To think that kids with nits should be sent home

[JugglingNStruggling]

I don't know why kids aren't sent home if they have nits and prevented from coming back to school until their parents get rid of them
at the moment there seem to be a fair number of parents who don't seem to care if their child goes to school with nits and gives them to everybody in sight
I don't think there should be a stigma to catch nits, but there should be one if you keep coming to school and inflicting it on everybody else's kids
The school & other parents expect me to keep my kids at home if they are sick or have diarrhoea (not a notifiable disease) and I think this is quite reasonable and abide by this
The school and parents expect me not to give my kids peanut butter sandwiches in case somebody is allergic to nuts and I think this is quite reasonable and abide by this
Why can't this be extended to nits
Why do some parents seem to think that it is not unreasonable to inflict nits on everybody else

oh and when mine have had them i alwasy inform the class teacher and say i am treating etc, but just so she knows and can put up a sign to warn other parents, they dont name and shame, just a poster saying 'cases of nits please check' that seems fair enough :)

I don't think sending them home is the answer, but the school should be able to do something in the most serious cases when parents just won't deal with the problem. Maybe treat the kids and bill the parents for it?

As I asked rabbitee before, who in school would treat the children? No existing staff would have time to treat every case of headlice, it would need a dedicated member of staff. And then how would you ensure parents paid for the treatment. What if the child had an allergy? (That is the main reason I haven't treated children when I have been tempted too).

It isn't something that the school, social services, doctors or nurses can really do anything about IMO.

As we know from our own families- it's no good just treating one person- you need to treat everyone. I refer posters to my earlier calculations bout how long it would take to "treat" a class of 30.

And I also repeat my question about what the magical one off treatment people are talking about is?

I think you know why nobody is answering that question seeker!

I just want one of the "my child only catches head lice- she would never dream of giving them to anyone!" brigade to answer!

seeker there is 'hedrin once' a treatment that supposedly kills the eggs and the lice themselves, no idea if its any good, i am not a fan of the chemical treatments i prefer comb and conditioner, cant use the chemicals due to my own eczema anyway.

but i think it maybe coats the eggs and the lice in silicone so they die? but you would STILL need to comb to remove the dead lice etc and if you didnt do it thoroughly and managed to miss even one louse or egg then you are back to square one within i a week anyway! so i am very sceptical of its claims tbh!

once should = once a day IME! I have thought of shaving all their heads now that would be a one off treatment !

bring back nit nurses i think in tescos they sell a metal nit combe its really effective with plenty of conditioner but its like fighting a losing battle no soon as u clear em they get them back again it would help if every perent do this then surely they would be wiped out .

once should = once a day IME! I have thought of shaving all their heads now that would be a one off treatment !

Threatened DD with that as a joke in front of her teacher, teacher then tells me shes reporting me for that comment!

Ok. You've brought back the nit nurse. What does she do?

"Threatened DD with that as a joke in front of her teacher, teacher then tells me shes reporting me for that comment!"

No she didn't.

No she didn't.

Yes she did, DH threw an absolute fit about it as it was said in front of the other parents picking their children up she told me it was cruel and nasty

The kids that always had lice that kept passing them on when I was a kid were the "posh" ones. And there is agirl in DSs class that is always crawling with them and her mum definitely puts herself in the Yummy Mummy category. The kids have beautiful clothes and shoes, she has a brand new last year BMW 4X4, looks immaculate etc, but if you get too close you can see the nits crawling about! So no, not the "fleabags" here!

It was a name we used at school to indicate scruffy or different kids btw. I was one :(

Well treating just those kids won't help will it? Because they'll be reinfested by some other child the next day. Possibly even by a mumnsnetter's child!

seeker !!

Nits are a bloody nightmare at my childrens school - they are always around. I've taken to combing through with conditioner and a nitty gritty comb every Sunday when I wash their hair, just to check, whether I think they've got them or not.

On a more serious note, if a child is constantly crawling with them, and it's obvious their parents aren't treating them, this could be an indication of neglect and warrants further investigation I think.

Gah I remember how nits and nit alert became an obsession chez getting

2 years of constant passing them round and round the class. In the end I just sat DD down straight from school and combed through several times to make sure there were no new arrivals

remembers nit sagas fondly now DD is a vile entitled teen

Rabittee be careful what you say it only needs one from another "fleabag, scruffy" family and then ... wow can they breed!!

It's a pleasure

So, when people "battle infestations" for two weeks, do they keep their children off school for that time. Because, as they presumably found, often one treatment doesn't work, and the child could be passing on the lice while the eradication is ongoing.