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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DD has caught head lice at nursery

168 replies

MillyMollyMandy2018 · 13/03/2019 17:33

AIBU to feel really cross that some people don’t treat head lice properly, if at all. Went to the Christmas concert and there was one child in particular who scratched her way through it. A letter from the head comes round shortly after stating nursery has an outbreak and how to treat/prevent etc. Noticed DD scratching yesterday at bedtime and upon inspection she has lice. Live lice. Horrid!
Nursery inform me today they have never really got on top of the situation due to some parents not addressing the issue properly/at all.
We’ve spent an hour yesterday conditioner combing and another hour today with the head lice treatment and combing. I know I should accept it’s just a part of school, so why do I feel so angry about it?!

OP posts:
Original poster
MillyMollyMandy2018 · 13/03/2019 18:46

OrigamiZoo that’s a lot of info 😂

OP posts:
Flibbitygibbit · 13/03/2019 18:46

Awww i miss the days of a nit comb and conditioner...... scratches head in sympathy 🤷‍♀️ Mind you why do they appear at Christmas so much ? Completely misses point of post 🤔

VibingGood · 13/03/2019 18:51

@cricketmum84

If you do, be polite about it.

When a couple of parents on our group mentioned it they were very 'This is getting silly, can we all work together and get it sorted please' No judgments.

One parent got arsey that his kid had never had them, but someone was very quick to point out that that kind of response wasn't helpful, and the important thing was that if we worked together than we could eradicate them from the class.

cricketmum84 · 13/03/2019 18:54

No WhatsApp group - I took a very similar tone in the Facebook group though. No accusations and not arsey just a polite please can we all work together and check our children's hair regularly to get rid of the dreaded bits!!

Bananalanacake · 13/03/2019 18:55

Yes. kids at my dds kindergarten get sent home when they have lice. as soon as it's found the teacher calls the parents and stands outside the class room door with them until they are collected.

LuckyAmy1986 · 13/03/2019 18:59

We use tea tree oil shampoo an tea tree spray every morning and it really has made a difference. She hasn’t had them since we started using (had three time before)

Purplejay · 13/03/2019 19:04

Head lice are just part of life. I assumed my son would get them and did regular checks through nursery and primary school but we were lucky and he never had them. I never had them as a child either. They like some hair more than others it seems.

Some kids just seem to attract them and find them hard to keep away. Lots are somewhere in the middle. Both school and nursery sent regular letters when made aware so if you haven’t had a letter so would tell them do they can tell the other parents to check.

Sickoffamilydrama · 13/03/2019 19:06

My DDs have curly long hair, so a nightmare to comb, it was great when the middle one had it boned.
I hate headlice people who say about tea tree oil haven't met the hardened head lice I have who didn't care about it in fact they probably laugh and say to their mates " they think tea tree oil will stop us".

When they first got them I just couldn't get rid of them, until I did some research. So I'll only use the treatment that suffocates them. I always treat as before now I've combed for 10 minutes then on the final comb found a lice that was hiding. Because no treatment is guaranteed to kill all the eggs I always retreat after a week.

What's worked for us is checking once a week with a head lice comb, treatment of we find anything, and then treatment again a week later after that I'll comb every 3rd day for a month then go back to once a week combing.

Sickoffamilydrama · 13/03/2019 19:08

Arg autocorrect my DD had her hair bobbed not boned Grin

Rtmhwales · 13/03/2019 19:10

I'm curious why this seems to be so prevalent in the UK? Lice is very uncommon where I live (Canada) and outbreaks in schools are rare. The kids have a public nurse unit that comes in every second or third month to check every child's hair in the school and if lice are present the children are excluded from school until they can pass a check that they are lice free.

When I lived in the UK it seemed common and so matter of fact that kids would have lice. I was baffled.

XiCi · 13/03/2019 19:12

Vosene do a lice repellent detangling spray that I've used on dd for years and she has never had head lice despite them doing numerous rounds of her class

ivykaty44 · 13/03/2019 19:16

I used olive oil method with dd1 and it worked a treat. You have to treat for three weeks as that’s the life cycle of an egg. I also used hair straighteners which does help kill the eggs so they never hatch.

But olive oil was by far the best method that I found and left hair and scalp in wonderful condition.

VibingGood · 13/03/2019 19:20

The kids have a public nurse unit that comes in every second or third month to check every child's hair in the school and if lice are present the children are excluded from school until they can pass a check that they are lice free.

The nit nurse was banished from UK schools years ago :(

cricketmum84 · 13/03/2019 19:23

@Rtmhwales probably because the nit nurse doesn't exist here anymore, teachers aren't allowed to check a child's hair and my child's school aren't even allowed to send out communication about nits! So we end up with eleventy billion nits hopping around every classroom and kids constant being reinfested :(

Funnyface1 · 13/03/2019 19:30

Yanbu. I absolutely dread this. I've never had head lice and neither have my children.

Ds is 8 and has short hair so that's probably helped. Dd is only 2 and not in a nursery setting yet, but I know it's likely she'll end up with them at some point. Hope you get it sorted easily.

bibbitybobbityyhat · 13/03/2019 19:34

Yabu.

Bomato · 13/03/2019 19:38

Spray diluted tea tree oil on hair after every wash.

KingMash · 13/03/2019 19:42

I had to treat my 15yo last weekend, God knows where he picked them up. Fortunately the rest of us hadn't got them

BlackberryandNettle · 13/03/2019 19:45

Hmm, my three kids have never had it. I'm wondering now if I should be checking their hair!! Not noticed any of them scratching.

elfycat · 13/03/2019 20:01

With threadworms - and daughters... unfortunately there's more than one 'hole' they can infest soz if it's TMI and girls can get very red and sore bitter experience If you look with a light you can see tiny 3mm long white things wriggling amongst the sore red skin of the vulva.

In addition to ovex you'll need piriton, calpol and sudocream for the night Sad

Nits... one year my 2DDs brought them home every half term, despite their hair being up in buns during the time (though DD2's hair is fine and fringe strands work themselves loose) and soaked them in tea tree oil. I sent them back to school one Monday after Easter - and when I picked them up I could see a huge adult nit in DD2's hair. No eggs thank goodness as she must have just had it crawl on.

I keep an eye on their hair pretty much daily, but we've not had them come home for three years now touches wooden table and I hope that lasts. I get emails that they're in their classes but hopefully they're not bumping heads too much.

EmeraldShamrock · 13/03/2019 20:01

Alberto balsam is very cheap and effective, I buy the shampoo and conditioner, I use it once a week I think it can dry out hair, I use a softer product other times. My DD is 10 or my teenage nieces have never had them.
Thankfully if the class gets them, most parents treat them, it isn't to bad in comparison to some pp's experiences.

VibingGood · 13/03/2019 20:04

@BlackberryandNettle Always check. My DC have never had nits, but I always check regularly, just in case.

EmeraldShamrock · 13/03/2019 20:07

--Tea tree Alberto Balsam.

ClaireElizabethBeuchampFraser · 13/03/2019 20:34

I agree about the worms, if you have a child in nursery who eats with their fingers then they have either already got worms, or will regularly catch them. Sand pits are honestly the worst! Once you get them they are a bloody nightmare to get rid of! I had to regularly treat my two until the youngest left nursery (yep sandpits)- we haven’t had them since.

With lice the best defence is offense - nit combing (with a nitty gritty) every night (during a breakout) before bed as well as spraying with anti lice spray before school. (Then twice a week after) I never let my dd wear her hair down either, it’s always up out of her face. Ex teacher here so I learned quickly to keep my hair up and out of the way!

mumwon · 13/03/2019 20:36

was childminder - not allowed to comb minded dc hair (! abuse apparently!) however if I got written permission.... I landed up with nits myself (first time I can remember ever having the blinking things - oh joy!) only worthwhile preventative is metal nit comb & conditioner - & use nit comb every night as a matter of course - the nursery cant do anything about it - & its impossible to figure out who was person (child x) the parents might use lotion but the little darlings might be immune to that one or the parents might not have done the second dose for the nit hatchlings ...