us a start. But I am sick of it. I mean ffs, why would you not want rid of them? It isnt as if just the child gets them, they get passed around the whole family so surely it is in everyones interest to keep them clear?

I am almost 100% certain it is dd's best friend as they are inseperable, and I have seen her scratching fit to bleed. I feel so sorry for her but what can I do? I have done the "subtle hint" to the mother..."DD seems to have picked up nits again, I wonder where they get them from? You had better check X as I am sure she will have them too" and she just (literally) shrugs!

So sick to fucking death of this! If I ever and I mean EVER find one on the baby after it born then I will not be responsible for my actions.

OP posts:

GreenEyesandHam · 06/01/2011 22:18

It's a chuffing nightmare.

Don't waste a single penny on treatments, they might be highly effective but it means diddly squat if they go to school the day after and pick them back up again.

The only way to cope IMO, is to nitty gritty comb every other night, which it sounds like you're doing anyway.

My dd had them pretty much constantly for nearly two years, she hated that bloody comb! I did try and get her to help herself though- drilling it into her NOT to put her head near anyone elses (the bloody things don't fly after all, ffs)

KickArseQueen · 06/01/2011 22:21

Bogey, deffo try the hairspray, that could be the reason my girls haven't had 1 nit for the the last 2 years at least,in spite of mass infestations at the school, but if you are pregnant (which I'm guessing you are )be very careful not to breathe it in.

HaveAHappyNewJung · 06/01/2011 22:23

WTF? Schools aren't allowed to send out letters? I don't understand that.

There are occasionally signs on the daycare door saying "we have had a confirmed case of live, please check..." etc - same as they have for impetigo, chicken pox etc.

I fucking hate headlice and I totally sympathise with the frustration when you KNOW who is not getting rid of them - my DSDs have that with their mum's friend.

I use vosene shampoo sometimes, but also lots of combing with conditioner. Apparently tying hair up tightly helps too. And remember to wash bedding etc. Basically just vigilance - DD got a few from her other preschool (we told the staff) but I combed her that night, didn't have any hedrin etc but it actually did eradicate them!

Original poster

Bogeyface · 06/01/2011 22:24

Thanks chaps, will try the hairspray trick.

It really isnt us. We were clear the whole holidays and then within 2 days back at school she had a load again, they dont hibernate in the holidays to my knowledge!

OP posts:

KickArseQueen · 06/01/2011 22:30

LOL! no they can't but!!! they can live off the childs head for up to 72 hrs, if you comb daily straight after school, and hoover the pillows / sheets in the kids beds as soon as you've dropped them off at school you can cut down reinfestation a lot.

The last time we did have nits here I twice found adult lice hiding in the beds when I went up there to hoover the beds. If you can get every egg out of their hair and comb them when you get in from school you shouldn't need the hedrin.

Good luck!!

Original poster

Bogeyface · 06/01/2011 22:40

Thanks. I do check their beds but I have decided to go OTT for the next 2 weeks to be absoutely sure we arent reinfesting ourselves so I can then go to the mother concerned and tell her in no uncertain terms! I will be washing and line dying their bedding daily, and we have enough changes to go 4 days between a set being back on the bed in case any survive!

Oh and just re-read, I said "mother" in my OP because I know of no father that spends hours nit combing or even thinking about it until the missus comes at him with a nitty gritty and a determined look on her face! :o

Do you think if I sent an "open letter" and asked the school to put it in the newsletter about this, they would print it? not bitching but just point out that a bit of effort from everyone would help all the kids?

OP posts:

KickArseQueen · 06/01/2011 22:50

The trouble is that the parents that care already comb, the ones that can't be arsed won't no matter what you do! Or at least not with the required gusto and routine.

If you know the mum and have the guts point out the nits to her or reccommend a local hairdressers for kiddy cuts, the hairdresser will tell the must in no uncertain terms and show the parent the infestation.

The only problem with that is the risk of upsetting the child, at least she would get deloused then tho.

kat2504 · 06/01/2011 22:57

Schools can't do anything. it isn't that we can't be bothered. We would like to stamp it out. Teachers of lower years can get infected which is a real pain for them too.

But it is against a kid's "human rights" to be singled out in this way.
Personally I think it is a bigger infringement of their rights to have to suffer horrible nits that their parents have not been bothered to treat, or for others to be suffering continual re-infections.

curlymama · 06/01/2011 23:03

Our school has sent out letters and given advice about conditioner combing, I'm suprised they are not supposed to.

I'm so thankful my boys have never had them, I think I would be driven mental in your position. I actually think it is quite a big deal, you have to spend ages combing hair, forcing your child to sit still for long enough for you to do it after they have alreayd been at school all day, and all beause some lazy feckers can't be arsed to treat their kids. YADNBU.

SkyBluePearl · 06/01/2011 23:26

our school sends a note home in all the class book bags asking everyone to check for nits as the children are itching heads. you could talk to the teacher and ask them to do the same.

I use the nitty gritty every other day until son hasn't had any nits - but then continue ever other day for two weeks after seeing last nit. Next we use a few drops of tea tree mixed with shampoo/conditioner. Also daily use a spay on leave in tea tree conditioner from wilko. Seems to work quite well.

SkyBluePearl · 06/01/2011 23:28

also tie long hair up out of way.

seeker · 06/01/2011 23:34

I am amused that it's always someone else's child giving "my" child headlice.

Just like it's always another child talking that gets "my" child into trouble!

Original poster

Bogeyface · 07/01/2011 01:57

Seeker, children do not create their own headlice, they are passed on from child to child. So of course another child gave her nits ffs

OP posts:

TimeForACHEEKYWine · 07/01/2011 02:08

iv had them once when i was 12 adn never want them again! Glad i got boys with short hair!

sims2fan · 07/01/2011 03:43

I once worked at a nursery and got headlice from one of the little darlings! We put a note up on the door to ask parents to check their kids' hair, but of course all the parents said their children didn't have them! I used to use a treatment shampoo every other day, and the comb daily, for about 2 months, and was constantly infested! It only stopped when I left the job and moved away. I then got a job in a school where one of the little girls was so infested you could see the lice crawling on top of her hair. The school periodically called her mum in, sent letters home etc, but said they couldn't exclude her, and couldn't really do much if the mum refused to treat her. The mum was very young with 3 kids, and to be fair to her the children always had lovely shiny and clean hair, just infested with lice! One day we went on a school trip, with a few mum helpers, and were in a greenhouse when the heat must have made the eggs in her hair hatch, because I suddenly saw the mum (not her own) who was holding her hand look at her head with horror, and there were loads crawling over the top of her hair! The next day every other little girl in the class came to school with their hair scraped back into tight pony tails or plaits, and with their heads rock hard with hairspray!

ChippingIn · 07/01/2011 04:28

The hairspray definitely helps, hair in plaits, twisted around into buns - sprayed with hairspray.

It also helps to find them when you are looking for them too as they don't like it so start running away from it!

Itching now...

YANBU either - if everyone dealt with them properly life would be much easier!

seeker · 07/01/2011 16:15

OK, OP. I know how frustreating - I have been dealing with nits for 12 years now. And I have to tell you that if your child is riddled with adult nits 48 hours after combing, then you are not combing effectively. There is no way a child could get a serious infestation from other children in 48 hours - but that is the time it takes for a nit to hatch and grow. I suspect you are getting the actual insects when you comb, but not the eggs - and the lice on your child are "home grown" rather than picked up.

Hedrin, by the way, is brilliant for killing the live insects, but doesn't get rid of eggs - they still have to be combed out.

Oh, and don't worry about anaemia - that's a myth - if you think about how small nits are and how good the body is at making blood it's obviously not going to be a problem.

Flip

1 2