Head lice arrrrgghhh

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This is driving me nuts.
Dd1 is 6 and just started in year 2. I was approached by one of her friends parents to ask if she had had nits this term.. Apparently her dd has caught them 4 times from one particular scruffy girl in their class !!
My dd happens to decide this week that this girl is her bestfriend, came home Monday night with a few crawling in her hair. Que me being mortified and treating her hair twice that night !!
I saw the school office the next day, they know this girl is crawling in them but apparently they arnt allowed to approach the parents about this only just send out a generic text to all the parents !!
I checked my DD's hair every night after bath time and she was clear all week (also told her to try keep away from this girl although she doesn't really understand and I know iabu) Friday comes and she has them again... Twice in 1 week. I took the teacher to one side an she confessed that this girl is absolutely crawling in them and they can all see. But again confirms they can't approach the parents.
This is where I stop rambling ! Shall I approach the mother ? Buy her some nit lotion etc ? Or would that be totally out of order ?
I can't bare for her to catch them again it freaks me out !!
I actually feel sorry for the poor girl too :-( it's child neglect.. She's scruffy as it is !!

Headlice eggs take 7-10 days to hatch.

I don't think there is any treatment that kills eggs before they hatch on a 100% basis.

And headlice can get old enough to start breeding in 7 days (according to NHS website).

After getting driven to distraction trying to clear DD's heads I put all that together - and so the only way I've found to kill an infestation is to coat hair in a very effective live lice killer (Hedrin has worked for me but there are alternatives I'm sure) 3 times: 6 days in between the times.

This means you don't get any headlice getting old enough to breed, and you've ensured any eggs around at the start of the treatments have hatched.

Oh and lice can survive for 24 hours off people's heads so you need to wash bedding and clothes every time you treat.

If you don't treat on that kind of pattern, it's very easy to end up getting reinfested because you've missed enough eggs to get breeding going again.

And you still need to comb all the hatched egg cases out.

And you still need to keep on checking weekly if you reckon reinfestation is a potential problem

It is all so veeeeeeeery tedious.

Personally I'm amazed nits aren't even more common...

Each school has its own headlice 'policy'. Each childminder has its own headlice policy - each nursery as well.

As for the post earlier that persistent headlice can be a child protection issue, we learn through child protection training that persistent headlice can be a sign of neglect, just like a child who is not washed, not fed properly, left on their own etc. Persistent headlice is not in itself a child protection issue.

I would discuss the issue with the school and ask to see the school policy on headlice and guidance, remind them of their duty of care for all children, and if needs be ask the school to consider making an exception in this case and contact the parents directly. Personally I wouldn't speak to the other parent.

I discussed it with the school yesterday, they arnt willing to speak to the parent as they have said again its against school policy.. I'm taking really preventative measures now, hair plaited, the shampoo the spray and I'm nit combing her hair every night !!! If it carries on happening it will be head teacher I see next..

I spoke to the teacher about this in my daughters school, apparently it is their policy not to tell individual parents either. Although a friends school sends them home with a note that says they must not return to school untreated so I think it is completely down to the school.

Think it's very brave to speak to the other mother. I wouldn't. Although the mother of the main offender in my daughters class scares the socks off me :)

Persistent untreated headlice absolute raise the possibility of neglect in combination with other factors and therefore thisis potentially a child protection issue. Unless the school raises the issue with the parent they will be unable to fulfill their duty of care in protecting this child. The school should raise this sensitively with the parent and advise seeking medical treatment. If then nothing is done and no treatment is given this is neglectful and should be escalated throughthe schools child protection procedures.
Just to be clear head lice are very common and are NOT per se a child protection issue only a severe persistent infestation that the parent is aware of and that is left untreated would be neglectful and aspects of the wider picture should be considered- cleanliness, clothing, appropriate provision of food, are other medical needs seen to etc.

Exactly Abby - this sadly sounds like one of the situations where the parents concerned are clearly not attempting to deal with the infestation nor ensuring the girl has a basic standard of hygiene

Many moons ago I caught lice from a friends kids. Lotions didn't work but what did was a battery comb (assume I can't say it's name due to MN rules) and it hummed until it hit a nit or an egg at which point it sent a shock out to kill it. Worked a treat and it was for kids. It's still available.

Need one of those moosesue, PM me???

Ohhh and me.. Ill try anything

this sort thing

That's the one! Happy combing all!

Hundreds of pounds?

Yeah, you have to pay to advertise on MN you know. Reported.

I can't believe the school won't intervene. In Oz, it is the law that the relevant parent is notified by the school once their child's condition has been noticed, and the child may only return to school once it has been shown that treatment has commenced. At the schools/ holiday programmes in which I've worked, parents have to show a receipt for relevant treatment products e.g. shampoo from chemist, before the child can return.
This info isn't really helpful to you, op, but I'm amazed that your school is not doing anything about the condition of this child.

1charlie1 that is how is used to be in the UK, "nit nurses" used to come around regularly and actually check for them, if you had them you got sent home. As a child I only ever knew of 1 child ever having them and being sent home as it never got passed round and around and around...

Well an update.. I had a quiet word with the mum who assured me she had treated her daughter.. My dd has since had it 3 more times so obviously not.. I've tied her hair up, been using the vosene shampoo and spray and hairspray. Someone in that class must be crawling !!! I've got a meeting with the head Monday.. I'm not having it its disgusting

and very sad for whoever is infested

I wonder if they are being passed from pillar to post though - I keep explaining to my dd that she MUST tell me as soon as she feels at all itchy otherwise she could be passing it on... hence she gets it back.

I'm quite shocked by this as I would assume that any child who was seen to have nits would be sent home, the same as they would if they had any other infectious illness. My dc was sent home for having conjunctivitis - would your school not inform the parents if it was something like conjunctivitis rather than nits? Can someone explain if there is a difference as it seems the same to me?

God - I'm itching now..... OH thinks I've gone mad as I'm scratching from ear to ear.

Our school would only ever send a letter or email out and we would all diligently check our DC and treat apart from the one parent whose child seemed to be a carrier.

Aside from that, on my Uni course the other day we had a visit from a social worker (we are doing CP) who told us that the smallest piece of information should be reported as it could be the final piece of the jigsaw that they need to decide whether it would be a child protection case or not. We were all a bit as I don't think we had thought about that way. We felt it was way too strong but does make sense in a way.

Maybe talk to the mum again and make a joke of how many times you have to treat before they are gone as she may not realise you are supposed to do it more than once and hasn't caught all of them....

Will you also please talk to social services and have them look into the child. If she is that scruffy and having chocolate biscuits for breakfast this may well be only the surface of a deep problem you are seeing. The mum may need help and the poor children sound like they do anyway. Be brave.