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!!

I remember when my sister died a few days after my SIL rang me up with 'some terrible news' and it turned out my nephew had nits I was so angry i put the phone down on her

You don't have to prove anything.

On the odd occasions kids did have nits the parents were called to collect.They often came back the same day.All parents treated, I don't recall any collecting then coming back with an untreated child. Parents will treat when they know they'll just get another call.

Agincourt it's not life and death but neither is impitigo,d or v but all are highly contagious and have an impact on the child involved.

I've had nits(in the middle of my degree on teaching practice)believe me it's not nice,it does effect concentration and you feel shit-dirty and itchy.

The nits themselves don't bother me but the itching,the miserable kids having hour long combing sessions that can hurt(long thick hair)on an often nightly basis eating up the little free time we have sorry don't like that -so sue me.

Also it's not about you it's about kids-yours and other people's kids.

I just think this is cloud cuckoo land. You are relying on a) children being able to comb their own hair efficiently enough to dislodge nits onto the paper- even the 4/5 year olds. b) on parents being able to drop everything and pick their child up, c) on parents being willing and able to treat efficiently d)being able to afford the treatment e) the treatment being effective.......

I am presuming that you worked in a smallish school in an affluent area with a high % of engaged, involved parents.

Well i certainly feel as if i have entered some sort of parallel universe, but that is quite common when i come onto mnet

They are nits, they are not tstetsi flies (sp) or malaria carrying mosquitoes. They don't actually do any harm. They are a right royal pain in the arse, but hardly a reaon to keep a child home from school - i mean, can imagine phoning school "sorry, my child has nits, she will not be in for a week, and then again in tree weeks she wont be in" L.M.A.O

Actually, this is brilliant, i am wanting to take her out of school for a weeks holiday this year - I shall just ring them and tell them she cannot POSSIBLY come to school as her hair is crawling with giant aliens and she needs to be quarantined. I always knew mumsnet would come good on some school advice one day

And just think, it could be worse - they could have THREADWORM!!!!

Agincourt I am at your sister in law, is she generally such a dozy bitch!

I remember when DD1 got nits, my mother found them and was horrified, i was in a new relationship with DP and my mum thoroughly approved - she told me i had blown it as we all needed to treat our hair and he would obviously leave me! Err, 20 years later, he is still here!

You know what, over my life I have heard several stories of unwashed children in schools who seemed to be neglected. And they were. It would turn out that the kids got themselves up and dressed for school, they did what they could for self care but had no role models to go by, they were highly motivated to go to school, so highly motivated that they managed it without the support of their parents . As they got older, they could be seen in the local library after school, which was the most suitable place they could access to do their homework.

In the particular instance I am thinking of, friends of such a child wondered how to tell her she smelt. With help from their teacher, they did manage to do so, and the full(er) situation was revealed by the child. Luckily they wer able to arrange for her to use the school's washing machine.

My point is, kids may well be motivated, even if their parents aren't. They may be mortified and want to do something themselves. This would give them the opportunity.

They don't do any harm - ok, they aren't going to kill you but by Go, you try and sit there and concentrate on your work while your head feels like it's on fire with itchiness! Recently at a party there was a boy who was doing the 'two handed scratch' and he was nearly in tears, his hair line was red raw and by his ears were scarlet from him itching. I mentioned it to hi mum, I know her, and she said 'Yes, he is allergic to nits.' No shit Sherlock

GOD not Go

Sorry for the typos - can't get used to my new keyboard!

not sure how nits equate to an unwashed child either, my poor DD1 had really thick hair and pretty we had regular infestations all the while she was at school, even secondary school, she certainly wasn't unwashed

leaving thread now, no offence ladies but its making me itch!

on the whole though valium, children are mostly not allergic and even though my poor DP spent waaay too much of her childhood with the nit comb in her hand, they never bothered her. They are vile things but i think the horror they instill is a tad OTT. Clearly if a child is allergic then absolutely they are harmful, but on he whole, they are a minor irritant.

Yes on the whole kids are allergic - it's being allergic that makes you itch! Ime would say your dd is in the minority.

No someone was saying the kids from 'bad' areas wouldn't do the combing, or something.

I thought being a child being ashamed of smelling might be akin to being ashamed of having nits, that's all, and that the kids might well be motivated try MrsHeffley's way of doing things, even if their parents don't give a toss.

I thought I could assume we all knew that lice don't care much whether hair is clean or dirty, and they are quite happy to survive under water for a bit when hair gets washed.

And there was me thinking that it was the little buggers crawling around that makes you itch. There is a difference between being allergic and being irritated though. An allergy involves an inappropriate immune response, irritated is a reaction to whatever the little buggars have in their poo etc.

Of course i am not saying that nits should just be ignored, they are vile, irritating, and as you rightly point out, some children are allergic and that poor lad will have had that reaction if he only had the lightest of infestations so don't think that his mum left him untreated. Also, it wouldnt surprise me if we are seeing more and more children becoming allergic to nits, as allergies are on the increase generally. Not pretending to be an expert in allergies by the way.

I think that the chemicals used to treat the nits are probably more harmful and more likely to cause an allergic response than the nites itself in many cases. Rock and hard place!

No I think you are allergic to the bites. Some people aren't allergic therefore don't itch quite as much although the crawling must be irritating.

I think its the bites and the poo probably, again, emphasis on think :) My immunology is a bit rusty. But even if that is irritating, it isnt an allergic re-action as such. If you get stung by a bee or wasp you have localised swelling and pain (irritation) but thats not an allergy. So most people aren't allergic to lice bites, just irritated. I think thats right

A significant % of people don't itch at all.

Said school was not in an affluent area, far from it,kind of don't like the assumption that only parents in affluent areas care about their kids itching at school.Ime the vast maj of parents don't like their kids itching and with a head full of nits in all areas.Very few will simply not give a shit.

A significant % of kids don't itch-total tosh. Have you been in a class with kids with nits?The first identification of kids is most often a kid scratching continuously,kids scratch because they're suffering from itching.

Desperate you've missed the point.Nobody has said ring and send home for 2 weeks combing,but ring for an immediate treatment,Hedrin at the very least.Once Hedrined they are all dead(no pesticides but plenty of grease) so kids can return quickly.It just needs to be done again a week later,not hard,you apply it before bed,there is even a 3 or 4 hourly one).You can even get it on prescription.

Nobody has mentioned horror just not liking the man hours of combing and their kids concentration suffering on a regular basis alongside the ineffectiveness of combing in treating a class full of nit sufferers.

Sorry I don't get this oh who gives a shit,non treatment of nits is a sign of neglect and it's not very nice for any child to have to just poke up with it.

No such assumption. However, affluent people have more time and money. And often more structured lives. There are a lot of families in our school who could not afford the 20 quid I spent on Hedrin yesterday and also eat.

O.M.G if they can evelove to live without needing to breath they are going to take over the WORLD

evolve ffs - toddler at keyboard trying to 'help'

"Why do head lice cause itching?

There are a number of reasons ? one is that the thought of head lice is enough to make some people itch. Others will have a reaction to the saliva the louse injects when they feed on the scalp. This itching can take weeks to develop or not develop at all.

Itching doesn?t mean you have head lice ? just as no itching doesn?t mean you haven?t."

The above from the Full Marks website.

Sorry not true Seeker.Families with 2 X working parents have less time.Non affluent areas often have areas of high unemployment so somebody in the house available to pick up.

Hedrin is available on prescription(all kids get free prescriptions). I got it on prescription and we don't even get free adult prescriptions.If all were sent home immediately and treated you'd rarely need to use your free Hedrin.

exactly seeker, that's why they all need to comb out their own hair under supervision at school.

Don't give a stuff what the full marks site says,if you have bugs crawling in your hair it itches.The movement alone causes itching.I often ask my dc to point where it itches to start combing,9 times out of 10 you find an area with loads of eggs and a little colony.