Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

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:

GrimmaTheNome · 28/10/2009 14:16

DDs school expects to be informed if your child has lice, and excludes till after treatment. They then send note home with detection/treatment advice.

Theres only been a couple of such notes all the time DD has been at the school (now in Yr6) and she's only had them once. So I assume compliance is high.

No excuse for either school or parents taking no action.

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 14:22

State school, Grimma?

drosophila · 28/10/2009 14:28

I have a friend whose kid has lice all the time. Like the op the parents got fed up doing all that is required to treat only to get them again. Their response is to do NOTHING now. You can imgine how we react when we get an invite to their house. I have recommended products I see advertised but it all falls n deaf ears.

Would like advice on how to handle this.

heliotrope · 28/10/2009 14:36

Same point as Jeee - if they are 'coming back' weekly / several times in a month, it is the same infestation - just that the eggs that were missed in the first treatment have hatched.
I used hedrin lotion but some got through that. I got rid of them with a few wet combings, it was quite easy, but then ds hair is fair and babylike so quite easy to spot them and get them!

RockinSockBunnies · 28/10/2009 14:42

YANBU! Thankfully, in DD's class, there are no persistent offenders, so DD has only had nits once (and kindly passed them to me - UGH). I did the wet comb thing daily, used tea trea oil and a leave in neem oil conditioner, did my own head daily, fumigated house, threw out pillows etc. Thankfully they went.

However, in DD's old school, there were parents who didn't care about lice, refused to treat their DCs and thus let everyone else risk catching lice. Mind you, one mother shaved all her family's hair off (including little 4 yr old girl), to get rid of the lice, which, I suppose, was one way of treating the problem.

thesecondcocking · 28/10/2009 15:16

it once took me the entire six week holiday to clear dd2 of them only for her to return to school and get them off the kid she sat next to who was WALKING alive.
it's so shit-we resorted to chemicals as i was heartily sick of the kicking,screaming tantrums dd1 did as soon as she saw the nit comb come out...

AtheneNoctua · 28/10/2009 17:29

Good grief. Is this the same school that left him at school while EVERYONE else went on a field trip because they forgot to leave room on the bus for him?

LeonieBooCreepy · 28/10/2009 17:31

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

LeonieBooCreepy · 28/10/2009 17:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

lucieerin · 28/10/2009 18:25

Ugh we have this too.

They send letters to everyone when they notice it in any kids in the class to let them know there's been an "outbreak" but some parents obviously don't care...my eldest was constantly coming home with them and it was a PITA having to re-treat all the time because someone else cba to look after their kids.

This school year we've not had one letter home and I've not found any in his hair - pretty sure it's directly relative that a certain few of the kids aren't in the same class as him anymore...makes it pretty obvious who it was.

lilyjen · 28/10/2009 18:37

I think it's usually the same kids who pass them on all the time. I had a friend who reckoned she'd done 'everything' to get rid of them . Her DD stayed at my house one night and they were practically falling out of her hair! One go of the nit lotion and lots of combing out and she was clear for a few weeks..until the next time... It makes me mad because I see it as lazy parenting. You don't even need nit lotions-if you notice your child scratching and you get combing for a night or two they're GONE! It's when you ignore it that their head begins to crawl..yuck! Why would you let that happen? No you're NOT being unreasonable..AT ALL!!

epiglottis · 28/10/2009 18:47

It takes at least 2 if not 3 weeks to get rid of a headlouse infestation and chemicals will not kill them all. No treatment can kill all lice and eggs in one go, and no nit comb can remove all lice and eggs either - you have to wait for little lice to get bigger before you can comb them out, plus wait for eggs to hatch and for those lice to get big enough to comb out

so about 2 or 3 weeks in total with careful combing every 3 days will do it

if your child has had lice "3 times in a month", you are not getting rid of them all each time - you are getting rid of the big ones and then the little ones are growing bigger and you think they are a new infestation

your child is the one who is not being checked properly and who is passing them to other children

HalfMumHalfZombie · 28/10/2009 19:27

DH works at a special needs school. He never gets lice as does not have luxuriant hair and is v tall so out of range.

However, his classroom assistants, as a precaution put any old conditioner on once a week with a few drops of tea tree oil in it and leave on for 10 mins then comb out with fine comb. I think there is also a shampoo that helps to prevent headlice from Greenpeople. this one. Looks like it contains tea tree oil.

murphylou38 · 28/10/2009 19:57

You could always do what I did... my girls both with thick long locks caught nits repeatedly from school and in the end I told the headmistress they wouldn't be attending until something was done about it in school.

It took a few days and lots of letters home but it got sorted

GrimmaTheNome · 28/10/2009 20:14

Earthstar: no, its not a state school. I don't see why that should make any difference in this case TBH.

Epiglottis,'It takes at least 2 if not 3 weeks to get rid of a headlouse infestation and chemicals will not kill them all.' - I deinfested DD and myself (urghhh I hate headlice, never had them before!) with on;y one treatment of Full Marks. Apparently this is not an insecticide as such but it makes the little buggers physically unable to grip on. I had to wash my hair in Fairy liquid to get rid of it after.

shockers · 28/10/2009 20:45

I've watched them making their way along the shafts of hair as I listen to children read at school. I've seen them on foreheads... I've even been handed one by a child. Children who are renowned for having them have the backs of their heads pointed at in assembly by sniggering classmates. Parents of sniggering classmates tell their kids not to go near the ones who have persistant nits and they tell the poor souls loudly that they are not allowed to play with them and why.
School staff try their best but they can't always protect these kids from comments when the evidence is so visible.
For parents to let it go on is IMO cruel on every level.

Original poster

beansmum · 28/10/2009 21:05

So maybe I didn't get them all? Seriously? I have been checking ds's head every day with the nit comb. The last time I had to treat him I found one louse after about a week of checking every day and finding nothing, I checked really really super carefully but couldn't find anything else, I thought maybe he had just caught that one at school that day but maybe it was a left over one. ew.

Is there anyway to stop him actually getting them? or is it just a matter of dealing with the ones he does get?

I still think the teacher should let parents know if loads of the kids are getting them. You wouldn't necessarily notice them if you weren't looking for them, especially some of the girls with long thick hair.

OP posts:

deste · 28/10/2009 21:06

My DD works in a school and within two weeks of the new term about a quarter of the class had nits/lice. Neither of my children ever had a letter home from shool about an infestation and neither of them had it. None of my friends children had them either. We are in NE Scotland by the way. DD in SE England and there seems to be an awfull lot about. I agree withy the poster who said if you have had nits three times in a month then you haven't cleared the first lot. I was also a hairdresser for eight years and only saw the nits, not the lice once.

AtheneNoctua · 28/10/2009 21:26

There are some preventative products, like tea tree or coconut shampoo/conditioner.

I think there is also a spray you can buy, but can't remember what it is called.

We use coconut shampoo and conditioner... hope it works!

Earthstar · 28/10/2009 21:39

Grimma I don't think state schools are allowed to exclude for lice - that was why I asked. I think they should exclude.

Original poster

beansmum · 28/10/2009 21:44

Apparently,(I'm in NZ btw)...

"National Administration Guideline 1(iii) requires schools to report to parents on matters likely to prevent students from achieving. National Administration Guideline 5 requires schools to maintain a safe physical and emotional environment for students. Both of these guidelines mean a school must take some action in the event that it becomes apparent that children are attending school with headlice.

Section 19 of the Education Act 1989 enables the principal of a school to preclude a student who is not clean enough to keep attending school or may have a communicable disease. A communicable disease is defined by the Health Act 1956 and includes pediculosis (lice)."

so the teacher really should at least let parents know that there is a problem shouldn't she? Send a newsletter home or something?

OP posts:

legspinner · 29/10/2009 07:36

Hi beansmum, I'm in NZ too. My DCs have had nits a couple of times each since they started primary school. Stubborn little buggers, really hard to shift - we had to do some emergency haircuts. Each time there have been notes home from the class teacher, or, if really bad, a note in the school newsletter for all parents to check their DCs' hair regularly. Not that everyone does it, but it does prod a few consciences.

It was particularly bad in my DS's class this year and the class teacher was beside herself as it was so prevalent. She eventually emailed all parents who had DCs in the class in desperation, asking for everyone to be checked (using conditioner / nit comb on wet hair) on the same day, and treated if necessary. Spelling out what we all needed to do, and how, and pleading (!) seems to have prodded most people into action and the persistent lice problem seem to have been knocked on the head (for the moment at least...famous last words...)

Even though your DS may have had one infestation, rather than 3, I am very surprised that your DS's school isn't more proactive. They should be!

epiglottis · 29/10/2009 08:24

Grimma, how did you deal with the eggs and the resulting hatched out lice? Full marks doesn't kill eggs, nor does any other treatment, which is why you have to apply at least one more time to kill hatched out lice

gingertoo · 29/10/2009 08:27

I think that is a huge part of the problem actually. So many families discover the headlice, treat the hair, think they are clear and don't do anything else. If a few little eggs get left behind by this treatmen process, the cycle begins again.

I've found that the only way to keep their heads clear is to do the wet combing after every hair wash. That way, even if the DCs 'catch' a new headlice, it's spotted before it starts laying too many of the ghastly eggs.
It's longwinded, I know, but much easier that dealing with an infestation.

I wonder whether education is the key?
Some parents just don't know how do deal with headlice?
Last summer we had a terrible problem in dcs school. At the end of the summer term, the head sent home a letter asking parents to sort their kids hair over the summer. She also sent a leaflet for each family about headlice and how to get rid of them and a nit comb for each family. It's really made a difference...

lotty321 · 29/10/2009 09:13

My 2 daughters have had headlice on and off,,i have to be carefull what lotions i use as my eldest has astma.I have now been using the NITTY GRITTY comb which i bought at the local chemist £10.It has spirals down each prong which grabs the eggs aswell as lice.I agree they should bring back the nit nurse..

Flip

1 2 3 4 5