Nits!!!

[lizzieleigh26]

Aibu?

My DD has had nits 6 times since returning from the Easter holidays. We treat them as soon as we see the eggs but the same can't be said for other parents, especially a certain one. Their child is so infested you can see them crawling around from a mile off! (Slight exaggeration but so visible you can't ignore it)
I've just checked DD hair tonight and low and behold she has them again! The school send out numerous texts/letter about them and have also sent out nit combs. I spoke to the class teacher and they are aware of the issue and the child has been treated twice by school it was that bad.
I feel like crying every time I find them because DD has such long hair and is very head sore not to mention the cost of treatments!
I don't understand how a parent can do this to a child and turn a blind eye?! Surely its child neglect.

What do I do? Complain to the school again, go to the parent or just ignore it? (Possibly SS but that's not what I'd want to do over nits!)

We are looking into moving schools it's that bad.

Moving schools is a tad excessive! That said I get your annoyance.
There seems to be some kids in DDs class good at spreading them. A couple of parents seem to think those tea tree sprays keep them at bay (they don't as the concentration of tea tree oil would be way higher than these sprays). I go through once a week with a nitty gritty comb on wet conditioned hair which generally seems to work. This time of year seems to be worse.

The poor children who are infested. I would strongly suggest to school they report it to SS if they haven't already; it's a form of neglect. I can't imagine how physically uncomfortable the child must feel. They'll know others are aware too. Poor kiddie.

Not really in the spirit of the thread but it just reminded me that I was thrilled when my ds’s school rang me to say he had nits. Due to chemo several times over he rarely had enough hair for nits. . To me it was affirmation of normality.

I would also suggest SS.

I had a child on my caseload absolutely infested with them so badly she was anaemic. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

you shouldn't have to do it but plait hair, keep it all tied up (so pin plaits up too) and use hairspray or gel. seems to discourage them. not particularly great to do all the time but if it works....

Headlice are just a fact of life. Their life cycle is 35 days so you do need to keep combing for a long time to ensure you get them all off. Condition combing once a week with daily combs in between is the only way I've found to keep them at bay. It's very frustrating.

First be absolutely sure you are completely getting rid of all the nits and lice. Conditioning & nit comb every other night for a minimum of a week. I thought my daughter kept getting reinfested - turned out I wasn't doing the conditioning often enough and wasn't completely getting rid of them.

If after that if your daughter is still getting reinfested, take it up with the school. For a school to treat a child, twice, then they MUST be aware of issues of neglect.

In the meantime keep your daughter's hair tied back every day, in a plait, a French plait if possible so there is no hair to 'swing' about. It only takes a few seconds of hair to hair contact for one louse to walk across.

As above hair up every day without exception.

Remind your child not to put her head next to other children's.

After you've treated your child with the nit stuff, go through their hair every time you wash it with conditioner and a nit comb (they won't love you for it but they will be nit free) as even a couple of missed eggs can mean an infestation.

Boil wash all bedsheets and disinfect hair brushes.

It is primary school life unfortunately but being able to buy nit treatment at the pound shop or just use conditioner there is no excuse for your child's friend to be crawling with them

Nits are rife at my DD's school (In Y1, Y2 in September), just got another te r t about it yesterday, and so far (crosses everything - I probably tempted fate saying this!) she hasn't had them once. I plait her hair tightly every day (never allowed it down to school ever) and wash it with tea tree shampoo and then smoother with the leave in tea trea spray (not sure of brand but can go grab and take a pic of the bottle if anyone is interested) and allow to dry naturally as that what the bottle says. It actually smells quite nice when it's dry, not too tea-tree-ish. She has wavy reasonably thick hair and I thought she'd have been infested by now but so far so good... 🤞

She wears her hair up plaited in a bun everyday with the bobbles that are supposed to repel nits and gets sprayed with a detangle spray that contains nit repellent and also has her hair washed every other day with the shampoo that matches the spray.
I do nit comb every time I wash her hair but It just seems never ending! She must be tasty
As for moving schools it may sound drastic but there are other reasons for this but the nits are the nail in the coffin.
Thanks everyone for your comments so far, greatly appreciated

@Greenteandchives thank you for sharing and warmest congrats on reaching that milestone of normality! You have transformed, I hope, how I react every time my daughter comes hone scratching. Next time, I will tell myself how much I have to be grateful for.

@lizzieleigh26 maybe she really is tasty! Perhaps they are attracted to some people more than others like mosquitoes?! Sorry the horrid little buggers are causing you so much misery and hope you get the other issues with the school sorted

I feel your pain. My dd in preschool is exactly the same. The teachers say they know who it is. Since Easter I have treated many times and nit comb constantly. I have found that even the nit comb doesn't pick out the smallest eggs, so I get those with my nails. I'm telling myself we'll get s break over Summer!

Try quassia wood chips - google it - we finally got rid of nits using this. You soak the wood chips in boiling water, then use to rinse hair after shampoo and conditioner. I also put some in a little spray bottle and spruzz on kids hair before school. It apparently creates a hostile environment for headlice. Worked for us. You might have to try a few different types as some chips are really bitter (good!) and some are milder (less good!).

The school nurse at my first school used to advocate really thorough hair brushing, preferably every evening after school.

Her mantra was "if you break their legs they can't lay eggs", it seemed to work.