nits, lice ---- am i overreacting?

[Mimsy2000]

my 2 year old has lice and now i do as well. i'm pregnant and thought my head itching like mad was 'hormones'. now i know why and i'm horrified.

i know lice is common in schools, but a 2 year old in nursery!?!? doesnt' that seem a bit young and does it say something bad about the nursery? i'm trying not to go off the deepend, but it makes me feel like it must be a dirty place that needs better hygeine practice. honestly, makes me want to pull him out....

It doesn't say anything bad about the nursery other than that there is at least one child there who has picked up head lice from somewhere and that that child has touched heads with your child at some point. Head lice are nothing to do with hygiene at all. Two is fairly young, but that's because under-twos typically have baby hair that head lice can't get a good grip on (or something like that... anyway, two is about the youngest you'll come across head lice)

Port and Lemon is right. Nits are everywhere, on the clean and the dirty.

Port and Lemon is right. Nits are everywhere, on the clean and the dirty.

The little ones pick it up from their school age brothers/sisters/cousins etc, their parents (like you) don't expect them to get headlice at this age so they don't check. Hats get mixed up at nurseries, children play close to each other. It's probably not the hygeine that's at fault. You'll have worse to come, D&V, chicken pox... it boosts their immune system.

you are over reacting.

dd2 caught headlice at a few weeks old.

put laods of kids together in one place and there will be lice.

Head lice is nothing to do with hygiene. Now threadworm is another matter . I agree it is probably from another child at nursery who has caught if off an older school aged sibling. Don't fret about the nursery unless you have other concerns. DO tell them ds has had them so they can let other parents in his class know so hopefully they to will check and treat. Don't worry the nursery will do it annonymously, you won't be "named and shamed"

thanks for your thoughts. i always loved my little one's full head of hair. now i see the downside!

i'm dripping in hedrin as we speak and boil washing every piece of linen in my flat. this is living;-)

You don't need to boil wash linen.. The headlice can't survie of the head, you can't catch them from bedding/towles/hats etc. Just treat everyone in the family and inform the nursery. Regularly come ds's hair with a nit comb a couple of times a week to keep an eye out for them.

These are the things people omit to tell you when talking about parenthood

I only posted about this at the weekend when I discovered dd1's hair crawling with adult lice and was mortified. Several MNers recommended a nittygritty nitfree comb which I bought and it's bloody marvellous, removing the eggs with ease, which the little plastic combs simply didn't touch. Am now a total convert and will continue to use the comb every day for another couple of weeks (though there is literally no sign of anything now) and then once a week thereafter to make sure that we keep the little critters at bay. Good luck!

It isn't dirty. They don't care how dirty or clean a head is.

You don't have to boil wash bedding or anything like that. Just wet comb with a nit comb and conditioner every other day (or every 3 days) for 2 weeks and your child will be fine.

I'm guessing it is your first child......you'll get used to head lice!

yeah, just when you think you are out of the woods, up they pop again. You have to make sure you always check, because these little buggers always come back, although it has been a while since dd has had a red letter home from school - hope I haven;t spoken too soon. I always tie dd's hair up now, but if they want to get in, i am sure they will . Agree it is nothing to do with hygiene, apparently they love clean hair!

Combing plus conditioner. Best thing for headlice. I wouldn't use hedrin etc.

The nittygritty comb is fantastic (although it can be a bit painful for small heads- I still use it on ds3 though).

After you've cleared them, check once a week with the comb and conditioner.

yes martianbishop, my first. i was just starting to feel rather smug and in control of the whole parenting thing too;-)

i'll give the comb a go too. i just panic bought the hedrin b/c i wanted them dead. i was thinking chemical bomb over softly softly in my state of panic.

softly softly can work better with headlice though. (Actually its not that soft, the nittygritty is serious equipment )

I second the nittygritty comb and conditioner for weekly checks. The one week I didn't do a nit check my dd got the little horrors! If you use their website the stuff comes the next day too in my experience.

any sort of conditioner ok?

any conditioner, don't spend much on it!

Lots of conditioner is the key, particularly if your child has curly hair. Sit them down with their favorite Cbeebies prog and comb away

DD came home from nursery with nits at least three times when I was pregnant with DS. They are a fact of life.

as they get older, and tend to have less 'head to head' contact they don't get them so often. DD had them loads of times, but she hasn't had them for years

And don't forget that the whole family has to be nit-combed. No point in getting your lo nit-free if he's constantly catching it back off his Dad.

very quickly, the nitty gritty comb will become your new best friend

it is fantastic!

I use a cheap condition with Tea Tree Oil, apparently they don't like it.... It's amazing just how many parents DON't admit an attack of the nits.............probably why these are so prevalent.

a follow-up - i went to nursery with ds yesterday and told them about the nits. they said they had never had nits before. i find that rather difficult to believe

anyway - thanks for all the info.

General info. for Scottish mums here if you register kids with a community pharmacy, headrin if one of the treatments the pharmicst can issue a percription to the kids for and at £12 a bottle and having to repeat treatment a week later it is a big saving.

You're being silly. Lice are not caused or spread by dirt or poor hygiene, they are caused by children. You caught them from your child didn't you? Well, is he dirty?