Head lice

[earthgirl]

I used to had lice when I was very little (like 3) then my mom got them too, from me. It was hard to get rid of them back then and I remember grandma constantly plucking them off my hair.

 

My dad got us rid of them one day when he's had the patience to check our every hair and picked up every single one of them lice.

Didn't have any since then.

 

But I remember in elementary school we had 2 kids in our class(they were cousins) who had lice and everyone was avoiding them.

 

Hmmm. Now I'm itchy. But it's because I have to wash my hair today.

[Draco Knight]

*scratches head in remembrance*

 

My mother had three children, all five years apart. So we were all always in different schools- inevitably lice happened.

 

My 6th grade year was the first time it happened, and it took FOREVER to sort it out. Shampoos, combs, mayo, everything. Nothing offered a permanent solution for me, the shampoos worked perfectly fine for everyone else.

 

What eventually did it was hair dye. We spent all day washing linens in hot water and spraying mattresses with Lice stuff, after that we dyed my hair with permanent dye we bought from the store. It was like an instant win over night.

 

As for the other parents of the Lice Kid, I'd straight up say, "Your kid has lice and is giving it to my kid- deal with this problem please."

[solaflar3]

As far as I know, they prefer nice, clean scalps (easier to move around), but that's all I've heard. :B

 

 

 

x3 That may work.

 

Though nekoinu525's suggestion sounds pretty sound. :3

Nah, that was something made up to make kids feel better about having them! In actual truth lice don't care. They do prefer kids who run slightly hotter, so if you are the type of kid that sweats a lot, you will be more prone to catching them. My daughter has temperature regulation problems so is a head lice nivarna. You are more likely to find lice in clean kids hair but that is simply because the parents of clean kids are more likely to check their kids hair or see them during hair washing.

 

They don't keep kids off school here for head lice, which is why half the school is scratching their heads most of the time.

[Nectaris]

I have never had lice, and if many people in my school ever had it, I never heard of it. I don't remember hearing anything about it, either from teachers or from other kids. The only time I heard of someone having them was in summer camp when someone had lice, luckily I didn't get any from them.

[TikindiDragon]

Schools don't do anything nowadays. Gone are the days of the Nit Nurse coming round and checking all the kid's hair. If you are lucky you might be able to get the school to mention the Bug Busting routine in the weekly newsletter, but nothing more.

Okay, so now I feel old. That used to be common place when I was at primary school (never encountered nits at secondary school). There'd be a specific letter sent out to all the parents warning about head-lice, and then a week later someone would be in the school to check we were all free of them. If not... home again with more nit-shampoo!

 

Wonder what changed in school policy to stop that? Seems a pretty obvious health & saftey thing to me....

 

Anyway, I sympathise. I don't imagine I'd want to confront the other kids parents about it either. The anonymous note might work best.

[MissK.]

*scratches head subconsciously*

AGH! >>

 

I did have head lice for a while, when I was back in primary school...I think I must have been 10 or so. it wasn't too bad a case, looking back, since I actually managed to get rid of those nasty pests by myself. I never told my mum for some reason (I have yet to figure out why) and refrained from scratching in public. I'd just sit in my room and brush my hair constantly, picking the bugs from the brush and sending them down the drain! o_O Now I just can't believe that method actually worked, but I was lice-free after a while, so...

I wish I had told my parents, though. It probably would have made things much easier, not to mention faster.

 

Edit: Oh darn it, now I feel itchy all over. DX

Edited September 30, 2010 by MissK.

[Fortune86]

The last time I had lice was back in college. I was reading a book and scratched my head when something small and wriggling dropped onto the page. D:

 

Edit: When dealing with the parents I'd suggest going up to them and just mentioning that there has been a bout of lice going around and it might be best if they check their kids hair. Don't point fingers, just 'let them know' there are lice on the loose.

Edited September 30, 2010 by Fortune86

[solaflar3]

Okay, so now I feel old. That used to be common place when I was at primary school (never encountered nits at secondary school). There'd be a specific letter sent out to all the parents warning about head-lice, and then a week later someone would be in the school to check we were all free of them. If not... home again with more nit-shampoo!

 

Wonder what changed in school policy to stop that? Seems a pretty obvious health & saftey thing to me....

 

Anyway, I sympathise. I don't imagine I'd want to confront the other kids parents about it either. The anonymous note might work best.

That's what I did today. When I went to pick my daughter up (she gets out 5 mins early to avoid the mad exodus of kids as she has a walking frame), I slipped a note in the bag of Lice Kid.

 

Yep, they did away with the nit nurse a good while ago. For a while they sent out regular letters instead showing how to do the bug busting routine. But now they don't even do that. The only thing they do is now and again they mention in the school newsletter that nits are going round. But nits are ALWAYS going round now.

[Obscure_Trash]

Well that sucks. I remember the second and third elementary schools I went too (too young to really remember the first) and we'd get called up to the nurse's office every once in a while and it took less than five minutes to check us over for lice.

 

I don't see why they can't keep doing that. =\

 

Hope that note does some good!

[solaflar3]

Well that sucks. I remember the second and third elementary schools I went too (too young to really remember the first) and we'd get called up to the nurse's office every once in a while and it took less than five minutes to check us over for lice.

 

I don't see why they can't keep doing that. =\

 

Hope that note does some good!

Primary schools in the UK don't have an onsite nurse!

[Feathers]

*itchitchitch* Just the word 'lice' or 'nits' gets me all twitchy.

 

Luckily, I've never had them; my little sister did once, though, and the whole house was in an uproar. My mother has slight OCD, and this event was rather like a little mini apocalypse made up just for her. >.>

 

Here's hoping I never get 'em myself, and here's sympathy for those who've had 'em! *toasts with sparkling cider*

 

~Feathers

[St. Jimmy]

Hm, I wonder if my elementary school still does head checks. I used to love them because I like when people play with my hair.

[hibini]

LICE. *shudders* I think I had them 3 times. They allways ruin my summers(well that was a while ago) so we cant visit our friends... but go strait to my grandmas house. Nit pickers are terrible. Sitting down for 4 hours while some old lady puts gunk in you hair and combs through it is not fun. Oh and sleeping with olive oil in your hair is not very fun as well. I had to take 3 showers every day and everybody was like "YOU HAVE A BIG WHITE THING IN YOU HAIR LICE LICE!" and Id be like "towel fluff grandma". But that was in the states. In the UK when I had it we went to this ladys house and on the bottom floor there was a place where about 6 people could get there lice removed by woman with a vacum with a comb on the end. Or something like that. Oh and they had a couple DS's and portable movie screens and things like that to keep you entertained. It was a LOT better. One of the worst parts about lice is the thought of little bugs crawling in your hair biting into your. I try not to think about it.

[Drachenbande]

Lice mass-occurr at our elementary school regularly after summer holidays, usually there is a warning sign at the school door with a request that parents please check their kids' heads.

 

What I use is a shampoo with willow bark extract in it, that works as a repellent (well, it smells, but it is better than daily combing long curly hair with a nit comb).

 

We have been successful so far.

 

Of course, it's more difficult if you have a constant "source", so I hope your attempt to get rid of that "source" will be successful.

[chuhulil]

I remember having lice checks up until fourth grade. It was...okay. I enjoyed getting out of class to have someone go through your hair.

[Imbecamiel]

Ooh, lice. *winces* Not fun.

 

A while back several of the girls in the Sunday school class my sister and I taught had lice... which their parent's didn't discover until after we'd spent a considerable amount of time holding them in our laps, bending next to them to help with projects, etc. *sigh* My sister and I checked our hair, didn't see anything, but ended up deciding to treat with the anti-lice shampoo anyway. At that time, both of us had long hair, past waist-length, and the idea of getting it cut short after spending so long growing it out? Not fun. Trying to get rid of nits with that much hair? Also not a fun thought.

 

Thankfully, either we weren't infested or the various precautions we took were quick enough to catch things, because we never did find signs of lice in our own hair. But yeah, we were pretty paranoid for a while, there.

[Kila]

They're seriously not checking kids for lice at schools anymore? I'm floored! That should be standard at an Elementary/Preliminary school. The stuff spreads like wildfire among kids. It should be mandatory...

 

I remember lice checks well. Very well. I like it when people play with my hair, so when they'd go through and check it was like I was having my hair done, and I'd play pretend Maybe that's just me, though....

 

Anyways, I caught lice when I was in 2nd grade, from my sister, no less. She caught it from a classmate. No hat sharing, no comb sharing, but the buggers migrated from jacket to jacket (according to my mom). I remember finding out I had it and it was icky. I was sent home and I just felt dirty.

 

I think I was out of school for a week? They wanted to make sure my sister and I were clean before heading back.

[Obscure_Trash]

Primary schools in the UK don't have an onsite nurse!

=O

 

I did not know that.

 

I think the school my mom teaches at was thinking about letting go of the nurse, simply because they didn't have enough funds. I believe she only comes in part time now if she's still there.

I didn't even know that was legal. It just seems...wrong.

 

~

 

Agreed that lice checks should be mandatory. I can't believe that schools don't do that any more. >_>

[prairiecrow]

The last time I had lice was back in college. I was reading a book and scratched my head when something small and wriggling dropped onto the page. D:

I have a picture in my mind of a quiet afternoon in the college library... an open book in a patch of sunlight on a table... you scratching your head... plop! wiggle wiggle... and then yelling and leaping and clawing at the head and more yelling still, while nearby students try desperately to get you to shush.

 

Seriously though: ugh. Now I'M itching...

[Nectaris]

They're seriously not checking kids for lice at schools anymore? I'm floored! That should be standard at an Elementary/Preliminary school. The stuff spreads like wildfire among kids. It should be mandatory...

 

I never had lice checks when I went to elementary school, and I am now in my twenties. I wasn't even aware that lice were that common, the only time I remember ever getting checked was at a summer camp when it was discovered a girl had lice and they wanted to make sure none of the rest of us got them.

[Kila]

I never had lice checks when I went to elementary school, and I am now in my twenties.  I wasn't even aware that lice were that common, the only time I remember ever getting checked was at a summer camp when it was discovered a girl had lice and they wanted to make sure none of the rest of us got them.

Kids fail at sanitation. Lice outbreaks are pretty common in elementary schools, and when one kid catches them, it spreads pretty quick because kids don't listen to adults when they tell them things regarding sanitation. Or many things, really.

 

Edit: word fail :|

Edited September 30, 2010 by Kila

[Bambi]

nevermind

Edited April 25, 2022 by Bambi

[solaflar3]

They're seriously not checking kids for lice at schools anymore? I'm floored! That should be standard at an Elementary/Preliminary school. The stuff spreads like wildfire among kids. It should be mandatory...

 

I remember lice checks well. Very well. I like it when people play with my hair, so when they'd go through and check it was like I was having my hair done, and I'd play pretend Maybe that's just me, though....

 

Anyways, I caught lice when I was in 2nd grade, from my sister, no less. She caught it from a classmate. No hat sharing, no comb sharing, but the buggers migrated from jacket to jacket (according to my mom). I remember finding out I had it and it was icky. I was sent home and I just felt dirty.

 

I think I was out of school for a week? They wanted to make sure my sister and I were clean before heading back.

Well they don't in the UK. I wish they did because when I was a kid parents couldn't get away with not treating/checking their kids hair due to the nit nurse isolating their kid and sending them home with a big bottle of Derbac. I think the biggest problem is now, parents not checking their kids hair regularly if at all.

 

Its the same with other infestations. My daughter had pica and she caught worms - probably from a toy at day care or at school when she was 4. I spoke to the staff at her then day care, they sent letters home to every parent informing them to worm their child as a precaution and then they washed every single toy in the day care center. They were fantastic. I also spoke to the staff at her nursery school where she was part time, and they did nothing. If my daughter picked them up from day care, she could have passed them on to nursery. If she picked them up from nursery then she could have been reinfected.

 

I was disgusted that they did nothing, but apparently the policy is to expect parents to regularly worm their child. Well we all know that many parents wont bother.

 

Edit: @ bambi: We use the Bug Busting method as we can't use lotions on our daughter due to her chronic lung disease and psoriasis. We wash and condition her hair every day, then while it is wet, section it off and comb through it with a head lice comb. That gets all the adult lice out - eventually. We carry on everyday for about 2 or 3 weeks (it takes a week for baby louse to hatch from the eggs) until no adult lice have been found for a full 7 days. That way you know you have caught all the newly hatch ones before they lay more eggs. It's time consuming, but as we can't use pesticides it's the only thing we can do.

Edited October 1, 2010 by solaflar3

[dragon_mando]

Never had lice, but I have had fleas >_>

 

They're all gross >_< and I hope to never get either again

[sixsweetpotatoes]

I've never caught lice before. Not even when my family was infested. And I'm the one with the long hair. It's just a myth that people with long hair catch lice easier than people with short hair, right?

 

When my sis caught her lice, it was already spreading through the school like wildfire. They didn't do checks or anything, but they issued a warning note to all the parents to check their kid's heads for lice. I thought that was pretty good.