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Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

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

131 replies

OlyaR · 29/10/2024 11:38

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.

OP posts:
cannynotsay · 29/10/2024 19:03

Just because it didn't happen to you and your circle doesn't mean it makes not a normal thing to happen

photodiva · 29/10/2024 20:56

Never had them as a child, nor did I know anyone who did. DS had them once.

No idea why they are so prevalent nowadays, one thing I wonder is that no one had long, loose hair in my day, always had to have it tied back, plaits or ponytail.

CocoPlum · 30/10/2024 10:00

weathergirl289 · 29/10/2024 17:00

@CocoPlum thank you. I washed it off a few minutes after my last comment and have just completed a very meticulous combing session (with the nitty gritty comb rather than the one that came with the treatment). Absolutely no nits/eggs and no lice came out at all which is making me wonder if my itching might be either psychosomatic or irritated scalp after having had them. Is that possible? Will keep up the regular combing regardless of course.

Yep we all get itchy heads thinking about it (plus I keep combing mine atm just in case as perimenopause has come with a v itchy scalp)!

I used to keep on top of it with nitty gritty spray, long hair tied back, having a little check while the kids were snuggled or sitting near me, combing through when i washed their hair, and occasionally running the straighteners over their hair too.

DD and I would get them from DS though, as I mentioned they were v prevalent in his class and there's little you can do about that.

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GreenTeaLikesMe · 30/10/2024 10:02

The table seating in the UK primary schools probably doesn't help. In some cultures, kids sit in rows and this probably reduces the issue a lot.

BashfulClam · 31/01/2025 20:00

I’ve never had them and don’t know anyone who ever had them apart from my mother when she was young.

Icanttakethisanymore · 31/01/2025 20:03

OlyaR · 29/10/2024 11:51

Unlike me, I don't consider it as a part of childhood, I've never had it myself, and neither did my husband, my sister, and all my friends that I know. For me it's disgusting tbh, having something that is crawling and biting your head truly makes me shocked. Why on earth should people tolerate that someone's kids bring head lice to school and spread it all over?

What does ‘not tolerating it’ look like?

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