Sore lips, no lip balm allowed in class - arbitrary rule?

[JellyKingdom]

My DC has woken up with very sore corner of her mouth that hs split. I cannot get her into the Dictors until Wednesday so have dropped in a Nivea plain lip balm for her into Primary School (Y6).

The receptionist said she isn't allowed it in class. She is only allowed it if she goes to to the office to use it. I'm not even sure she can get to the office (through Key Card) doors without another adult so I don't think she has free access to go when needed.

Should she be allowed it in class when her mouth is visibly sore or AIBU?!

Pop some on her before school. Put it in her pocket and tell her to put some in when she goes to the toilet at break and lunchtime. Unless she flashes it around the class, no one will know she has it. The problem with her being allowed it in class is that it will become a “thing” & every other child will be bringing in lip balms. Then they’ll start with the smelly lip balms and the coloured lip balms. Children will be sharing them and trading them. (Sorry. Too
many years working in schools).

Yes- agree with @Funderthighs . She's old enough to be discreet with her lip balm. In a pocket, on when in the bathroom etc. Primary schools are strict with this sort of thing to prevent the crazy and the crazes and the fighting. It's annoying, but understandable.

Of course kids should be able to have lip balm in class, it's not crack cocaine! How ridiculous.

I agree with this

Make sure your doctor tests for B12 deficiency, as cracks in corner of mouth / soreness is a typical sign. With this in mind, don’t try giving your dc B12 supplements or vitamins until after you have had test results back, and doctor has advised of next steps, as taking supplements can artificially boost levels and a deficiency may be missed).

She puts in on before school and during breaks. No biggie.

She'll have to comply fully this time, because she's already been busted.

And if ever needed again in future, if she can refrain from doing whatever it was that led to staff spotting it in the first place, then she'll be able to avoid trips to office

Some people think it's OK to book a doctor's appointment for sore lips? The doc will (rightly) suggest "therapeutic use of time", ie just wait for it to get better of its own accord.

What @Funderthighs said. If it's subtle and occasional use then fine. BUT they hold them in their hands the whole time, show them to their friends when they're meant to be listening, someone else will take a shine to it and take it and then there's a whole drama about investigating and it always ends up being the teacher's fault and complaints to the Head.
Parents who think the school is being unreasonable to 'ban' them aren't looking at the whole picture.

Nip to the chemist and get some hydrocortisone cream or ointment. You don’t need a prescription for that.
Always use in my son as he is not vigilant enough to reapply lip balm and he suffers quite badly. It clears it up a treat. You can also get a lip balm called cortibalm ( have to get from specialialty at shops online) and only need to use that once or twice a day. I use on myself to as someone who suffers with eczema/ chapped lips.

This can be a sign of iron deficiency.

I agree with others to just give her one tomorrow and tell her to be discreet with it.

Re getting to the office, teachers literally hand over their entire ID card with the fob on to get through doors to children who needed to leave the classroom, or at least they did in the school I was volunteering in.

Agree to do it discretely in the cubicle of the toilets at break and lunch, so in her pocket but she doesn't touch it in class. As she is year 6 this should be easier than if she were year 3.

Best thing for sore/chapped lips is lansinoh the stuff you use on your nipples when breastfeeding, it's in a purple tube. DS got into a habit of repeatedly licking his lips and no amount of lip balm worked. Putting that on before bed was really effective

Most sore/cracked lips are due to a combination of environmental temperature changes (i.e. going in and out of artificially heated environments), poor hydration and licking of lips. Lots of lip balms only exacerbate the situation. Make sure she is drinking enough water.

As others said: between classes, during breaks etc. should probably be enough.

Would she be allowed to bring a cream instead of lip balm?

I would go to our family GP and get a doctor´s note for cream or lip balm, if it causes her a lof of pain (more than "just" sore lips)

Yes, you may not have seen this type of soreness before. It doesn't go away with lipbalm and time.

She's had it before so will ask re Iron & B12 but they don't usually class it as Cheilitis and have previously swabbed for thrush.

A few months ago her lips swelled up so much, they were so sore and Dr mentioned not to Google it! They ruled out the scary thing and a Dentist was able to diagnose it as a childhood infection type that IS self limiting.

She's not a big lip licker or drooler so not sure where this comes from, reasonable diet and always a daily multi vitamin but who knows!?!

Have you ever seen primary school kids with lip balm? My DD is addicted to it, she collects them, carts them around in a little bag, shows her friends, gives them away, and spends a lot of time flipping them open/taking the lid on and off/applying and reapplying - honestly, it’s annoying in my own home so 15 girls all doing that in a classroom would just be infuriating.

However as a teacher I’m not searching pockets so one plain lipbalm tucked in a pocket or bag and applied discreetly at breaktime would not be an issue.

I will say any time children have “permission” to do something (apply lip balm, have a cough sweet, have a different drink etc) they invariably flaunt that by making the maximum amount of noise and nuisance of themselves while doing said “allowed” thing while saying loudly “I’m ALLOWED, my mum wrote a NOTE”.

If it's an actual split or crack then lip balm will just trap bacteria/dirt and she risks getting impetigo.

God and we wonder why people can't get appointments for actual illnesses. 🙄

People that don’t have debilitating skin conditions don’t get how much it affects your life. It’s the reason I now have to pay for half of my sons eczema treatment prescribed by his dermatologist due to stupid headlines like NHS pays for skin creams and people being up in arms about it.
Ignore the posters OP.

Blistex is brilliant for sore, cracked lips. It comes in a tiny tube so doesn't look like lip balm. One application lasts several hours. Perhaps something like this would be more effective and also cause less of a problem?

If you use a sunscreen one they generally last longer, as they’re meant for swimming etc.

This is often a combination of a bacterial and fungal infection. I would not recommend hydrocortisone (and you wouldn’t get it if you told the pharmacy it’s for a child’s face). I would recommend a strong, hot salt water clean on it at least twice a day along with perhaps brushing a child’s teeth for them. At this age, she might have loose/erupting teeth that are harder to clean.

For people with dentures who get this, it’s almost always hygiene related. It can be related to vitamin B and I would often recommend a couple of days of hit marmite broth!

Very occasionally it would need a prescription of something.

I had this and it didn’t go away with time, I ended up with a painful infection. This is exactly what GPs are for.

Our school is like this - I just stick one in her bag/coat/cardigan pocket. She just puts it on as and when she can. Nobody has taken it off her - yet!

Also - could you maybe pop a bit of hydrocortisone cream on it before she goes to school? Might just give it a little nudge to heal it quicker

Try getting some vitamin e capsules. Break one open and apply the oil as often as possible. It is great for healing skin.