Aibu to be fuming as mil says only dirty kids catch lice when I warn her my kids have llice?

[lilasimpson]

phoned her to say ds has lice, lots of boys have it in the class... To ensure her other grandchildren who she lives with are ok... She said don't worry , they won't catch it as they shampoo regularly, in her time, other people's kids caught it, never hers... I am fuming!!

I've worked with kids with lice so bad you could see them crawling around quite easily and they definitely had dirty hair poor things. The clean hair thing is a myth, they like any hair, but, once you have them if left untreated they reproduce like mad. They spread by jumping so if kids get together they share nits and kids with shorter or tied back hair will have less chance of catching them. Oh and just ignore MIL it just sounds like a load of guff, don't take it to heart!

Wt I am v upset with is that she implied that my kids are dirty as they caught lice, she doesnt need to check on the others as they r clean... So old fashion... And Sis in law is v upsetting, don't know wt right she had to tell her...

Btw, dear son only had 2 live lice, the rest were eggs, not too many...

OP I know exactly how you feel, I really do.

My MIL used to really enrage me with her crazier theories and often the moment is lost isn't it, so you can't go back and re-educate her without sounding a bit weird?

You could of course casually bring up the treatment regime or something next time you are talking.
Then, when she spouts the rubbish about only dirty kids blah blah you laugh a tinkly laugh and say "Oh bless you MIL, didn't you know that lice prefer clean hair! They avoid dirty hair"
Yes, yes, I know it's not true but then neither is what she is saying.

Most kids get head lice in my opinion. She's unkind and ignorant and if my MIL talked to me like that I'd get angry with her and ask her why she is being so horrible and stupid.
The avoiding dirty hair thing is a myth as well head lice don't care much about how clean hair is but if your child is a friendly huggy sort of child and particularly if they have long hair they are likely to get it, although my short haired son got it to. Horrid Henry and the nits went down well then, and we got the microscope out..

I used to brand manage some nit treatments and our medical expert said that they prefer short clean hair, and as they need to be near a warm blood supply, and can't fly or jump, they walk from head to head. Apparently boys are much more likely to catch them than girls because of their (usually) shorter hair but they're also easier to treat and if you have a child who keeps getting nits back to back, you've probably not killed all the eggs in the first place.
I also managed a crab cream and stuff for scabies. Glamourous.

i had nits twice as a child a couple of years apart. I recall the nit nurse was a huge Lady. She was rough with my head when she checked my hairI

I loved Hedrin, so easy, though it only came out a few years before dd's lice-growing years were over