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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To change pre school due to headlice?

89 replies

Sparrowlegs248 · 07/09/2019 19:26

Dc has been back at pre school for half a day this week and has come home with lice. We had quite a big problem last year with them, I spent a fortune on treatments, treated everyone weekly, bedding, brushes, hats etc. Literally every time he came home, he had big lice on his head. Is it this bad everywhere? Or are we unlucky?

OP posts:
Sunshine93 · 07/09/2019 20:10

Write to whoever runs the pre school and ask them to send out more regular letters as your child is repeatedly picking up headlice. It's fairly normal for a standard letter to go out. I wouldn't change for this if everything else is good but I would feel very annoyed. Do you know if other parents feel the same?

Sunshine93 · 07/09/2019 20:11

To be honest though on second thoughts if you do mean literally every time he comes home I would consider moving him. He's little so it's easier for him to adjust now. Every day is very extreme

giantnannyknickers · 07/09/2019 20:11

We had this issue and I eventually had to go to a specialist to have the nits frozen off. One treatment and it killed them and she hasn't got them since. It was like the boys were resilient to all the over the counter treatments

Original poster
Sparrowlegs248 · 07/09/2019 20:19

@Sunshine93 he goes twice a week, so I'd get rid of them, combing and treating. They're SO easy to spot, even small ones. Then he'd go, and come home with big adult sized lice. I think I'll have to bring it up with pre school . I don't know why they don't send letters out.

A couple of other parents that I know well enough to ask, hadn't had letters and were also annoyed at the lice.

OP posts:
Singleandproud · 07/09/2019 20:22

It doesn’t matter if they don’t send letters out, some parents never treat their children. If he is regularly getting large adult lice then someone has an infestation, as a parent you would notice providing you don’t have any vision problems so they are just not treating them.

Rainbowknickers · 07/09/2019 20:28

I had 6 years of this-combing 4 times a day
I’d get rid of one lot and another would appear
I tried everything and it turned out to be two kids in the class who’s parents ‘work full time and I don’t have time to check’
Every time she caught them we all did
All you can do is treat them and have words with the teachers

EggysMom · 07/09/2019 20:32

Vosene make a good children's shampoo (tea tree & eucalyptus). Our son hasn't had a recurrence of nits since I've started using this.

ClemDanFango · 07/09/2019 20:49

My DD came home with lice at the end of last term, she has a mass of thick curly hair and we spent 6 weeks fighting to get rid of them.
The last de-nit session I spent three extremely stressful hours painstakingly checking every strand and removing eggs with my fingernails. She was in tears and so was I it was awful, she’s at a school nursery now and I’m absolutely dreading her picking them up again.
So YANBU for feeling that way lice can be absolute hell the only problem is that literally any nursery can and does get lice going around so there’s nothing any of us can really do except treat as we find them Sad

CAK111512 · 07/09/2019 20:53

So frustrating. It’s more than likely coming from one child who’s parent never checks or treats hair and they pass it on to other kids who’s parents do check and treat but can never get rid of them. I think there’s always at least one in each class 🤣

Have you mentioned it to the staff? They should really send a letter home reminding parents to check.

I am not sure if it’s true but I’ve heard that even if staff know that one child is the source and isn’t being treated they aren’t allowed to pin point that child and their parents individually to tell them to sort it out they just have to send a letter home to each class member.

Vosene sell a shampoo and a spray that is meant to help repel them.

clucky3 · 07/09/2019 20:54

We had a real struggle with Nits towards the end of last term. Not a sign of them all summer, school went back 2 days ago and I'm really hoping it won't start up again too soon. If you like the nursery I wouldn't leave over this one issue, just ask them to educate other parents via a letter or email

Rachelover40 · 07/09/2019 21:02

It happens, it's a pain but not at all unusual. Head lice are no respecters of persons. Teachers get them too :-), a friend of mine who taught infants often did. Another friend's daughter got lice and managed to infect her auntie!

The other thing is worms......

JoxerGoesToStuttgart · 07/09/2019 21:07

Use a tea tree shampoo. Use Alberto balsam or Lidl’s Cien one.

AlpacaGoodnight · 07/09/2019 21:27

On my daughter's hair I use a spray bottle with about 1/4 vosene repellant spray in conditioner (found the spray was too thick on it's own and left her hair needing washed more often), about 10-15 drips of pure tea tree oil and topped to the top with water. I put it on every morning before school and in the summer before we go out to repel midges! So far no more nits!

HavelockVetinari · 07/09/2019 21:37

Bring it up with the preschool. It sounds like there's a kid whose parent(s) are neglectful and don't bother treating their child. Could the school nurse do a check and send letters home? When I was at primary there was a similar situation, the school nurse came in 3 weeks running and it ended.

Jubba · 07/09/2019 21:44

Sounds really weird. But stop washing his hair. Get it down to once a week. Live love clean hair

Also don’t use chemical stuff. Olive oil and a bit comb. That’s all you need

Also. I form the pre achool. I wouldn’t change. But I would pester and pester till something was said.

VolcanionSteamArtillery · 07/09/2019 21:47

If your not combing daily for at least a fortnight after you've found the last adult the most likely reason is you're not actually getting rid of them all.

No you cant always see them in the hair. Especially the eggs and babies at the top of the neck/bottom of the skull area.

Treatments are rubbish. You need to comb religiously with conditioner daily for at least a fortnight after the last nit is found.

Sunshine93 · 07/09/2019 21:51

From a safeguarding point of view the pre school should be acting if they have a child in their care who is permanently lice ridden and not being treated.They may have acted but I would agree you need to alert them and raise your concerns. It's a clear sign of neglect. I would actually go further if they don't respond with something I am satisfied with and contact ss. There is a child at that pre school who is being neglected. You can't be sure ss know about this.

Soontobe60 · 07/09/2019 21:54

The life cycle of a louse is 6 weeks. I would suggest that your DS is just not clear of them after one treatment. He needs to be comb d daily for at last 6 we ks to break the cycle.

Soontobe60 · 07/09/2019 21:56

The OP does not know if there is only one child with lice. It's almost impossible to determine who's infecting who as they'll all be passing the lice on to each other.

Ylvamoon · 07/09/2019 22:06

OP, how long is your DS hair? Because the best way to get rid of them is plenty of conditioner, nit comb and hair straighteners! This will fry the little buggers and make his hair very smooth and harder to hold onto!
Good luck, I was on a war path all through primary school with DD - at some points it was more about staying on top of the problem rather than eliminating it. Shock

Mamapop1 · 07/09/2019 22:13

The preschool would be able to send a directed letter to the parent/carer of a child they knew/suspected, but often as pp highlights the parents must know and don't do enough/anything to get rid of them.

We've been lucky, eldest is 6, been in childcare/school near continuous as I was working mum and we've only had 2 occasions. 1st got the git before it laid eggs, second got all the eggs before they hatched. He has fairly long hair, but we conditioner and nit comb once a week when in school and when he came home with them we combed (and picked the individual eggs on the first 2 sessions) every day for 3 weeks.

Every school/childcare setting gets them, it's luck of the draw if a) the parents treat them and b) if the lice like your child or not.

I wouldn't bother moving provider for it.

Xxx

GreenTulips · 07/09/2019 22:32

Buy neat tea tree oil it’s £3

Add to shampoo and apply near daily a few drops and comb - the smells goes in a few minutes

Don’t waste money on tea tree added shampoo

LittleGinBigGin · 07/09/2019 22:34

Ah op I feel your pain.

Dc1 was almost permanently riddled with them for 2 years. I’d just get rid of them and boom I’d be back to treating and combing again!!!

Eventually we found out which children (siblings) who kept on passing them on...apparently their parents didn’t think it was worth more than one treatment, in 2 sodding years!!!!! Unfortunately I couldn’t do anything with the information as school were aware! And not overly interested in doing anything about it.

Only time we were nit free was over the summer holidays and Christmas holidays.

I spent an absolute fortune on treatments. In the end I gave up and just used cheap conditioner and a comb, I used to have to comb 4 x a week on both children who’s hair was half way down their backs it took hours. I also used some cheap spray from £1land it was some kind of tea tree stuff not that I actually think it helped just made me feel better.

Luckily we have now moved schools and neither of mine have had them since.

JustOneLastThing · 07/09/2019 22:41

DS was getting them from a child as his holiday care so that was fun! In the rndi rang them and they dealt with it- the parents treated patient 0 and almost immediately life got a lot easier.

Stuff that helped:

Short hair cut
Combing every day at least once with conditioner and the nitty gritty comb
Using hair gel and hairspray on his hair before school/holiday care
Using vosene shampoo
Teaching moaning DS not to touch heads with other kids.

A combination of these helped us to de-nit our house. Good luck OP

pretentiousrubberduck · 07/09/2019 22:49

The only thing that stopped my child recatching them (after spending weeks combing everyone's hair with a nitty gritty comb and cheap conditioner) was mixing tea tree oil with water and spraying it on his head every morning before school. That was 3 years ago, and even when there are outbreaks at school he doesn't catch them.