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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wish people would treat their children when they have head lice?

123 replies

beansmum · 27/10/2009 22:42

ds has had head lice three times in the last month. Each time I get rid of them all with disgusting shampoo stuff and lots of combing and each time I send him back to school and he catches them again. SO annoying.

I asked the teacher if she would mind sending a note out to the parents telling them that someone in the class had them (i.e ds) and asking them to check their kids but she says there is no point as nobody will actually do it.

there is no point to this rant but I am really really tired of the stupid things and wish people would deal with them. I know ds would probably get them again anyway but it's just ALL the time. 3 times this month is ridiculous. Isn't it? Or is it normal?

OP posts:
ParanoidAtAllTimes · 28/10/2009 05:22

What a nightmare! Ds is too young at the moment for head lice but I'm a teacher so get them from time to time- horrid.

3 times in a month is excessive, the school should really send a note home.

YA, of course, NBU!

asdx2 · 28/10/2009 06:09

Hate them but dd hasn't had them since the headmaster started checking each child's hair every half term and sending letters and lotion if he found anything to the parents of the children with headlice.
Nothing like a possible spot check to make parents keep their child's hair clear.

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 06:25

It is a national disgrace that headlice are so common and it is neglectful parenting IMO not to screen and treat your children regularly. I think there is still a lot of ignorance though. you cannot screen effectively on a dry head unless the child has had lice for weeks and is utterly teeming with lice. Typical infestation are around 15 lice and they run fast so very hard to see. You need to screen on wet hair soaked in conditioner and then use a nit comb just to find out if your child has lice. We. Need stronger action on headlice - exclusion from school as is still standard in many other countries, or perhaps cutting child benefit for the worst offending parents

ErnestTheBavarian · 28/10/2009 06:34

I'm in Germany and recently had my first experience of head lice (ds aged 10 & ds 8).

Here you have to notify the school, who in turn notify the authorities and all the parents in the class/school. (this is the same for any highly infectious condition like strep throat, scarlet fever etc)

The child is excluded from school and not allowed to return until they have a doctors certificate stating they are free of lice and nits.

It was a pain, but at the same time, I appreciated the strict measures so we don't have the situation described in OP.

Am always astonished by how much head lice is mentioned on here. Def seems to be a lot worse in ENgland than Switzerland or Germany, based entirely on my scientific mumsnet studies.

crazycat34 · 28/10/2009 06:51

No it's not unreasonable.

My son comes home from school with them from time to time because there's a girl in his class who has them constantly. The parents know who she is, the children know who she is and she knows who she is (so it can't be very nice for her either!)

I screen with conditioner and a comb EVERY time we wash his hair. Time consuming and expensive. Not only that but the treatment is so expensive too!!!

I'm a teacher so I've had them a couple of times - NICE!

It used to be the case that the nit nurse checked you and sent you home. Now we don't have that because of the stigma.

I'm paranoid whenever I go to the hairdressers and get them to check before they begin because i'd be mortified if they got halfway through and then announced without me having warned them first!

phew! rant over!

kreecherlivesupstairs · 28/10/2009 07:16

You are not being U at all. Our dd has them regularly and like someone else posted, she always gets them from the same girl. We don't have the draconian 'send them home' attitude in Switzerland, but I wish we did.
I feel sorry for poor little M, her mother leaves all the messy jobs to the father who is often away on business. this means that M is crawling with lice virtually constantly. He starts the treatment, but she doesn't carry on with it so it's half arsed to say the least.
When our dd does get them, I inform the school nurse and her teacher. A note goes home to the whole class saying that a case has been detected here's the current advice etc. I am not ashamed that she's got them and will hold my hand up that she has. It is her best friend's mother who won't face up to it. GRRRRRR

Marioandluigi · 28/10/2009 07:41

YANBU - my DS has a girl in his class, she also lives on our street, who is notorious for them. I remember my DS once saying to me that she had said that we didnt need to wash all the bedding if you have them (which we did) - you can just turn the pillow over

I feel really sorry for the little girl. I also think the parents are disgraceful for letting it go on.

CybilAviationAuthority · 28/10/2009 07:42

Yes to head lice and a def YES to treating their children for Threadworms too, which are also rife.

FourArms · 28/10/2009 07:50

Actually, (having read lots and lots when the DSs had headlice month before last) I don't think you do need to wash bedding. Still did though.

We're the same - both boys have friends with rife headlice. It makes me and

Fruitbeard · 28/10/2009 08:08

You don't have to wash bedding, this is a myth. A headlouse can't survive away from its food source so unless the bedding is crawling with live ones as you go to put your child to sleep, you do not need to do this.

Earthstar, I hope you're not serious - cutting child benefit? How is that supposed to help?

DD had a recurring headlice problem last year - picked them up at the Thomson holiday club and no matter what we did they wouldn't go. Daily conditioner combing (even with the Nitty Gritty) failed to work and made her paranoid about having her hair combed. We were those 'irresponsible' parents and it drove me insane.

Then, thank God, someone on here recommended nitmix - the lotion and the repellant spray. One comb through and she was nitfree, we use the spray daily (smells gorgeous) and she has remained nitfree ever since, despite several school infestations.

TrinityHasAVampireRhino · 28/10/2009 08:16

we have awful trouble with headlice as there are two very obvious families who do not treat lice ever

or even wash

dd1 just gets them over and over again

colditz · 28/10/2009 08:18

When I was nine I put a louse under the microscope

It lived for 5 hours.

They so can survive away from the food sourse, certainly long enough to be passed on.

DemonBradleySlaysPippi · 28/10/2009 08:43

My dd has started reception and I am dreading her coming home with nits. There was someone with them in her class. There always is though. Could you please tell me how do I check for them? I have the comp, do I have to use special conditioner?
How do I check on myself?

I feel my head is itchy at the thought!
YUK.

I have noticed the relaxed attituted of some parents/friend.

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 10:09

Here is the best way to screen your child - you should pick up even one lone louse using this wet combing method www.nitnurse.org/nitnurse/detection/how_do_you_detect_headlice.htm

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 10:11

"relaxed attitude" is highly antisocial, lazy and neglectful parenting imo

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 10:15

Fruitbeard some parents are just not incentivised to keep their children free of lice, that was my point.

Daily combing does work (and every 4 days is fine instead of daily) - and you can easily tell if and when you are getting new lice transferred from other people this way. I personally think exclusion from school is the way to go, loads of other countries do this.

gorionine · 28/10/2009 10:40

stupid question here. I have only found headlice/nits in one of my Dcs once (have got 3 in the school one of them in year 6 so been there a while).Does that meant that they just do not get them for some reason or that I do not look hard enough, although I must say that when I found them I "knew" straight away what they were. Is it ossible at all to have Dcs that do not get the or am I completely deluded?

I am always when I read about "those family who do not do not treat or even wash", Ok, their Dcs have nits but surely they did not self generate on their heads, they must also have caught them from somewhere as well?. Maybe the solution could be to stop screeming murder when a child had nits pointing the finger at someone else who did not do their parental job properly. surely Earthstar, if someone caught nits after playing with you Dcs who have caught them from someone else themselves was saying "Earthstar is a neglectful parent because her Dcs passed on nits to mine" you would not be too pleased? and might be reluctant to broadcast that your Dcs have nits.

WobblyWench · 28/10/2009 11:58

My dd got them 5 times in as many weeks!! After the 3rd time I complained to the nursery and was accused of not checking her properly!!! and that my DD was more prone as she had long thick dark hair . I demanded they put a note on the nursery door, they did, it said, a very small number of children have head lice, please treat yours bla bla, too little too late. So now, the night before she has nursery, i wash her hair and cake it in a thick cheap conditioner but not quite rinse it all out, this and plaiting her hair has worked well. have found a few eggs when doing regular cheks, so someone is not treating their child. I agree exclusion for the child that has spread them and a weekend of nit lotions for all.

WobblyWench · 28/10/2009 12:01

also, after they blamed me, i disinfected both our bedrooms, bedding and mattresses, I know they aren't supposed to survive out of the scalp, but who knows, how the hell do they get here in the first place?

pumpkinpasties · 28/10/2009 12:02

what hapened to nitty nora? are thy still in school messing childrens hair up?

jeee · 28/10/2009 12:07

I suspect that if your dd has lice three times in as many weeks she's never actually got clear. The only time my kids have had lice was at the start of a summer holiday one year. It took me the entire six weeks to get clear of them (not to mention £80 worth of treatments). And I couldn't blame any other children because they weren't going near other children.

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 13:42

Don't bother with the lotions, just use the combing and conditioner method every 4 days until clear. Each session the lice will become progressively smaller unless you get a new louse from someone else - in which case there will be a big one all of a sudden so you will be in no doubt.

With the combing method your DC cannot pass on lice to others once you have done your first comb as the lice never become large enough to move heads.

I am not at all reluctant to say if my DC have lice. I send an email out to all known contacts. If I didn't then I would be concerned that I would clear my DC and then just get a new infestation again from someone else.

Lotions usually don't work because of lice immunity so using a lotion is mainly useless and ineffective - save your money and use the combing method - once every 4 days is enough. If everyone did this there would be no problem for any of us.

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 13:53

wet combing instructions

TheFallenMadonna · 28/10/2009 13:59

I suspect it was one infestation that wasn't completely cleared too. They are buggers to get rid of sometimes.

PotPourri · 28/10/2009 14:08

My head feels itchy just reading this.

Have heard many people with boys saying they get their heads shaved - problem solved. Not tried this myself though