Aibu to expect school teachers to use head lice treatment?

[Everywhereilookaround]

We've got them AGAIN, itchy nasty little blighters. Got my shampoo ready to use this morning, before DS goes back to school Monday.

It's a common occurrence, we've had them repeatedly over last year at school, as have other families.

I know it's just one of those things, but what's irking me is that a Friend told me DS's teacher publically refuses to use treatment on herself or her own kids, because...toxins... chemicals.... environment....etc.

So instead she combs them out weekly with nit comb and tea tree rince.

So she doesn't get rid of them, just reduces their number every week.

I've seen her itching, (right now we all are!)

I respect that we all have a right to lead our own lives our way...but why must we all suffer for it?!!

If the teacher won't take the treatment, and keeps reinfecting us, there's just no hope.

Or AIBU to feel annoyed by this?

Good link Bi11yOneMate

MrsDV - my DDs class has had regular head lice infestations, but my friend whose daughter has Afro hair said she never gets them and she thought it was because of the oils she uses on her hair? It probably also helps that her hair is plaited quite close to her head so not dangling around.

I manage the lice with combing and conditioner too. If you are thorough and regular it is effective. My DCs are eczema prone and I cannot risk using the pharmacy treatments because it would likely result in a flare up. I have managed to get their eczema under control without medication, by using only certain shampoos and washing powders, cleaning products etc - through trial and error finding the ones that didn’t irritate their skin - so there’s no way I will risk Hedrin.

Plus I have noticed that the parents who use the pharmacy treatments are always complaining that the lice have come back. At the moment we are on a weekly preventative combing for my youngest DD, but if I find any lice have hopped in then I go back to doing it every 3 days. Luckily my DDs hair is quite easy to comb.

. Got my shampoo ready to use this morning, before DS goes back to school Monday

You sound like you don't know how to treat nits. Combing without conditioner ? Wasting your time . For someone massively concerned about Nits you should have done your basic nit homework .It's probably your dc spreading them if you comb without conditioner .

I comb once a week and straighten middle dds hair, if I find a nit in any of the dcs hair they are combed daily. As a child who sat next to the nitty child at school I had so many lotions and potions put onto my head to the point I became allergic to most even prescription grade ones in the end my parents moved me schools and shaved my hair off as I had started scratching so hard in my sleep even when “clear” my pillow would be covered in blood. Once I was at my new school with Just regular combing checks I didn’t have an issue again.

I’m still a really itchy person I’ve never quite got over it, I always feels like something be it my arm/leg or head is crawling on me.

Loosing?!

There's no way you're a teacher, OP.

Was at school late 60s/early 70s. It was a girls' boarding / day school. Never heard of any girl having them
They would have been around but its unlikely that anyone would have admitted to having them. The stigma would have been terrible. They were only seen as something poor people got. We know better now of course.

but my friend whose daughter has Afro hair said she never gets them and she thought it was because of the oils she uses on her hair?

Its true that lice find it harder to get on and stay on hair that has been coated in oils/sheens but once they are on they behave exactly the same as on European hair and are much harder to get rid off because of the combing thing.

Its a bloody pita.

My DD got terrible headlice for a whole school year. I was treating her every week. Back then you could only use insecticide treatments.

I know its stupid and I would be at anyone who suggested it to me but I sometimes wonder if thats why she got cancer.

head lice are natural, as are diseases.

sounds like more candidates for my island , along with the anti vaxxers.

I wish we had something that would actually irradiate the bloody things perminatly. Obviously if everyone treated everyday for a whole month properly we would be but parents cnba.

The nurses advise not to use chemicals

EVERYTHING IS CHEMICALS.

Being pedantic metals that make the comb are part of the periodic table of elements so technically yes. Well done!

Majority of people posting on this thread seem to think that hair conditioner doesn’t contain chemicals.

That was the point.

I've never used the lotions and potions, primarily because they're crap, they rarely kill the eggs, regardless of what they tell you. Chances are, if you're using that and thinking it's enough it's more likely to be you reinfecting

Also they used to make my daughter go blue.

Nitty gritty comb and conditioner.

MrsDV

I am not anti chemicals and I am not a twat.
But the stuff in those old style lice treatments were not benign.

I get prioderm imported from europe (it's banned in the UK). Strong as hell and kills the bastards and all the eggs. It's nit and lice Armageddon.

I'm pretty sure the chemicals in head lice treatment are far stronger than those in conditioner.

It’s the same ingredient.

“Kids are checked, and if they have nits they have to stay off until the infestation is gone“

So they are immediatly sent home for a week every time a nit is spotted? How does that work?

Yep - if someone is found to have nits, you have to go and collect them, and the rest of the class is checked and sent home. You are not allowed back until you've done 2 treatments (they do expect chemical treatments - I think you'd have to stay off longer if you weren't using them - it's not something that someone would protest about here). My kids haven't caught nits, although they were going around, so I don't know the procedure beyond the letter that was sent home.

The kids actually loved it - they had a pencil camera to look at everyone's scalps, and the child who had them became a bit of a celebrity because they had something to look at!

the rest of the class is checked and sent home *if they have them as well.

Disturbing that sounds pretty harsh but when you are constantly treating your kids and spending a fecking fortune on sorting them out it also seems like a good idea.

I hate using the stuff on my DCs, it costs me £££ and the combing ruins their hair.

I would love everyone to get sent home for a while, it would certainly focus a few minds.

I find that the vosene kids shampoo is ace

MrsDV - the American school my two went to enforced this rule. And heads had to be checked by the school nurse before your child was allowed back. Having come from non-stop nits in their UK primary, we then had four blissful nit free years. Back to school in UK and back to nits. DD2 has VERY curly hair and it would take hours to go through her hair with the nitty gritty. On one occasion, in frustration, I did cut it from bum length to shoulder length with the kitchen scissors. Not as bad as afro hair, but I do feel your pain.

A Knitty Gritty comb is used daily here by me and the kids -never ever had nits. It's a preventative way.