horrified by the headlice

[fernie3]

My daughter started in reception in September and not long after for the first time she got head lice. I treated them and did what they said afterwards combing hair with conditioner etc. I didnt find any more for in her hair for about 8 weeks. 8 Weeks after treating her for the first lot I checked and found a couple, treated her again. No more then until a couple of days ago when I found some AGAIN.

I have combed and combed in between these times and found nothing but is it possible it is just them coming back from the original lot or could she be RE catching them at school?. no one else in the family has had any (although I have treated all of us each time just in case).

I have no idea how to stop her getting them and its driving me mad is it normal for them to get them this often or am i just not doing it right?

Wow, MNHQ move quickly when they want to!

I hadn't even finished copying down the web site address.... I had to keep stopping to scratch my little critters.

DD has long hair. I spray with detangler with tea tree in, tightly plait into pigtails and then spray with lots of hairspray.

I read the hairspray trick before DD started school and she is still nit free in yr 1.

Watching DD's classmates in assembly think hair is best long (&plaited) or really short. Mid length bob styles can't be tied back properly but still can be flicked around and messed with.

I used to teach a girl once who had so many lice that they used to fall out of her hair into her eyebrows. That was in a school where it was policy not to tell parents directly in case they were offended. Wet combing is the best method to keep them under control. You are right that they prefer certain people. DD has had them loads and DS never.

Why are the schools leaving it up to the parents?

The school nurse used to go round class by class once or twice a term and anyone with them was sent straight off to be treated then and there.

Weekly wetcombing and hairspray on tied back hair every school day has done it for us - 2 1/2 years nit free so far. It has to be the Nitty Gritty though.

Op, I have been combing for 5 YEARS. I have long hair and have had the little critters at least 10 times. Comb, comb, comb every week religiously and tell anyone you see scratching.

I hate them. Dd has had well over a million nits, ds has had less than a hundred. I don't know why.

I use a Vosene shampoo and leave in spray from Boots. It's been excellent and so far....[also dare not finish sentence!]

We use the Vosene too. But we have our first case of nits today, DD started school in September. I was amazed how big the lice are, not seen them for years

Erm, 'Why are the schools leaving it up to the parents?" is it becoz we is the parents?.

I've had to deal with 5 years of constant reinfestations, no more than 2 months free in all that time. The school say they are not allowed to tell a child's parents they have them so I think some parents just don't realise. Although I can see the cost of treatment putting some people off- nitty gritty combs are £10 a time. DS hates it so keeps hiding it so we've spent a fortune constantly replacing it! I think the school should have a big campaign to dedicate a week to everyone checking and combing every night. Only mass measures will work.

My nitty gritty comb was 6.67 from Amazon Our school sends a letter to the whole class when nits are about, I think it works well as no one is picked out and everyone gets a reminder to check.

You comb, they return, it's a fact of life.
Hopefully, they will return less often when both DDs are at senior school.

They are only horrifying because we can see them. Think how many million bacteria are crawling around inside and outside your body at this moment.

Headline are a pest, but like most of those bacteria, they are mostly harmless.

I have a friend who uses a shampoo containing tea tree (from Avon, but I know Tesco and other places do similar) on his children. His oldest is the only child in his class not to have had head lice.....tea tree seems to work.

I rarely shampoo my DS's hair (bad Mummy), on the other hand, and we have only had it once, and that was when I let DS1's hair grow a bit longer. He has it really short now LOL!

Tea tree is very harsh for young children - I wouldn't use it tbh.

But then again my dd2 has had headlice at least TEN times since starting in reception. That's with plaited hair and frequent treatments, and lots of wet combing (will be doing precautionary wet combing tonight for sure!) The hairspray is a great idea - I will be doing that from now on.

The kids in our school were all sent home a nit comb and a covering letter a few weeks ago, and EVERYONE was asked to check and bug bust, they did this for all the schools in the District Council area on the same day. This is the 4th time they have done this, and my 2 have not had head lice for 2 yrs now. The school also have a policy that if a child is seen to have head lice, the parent is called and asked to take the child home, treat them, and then return the child to school. As this can be such a hassel for the parents involved, most seem to now be "on board" with the regular checks and bug busting. I do, however, also use tea tree leave in spray (superdrug did one) when there has been the occasional outbreak.