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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to wonder why schools pussy foot around nits??

92 replies

CatEyeFlick · 01/10/2015 15:58

yet again had a general letter today about how a child in my dc class "may" have headlice and can everyone please check their own child?

obviously I will be checking all mine after their bath tonight but I do check them weekly anyway after they kept getting them before the holidays

but what I don't get it why don't the teachers take the parent aside of the child with nits and discreetly let them know? as clearly there are loads of shit parents who just cba / dont care / wont even READ the letter

if a child was ill at school the parents are told. why are nits different? they are a health issue. is it because they are "embarrassing" ? personally I would rather be told if mine had them, so why the coyness??

actually I think they should go a step further and send any children with nits home but at the very least tell the parents

OP posts:

Mistigri · 02/10/2015 05:21

School evictions are not very effective because it's almost impossible to remove them all in a single treatment - it is almost inevitable that you will leave some live eggs which will hatch and begin a new infestation in due course, unless you re-treat and check regularly.

The only 100% guaranteed way of getting rid of then quickly and reliably is to cut the hair. On then couple of occasions that my DS picked them up (most likely from his sister!) I got out the hair clippers.

Is the advice about using conditioner and a comb really the standard advice now? It doesn't seem like very good advice to me - dimethicone (hedrin) used correctly twice at 7-10 day intervals is much more reliable in my experience. Combing as said above invariably leaves the odd louse or viable nit behind to keep the cycle of infestation going.

The problem is that most parents don't understand the lice lifecycle and therefore don't treat effectively.

BathshebaDarkstone · 02/10/2015 05:41

Has Jesus been failing in his nit-checking duties?

CheerfulYank · 02/10/2015 05:43

Strict in the US too...the nurse checks everyone in the class for a few weeks. Everyone gets a letter letting them know and reminding them to wash hats etc. Infected child isn't allowed back in school til they've been treated chemically.

Nits (or lice as we say) are rare here. I remember the neighbor kids got them when we were kids but no one else. DS is eight and I've only gotten one letter since he started preschool at three.

claraschu · 02/10/2015 05:47

Sending people home from school is absolutely effective. In the US, that is what happens and there are very few problems with lice. It is a PITA though and a bit hysterical: my niece was sent home on her birthday when she was about 8, which was really hard on her. She was inspected before she was allowed back to school. Parents are vigilant when the alternative is having kids sent home.

She had the professional delouser once at $200 an hour (NYC prices). Now there's the new career path I am looking for: small game hunter.

OhWotIsItThisTime · 02/10/2015 06:22

Ds1 had one louse in his hair. I combed him daily for a few weeks and that worked.

saltlakecity · 02/10/2015 07:04

We do tell parents directly at our school but send the letter out too incase anyone else has caught them. Believe it or not we gave bigger fish to fry than nits.

sandgrown · 02/10/2015 07:17

If Canada and USA can have nitty Nora in school ( the nit nurse) why can we not have her back. She used to visit our school on a regular basis in the 60s and I never caught nits. I guess it is something to do with Human Rights !

Feenie · 02/10/2015 07:38

Don't be so ridiculous. It's the cost! There is no funding for this any more.

50shadesofmeh · 02/10/2015 07:44

it would help if people didn't freak out and act so precious about nits, they are rife and most kids get them if people just checked their kids heads weekly instead of pearl clutching at the thought of them they would be dealt with, my daughter caught nits and i told my neighbour who was the only person she had played with over that last fortnight and she said ' oh my daughter doesn't get nits ' that was that (hmm)

Thighbrow · 02/10/2015 07:47

My ds started reception a few weeks ago and we got the letter home this week, initial inspections and combings haven't shown any lice as yet or eggs. Phew. I'm super paranoid though and can't stop itching - have checked myself and can't find anything. I had a dream last night about cockroach sized lice jumping from my head

Will comb every other day for the next 7 years then I guess!

hobnobsaremyfavourite · 02/10/2015 07:55

One of my dc's had a child in their class whose mother "couldn't be bothered with all that nonsense"
My child had nuts off and on every bloody term said child has now left and miracle of miracles so far no nuts

hobnobsaremyfavourite · 02/10/2015 07:56

Nits not nuts

ladyvimes · 02/10/2015 07:57

Um they do. I have. How would you know if they are doing it 'discreetly'?

ladyvimes · 02/10/2015 08:00

Also I don't think there is much of an embarrassment around nits anymore. There is much more of a taboo around threadworms, which I think are just as, if not more, prevalent.

HoopsAlot · 02/10/2015 08:22

My dc kept getting nits and I figured it was my friends dc so I told her, she tells me her kid doesn't have nits and get a bit short with me and then tell everyone my kids infested, I never seen her again after that and lo and behold my dd hasn't had nits since.

No love lost but people need to grow up a bit and just deal with it.

BeyondYourPeripheralVision · 02/10/2015 08:33

I was told off the record that it's always the same family and they're not allowed to single them out as they don't want to upset them. Said mother told me she doesn't want to use chemicals...

It had me in tears as I had a sensitive scalp and my husband had to go over it with a nit comb - it hurt and bled. The dirty shits.

As an aside - don't panic and throw all hats and scarves on a boil wash as you'll ruin them all.

Original poster

CatEyeFlick · 02/10/2015 10:25

my daughter caught nits and i told my neighbour who was the only person she had played with over that last fortnight and she said ' oh my daughter doesn't get nits

HAHAHAHHAHA at deluded mum....what she meant was surely "my precious daughter wouldn't get something as dirty and common as NITS" Lololol

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