Is it inevitable to get used to head lice in the UK?

[OlyaR]

Hi there, I've got a daughter who is 10 months old, and recently one of NCT mums whose baby is already attending the nursery dropped a message in our chat that they are going to buy some shampoo that can delouse her son because he picked up head lice in the nursery. At first, I thought it was a joke, I'm from overseas and where I grew up head lice are so rare because when it happens and the child is seen with head lice the nursery/ school will inform the parents and the child will be allowed to continue only after their hair is clean from it. No one tolerates head lice, so I'd say they nip it in the bud. I can't imagine that other parents would put up with the situation of someone in the class infecting the whole class because the parents are okay with it.

Why are people so relaxed about it here? I've got long thick hair, it's a nightmare to think that I need to have it myself or my child will have it. I accept that this can happen but I find it hard to understand why do people keep saying that it's only head lice, not a big deal. So pity, because I love UK, its people, and nature but I don't know if I can accept it. I realize that for someone it may be ridiculous what I'm writing but my husband and I still can't get over the shock that people treat head lice normally and even make jokes about it.

So my question is, is it possible to find a nursery/ school that will take the head lice problem seriously and not allow spreading it ? I know that nit nurses are in the past but I'm sure measures can be taken ( excluding ) + I truly hope that there are such parents who agree with me and also take it seriously.

The world has changed, OP. 1 in 5 flights in the world starts or ends in the UK.
Millions upon millions of people, all moving their headlice and bedbugs around.

I hate nits. But I'm resigned to dealing with them regularly. Perhaps a childminder or nanny is a better setting for your children. Good luck

Nits seem to be getting more prevalent. I never had them as a child (in the UK) and I don't remember anyone I know having no them or notes coming home from school.

My daughter has had them once or twice from her naice private prep, but I would say parents are pretty good at treating them and breaking the cycle. Difficulties arise when your kids are in a school or nursery with parents who don't treat their kids so they keep getting passed round and round.

So my question is, is it possible to find a nursery/ school that will take the head lice problem seriously and not allow spreading it ?

I highly doubt you will find a school that excludes children until head lice have been treated. They wouldn't want the effect on their attendance figures.

I think the point was that kids aren't/weren't allowed back to school until it had cleared

This is an interesting thread, because I was discussing this with my colleague not so long ago- and we think that nits seem to be a much less common issue in school than they used to be.
are we better at checking hair in general? Is it because of things like hair straighteners killing any off ? Is it our school rule of all long hair must be up ? or is it our school is an anomaly lol
maybe it’s because we generally treat with chemicals now that kill very quickly ( I remember my mum combing for ages daily getting rid of nits and I always seemed to have them . Suppose it’s very easy to miss a few and then your never rid of them)

has anyone else noticed that trend?

I check all my dc thoroughly every day mon- fri . Sit them all down with iPads, section off hair Under the kitchen lights by the window so I can see really well and check. They have their hair washed 2-3 times a week and once a week we use conditioner and a nitty gritty to make sure nothing in there

My husband feels the same as you (from Russia / former USSR). I’m not sure OP. But tea tree based spray to repel them has had some effect here.

They are horrid little buggers but they are so common it's going to be hard to avoid. My DC1 got them repeatedly in school, I spent a year on and off trying to get rid of them so I know first hand how annoying it is but it's one of those things, some people don't treat them properly or they are a bit lax but it's not the end of the world.

Interested in this. Do you find tea tree spray in their hair is a good preventative?

While it’s not pleasant to have it’s not “disgusting” and children who get nits aren’t dirty.

Honestly it’s because people in the UK are sometimes lazy and don’t bother to do anything about it.

Schools and nurseries are too scared of the parents to do anything so take the softly softly approach.

Personally I think we need to do better and send the kids home, make them their parents problem until the lazy parents do something about it.

I’ve got three children and we have never had lice. We get a message almost weekly about lice being in school. A few weeks ago the teacher told me she’d plucked one out of DD’s hair which was plaited back. I rushed her home but there was nothing in it whatsoever so it must have hopped on from another child and the teacher noticed it.
We have had worms though but a lot of kids have worms without parents knowing it.

Yes! I was thinking the same!
Why are children allowed i
school with nits? One child will infect so many families, each then having to spend ££ in products and hours to treat.

I know people will say that some parents don’t care so it is not fair on the child but get SS involved then, don’t force 30 other children and their families to suffer the consequences.

I got taken to the hair dresser to have the tightest pulled back plaits in the world, I had two women tugging at my hair (think corn rows that stay in for months)

still got it. It was then that my mum just said no, she’s not sitting next to that nitty child anymore, we have had enough. If patient A is right next to your kid and never getting treated, there’s not much you can do.

I never had them as a child in the UK, although I remember getting letters home from school then my mum would check every day for a couple of weeks.

I now live abroad and my daughter's nursery have had an information sheet about checking for nits up once (in nearly 2 years) but my daughter didn't catch them that time. I've already informed her dad that he's going to be the one treating them if she gets them because they freak me out. I don't think people who get them are disgusting - it's just one of those things - but I can't deal with combing out things that are moving around! Shudder
And now I feel itchy just from reading this thread.

@Msmoonpie schools are not scared of the parents. It's simply inappropriate to exclude children for an easily treated simple condition which isn't life threatening, merely an annoyance. It is not an acceptable reason to exclude a child. And it is out of the child's control as a PP has said.

Also tea tree doesn’t really work as a proper deterrent, we always washed with Vosene and had olbas oil tissues and still got them.

This is bringing back memories of the sound of the comb 😭🤣🤣🤣

I've never had them. And I've worked with children in UK for 20 years! My child (5) with long hair has also never had them 🤷🏻‍♀️

Don’t you find having insects living on your head, drinking your blood and laying eggs and using your hair as a toilet disgusting??

Bluntly it’s because most white people have thin hair that can be deloused fairly easily. If the majority of the population had thick afro / Asian hair then I’m sure people would be stricter. Not taking headlice seriously is basically institutional racism

I'm not in the UK and headlice are still rampant.

How does your home country ensure heads are lice free on return?

What about kids living in neglectful situations? I used to work in a social work area and children would have untreated headlice for years. I often wonder about this one little girl I met and if she spent her whole childhood with them.

IME the problem is that most parents don't understand the life cycle so they don't either

• reapply on exactly the right day if using chemical treatments, to catch nymphs (young lice) who have hatched since the first treatment before they are mature enough to reproduce
• OR
• continue to comb/condition well after they're no longer finding lice, so that stray nits (eggs) do not get a chance to hatch and reproduce.

I am looking at YOU, parents of long-haired child who claimed he 'kept getting nits' when IT WAS THE SAME NITS ALL ALONG

I agree. The reason we have to check so often is due to my dc hair type - its a constant issue at their school and much easier for it to be treated if they are present in white peoples hair

Oh OK, that's extreme! They aren't pleasant to think about, a bit like pinworms! But they don't cause harm as such.

Oh OK, that's extreme! They aren't pleasant to think about, a bit like pinworms! But they don't cause harm as such.