To think this child should have been kept off school (nits)?!!!

[WiseFinch]

I am a teaching assistant and have been working with early years this week. Child informs me that they had “fleas in their hair” and had to have special shampoo last night.,
My first reaction was to keep a wide berth but this is absolutely impossible with a 4 year old.

Through the course of the day, it is very clear that this child still has a raging case of nits and is itching their head - and also hanging off me every five minutes for a cuddle… This was two days ago and now my head is itching. I did not have close contact for very long and it wasn’t head to head, plus my hair was up, but I’m now absolutely paranoid I’ve got nits - and I’m sure they’ll be going around the whole class as we speak.

I am new-ish to this job and don’t have kids myself, but surely you should keep your child off until all of the nits are gone? It’s not a case of neglect here, family are well to do and are quite nice people! So I am fully prepared to be told IABU. What does everyone think???

We never had nits as kids. I learned from DN that they wash out with loads of conditioner, and suspect that is why. Mum was a bit ahead of her time on the hair care stuff. Nit comb if you're a direct risk or actually have them. DS has never caught them, so being a boy with short hair is also a good deterrent. As you can't quickly become a small boy, I recommend tons of conditioner and use a nit comb tonight before any lay eggs. Do not wash out conditioner until after the nit comb. Remember it could be psychosomatic where you're itching but have nothing, so don't injure your head by over-combing!!

If you don't have a nit comb nor nearby pharmacy, ask your local/street facebook/whatsapp group, they are so cheap and people will recognise the urgency to be happy to pass on.

Lol at keeping kids off school for lice. It's just part of the primary school process I'm afraid.

From DD1 starting primary to DD2 entering Y4 8 years later nits were a constant part of our life. I'd wash and condition and comb and comb and they'd be clear and then a month later they'd be reinfected. In the end I just surrendered and nit combed after every hair wash as a matter of routine.

i had one fabulous electric nit comb that frazzled any nits or lice it encountered. That was very satisfying.

I was a teacher . Nits never got into my hair despite also having 2 children of my own who repeatedly had them. I did get worms regularly and a child gave me scabies when I was on teaching practice. Keep your hair up and invest in a nit comb so you can check your hair regularly.

When combing my kids, I started with behind the ears and the hairline at the back as that’s the warmest bit of the head so most likely to be infected.

Buy tea tree oil from the chemist and put it in your shampoo and conditioner. It keeps them off.

Also, try the Avon skin so soft - spray it on dry hair and comb, hair isn’t greacy ant it washes out really well.

They will all have worms constantly . And so will you. Get some pills for threadworms so you can treat yourself as soon as your bum itches.

If you work in a primary school then a good nit comb is essential! Just brush your hair through morning and night and do this on a regular basis.

I have twins in the same class and one twin always gets nits and the other doesn't. Oddly the sainsburys own brand nit treatment worked the best.

As long as the nits are being treated then that's fine. The teacher should phone home and check, and also send a message out asking ALL parents to check their child's hair.

I teach in a secondary school and once had to send a Y7 child home whose hair was crawling with nits. They had clearly had them for some time and the parents were too busy to notice.

Every time nits get into our house it's about 10 days to clear. Can't keep kids off school for 10 days!

Lock down was a prime time to get rid of nits - if every parent had treated their child - we could have erridaticated the vile things.

Some children never get clear and are always crawling - in one school I worked in - we were not meant to tell parents we could see the nits - as it was 'against the pupils rights'.

I used to show the parents and ask them to treat them.

I got nits off a child once - and told my OH (who kept checking my head).. he could never find any.. went home to my mums - and said 'I can feel them - here... here... here.." and each time she pulled a juicy one off my head! Same partner could not find them on his own kids either..

If you use t-tree shampoo it can deter them from finding you.

I agree.

You sound very young and dramatic 🤣😂 It’s nits, not gonorrhea!

No. It’s not a sick day for lice and this child has told you her mum treated her with special shampoo so she doesn’t have lice to give you…

In one school I worked in, I could see them walking around in a blonde head of hair. In another school I worked in, they were falling onto the child’s sweatshirt.

As above they can only pass by touching hair to hair. Tie your hair back at school and keep your head away from theirs. Get a nitty gritty comb (costs about £10 but lasts forever). Use it on wet hair once a week with regular conditioner to check for nits (takes 2 mins). If you see any, comb through carefully every day or every other day until you don't see any. Repeat ad nauseam. Don't bother with treatment shampoos they are not necessary and get expensive.

Some parents don't treat so it is definitely an occupational hazard and they will go round the class over and over. Most schools will send home a letter to the whole class saying please check and treat if necessary but they can't make people do it.

Oh do back off. Young TA has no experience of nits - big deal. She's got time to learn all about kids' disgusting conditions.

OP, if there's any reassurance, I was forever de-nitting DD in primary school, I never caught them off her, it's not a given that you will.

Nits are a nuisance but wait for the threadworms - they'll be along!

When my DC was at school we had a letter every week. It would have been cheaper and less admin to send a letter out when there were no nits.

We're told to keep our kids off school if they're found to have nits (Small village school in Spain, if thars relevant), which I think is a bit extreme like others have said.

Also, is it just me whose head starts feeling itchy the second the words "nits" is mentioned?

My children never had threadworms and neither have I, despite having been a playgroup leader and primary teacher for 25 years! Not sure why.

Threadworms are much more of a nuisance and we had to treat the whole family frequently when mine were in primary. (It's just a tablet but then you have to disinfect your house/wash bedding etc as well to avoid reinfection)

Kids are disgusting. If their bum itches they'll scratch it. Then they'll touch every thing in the classroom as will you and other children. You pick up eggs this way. If you or other kids put your fingers in your mouth eg eating/nail biting/picking teeth etc you swallow the eggs and get worms.

Wash your hands a lot and try not to put your hands in your mouth is the way to avoid them.

In the 1980s my kids were in primary. At that time a Nit Nurse was employed (I'm sure that wasn't her official title) who went round every primary school and checked heads.

Every single kid who had nits was excluded until it had been treated. In those days we also had to remove every egg from their hair before they were allowed back in after the Nit Nurse had checked them again.
I still remember the desparation when they found an egg and you had to go and do it all over again 😭

It made no difference - a couple of weeks later and they were back again. I guess this is why they don't bother now.

School doesn’t allow children to be off due to nits . Thankfully none of mine had them until
now , fingers crossed . Put tea tree oil in your shampoo , it’s repellent.
i agree with you by the way , just saying school won’t

Mine were always getting headlice from the same child. The mother would only use natural products 🧐🙄

the kids was crawling all the time, imo it was basically neglect. She should have been sent home and not allowed to come back until they were cleared. It wasn’t fair on the other kids constantly getting them

You can get anti-nit shampoo.

Yes to the Nitty Gritty comb.
It was about £10 when I bought one and it is still lurking in the bathroom somewhere ( DC are adults now )
Long spiral tines not the little plastic ones .

When you use it , section the conditioned hair , go down the length then go up from the roots to the ends .

Nits are the empty egg case (white)
Head lice are the insects themselves
The eggs are dark brown and cling to the hair shaft like glue (which is why you comb down and up)