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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:
KingCanuteIAm · 14/05/2009 12:23

MrsSchadenfreude HEDRIN DOESNT WORK
Seriously, it does not kill eggs IME and it does not even always kill the lice, also it is not an insecticide, it smothers then and it is known for causing reactions on the scalps of children who have repeated use becasue it covers the skin in a layer of silicone so the skin cannot breath.

Prioderm, and the like, often do not work as many lice are immune these days through overuse.

Nittygritty combs do not get eggs out - even of my ds's thick hair so I have to remove them by hand from all my children, people believing that they do often leads to "re-investation" actually it is not it is just that you didn't get rid of them properly in the first place..

Yes they are disgusting, yes they are a PITA, no it is not the end of the world and no it is not caused my middle class parents with their conditioner, it is caused by parents who do not treat at all - every school will have one, sometimes every class will have one.

gardeningmum05 · 14/05/2009 12:23

tea tree oil does work, but dont try it on sensitive skin. my poor daughters head bled when i tried it on her

MillyR · 14/05/2009 12:27

Having had a quick google of this topic, it seems that no method is totally effective. Wet combing and lotions are about as effective as each other and only work about 60% of the time.

So the reason that headlice keep coming back is that there is no method that absolutely ensures they will go. All this blaming of other parents is pointless.

ramonaquimby · 14/05/2009 12:28

wet combing with cheapo conditioner and using nitty gritty comb absolutely does work

for us

andiem · 14/05/2009 12:29

the other problem is resistance of headlice to the chemicals in the lotions
wet combing can work but it needs to be done correctly for the whole 2 weeks in order to break the life cycle of the head lice
we have a huge problem at our school as well but the school tbh do not do much or provide much info for parents

purpleduck · 14/05/2009 12:29

milou thats what I do too

Gorionine · 14/05/2009 12:32

MillyR, belated thank you .

idranktheteaatwork · 14/05/2009 12:35

Gorionine, it's the eggs that can get onto the bedding and then back onto the hair if you see what i mean.

Gorionine · 14/05/2009 12:45

Ok, I understand better now.

I will come on here next time I have any worry about nits instead of wasting a trip to the chemist.

Original poster
nix72 · 14/05/2009 13:01

I agree that humiliation of children is not right but schools are reluctant to get involved. If the health authority were involved in screening they could recommend the most effective treatment at the time as many over the counter treatments don't work as the lice have become resistant, and many parents don't know that they can get it on prescription, so just don't bother. I know having headlice is not a matter of life and death, but it isn't nice. The origin of "feeling lousy" comes from having them. Do we want are kids to be constantly subjected to having them and being blasted with chemicals?

OP posts:
milou2 · 14/05/2009 13:28

Maybe the adults in the household have them too and don't know how to get rid of them for themselves either. Having the confidence to know what to do and be able to enjoy doing it must make a big difference. I'd feel so helpless if I didn't know how to deal with nits.

milou2 · 14/05/2009 13:30

Yep. When I got them first I found out what feeling lousy meant, sort of hair crawling, yuk, and worried about what on earth to do and not being able to get away from my head either, walking to school and talking to people as usual all the while thinking what now??

norksinmywaistband · 14/05/2009 13:35

My DD is due to start school in Sept, and in the pre starting gumpf, Is a letter to sign saying we agree to basic first aid and headlice checks - some schools obviously still check regularly to make sure untreated cases are noted

hifi · 14/05/2009 14:09

dd class, reception have permanent head lice prob because of two particular children. all mums talk about it and theres no shame. dd hasnt had them but i think theres going to be an uprising if the mother responsible doent get rid of them.

KingCanuteIAm · 14/05/2009 14:18

Hifi, we had a similar situation years ago with parents saying they would "tell her" if she didn't get rid and so on, in the end they did nothing though and it was not until a couple of years later when the after school club took me to one side and asked me if I could sort her out as she was coming to mine for a sleepover that something was done. I had to ring the parent and ask if I could do her hair as the club had noticed. She almost took my hand off because she hated doing it so much. Of course they came back as one time is not enough.

I don't think the parent did not care she just found the task overwhelming, it was quite sad actully.

katz · 14/05/2009 14:18

we had a bout of head-lice and due to dd2's skin condition we chose to use conditioner and comb, every night for 2 weeks i sat and combed their hair removing any of the offending blighters! it is effective and is the only option for us, but you have to divide the hair up and do small sections at a time, clearing the comb in between, it takes time but it worth it.

MummyDragon · 14/05/2009 14:21

To the OP (I think!): it's a myth that headlice only like clean hair!! There's a child in my son's class who has filthy hair (it smells) and he is constantly infested with nits. Poor little thing. The parents just shave/clipper his hair, rather than treating the lice.

Interesting to see that some school do check for the little blighters. I'm sure that part of the reason schools don't send kids with lice home is that so many kids have working mums these days, who can't just take time off willy-nilly (but that's a whole other thread ).

Please excuse my terrible grammar in that last sentence

sunnydelight · 14/05/2009 14:29

Our school's written policy is "children with head lice will be sent home and asked to remain at home until the problem is dealt with". Don't know where the buggers go but we don't have a nit problem!

hifi · 14/05/2009 15:01

thats a good ides sunny, will suggest that.

islandofsodor · 14/05/2009 20:39

It took us months to get rid of headlice on me and dd.

I first tried an insecticide type shampoo, didn;t work. Tried Headrin, didn;t work, tried electronic zapper comb, didn;t work.

We finally suceeded with the old fashioned method of toothcomb and conditioner every night.

Dd and myself have awful reactions against a lot of shampoos.

Sidge · 14/05/2009 20:54

Nits and lice are a societal problem not a health problem.

sunnydelight your school is acting illegally - children can not be excluded from school for having headlice.

Children don't usually get repeated infestations of headlice - it's usually the case that the original infestation wasn't cleared properly. This explains the life cycle of lice and you can see how hard it is to clear an infestation even with treatment, as they are hatching all the time:

The head-louse life cycle (egg to adult) requires about 21 - 27 days on the human host. Each adult female deposits anywhere from 50 -150 eggs (nits) during her lifetime. Nits hatch in 5 - 9 days. Nymphs (immatures) moult three times before becoming sexually mature adults. Young and adult head lice feed on blood several times a day. The adult stage can live approximately one month (30 - 40 days). The head-louse life cycle (egg to adult) requires about 21 - 27 days on the human host. Each adult female deposits anywhere from 50 - 150 eggs (nits) during her lifetime. Nits hatch in 5 - 9 days. Nymphs (immatures) moult three times before becoming sexually mature adults. Young and adult head lice feed on blood several times a day. The adult stage can live approximately one month (30 - 40 days).

That was taken from the Stafford report which is considered to be the definitive report about head lice. It's actually worth a read as it explains why treatments do and don't work, and all about head lice.

kitbit · 14/05/2009 22:14

Our school is the same as Sunnydelight's - a note goes out to everyone saying the buggers are back and please check, and if a case is found the pupil is taken to reception immediately and the parents called to come and collect them. Once a term they send a note out to say the following week the school nurse will be checking everyone. We've only had 3 cases this year in the whole school so it must work.

kitbit · 14/05/2009 22:16
kitbit · 14/05/2009 22:19

Sidge, I guess it might be illegal in the UK but here in Spain it's the written policy of the school and is supported by the parents. A parental consensus has determined that all parents would prefer this way than having lice going round and round the school. A bit more democratic possibly! Also better for the school in the long run as pupils are not plagued by them and suffering the consequences (sleeping badly, continuous scratching, distraction, irritability etc)

AmpleBosom · 14/05/2009 22:27

Why do people think that looking for headlice is an effective use of a qualified nurses time?

It doesn't work!, you'd think that with Baby P etc that people would understand that school nurses are spending the majority of their time working with vulnerable and at risk children and young people - and believe me that is ALL they have time to do.