Head Lice and teachers - help, need advice - just a little angry right now!!!!!!!!!

[Lizziekid]

Hiya, i'd like some advice on headlice and teachers!!

Headlice has been an on going porblem for my daughter. We manage to get rid of them and then about a month later they seem to re-appear, summer holiday, easter etc etc she is all clear, the minute back at school she gets them.

Today my daughters teacher pulled me to one side after school and explained that a helper had looked in her hair and that she was crawling with lice, she then went on to say that the headteacher had said that unless they are gone she has to stay home from school until they are gone. I was made to feel like my daughter is the root cause of the whole schools problem with headlice. Having spoken to my daughter who is 7, no-one has touched her hair today, and having combed through her hair tonight with a nitty gritty comb i found one lice in her hair. i'm so angry and want to say sonething to the head as

1. surely being made to stay at home is like a suspension from school and would have thought a letter would need to be written to me
2. why is she being singled out, as no other parents have had this said to them
3. and why did the head send a message through the teacher and not approach me herself???

am i over reacting????? pls help!

Use Hedrin. It works.

My 2 have had them off and on for a month now!

I informed ds's teacher who just simply said, yeah thats 12 of them so far!

But dds nursery drove me mental.

Ds wasn't reinfected but dd was about 2weeks after treatment and the nursery nurse found them. She said "you can't bring her back until she's treated!!" I treated her again but they are back. I told the nursery that they need to put up a sign informing other parents that there had been an incident of head lice in the toddler room and could parents just check and treat in necessary to avoid repeatedly spreading them.

They said NO we're not allowed to.

I must admit I went a bit mental. I don't get paid for time off work and they were basically saying that even though she's probably being reinfected at Nursery.... I had to keep her off!

OH RRRRRRRREALLY???

...needless to say there is a sign up now.

I'm having to comb them out now as they've been treated with the insectacide too much.

...and now I'm itching. >cringe

I get so fed up with all the hard work I do to get rid of the lice when my dd gets them. She has long hair and gets uncomfortable and complains, but we persist. Sooner or later though, they come back. There are always some kids who have a reservoir of them and you cant control what other parents do or dont do

Hedrin isn't an insecticide - it's a silicone that literally envelopes the lice and suffocates them. So the lice can't build up an immunity to it - and it's far less likely to cause a reaction. Give it a go.

Hedrin isn't an insecticide - it's a silicone that literally envelopes the lice and suffocates them. So the lice can't build up an immunity to it - and it's far less likely to cause a reaction. Give it a go.

I am not a rep'.

I too am not a rep, but Hedrin is pretty good.

Does Hedrin wash off easily as its a silicone?

it shampoos off easily, leave it on overnight or for at least 8 hrs.

Presumably it doesnt kill the nits and you have to persist as with combing. Or does it?

you have to repeat after 7 days in case any eggs hatch (but they won't have time to lay iykwim)

We've had a couple of notes home from school(the whole has had the notes ) saying about nits. They have asked us all to check our childrens heads and deal with it and they have sent out advice leafets .

I have got two boys with grade 4 haircuts and there is not much hair for a nit to get hold of but I still check, however one thing has crossed my mind and please dont jump on me - I see lots of little girls at school who dont have hair tied back properly if at all - surely this doesn't help matters, some boys have long enough hair that it should be tied back !

I'm sorry to say that when I keep hearing about outbreak of nits I feel like asking the parents of the little girls whose hair is all over the place ( even first thing in the morning ! ) why they dont tie it back ! Surely it could help matters ?

It definitely does help to keep hair close to the head as long hair creates bridges for them to walk along

Step-d (doesn't live with us) has had lice for at least 7 years . I agree about it being tied back, mummydear. Dsd's was at its best when she went to a school where hair had to be tied back.

If their is an outbreak of nits at a school can the Head insist in all hair being tied back etc or would this be against ' human rights' nowadays

Sorry about spelling should read 'if there '

Ha anyone else noticed that nits arent keen on greasey hair?

I leave in some of the conditioner on dd2's dry hair every week and it has made a huge difference.
Inspired by elder sister's oilier hair and she NEVER gets them.

Anisse- Nits only like clean hair, so I believe

I be heard that aswell, they need something to grip hold of, so if its greasy they cant grip .

So short and greasy hair for the children and that will stop the nits !!

They were talking about the super nits on the radio today and said that the best method was to use conditioner and a nit comb, but you have to do it for two weeks - on day 1, day 4, day 7 , then the same again the next week, If you don't you will not break the egg laying cycle.

My school is very strict about children having hair tied back, even make boys with long hair tie it back, but we still have problems.

I use a tea tree spray that I spray on my boys hair every day before school, as a preventative measure. We have not had head lice for two years now, so it does seem to work.

Since ouir outbreak at home I also been using that tea tree spray. My son was clean ao used it straight away on him. But my daughter had nits. So I treated her and then once clean used the spray on her. I have not found any on either of them since

Head lice don't care if hair is clean or dirty, this is a story put about to make people feel better about their kids having nits! It used to be that is carried a big stigma. ie you have nits, you must be dirty.

They can cling on, regardless of the amount of grease.

Tieing hair back helps. Headlice can't fly or jump, they have to have hair to hair contract to be passed from head to head.

Bset way to get rid of the empty egg sacs is to slide them along the lenth of the hair shaft when the hair is nice and wet and covered in conditioner.

Funny how they spread DS1 was fairly prone but DS2 and DS3 never had anything despite a reluctance to wash or even comb (major battle every morning)

PS white empty eggs (nits) are NOT NOT NOT infectious so could be left just look a bit yucky - ones with legs are and the brown eggs will soon be

My DDs are also very prone to getting them. Another mum here who rids them through the holidays and then is dismayed to discover they have them within a couple of weeks of school starting.

My top tips

Hedrin does work. Another fan.

And a nitty gritty comb - because it has curly teeth and is MUCH more tricky to comb through the hair because the teeth are so close in places - but it works.

Tea tree oil dropped into a spray bottle of water or de tangle spray to comb through in the mornings, to act as a repellent.

Tying back long hair WELL.

Treating first day, then wet combing on day 3 and 7 and 14 to break the breeding cycle.

Treating YOURSELF - because I catch them as easily as the kids and if I forget to do myself, I can only blame myself if they get them again 2 weeks later.

Making Sunday night bath, hairwash and comb night. If I get into the habit, then we keep ourselves clear. It's only when I forget for a few weeks, they return.

Acceptance that this is part of having children. There's no point beating yourself up, or other mothers come to that.

I do exactly as CatBert and it's annoying as it takes up so much time but the only way to deal with them. Having said that, once your child gets them it's even harder to keep them away.

Coming back to the original post, at our school the teachers and headteacher repeatedly say they are not allowed to say or do anything so I am very surprised that they have treated you and your dd in this way, and it's awful. It's not as if you are not trying and if anything they should have offered help in case you need it, not treated you and you dd this way.