'Excluded' for nits - is this acceptable?

[weblette]

Posting on behalf of a friend although ds3 has been 'affected' too.

Ds3's yr1 has a problem with nits - or parents not treating...
Goodness knows I know about it, despite combing all of my four every week, he always has a new adult or five on a Sunday night.

Friend was called by school on Thursday am - "she has nits, come and collect her" - told to take her home for the day. Friend had combed dd at the weekend, cleared a few so head was nitless but now had several large adults. Luckily she wasn't working so took dd home, wet combed, applied lotions, head nit-free. However her dd had to stay at home for the day.

Next morning, call from school - we've found a nit in her fringe, come and collect her again. Not withstanding the fact that adults don't just drop out of a child's head and she had no others, was any of this legal?

With 4 dcs I understand completely how utterly frustrating it is to have untreated nits in a year group. I've lost count of the the hours wasted tbh...

However to me it sounds so very dodgy on so many fronts - there is nothing on the school website about sending a child home if they have nits. How can they justify a child losing a day's education on that basis?

Friend is fuming and wants to know how best to approach the school about this. Please don't say 'check for nits more regularly', we all do atm...

Maybe there could be a special parenting class for parents to be taught how to get rid of nits. The parents could get practice by fine tooth combing each other's hair. Getting rid of nits is a matter of education. They aren't THAT invincible.

Our school has a meeting for new reception and nursery parents. Maybe the parents could watch a video on how to keep a child nit free.

Nits are a health problems and a bad infestation makes life miserable.

Our school has just changed policy as the infestations are a nightmare. Some parents simply aren't tackling it so everyone is constantly infested. New policy is children are sent home if teacher see lice crawling around in their hair. It makes the parents treat the kids.

We check DD head twice a week so we catch infestations before they get hold and while the lice are small.

Is it a pain? Sure. Is it necessary? Yes.

Ragwort How come some children never get nits - genuine question, not being sarky?

I think type of hair may have something to do with it? I have very fine hair and never got nits as a child - DD has the same type of hair and despite numerous nit letters that have come home from school, she has never had them either.

Neither of us are able to wear hair clips as they just slide out - as do grips unless copious amounts of hairspray is used, so I wonder if the lice can't grip either.

I'm itching now after reading this thread though :-(

Until last year I didn't realise that some parents only use a comb and don't bother using hedrin or whatever.

We always always use hedrin if we have them - it's probably been about 5 times, I have a 10yo, 6yo and baby.

I realised that some families just comb through every so often and think they have solved the problem. Removing the adult lice doesn't solve anything, so it's not surprising that the child has adult lice again a few days later. That will be the babies, which have grown...

I think I can understand that if a child is being reinfested by someone in the class who is never treated effectively, it becomes expensive and therefore the comb/conditioner thing seems like the only option.

But it only takes a very low threshold of forgetting/disorganisation and you once more have an issue.

There ARE familes who never bother to treat and this should be dealt with by the school to stop the cycle.

Also, parents should all be educated somehow about the life cycle of the louse and how to eradicate them properly - ie, treating and then re-treating a week later. This is critical to getting the job done.

Whenever we have used a proper treatment we have got rid of them.

Apparently certain blood groups are more prone to nits. What I didn't know is that nits travel in "harems"

www.liceintervention.net/images/Head_lice_FACTS_and_general_information.pdf

Both myself and my children have a resus negative blood group. Prehaps that explains why we don't suffer as badly. My family have experienced nits though and we been able to get rid of them with fine tooth combing and conditioner.

Regular fine tooth combing with conditioner prevents nits. It takes 7 days for the eggs to hatch and if you fine tooth comb regularly then the eggs never get a chance to hatch.

I am in favour of children who are seriously infested being sent home. It forces parents to address the issue and make an effort to get rid of the blighters.

"Until last year I didn't realise that some parents only use a comb and don't bother using hedrin or whatever.

We always always use hedrin if we have them - it's probably been about 5 times, I have a 10yo, 6yo and baby."

Bog standard hair conditioner from your local supermaket works reasonablely well. The problem is that some parents simply don't comb their children's hair.

I'm an a+ and I think dd is too
Not sure about everyone else in the family. Would be interesting to know.

wheresthebeach - Yours is by no means the only school operating such a policy but it is illegal. Nits are not regarded as a serious health problem. A school cannot exclude a child or send them home just because they have nits.

Perhaps that's the problem prh

Gives the irresponsible parents carte Blanche to do nothing.

I take it the friend with the recurring nit problem does not clean her house, change bedding, and wash all her childs clothes, accessories/hair items, etc each time she treats for nits, seeing as they keep coming back?

I make my own mix, which works really well.

base oil with drops of tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, and geranium essential oils.

No nit has been known to survive. Two treatments to get nits, and then hatch-lings.

DS never gets nits despite a constant flood of letters home from the school about infestations. He had them once in the last week of Reception and never since (now in Y2). I have a thorough check twice a week with a Nitty Gritty comb and it's always clear. I use Avalon Organics Rosemary shampoo and conditioner - loads of conditioner - on him at least twice a week and spray his hair with Nitty Gritty spray every morning and it seems to work.

Well I've learnt something here.

My dd 8, has severe psoriasis, including scalp psoriasis. It physically hurts her to scrape her hair into a tight pony tail etc so we have make do with loose side tie backs etc. She has very long, dark thick hair. She is very susceptible to nits. Our dermatologist asks us not to wash her scalp too often as it irritates the skin. As her scalp is constantly itchy anyway, even when she's nit free it's an utter nightmare to be honest.

I've been wet combing with a nitty gritty about twice a week for ages. I often find a grown adult - sometimes eggs, sometimes not. I do believe I am combing properly, but I've learnt here it's obviously not enough.

I'm probably talked about at school as my dd is always the one who's scratching. Sometimes from psoriasis, sometimes not. Believe me, I try my best. I'll change to every other day from now on.

I tried full marks once and it didn't seem to work as well as hedrin. I had to do 3 treatments instead of two.

Also it is a bitch to wash out. Hedrin is far easier. I leave hedrin on overnight or for at least an hour, it's not toxic, so it's worth doing imo especially as after 15 minutes I could still see one live louse crawling about on the comb.

harry, my dad has scalp psoriasis. He uses a special shampoo from Neutrogena, which helps him.

and I always do my own hair at the same time. This may be overkill but I don't want to risk passing it back and forth.

One time I had nits from helping out at ds's preschool and he didn't!

Maybe there could be a special parenting class for parents to be taught how to get rid of nits.

We get someone in to run a head lice clinic at school. We subsidise most of the cost, so it's just $5 for parents and their child will be professionally treated. They then come back a week later and check them all over again. Parents need to give permission for it, but we've got 100% of parents all do it. Certainly seems to control any possible outbreaks when the whole school is routinely treated on a regular basis.

I check the DCs weekly. DS has never had them, DD had them once. I never had them, even as a child.

We all have very fine hair (like a previous poster, it's so fine, it can't even hold a hair clip) so I wonder if that has something to do with it? I'm also O- so maybe my blood tastes yucky to them?!

I think a big part of the problem is people not checking their child's hair, and not dealing with it. DD went to holiday club recently, and then went home for a play with her friend who had also been at the club. When I went to pick up DD at the friend's house the child came in itching her head, and told me she had the 'itchy head bugs'. At which point the mother said maybe she should have told me! I took DD home, and thoroughly checked us all, but I wonder if the other mum would have told me if the child hadn't? And certainly she'd been in holiday club all day passing them on.

If my kids have nits (which they have not had for over 5 years) I wet comb my own hair through with lashings of conditioner. This also helps as the nits suffocate.

Body shop tea tree oil shampoo is a good deterrent, as nits dont like the smell of tea tree oil.

harry

Your case is precisely why it should be considered more of a serious problem. Because some children it will cause more suffering in allergic children or those with pre existing skin conditions who are unable to tolerate the treatment as well as others.

Your poor dd

Nits don't seem to be a problem at my DDs school. We've had a nit letter home perhaps twice in 2 years. DD hasnt had them (yet).
Here the recommended treatment at the chemist is hedrin which they give you for free, I wonder if this helps.

Which shampoo is that Quint? I've tried T-gel which I think is Neutogena?

We've found Vosene to be brilliant - shampoo every other day plus the spray every morning before school. They've never had any in the 2yrs+ we've been using it, even when there are outbreaks in their classes. May be coincidence I guess, but I'll keep using it as the DCs like it anyway.

I am mainly extra vigilant because if I get them it's a total nightmare - really thick hair.