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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think children with headlice that mothers refuse to treat should be sent home with a bottle of Hedrin

218 replies

MrsHeffley · 18/11/2011 19:55

and not allowed back until treated.

I type this as my dd 6 is shrieking and sobbing in the bathroom yet again whilst dp combs her hair.She was clear yesterday after several days combing,she came back today infested with several fully sized adults(quite clearly not recently hatched from missed eggs).

I have to treat my dd as it effects her concentration.She has waist length hair(always tied up) which she likes and wants to keep.We treat/check her hair regularly but it hurts and is expensive when we resort to Hedrin. It's affecting our home life.

There is one child in the class who continually has nits and never gets it treated.My dd likes her and wants to play with her but this evening just said she doesn't anymore after 2 years as she's fed up with us hurting her.DD watches the nits crawling on this girl in lessons.Many parents/kids know and I feel sorry for her.

I feel this PC do nothing attitude is contributing to the nits epidemic and does many children no favours. A quiet phonecall home like we had when I was little and the whole class would be nit free. Kids wouldn't need continuous painful comb outs and more importantly infested kids wouldn't have children avoiding them for fear of catching nits.

Hard hat firmly on.

OP posts:
Original poster
MrsHeffley · 19/11/2011 20:46

Stealth I really feel for you and this is one of the reasons why I wrote my op.I really worry about this little girl.I'm sure she's ok but my dd really likes her and if she's getting fed up it worries me what other children are thinking. Also she must be in so much discomfort,it really does all kids no favours just turning a blind eye.

Yay to a nit busting day!!!!

When I was first teaching we'd get the whole class to comb their own hair over a piece of paper with free combs and give stickers to who got the most if we got more than 1 or 2 alerts. Would also send kids home. Worked a treat.

I've been out 8 years and it all seems to have radically changed.I can remember when we were told we could no longer send kids home-bonkers. Believe me I don't know a single parent who wouldn't support this as it would mean the hours of combing would be a lot less.I don't see why they can't get parents to sign up to it before they start school.

OP posts:
aquashiv · 19/11/2011 20:50

The best thing for keeping them at bay is hairspray and also John Frieda hair serum but rather dear.
Not nice I remember Nitty Nora you were terrified of the shame if she found any undersireables.

RandomMess · 19/11/2011 20:56

Nits like hot heads IME! Also not everyone is allergic to them so not everyone has to tolerate the horrendous itching and scratching if they have them Angry

Bossybritches22 · 21/11/2011 01:02

Sorry to sound like a cracked record but.......

YOU CAN'T TREAT HEADLICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANY treatment will help eradicate the crawlers but the ONLY "treatment" is to COMB & COMB & COMB daily or every other day to ensure the eggs are removed. The shells are impervious to chemicals & only by combing & using conditioner will you get out the culprits & stop any re-attaching. They have a 21 day life cycle so there is no quick fix!

TheFrogs · 21/11/2011 01:41

Ds had lice when he was young, he had them for a long time. I conditioned, combed, used every treatment available at the time (dont remember hedrin being about) and still we could not get rid of them. In the end I shaved all his beautiful blonde hair off.

I always thought we were the problem...looking back he must have had an untreated friend because it certainly wasn't lack of attention on my part!

Morloth · 21/11/2011 03:43

Crew cuts, gotta love em.

valiumredhead · 21/11/2011 07:49

Bossy the new Hedrin treatment treats the eggs as well as the crawlers.

Appuskidu · 21/11/2011 09:27

Valium-which is the new Hedrin treatment-I am baffled by the range of them!

Flimflammery · 21/11/2011 09:39

At my kids' school (abroad so private) when a child gets nits that child is sent home, the whole class is checked by the school nurse, an email goes out to all the parents in the class that day saying there is a case of nits but not naming the child, then the affected child is only allowed back in the class when the nurse has checked them and they're clear. Strict but effective! There's only been one case in DS's class and no other children caught it.

DooinMeCleanin · 21/11/2011 09:41

Condition. Comb. Add a few drops of tea tree oil to their regular conditioner and they stay nit free.

Dd2 had nits not long ago. They were super nits. Hedrin did not touch them. We followed the instruction to the letter. Poor dd2 even climbed up the cupboard to get the Hedrin and resprayed herself a couple of times. They still came back.

Nitty Gritty once a day with cheapo conditioner and some tea tree sorted it within a couple of days. We comb every Sunday night now to check and they do a quick comb themselves in the shower every night and show us if they think they find anything. So far the tea tree is keeping them away.

FannyFifer · 21/11/2011 09:42

I check DS most days as there has been quite a lot of nits at school
The trick is to get the buggers quick, I found one adult lice who must have hopped on from somewhere and several eggs which I eradicated.
Checked for next few days and found one tiny just hatched lice and another egg, that was it, job done.

Constant vigilance, much easier when there is only one louse.

Nittygritty comb is only thing needed.

OrmIrian · 21/11/2011 09:44

a. how do you know they aren't being treated? There isn't an instant solution to headlice - it takes time and repetition. They may well be being treated but not effectively. Hedrin works OK but you need to repeat it and combine it with combing IME and it still isn't an complete solution,

b. I would be delighted if the gave me a bottle of Hedrin. It's bloody expensive.

OrmIrian · 21/11/2011 09:46

BTW if it's any comfort it does get better!

My eldest 2 are at secondary school and we have had no headlice for about 6m! Or we had until DS2 picked them up last week Hmm But still so much better than the Nitty Gritty Years when we never seeemd to clear of them.

Foxy800 · 21/11/2011 09:49

Well I had to treat my dd for the 5th time in 3 weeks this weekend. I comb her her hair through every hair wash with a nit comb and am using tea tree shampoo and conditioner. THis is every few days. I only found a few baby ones but treated it, would I have been better to just keep combing them or do I treat them every time?

Foxy800 · 21/11/2011 10:37

Bumping up

DooinMeCleanin · 21/11/2011 10:42

I don't use tea tree shampoos. I put actual tea tree oil in their normal conditioner and shampoo. It seems to be working.

We gave up on treatments after the obscenely expensive Hedrin failed and just combed, combed and then combed some more. We did it daily for a week, although stopped seeing nits/lice after day three. We spent about 40 minutes combing each child. It's easier/quicker if you buy two combs and a comb a child each. We use the metal nitty gritty comb.

They now comb themselves each bath time. We do it properly each Sunday. Just to keep checking.

theincredibequeenofwands · 21/11/2011 11:03

No one's mentioned vinegar.......!

It dissolves the glue which holds nit eggs to the hair shaft and ovviously the nits can't bear it either. Works really well.

Downside is that your child (and home) will smell like a chip shop for a day or afterwards!!

valiumredhead · 21/11/2011 11:06

Valium-which is the new Hedrin treatment-I am baffled by the range of them!

It says that it gets rid of lice AND the eggs on the packet/advert of the telly.

DooinMeCleanin · 21/11/2011 11:09

It lies, Valium. It lies Angry

Foxy800 · 21/11/2011 11:09

Think I will keep going with the combing then as tried 2 treatments now and they are not appearing to work.

valiumredhead · 21/11/2011 11:10

Oh does it Doo ? I've not used it, I was impressed by the ad Grin

DooinMeCleanin · 21/11/2011 11:12

'Orrible lies. We used it. £16 a fecking bottle and it does nothing. I might as well have saved the money and just told them to dip their head in the chip pan. It would've been just as effective.

SardineQueen · 21/11/2011 11:15

sorry just reading thread and can't believe no-one else guffawed at this

"I've been to the gp and asked for it free,was sent away with a flea in my ear."

Grin
SardineQueen · 21/11/2011 11:18

Oh my god that "high risk" vosene thing has had some people's names and addresses put in it Shock

hodgypodgy · 21/11/2011 11:19

I moved to Sussex from the North a decade ago and never encountered head-lice back there. However, I was amazed (and peed off) to discover the children spreading nits at my kids' school were the offspring of wealthy, horse owning, business running affluent parents. One of my daughters' best friends has them and her mum is continually scratching and she teaches at a very expensive private school!! Blimey. North-South divide?

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