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AIBU?

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Original poster

Bring back the nit nurse!

81 replies

nix72 · 14/05/2009 11:26

Every week this school year my kids have brought home letters regarding headlice in their classes. Some parents are clearly not treating their kids so no matter how fastidious we are about getting our kids nit free, the chances are they will get them again pretty quickly. When I was at school the nit nurse would come regularly and check, and write to parents of those affected. Wish this happened now.

OP posts:
islandofsodor · 14/05/2009 11:28

I disagree. The reasons that nit nurses were abolished was that they found to be inaffective and a total waste of resources.

steviesgirl · 14/05/2009 11:30

I remember the nit nurse too! Never a problem with nits when I was at school. If they don't have someone to check kids' heads regularly then how does the school know the scale of the problem? I disagree with the above poster.

Original poster
nix72 · 14/05/2009 11:31

But the school seem powerless to do anything and it seems unfair that responsible parents invest so much time and money only to go through it all again a few weeks later.

OP posts:
jeee · 14/05/2009 11:32

Think they were a complete waste of money - and worse, they caused massive bullying telling children in loud voices that they had nits. Not only that, they were incompetent. They kept insisting my sister had nits because she had sores on her head. No, she didn't. My mother kept asking them to find the nits, but they insisted that the sores meant she MUST have them. So my mum kept having to treat my sister with highly toxic shampoo. Particularly great given that her sores were actually a sign of undiagnosed liver disease.

I don't like nit nurses.

toodles · 14/05/2009 11:33

When my dd was in her first term in school she got nits. I then, quite innocently, thinking that everybody knew that nits only go to clean hair, started telling the other Mums that my daughter had nits and they should check their children's hair. You wouldn't believe the looks I got, as if my daughter was the dirtiest child in the school.

I also told the teacher so that the school could inform all the parents of her class but she said that school policy was to do nothing. Apparently people objected to receiving letters about nits. Completely crazy. I would be happy to hear that nits was going round so that I could keep a close eye on my children's heads. Crazy world we live in.

MillyR · 14/05/2009 11:33

I got nits in the 70s. They were found by the nit nurse and I was sent home for 2 weeks.

It takes at least 1 week to get rid of nits and eggs using modern treatments. I don't want my children taking time off school for something as trivial as nits. If they catch them, I treat them. It is hardly a big hassle.

MrsSchadenfreude · 14/05/2009 11:36

Never had a problem with nits in last school - parents had to tell the teacher and children were checked by the school nurse before they were allowed back into school. This school, we have nits every other bloody week!

I blame namby pamby middle class parents who don't treat the nits but use tea tree shampoo or combing through with conditioner rather than zapping the fuckers with Hedrin. I tried the conditioner method and got about four out of DD's hair, washed it, dried it, slapped on the Hedrin and found hundreds more.

COMBING THROUGH WITH CONDITIONER DOESN'T WORK

jeee · 14/05/2009 11:36

I also think that many responsible parents treat their children and when, a couple of weeks later, they find nits again, they assume that it's a new batch. It may simply be the old lot weren't killed. My DCs have only had nits once. They got it in the last week of the summer term, but it took me the entire holiday, and 6 or 7 different types of treatment, together with daily nit combing, to get rid of the vermin. I'm sure that if they'd been at school during that time I'd have been blaming other children for re-infecting mine, but it was simply very difficult to actually get rid of the things.

MrsSchadenfreude · 14/05/2009 11:39

Yes, that's quite true, jeee. But the number of parents who refuse to put nit treatments on their children staggers me.

CountessDracula · 14/05/2009 11:40

I think there should be some kind of check
not public humiliation though

I spent half an hour this am combing out nits and eggs after treating dd with hedrin yesterday - this is the second time this term she has had them grrrr

CountessDracula · 14/05/2009 11:41

I think there should be some kind of check
not public humiliation though

I spent half an hour this am combing out nits and eggs after treating dd with hedrin yesterday - this is the second time this term she has had them grrrr

MillyR · 14/05/2009 11:42

I agree Mrs S. The only solution is Hedrin twice (one week apart) and a nitty gritty comb.

Combing through with conditioner is useless. People always say they are treating them, but they are not treating them effectively.

jeee · 14/05/2009 11:42

I completely agree about the namby-pamby solutions. What killed our nits was the old-fashioned, disgusting smelling prioderm. Unfortunately we'd gone through all the other treatments before we got to that one. The kids still talk in horror about the "naughty shampoo". But it did work.

purpleduck · 14/05/2009 11:49

I treat nits in a "namby pamby" type way, as I really really disagree with putting unneccesary insecticides on my children's head.

It IS harder, but how is taking ALOT of time to pull out EVERY SINGLE EGG, and EVERY SINGLE bug, and checking constantly ineffective?

MillyR · 14/05/2009 11:54

Because you can't possibly get every louse and egg out by combing. You can kill all of them with 2 treatments of hedrin, which is not an insectide in the traditional sense. It does not kill by poison; it just has a viscosity which the lice can't live in. It is safe even for breastfeeding women as it doesn't enter the bloodstream.

Gorionine · 14/05/2009 11:55

I have only once found nits on one of my dcs. When I went to the chemist to ask for something to "sort the problem out" I was told that the products available on the market are mostly innefective and that the conditionner and combing were the best way to get rid off them. Maybe if health professionals could all sing from the same sheet it would actually be better!

Can anyone tell me if this is really better than that and why? genuine question as I want to have some RL experience before I invest in somehing that might just be another gadget!

gardeningmum05 · 14/05/2009 11:59

i dont know if its every council but we get hedrin from our local chemist for free. its available for all children 3 months to 16 years, and all children are entitled to it. its not dependant on income. its called pharmacy first.
you get free treatments for head lice, hayfever, high temperature and some other conditions i cant remember. i always keep a couple in and check my daughter in particular daily, the first sign of a little bugger and out comes the hedrin
might be an idea to ask about the scheme in your area, saves me a fortune!

TheCrackFox · 14/05/2009 12:01

DS1 got nits at nursery and I treated with conditioner and combing and it does work.

You still have to comb with Hedrin.

MillyR · 14/05/2009 12:03

Gorionine

In my experience the nitty gritty comb is better because each prong (not sure of correct word) of the comb has been created as a very tiny spiral that you can barely see. This means that the eggs get trapped on the prongs rather than sliding off the end as they do with conventional nit combs.

You can get nit lotion on prescription.

I think the reason that different health professionals give different advice is that there is no agreement on how to get rid of nits, other than it is difficult to get rid of them in primary school age children.

milou2 · 14/05/2009 12:04

The physical removal method has always worked in the past for us. You need good eye sight though and a good lamp or direct sunshine. A good video helps.

  1. Combing with the fine nit comb. Squash each one you find with the back of your thumbnail. If you do this beside the sink you can get rid of them down the plughole.
  1. Using thumb- and forefinger-nails to pull each egg off the hair, or use fine scissors to cut the hair off between the egg and the scalp. Put on sheet of paper then tip into the loo.

Do these every day or couple of days for several weeks. Eventually every time you comb through and look carefully there will be nothing to catch or kill. Voila!

idranktheteaatwork · 14/05/2009 12:04

Actually just using conditioner and a nit comb is an effective method as long as it is done properly and the nit combis either a Nitty Gritty or a double toothed comb. Either of those will remove eggs as well as lice.
My dd has severe psoriasis and cannot have the nit lotions on her head.

She has had nits twice since being at school full time, she is nearly nine.
When she has had nits i do the following;
Comb every day for 7 days with nit comb and conditioner.
Change her bedding, disinfect her hairbrush and change her towels daily for 7 days.
Then do nit comb every other day for 7 days, change bedding every other day as well as towels and disinfect hairbrush.
Then go back to combing once a week (generally every sunday night in the bath) just to check that she is remaining clear.

DSD on the other hand has had constant nits for almost 2 yrs without a break now. Her mother/grandmother use Hedrin etc like it is going out of fashion but because they use a crappy comb and do not change bedding as well as continue the combing she just keeps getting more and more. It has got so bad that the school have now taken to sending her home to be sorted. (she had adult lice crawling across her face )
I treat and comb whenever she is here and change sheets etc but because she is with her mum/granparents for 3 or 4 nights each week the problem is never properly sorted. I got her clear at CHristmas as we had her here for 2 weeks but then when she went home her sisters were still infested so it all starts again.....

I don't know that the nit nurse would be the answer, dsd's mother and grandparents have been spoken to by the school but they still won't do what they have been advised to in order to clear the infestation.

Gorionine · 14/05/2009 12:09

Idrankthelastteaatwork, I was also told by same chemist that there was no need to change bedding as nits, headlice do not survive outside hair envisronment! do I need to change chemist?

bruffin · 14/05/2009 12:10

"Because you can't possibly get every louse and egg out by combing."

Yes you can, thankfully my dc's have not had too many problems with headlice, but I have always been able to clear them through combing. I either wet comb when they wash their hair or dry comb every day which catches them before they are mature enough to lay eggs.

TheCrackFox · 14/05/2009 12:12

"....she had adult lice crawling across her face ."

That is awful.

3njuly · 14/05/2009 12:21

I have found the most effective method (and believe me we have tried a few) is pure tea tree oil sprayed onto the hair while in the bath and then comb hair using a nitty gritty comb. This kills the pesky buggers and teh nitty gritty combs them away. After a few days of this I do the conditioner/nitty gritty combination one day and tea tree oil and comb the next until I am sure they are well and truly out of there.

I think pure tea tree oil is rather harsh on the hair - but it works for us!

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