Kids, Friendships and Head Lice...

mrcow

Ames wrote: »

- one girl had them loads more than me, she went to Oxford and is now a high flyer, her family was quite middle class too.

lol I wasn't implying it was a "lower class" problem.

Only querying if it really was "part of growing up" for kids these days. I don't think they are as widespread as that.

I've never seen a child with nits, either as friends and family or in my job (although that is with children over 11, so a little older.). Some of my friends' children have had them, but they were banished quite quickly, and certainly weren't recurring. If there are any in my children's primary school, we get a note home to keep a look out - so I wouldn't consider that having them is necessarily the "norm"? The school wouldn't do that if everyone had them.

alwayspuzzled

pigpen wrote: »

I found the best things in the world... Nitty gritty comb.. Boots spray leave in conditioner with coconut and almond and if they have loads of critters prioderm.. highy toxic works on contact.. it has been used rarely but is very useful in the war against insurgents.

QUOTE]

2nd the Nitty Gritty, brilliant comb - more effective and less painfull than other combs + don't know if it still is but it used to be available on prescription and therefore free for children!

balletshoes

mrcow wrote: »

lol I wasn't implying it was a "lower class" problem.

Only querying if it really was "part of growing up" for kids these days. I don't think they are as widespread as that.

I've never seen a child with nits, either as friends and family or in my job (although that is with children over 11, so a little older.). Some of my friends' children have had them, but they were banished quite quickly, and certainly weren't recurring. If there are any in my children's primary school, we get a note home to keep a look out - so I wouldn't consider that having them is necessarily the "norm"? The school wouldn't do that if everyone had them.

I tend to think it is more widespread now, certainly amongst the 3-6ish year olds. I wonder if its because kids go to nursery etc more, so theres more close head contact?
We had the nit nurse at primary school, and none of us as kids had headlice. Theres no nit nurses anymore, as I say my daughter had them on and off for 3 years, and yes, the letters come out from school, but unless every parent pays attention and is consistent with the treatment, the headlice just keep paying repeat visits :cool:. Treatment lotions and potions become less and less effective if you have to use them over and over, I stopped using them and just bunged loads of conditioner in my child's wet hair, and used a nit comb every night. Tea tree helped deter them I found too.

kitschkitty

Head lice are definitely part of life for children in junior school or younger. Once they're in secondary school they do not play and interact so closely as when they're younger so it's harder for the lice to transfer from child to child.

I can understand where the OP is coming from, but I think that banning sleepovers (which are normal and beneficial part of childhood as other posters have already said). Isn't a nice solution for all the children involved.

It is a delicate topic for some people though, maybe you could mention to the child's parents that your DD seems to keep picking them up every time they go round the class and you're looking forward to 6 weeks without having to worry about them. If you think that the hint simply won't be taken, maybe you could be more direct? You could say that your daughter needs a haircut before the new school term, and that the hairdressers won't do it if she has lice, and you're just concerned about trying to avoid them.

When I was 10 it was well known that there was one girl in our class whose parents never treated her head lice so we all kept getting them unfortunately. I know this did annoy all the other parents a lot.

Also as an adult working with kids (but still living with my parents) I caught them once or twice and remember my mum telling my dad to stop moaning, that we all had to use head lice treatment to get rd of them, as unfortunately even as adults you can't always be totally immune from the little blighters!

mrcow

I think I've just been very lucky perhaps? Not counting my chickens just yet!

*onlyme*

Am I the only one with a itchy head reading this LOL

If my DD has headlice, I ring my friend to check her DD's hair and vica versa. She never had them until we changed her to a different primary school during year 4 and she has had them several times now. We use the nitty gritty comb (prescribed) each time as I hate putting chemicals on her head plus several of these products can not be used for astmatics, which she is.

Also I read above about sleeping in someone's bed etc...they don't live on clothes/sheets I remember reading on a leaflet, but still I wash everything at 60 degrees when she has had the little creatures. scratch scratch

escortg3

I always used Rappell head lice repellent and found it very good, daughter never got nits after i started using it. I used to tie her hair up and then give it a good old spray with Rappell

SpikyHedgehog

*onlyme* wrote

Am I the only one with a itchy head reading this LOL

No, me too

I work in a preschool, so have to check my hair as well as my sons'... Nothing so fun as coming home from work and having to go and comb through your hair before you can cuddle your baby as you know full well the child you had on your lap earlier was crawling with lice .

With regards to the sleepover idea, what if you have the child to sleep at your house? Then they won't need to share a bed (unless they'd need to at your house too?)

I have a hard time letting my boys go on sleepovers, and luckily for me DS2's friends don't have them yet, so he only has them at family's.

aliasojo

FBaby wrote: »

Personally, I think it is sad you would stop your kids enyoing a sleepover because of headlice.

Personally I had never had headlice as a kid nor did any of mine (my eldest is 28) until my daughter had a school friend over to stay. By the next day, the bed she slept in was full of them (I have never seen anything like it) and both daughter and I had them too.

I called the girl's parents just to let them know what the situation was and they already knew she had lice but hadn't bothered to tell me. They were very nonchalent about it all and just said they would get the girl to brush her hair more often, she was 9.

So yes, I would happily not allow sleepovers because of headlice, they spread far too quickly.

mum2one

I thought I was glad it was school holidays as literally if a week went past without a letter from the class teacher, the headlice are here again, but DD was clear about 90% of the time.
She had a bad batch last yr while we on holiday, think she must have caught them at the clubhouse in kids time, this hol shes had 3 sleepovers at her friend and the last 2 ngts in my bed... sods law doing the weekly check, shes platered with them, and I started itching, then mum, only poor dad whos clear, (he has a number one), so rang the surgery and asked for a prescription for the 3 of us.
texted her friends mum to say we've found "visitors".... so shes going to check her dds hair...
Guess its just part of childhood, amazes me as tey say they like clean hair! xx