Are nits "a normal and expected part of childhood"?

[ghosty]

This is my second AIBU thread this week
Until 8 weeks ago we have never had nits (I never had them as a child and I never had them in 10 years of teaching). DD brought them home 8 weeks ago. Mortified (possibly unnecesssarily), I treated the whole family immediately and I rang my friend who we had spent the day with that day to tell her. She said that nits were a normal part of childhood and that her children have them 'all the time'. She was very blase about it. She said she never uses chemicals on her children's hair and when she notices nits she combs olive oil through for a couple of weeks and eventually they go.
I was a bit shocked and said that I didn't see nits as a normal part of childhood. Anyway, DS came home with nits yesterday . Again I treated us all last night but I was wondering:
a) now we have had them will we ever get rid of them or is that it?
b) Is my friend right and am I over reacting to be so disgusted and mortified
c) AIBU to be a bit reticent about seeing too much of my friend's kids now?

[SlartyBartFast]

aah, thanks oi adminstered

[SlartyBartFast]

ovex

dont think i will do the torch thing though

[oi]

lol you know you want to .

First time I got them (was horrified), I tried to do some very odd manoeuvre with a mirror and a torch and some strange positioning. Dh came home and I looked at him with pleading eyes and he said 'in marriage, with some things, you have to keep the mystery' .

hope it sorts you out soon. Don't be alarmed if you get an itchy resurgence after you take the first pill. Sometimes they do that (eww). Don't forget to take the second dose, I think it's 2 weeks later (can't remember!).

[TsarChasm]

'It's like a total household curse! Itchy arse and loads of housework' ROFL...except I wasn't then. It's everything you hate all at once. Very depressing.

No you can't see the eggs, but it pays to keep fingernails short and v well scrubbed.

Eggs are too small to see but they are often in dirt, sandpits, and unwashed salad and fruit. But then I read you can breathe them in ffs.

I'm tempted for us all to wear masks like Michael Jackson's family. I wonder if it was worms and not the privacy thing that started him off down that road

(DON'T GOOGLE WORMS! I did...oH MY GOD)

[bloss]

Message withdrawn

[ghosty]

Yes, we have a worm treatment here called combatrin (or something like that) - chocolate squares that taste yummy ... we have had worms (3 year ago) and I was just as disgusted with them as I am with the nits. It was a great cure for nailbiting for DS though ...

[TsarChasm]

There ought to be a sash of badges you can earn as a mother. A bit like being in the Brownies but on a gross scale.

[ghosty]

LOL
I have my worm badge
And now my nits badge

I also have my 'Catching Vomit In My Hands' badge

[TsarChasm]

Wear them with pride!

[jellybeans]

I have never had nits and was mortified when my kids got them. They are gross and take forever to get rid of and then come back. Takes sooooo long to do hair properly, especially girls with long hair. Also, some kids always have nits and the parents don't have time or inclination to treat them so the kids get them bac again. Treatment is vrey expensive also. GRRRRRRRR!!

[gagarin]

ghosty - you don't have to pick the eggshells out of the hair unless they show and make you feel yukky.

The nit comb is to get rid of the headlice not the eggs shells.

That is why you have to keep doing the conditioner/combing thing as the unhatched eggs keep hatching for a while.

The unhatched eggs are dark and close to the scalp - they need the warmth of the head to hatch.

The hatched eggshells are white and are harmless but unsightly.

So live headlice means "you have nits".

White eggshells stuck firm to the shaft of the hair do NOT mean you have headlice. But def means you HAD headlice!

The chemicals do not get rid of white eggshells.

[mumeeee]

Yes nits are a normal part of a childs life. It is not good to treat them with chemicals every time. Doing what your frind does is fine although using conditioner is better as it is less greasy.. Also don't treat the whole family if they all actually have nitsas nits become imune to the treatment if you do this.

[ChoChoSan]

Nits are a complete irritation to children, they are distracting, uncomfortable, and make children feel 'lousy' often.

Although there should not be a stigma attached

[rubyloopy]

Message withdrawn

[ChoChoSan]

...sorry, mis posted there!

Although there should not be a stigma attached, I think one should not expect children to just put up with it.

[SuziBhoy]

Hi Ghosty

I work as a hairdresser and nits/headlice are so common. And it is true they go for natural clean heads, less likely to go to heads/hair with chemical damage (colour). You shouldnt feel apprehensive about being around the other kids, as once the nits have been treated properly, they r gone. They dont appear from no where they are passed on through contact, and again, once treated they are gone. I wouldnt worry too much.

[hansnava]

oh god i always had nits when i was younger it was like a sunday night tradition for the whole to have that nasty smelling ointment put on their hair.lol.
now my niece keeps getting them. i got my sister a leaflet last time i was at drs and it said never use ointment unless u actually see a nit. just leave conditioner in ur hair and comb through with a nit comb as ointments only kill the live nits they dont kill off the eggs.
also to brush hair with comb everytime u wash hair as no matter how many times u check childs hair if they r playing with other children who have them then they will keep getting them back.

[memoo]

nits are very common and doing the oil or wet combing method is by far the best thing to do. lice are getting resistent to all the chemicals that are in the treatments which is why there are more cases of headlice

[TheSmallClanger]

Having nits is pretty normal, especially at primary age.
Having said that, I never had nits as a child. My mum was always dead proud of that, but I just think now that my brother and I must have been slightly freaky somehow.

[clumsymum]

We had a spell of nearly a year when ds cazught nits, then caught them again, and again.

Like you I was pretty horrified (as I was in a wheelchair during this time, I was having to ask childminder or dh to deal with it, embarrassing)

Tea tree oil was the solution here, some in the last rinse after each wash, and we haven't had an outbreak here for 3 years now. This thread has reminded me to dig out the oil for the start of term next week

Oh and I also complained to the school nurse service, and persuaded them to go into school to do an inspection (for which parents had to give permission, of course), and run a bugbusters class for parents.

[ghosty]

Sigh. I am doing what I can to get rid of the blighters but we are struggling.
Timeline is this: Friday he came home and we saw the nits. I treated us all (with a chemical treatment) that night. On Sunday I found a really good looking nit comb at the supermarket (much better than the one that came with the treatment, that looked more like the 'bugbuster' one). So on Sunday night we washed and conditioned and combed. DD was clear but some dead lice and eggs came out of DS' hair. And then a live crawling (rather large) louse too
I didn't sleep on Sunday night and then in the morning washed and combed his hair again. Seemed clear. Sprayed him with a natural 'nit defence spray' full of stinky essential oils and sent him off to school, thinking, not only will the lice avoid him, he won't have any mates smelling like that .... . I sent a note to the teacher informing her of course.
Anyhoo. Tuesday morning there was a big sign at DD's kinder saying there was a case of headlice so please check your children - so we are not along at least.
Tuesday night (last night) we washed, conditioned and treated them AGAIN - DD clear. BUT DS STILL had dead and LIVE lice coming out .... F**cking HEll! What do I do? Do I send him to school today (it is a late start this morning so he isn't due in for another 45 minutes)? Do I keep him home till they are all gone? Do I wash, condition and comb EVERY night until they are gone and then do it weekly or what??
Eeek .... help ....

[vom]

[Janni]

They are a rite of passage. Our first experience of them happened in Prague, on holiday. That was 7 years ago and I still know the Czech word for 'nit comb' - Hreben na vschee (sp?), since you ask.

In my experience children do grow out of them but you will have a few years of regular nit-combing/head-shaving, whichever suits your situation.

[misspollysdolly]

I fully expect nits to be normal part of childhood. That said, DD is nearly 9 and has yet to have them. Not grubby by any means, but probably only has a hairwash once a week or so. I only recall having them once as a child, during my long hair period - long-haired best friend and I passed them between us for several weeks according to my mum! Anyhow, trying not to get complacent about DD's luck thus far...poised and ready with the nit comb as the new term starts!!

[Guadalupe]

Nits are normal but it doesn't mean they're not disgusting. I hate them. There is one child in dd's class who has them permanently and she happens to be friends with dd.

I keep her hair tied up and check every hair wash. Sometimes there are a couple but that way you catch them before they spread.

It isn't fair on the child really, all the other children know she has them because there are so many you can see them marching along. It looks like the hair is moving. I've spoken to her mother and she says she won't let her comb properly.

[Guadalupe]

There are also some friends that pretty much always have them and we comb that night after visiting. There is usually one!