nasty subject... nits

[mrsflibble]

how do you tell a freind that their child has nits without making it sound accusatory?!
soph and i have picked up nits- most likely from my mate Kate who came visiting the other day as she's the only person I know in regular contact with kids who I have hugged in the last few days or so....
We are doing the whole combing and tea tree conditioner thing- soph's being surprisingly good about it and so far I've only found two full grown adults and a few larvae and eggs; but I still need to find a way to break it to Kate.
I thought of just saying "can you check owen and chloe 'cos soph and i have nits and I'm sorry but we may have passed it to you" but then that's a bit of a fib. what to doooooo?!

[baldowrie]

most parents these days are more than pleased if you inform them nits are about...just say Soph has picked up nits from somewhere so you had better check your children's heads, sorry about that.

It's not a stigma and easily treated, if not so easy to get rid of the things!

[mrsflibble]

thanks. have done. I personally feel it's better to know, but luckily i am really sensitive to them and know if i need to check myself by my dermatitis suddenly flaring up, and soph's got really fine light hair so you can spot the buggers.


james is a little more difficult, thick dark locks lol!

[snapdragon]

my head's itching now

[baldowrie]

funny that I went to bed and realised I was scratching. Then it dawned on my why

[QuakerBear]

I know it's a fib, but I'd say that you've both picked up nits from somewhere so she might want to check herself and her daughter.

As a childrens librarian I caught nits, urgh, gross. Now I deal with finances.

[citizentwiglet]

Yes, I'd be inclined to tell a little white lie as well. If it avoids any upset or misunderstanding by your friend, it's worth it IMO. It's what I'd do, just to keep the peace.

I got a dreadful case of nits when I lived in London a few years ago, and pretty much everyone in London was suffering according to an article in the Evening Standard. I remember almost being in tears in the chemist, then seeing about 6 suited-and-booted City-types with their Versace handbags behind me scratching like mad. Certainly made me feel better, anyway! I blame London Underground, and having very long, thick hair (which was permanently pulled back into a tight ponytail after that!).

[multiveg]

My mother informed me that I had caught nits in hospital (I was 8 and stuck in a ward of old ladies 70+) for a squint op. The one product that was available at the time didn't shift them, so she used paraffin on me instead which worked. Just needed a strong hair conditioner!
Itching too!

[Stonehead]

Due to some strange variant of political correctness, they're not even allowed to mention the "n" word at nursery, something to do with emotional scarring bollocks. It's okay to give kids the horrors about the food they eat, but it's not okay to say they have nits.

[mrsflibble]

so far since the second night of combing we have been nit free so I'm not lasting the whole two weeks.

[baldowrie]

Due to some strange variant of political correctness, they're not even allowed to mention the "n" word at nursery, something to do with emotional scarring bollocks. It's okay to give kids the horrors about the food they eat, but it's not okay to say they have nits.

I know it's ridiculous. Your supposed to let the school know your child has it but they can't tell the rest of the class or school. So as happened with my daughter she was re-infested time and time again for months on end.

Now I am scratching again!

[red]

pointless at school as we would get rid of the nits.. only to pick them up again as the class had not been told.. circular. if you told the teacher they would ask you to keep your child at home until it was cleared up, but again,, not tell anyone else, so when your child returned...
but saying that, as a child we had the 'bug explorers'.. who would come and mess up your hair coming through it.. used to feel pretty tacky to be 'checked over' like that

we cured the nit problem by starting home ed

but otherwise, the best bet is to get a metal nit comb and comb through their hair every time its washed (lots of conditioner) whether you know they have nits or not. dealt with.

[lsm1066]

I know this is a couple of months old but I thought I'd respond anyway. Where we live now (South Lincs) nits, are a fact of daily life. Just one of those things that kids get and no big deal. However, when we lived in London, the borough's education department policy was that if a kid was found to have nits, they had to be sent home until they'd been treated, from private and school nurseries, right up to secondary school and even college.

How's that for sensitive handling?

Lynne

[circlecross]

Ds's nursery has a big sign on their window "PLEASE CHECK YOUR CHILD FOR NITS REGULARLY" so no flim flam there. We had a child with nits in our creche, and although her mum took her home, treated her and returned her, we were VERY reluctant to cuddle her, poor thing. I caught nits from there, and got rid of them with tea treeoil (parked them all on the side of the bath while I combed them out). Dh had a child from a household that infected every schoolyear (prolific household) and he had the mum coming to him most nights saying " I hope you are on top of the nit problem, *** keeps getting it you know" He wanted to say "YES I know - it's you lot keep reinfecting everyone!!!" He found that bathing himself once a year did the trick of not getting it. Ha ha ha

[Louiseh]

Hi, I know this is a little old, just come across it, but all I wanted to add was a I have a really effective & easy cure for the erradication & prevention of nits, which is the use of Neem Oil.

Anybody interested can just pm me, I can email a word document with all the details, but it is so easy and as I said really effective.