To think they should bring back nit nurses?

[Rachtoteach]

First day back after half term yesterday. A nice, lice free half-term I should add. Doing my little girl's hair for school this morn, she is caked in nits and eggs. I couldn't send her into school - how could I when it would then have just spread and I would have been as bad as the mums I moan about who dont appear to give a toss. I had to take my son in anyway so went into talk to my daughter's teacher. I expressed my upset that it has now come to the point (headlice has been going on and on and on since Sept) that I have felt the need to keep her off school. I know its not the teachers fault. She said unfortunately some parents simply dont treat/check and until whole class is treated at same time, problem will continue. So for WITW I have bought yet another treatment which has to be applied over night and washed off in the morning. I have my daughter at home (she is 5) and I am supposed to be at work. I really think they should bring back nit nurses so all children are checked and treated!!

You still have people that believe that only unclean, unkempt children get lice as well, which is patently untrue. I would say that parents with young children get a bit of baptism by fire to lice and nits around preschool/reception time.

We have 2 X Nitty Gritty combs.

Our school is in an affluent area and yes all do know how to do it.Very good hv,good circular nit note from school saying pretty much what has been said on here etc.

Knowledge is not a problem here,over egging of the Nitty Gritty comb is.

To be honest the single biggest problem with combing isn't missing one it's the time it takes to do it.

You need to do it for at least 2 weeks to half half a chance during which you're merrily spreading them around half the class(as are several other kids at different stages of the cycle).So you come to the end of your stint hopefully nit free (or not in my case) then 2 days in you'll get it again from somebody else in the cycle.That's assuming everybody is as dedicated as me in doing it,for many it's nigh on impossible to do the man hours. Even with the assumption all are doing it as they should the time factor means it can't not go round and round.

Combing just physically can't ever be an effective remedy for a class,large group such as a school,it's not possible. It's like shoveling snow in a snowstorm. It's not rocket science and until this fact is accepted we're going to have a major problem in schools.

I agree that parental combing often doesn't work. I had no problem getting rid of them when my DCs were younger, but then so was I-now my eyesight back and joints can't take the punishment and the teenager has much thicker hair.

Hence, Hairforce-and this means from now on I am going to self-exclude-I see one, DD is out of school until we get down to Hairforce. End of. School will hate that-good.

They don't use chemicals, but to be honest I don't care what they use as long as they get rid of the problem.

By the way you can get the stuff on the NHS now I believe.

Because often the parents that can't be bothered to treat the child, also can't be bothered that they are missing school. The child is the one that suffers in the long run from the exclusion. It effectively denies those few children an education, so I can see where it's not a good option.

It was so ridiculous to see the school send home half a class due to nits. Then two-three weeks later, they're sending home half the class AGAIN because a few nits may have gotten missed - sometimes the same children, sometimes not. And then a few weeks later, half the class again. It honestly went in big swings like that locally - it was something the parents bitched (and laughed) about, tbh.

And how happy do you think some employers would be for someone to have to leave work early repeatedly or come in late repeatedly in order to deal with nits? It could cause some to lose their job - because even if you treat your own child, there's no guarantee that they still won't catch them again a week or so later from another child and presto! another day off work for treatment!

Nits and lice are annoying and can drive most of us to distraction. But that's ALL they are. It's not life or death. It's not an emergency situation.

What Hairforce?

Triggles thats just not true.Nits are everywhere in every school,most kids will have them.Our school as I said is in quite an affluent area with very supportive parents.Dds class seem to have it permanently.

Kids aren't getting nits because parents can't be bothered to treat but because combing as I explained simply can't work on a class as a treatment.

And when kids were sent home before it was about 1 kid a term because it worked,certainly never half a class.

Here's my take on this.....
Treatments are an expensive waste of time, my own theory is that they don't kill the eggs so you still have to keep treating and using the nit comb so might as well forget the chemicals. I reckon a big bottle of cheap conditioner, nit comb and loo roll, and sectioning clip. DVD on, section hair and apply conditioner liberally to one section at a time. Slide comb in as close to scalp as you can, I tend to do each section twice once from top and once from underneath. I reckon you have to allow an hour per head, not easy to fit in but it does work if you repeat every 3 days so break the lifecycle. Lice have been the repeated bane of my life for about 4 years, IMO just have to get on with it. Funny that I managed to live to 41 before I got them, never had as a kid so agree more prevalent now:(

Apparently the reason there are more prevalent now is that children sit round tables and put their heads together doing group work more. And boys had shorter hair and girls hair was always tied back.

That's the reason are less of a problem in private schools - stricter hair rules and more traditional sitting in rows.

Agree if exclusion is ok for D&V and conjunctivitis it is ok for lice.

An "affluent area with very supportive parents" where lice are still rife simply means that the affluent supportive parents can't be ar$sed to wet comb every 4 days until the lice are gone.

Lice live on the heads of the rich and poor alike, but not on the heads of the rich or poor kids whose parents wet comb properly every 4 days. In the majority of cases its just laziness not to deal with your child's lice and it's highly antisocial.

Would you be happy with bed bugs in your house as well as lice and scabies to boot? I think this is the future. Seemingly we can eradicate polio but not lice which says it all really.

Essential I do it every other day-we still have nits.I most certainly can be arsed.

Combing doesn't work and I explained why earlier.It simply can't work unless every single child went home and started combing on the same day and did it methodically like I do rinsing after each swipe etc. Even then many parents would miss one or two so the whole cycle would start all over again.

As it is kids get nits at various times so parents are doing the infernal combing for weeks whilst still spreading and picking up new ones.

Kids need to go home and be treated that day with something that kills the nits instantly.After a couple of weeks classes would be down to 1 or 2 cases a term like they used to be.

Interesting seeker. At ds's primary school they were rife and they all sat round tables but at the school he is at now it's sitting in rows and they are VERY VERY strict about hair being tied back, in fact they give out hair bands - and no nit problem.

I'm not saying ALL of them "can't be arsed." I said SOME of them... and that's all it takes for it to spread back to those who WERE combed out. Please read what I'm posting. Nowhere did I say that all those who were reinfested were because the parents didn't bother to treat.

I had the dreaded nit letter today, and the little girl we were walking with said "shhh, dont tell anyone, its me"" i said to her, oh dont worry sweetie, everyone gets nits at some point, isnt it a pain bla bla bla. Then winced inwardly as her and DD were heads together in the swing at the play park.

so right now id be very grateful for the nit nurse because my daughter flatly refuses to let me look in her hair, whereas she would let the nurse im sure, you now how it is.

My eldest DD was always getting infested, to the point that the poor cow got really good at delousing herself! She had really really thick hair that the little buggers loved. My mother was horrified, i was just pissed off when i got them!

I will only be putting tea tree in my dughters hair, am resigned at some point that there will be infestation, but im not going down the pesticide route

Wash - condition - comb, leave a nit without a home :D

My mum was so horrified when my brother got them - we're talking 30+ years ago - that she BURNT all of his bedding...

I swear I read on MN once that a mother used the cat's frontline on her kids and it worked a treat. I remember that as well, she swore it worked.

Frontline! On the back of their necks???

I wish people would quit bringing it up about the frontline. Not a clue if someone did it or not, but I'd hate to think someone might read about it on here and try it in desperation. Highly irresponsible!

I used to be a vet nurse and i know plenty who have used frontline, but i wouldnt recommend it. It does work apparently though. But heres the thing, i was in the birthing centre with my DD2, my DD1 rang me, mortified (she was 15) and said mum, you cant bring DD2 home, ive got nits. The MW knew me from the vets and said, why dont you just get her to use some frontline

That's true Triggles re work; can you just imagine?

Sorry Mrs Bloggs, the appointment you made 3 weeks ago with our practice nurse for your smear/baby's immunisations/diabetic review/asthma review/contraceptive implant and have taken a day off work for has been cancelled as the nurse has had to take the day off to delouse her children's hair.

Those people who have used Derbac.. How far does a bottle go?

I need to treat myself with bra-strap length hair, DS with chin length hair, DD with bum length. The blurb says you still need two treatments 7 days apart.

How many bottles to buy? The Boots website is showing it at £10.61 for 200ml. That's my entire weeks disposable income!

RambleOn You should get yourself to your GP and get a Nitty Gritty comb on prescription (for your child). It might take a little more perseverance and effort to get rid of your little friends but it'll be FREE!!!