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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that if your daughter has nits you should tie her hair back for school

75 replies

wagonweel1 · 01/12/2011 22:00

one of the mums from my dd's school rang me last night to warn me that her dd has nits. At school this morning her dd was walking into the playground with her long hair flowing in the wind. Surely she has a duty to tie it back to try and avoid passing them on.

OP posts:
Kayano · 01/12/2011 22:01

Maybe she treated last night and was calling you as a warning to check your lots hairs?

Original poster
wagonweel1 · 01/12/2011 22:01

They are 8 years old by the way, not that it matters but I suppose they are young enough to be told that they have to have their hair tied back.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 01/12/2011 22:02

I assume she's been treated if she's in school?

Tying hair back is a must anyway, to help in not getting them to begin with

Original poster
wagonweel1 · 01/12/2011 22:03

Kayano, yes, I'm sure your right. It was good of her to let me know, I realise that. But I would have thought tying the hair back would be a precaution.

OP posts:
GreenIceAndChristmasHam · 01/12/2011 22:03

If she was treated last night and sent her to school today with hair down, then she's an idiot. The best treatments on the planet won't stop her picking them up again

Original poster
wagonweel1 · 01/12/2011 22:04

Well I cant stop itching myself, although I've checked the dc and they are all ok (as yet). If she put the stuff on last night would they definitely have gone by today then?

OP posts:
GingerWrath · 01/12/2011 22:06

I have sent DD, yr1, to school with plaited hair everyday since she started school, she has never had nits yet. Prevention is better than cure!

GingerWrath · 01/12/2011 22:09

Sorry, my English was awful there! She has not had nits so far.

girlsyearapart · 01/12/2011 22:17

I think when you get the letter from school saying someone has nits please check & treat hair should also say long hair has to be tied up.

I tell mine they have to have it tied up to try to stop the nits. They don't bother questioning it anymore.
Got into a row with a friend about this the other day though as she never made her dd tie her hair back & she spends a lot of time with my dds & didn't take kindly to a 3rd child who spends time with them saying she d get the 'crawly bugs' if she didn't let her mum tie her hair back..

Was trying to point out if she lets her dd have loose hair it increases the chance of her getting them & then passing them on.

The stuff is really hard to wash out op so if they realised & treated last night it wouldve taken several washes for her hair to look flowing today...

Graciescotland · 01/12/2011 22:19

If she used Hedrin to treat then you can kill them off within the hour. They could easily be gone by now.

EdithWeston · 01/12/2011 22:22

They might well be gone. But if her hair is loose and she brushes up against the person who infected her with this again, then they'll be back in the blink of an eye.

redpanda13 · 01/12/2011 23:13

Was her mother with her? Maybe her DD had taken out her hair band?

Every day I tie DD's hair back. Often I do not have time to do plaits or bunches so I tie it in a ponytail. Every time it is in a ponytail DD will come home with her hair loose and hair band on her ankle?? She swears it has fallen out Hmm

How she has escaped nits so far I do not know!

GeetTallBird · 01/12/2011 23:16

Redpanda I think my DD follows the same hair religion as yours, hair ands just fall out all by themselves?! Hmm

soandsosmummy · 02/12/2011 09:18

DD's school have a rule that hair below the collar has to be tied back. All children have a hair brush kept at school as part of their uniform list and if their hair is not tied back they are sent to do it (the little ones get help obviously). The schools keeps a stock of hair bobbles There are still nits in the school obviously but the incidence is very low - we've had one letter home about it this term (year 1) and none at all in reception. DD hasn't had them YET but I plait her hair normally

YANBU but the schools should insist on it as DD's does

DooinMeCleanin · 02/12/2011 09:24

Dd1 sometimes wears bobbles when she leaves the house. Somewhere between the cloakroom and the classroom they 'fall out and get lost'.

I've pretty much given up now. I don't have the money or the inclination to buy a new packet of bobbles every week when I know they'll only stay in her hair for half an hour.

coccyx · 02/12/2011 09:25

YANBU. Should be tied back, nits or no nits

ClaimedByMe · 02/12/2011 09:31

I tie my dds hair back everyday, as someone says prevention is better than cure, she still got nits, we discovered her fringe was attracting them when dc were all leaning forward closely, so the fringe went and not nits since!!!

HoHoOpotomus · 02/12/2011 09:31

I don't understand why children with long hair don't wear it tied up to school anyway. Surely that would help stop nits spreading so easily.

DD1 has very curly hair - I dread the nit day. It's hard enough to get a normal comb through it, let alone a nit comb. She wears it tied up every day at nursery. Other kids at nursery have got nits (but crossed fingers not DD yet) - they are the kids who wear their hair out/long.

GypsyMoth · 02/12/2011 09:34

Is it nits she had or head lice?

2 different things, live head lice or the eggs ( which are the 'nits')

GypsyMoth · 02/12/2011 09:36

How do you all think boys get them and pass them all on amongst themselves?? Long hair has little to do with it

The lice live on the scalp to live off the blood supply and eggs are laid on the hairline

IWantAnotherBaby · 02/12/2011 10:22

Tying hair back may help to stop a child spreading lice so easily, but will do absolutely NOTHING to prevent her from catching them in the first place. It is all about close head contact, so children who spend more time playing at close quarters with friends are more likely to get them, which is why adults and older children are so much less susceptible.

Another common myth is that lice prefer clean hair! Something else perpetuated to make us feel better about the revolting little things (spoken both as a doctor but also as a mother whose son has come home this week with his first ever bout of lice in his whole 8 years).

WibblyBibble · 02/12/2011 10:38

TBH I think kids with long hair ought to tie it back for school anyway, to avoid nits and also to let them see properly without hair in their eyes, and so it doesn't end up getting dipped in glue/paint/cooking at primary, or burnt in the chemistry lab in secondary. This was always the rule when I was at school. Oderdaughter (has mild autistic traits) is really fussy about this, and her dad lets her get away with it, but actually it's not that hard to say 'if you don't tie your hair back for school, you'll need to get a hair cut because it's not hygenic'. Nits are revolting, so she's normally convinced by being told that it's to avoid them spreading too!

WibblyBibble · 02/12/2011 10:40

Older, not oder. She's not a particularly oderous daughter.

MuddlingMackem · 02/12/2011 11:00

YANBU.

I'm very glad our kids' school has a blanket 'long hair must be tied back' policy to reduce the incidence of nits. DD just accepts that she has to have her hair in bunches or a ponytail, although if we have time sometimes I'll let her have a plait. :)

I just wish she would keep a slide in for that bit of hair at the front which isn't yet long enough to go in the ponytail. Grr!!

fergoose · 02/12/2011 11:05

I always thought long hair should be tied back at school regardless of nits anyway?

But I agree with you, my daughter has waist length curls, and she was constantly getting headlice - the hours I treated and sat and combed, got rid of it totally then as soon as she was back at school (with hair tied back plaited) she would come home with adult lice. It would seem many parents didn't bother to treat. And the first couple of years of secondary school were the worst times to be honest.