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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that if you reckon your kid hasn't had nits/threadworms recently...

139 replies

LazyLousyLizzieJane · 30/08/2018 23:01

... then they're probably the source.

Surely the main difference between kids (at least at primary school) is not whether they get them, but whether it's recognised and treated? Are nits really that picky about whose head they infest? If 40% of kids at any one time have threadworms, then is it really possible that so many kids are thought by their parents to never get them?

My kids seem to crawl with parasites regularly. I treat it thoroughly and then, a few months later, they're back. I'm not alone in this, am I?

OP posts:
MinecraftHolmes · 31/08/2018 08:58

Nonsense. I had nits once as a child. DH never had them. So far the DC have never had them - I know this because I check regularly. None of us have ever had worms. It’s not hat unusual to not get them.

I reckon it’s like how most people will know a family where a round of a d&v bug is a monthly occurrence, when most people only have it maybe once or twice a year, if that often.

Tomatoesrock · 31/08/2018 09:00

Are thread worm really noticeably, would it hurt to treat if you had no seen any.

Childrenofthesun · 31/08/2018 09:04

We have had both in our house over the holidays. And the cat had a skin condition that required me to shampoo her twice a week - I was getting fed up with treating everybody! DC1 gets threadworms a couple of times a year - she is definitely lazier about handwashing than DC2 unless I am supervising. I keep ovex in the house.

It's worth bearing in mind that children can have threadworms without any symptoms so can spread them easily like that.

DC2 has long thick hair so although this is the first time she's had headlice, it was a nightmare to treat. I never had headlice as a child but that wasn't due to any scrupulous measures by my parents, they just didn't seem to like my fine, lank hair.

Firesuit · 31/08/2018 09:04

Interested to see the comments about possible effect of swimming. In my country, almost all children would swim regularly in summer. Both my state primary and private boarding school had their own pools, which we'd be in at least once a week in summer. So if swimming deters nits, not only would it have treated anyone who might have them, but it would also have ensured they didn't know anyone they could catch them from.

museumum · 31/08/2018 09:07

I’ve never had worms and my ds hasn’t yet. We don’t have any pets and I didn’t have any growing up either. I’m sure it’s related.

grasspigeons · 31/08/2018 09:08

I think worms would be really easy to miss.

Im less convinced about missing nits but then I have boys with very short hair and its been really obvious when they've had nits.

strawberrypenguin · 31/08/2018 09:10

YABU - I never had either as a child. DS has had nits twice (and so have I now!) Never had threadworms either.

I regularly nit comb DS's so would pick up if any were there. I think some are weirdly more prone to nits/worms etc than others. It's nothing to do with cleanliness though - much more likely to be the amount of head-to-head contact etc

EwItsAHooman · 31/08/2018 09:16

I've never had nits or worms and - so far - none of my four DC have ever had nits or worms either. I check their hair regularly and once a week I slather their hair in conditioner (while they're having a bath, obviously) and comb through with the nit comb as I was once told that this helps to remove any eggs that might be hiding ready to hatch.

I don't know why we've never had nits or worms, luck, good hand washing, a bit more luck, but I'm glad of it. We don't get bitten by mosquitoes or midges either and back when we had a cat, the one time he got fleas none of us were bitten whereas poor DH got bitten to pieces. He says it's because we're all poisonous Grin

MsAwesomeDragon · 31/08/2018 09:18

Dd1 did once have them for quite a while. I was distracted and exhausted with a new baby, she did her own hair in the mornings, a it was always tightly tied back, and she just didn't scratch, so by the time I next checked she was absolutely crawling with them. So at that point yes I believe we were the source for some of the others in the class, sorry. Once we noticed them we did treat them straight away, and I cut her hair short so it was easier to keep on top of them.

Other than that time I've been pretty consistent on checking regularly. There are definitely trigger points when they get nits, like we've been playing with cousins a lot this week so I know we'll find nits when I check at the weekend.

I don't believe either DD has had worms, they've certainly never had symptoms.

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 09:21

I never had either as a child. I can only remember one case of nits in my primary school, parents were sent a letter and asked to check their children.

My nephew is 3.5 and my son is 2, neither of them have either, though that might change when they get older.

Mehaveit · 31/08/2018 09:21

5 and 3

5 + 3 have had nits once after attending a party on the Sunday, spotted one on the Monday, got rid.

5 had a threadworm I spotted. Just the one. Family thoroughly medicated, washed bedding etc. Final dose. No return.

I'm not sure what school your children go to but I'd imagine it's a different demographic to our village school for such casual repeated infestations.

Hand washing
Hot bedding/clothing washing
Bottom hygiene
Hair tied up when out.

That's all I do.

BarbarianMum · 31/08/2018 09:24

Dc got nits multiple time in the early years of primary but neither has had them since Y4 and honestly, I rarely check them any more and dont think Ive missed a 3 year infestation (they scratch like mad when theyve got them).

Ive never once had nits - not as a child, not as a mother of nit infested children. They hate me. Grin

kaytee87 · 31/08/2018 09:27

As for nits they like all heads, but esp love the clean ones.

It's a myth that nits prefer clean hair. It was made up to stop the kids with nits from being bullied for being dirty/poor.

Shaboohshoobah1 · 31/08/2018 09:27

Works are itchy as fuck - there’s no way you could miss them! We all got them when my daughter got them - it was horrible! Easy to sort out though as we never had them again.

Re the nits - both my girls have long thick hair - one has had nits countless times, the other only once. This was in spite of them sharing a room, probably their hairbrush, hairbands and and so on. I think nits just like some people better than others, nothing to do with hygiene or nit care or anything. A bit like how some people get bitten a lot by mosquitoes and others don’t!

Shaboohshoobah1 · 31/08/2018 09:28

*worms, not works Angry

chickenliverz · 31/08/2018 09:29

My eldest son is constantly getting them (and yes, we do get rid of them - but I suspect his best friend is infested) but my younger two don't. The youngest has never had them. The middle one has them once in a while.

Definitely never had worms - always got eye out for that one.

PhilomenaButterfly · 31/08/2018 09:38

DS1 had nits regularly because his hair was long, thick and clean. Nits just loved it!

dancinfeet · 31/08/2018 10:44

neither of my kids have had worms (teenagers now) and we have only had a handful of head lice occurrences - maybe about 4 between the two of them over their childhood, and only once when they both caught them. I think it's luck of the draw sometimes, my younger DD was friends with a little girl whom you could see them crawling in her hair - she was completely infested on what appeared to be a permanent basis, but I would cross my fingers that DD wouldn't have close contact with her in the hope that she wouldn't catch them but never told her to avoid the child (not the kid's fault).

Racecardriver · 31/08/2018 10:49

Mine have never had either. I never had thread worms as a child (no outbreaks at school either) and had headline about three times. It's not normal to get these things over and over again.

onemouseplace · 31/08/2018 10:56

Threadworms are pretty easy to miss once they are past the potty stage - DD2 had them and I only spotted them because they were presented to me so to speak, and then I asked the others to check and it turned out DD1 had them as well.

So far no nits here and I check fairly regularly and know what to look out for. I only had them once as a child as well. I can still remember sitting behind the girl at school who everyone knew had nits all the time and insisted on having her long hair down and seeing them crawling all over her head -shudder-.

Willow2017 · 31/08/2018 11:12

Neither of my kids have ever had lice or worms and they are now strapping teenagers. It was never really a problem at thier school although we got the letters once a term about checking them.
Never known anyone whos child had them either.

I never had them as a child either.

Stupomax · 31/08/2018 12:13

Just how the Jeff have you avoided nits?!

We live in the US and our school has a 'No nits' policy.

Loopytiles · 31/08/2018 12:16

YABU, unscientific!

steppemum · 31/08/2018 14:39

No. Reason my son doesn’t is because I nit comb his hair weekly and check his bottom and poo for worms regularly. Prevention is better than cure

erm, sorry, but nit combing is PREVENTING you getting nits!! Nit combing should be done regularly in order to spot the nits if you have them and treat!
Checking a bum for worms isn't PREVENTING you getting worms, it is so you can spot them and then treat.

So your careful regime doesn't prevent anything, it just means if you get them you will spot them!

and to pp who commented about demographic. Worst nits was in naice village primary in very posh area. One of the worst offenders was boy with very short hair whose mum never checked because it is so short he couldn't possibly catch them. When pushed to check every single time she was amazed that he was crawling. She didn't do the rest of the family as her husband wouldn't agree to be nit checked....

MrsICantSayMyName · 31/08/2018 14:45

Not everyone child gets them Hmm

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