Lice in School

[Anonymous]

Have you had lice challenges at your child's school? If so, can you give advice on how the school handled it? Our daughter's grade is on its third or fourth outbreak this school year and we are at our wits end.

Aside from the basic lice advice (treat, pull hair back, do not share comb/brush, do not touch heads), what else can we be doing to prevent the outbreak and spread of these pesky little bugs?

TIA!

[Anonymous]

There’s been a million threads on this but the summary is that the OTC treatments are worthless and contribute to spread because parents think their kids are cured and then don’t do the combing with the metal combs (not the crap combs that come with the OTC medicine) that is actually required to get rid of it. If your school is encouraging parents to use the OTC treatment, that’s the problem.

[Anonymous]

Second grade at Chesterbrook by any chance???

[Anonymous]

Letter home from school maybe every other time there was an outbreak. My child let me know the other times.

Treat hair with a strong Dimethicone treatment.

Terminator style metal comb. Check and comb at least weekly, even if no current outbreak.

Permethrin spray coats and hats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s been a million threads on this but the summary is that the OTC treatments are worthless and contribute to spread because parents think their kids are cured and then don’t do the combing with the metal combs (not the crap combs that come with the OTC medicine) that is actually required to get rid of it. If your school is encouraging parents to use the OTC treatment, that’s the problem.

It is untrue that OTC treatments are worthless. In most cases, it will kill most if not all live lice when used properly. “When used properly” does include daily combing, though, so anyone who just uses the shampoo and doesn’t comb isn’t using the OTC treatment properly.

[Anonymous]

Basically you mix salt into shampoo and put it on your kid’s hair every 10 days or so for about 20-30 mins and then rinse. Also comb all the time.

[Anonymous]

Second grade at Chesterbrook by any chance???

It is happening there too? Sorry you are having to deal with that.


My question really was how can we do things differently in schools and I was hoping to hear from someone that might have had the issue successfully addressed at their school before trying to reinvent the wheel. We do not get notices every time it happens and maybe that is the first step. It is traumatizing for a child to have bugs in their head... it would be nice to save that from happening again without having to braid her hair every day for the rest of the school year.

Maybe three or four outbreaks is normal and I should not be concerned but we are at a rather small school with less than 500 students and after having only one lice outbreak in all of her years to having three this year it seemed alarming.

[Anonymous]

Are there resources they share? Communal headphones? Play make believe station? Hats to be the student of the day? Anything like that? How close are the chairs at the tables to each other? If I am working and you are working, will our heads / hair touch?

But honestly it is the age. They hug and chase and pick up their best friends. They just have a lot more contact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Second grade at Chesterbrook by any chance???

It is happening there too? Sorry you are having to deal with that.


My question really was how can we do things differently in schools and I was hoping to hear from someone that might have had the issue successfully addressed at their school before trying to reinvent the wheel. We do not get notices every time it happens and maybe that is the first step. It is traumatizing for a child to have bugs in their head... it would be nice to save that from happening again without having to braid her hair every day for the rest of the school year.

Maybe three or four outbreaks is normal and I should not be concerned but we are at a rather small school with less than 500 students and after having only one lice outbreak in all of her years to having three this year it seemed alarming.

Honestly, while the AAP says it's not necessary to exclude children who have nits (eggs) but not live lice, I think it should be STANDARD that exclusion happens until all nits are gone in a child's head. Why? nits are eggs. they will hatch. When they hatch, the lice will eat and jump from head to head - that's their whole mission in life. And then they will try to mate and lay eggs on that new head. So if a few nits hatch during school they will jump to someone else's head. And so it goes.

BUT - parents will be up in arms because they don't want exclusion with nits - although honestly, if you comb and comb and comb correctly, you can remove all the nits (after you've killed the live lice with the medicated shampoo stuff (hair sectioned, only comb a small part, then move on - use the metal lice comb, do it in good natural light, do the child's entire head, do every single night (or morning) for days and days.)

Communicating that nits/lice were found is the first line of defense so you can immediately wash hair and then start combing, even if you don't see them.
having a "no nit" policy is second line of defense

[Anonymous]

Preventive combing. Google it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Preventive combing. Google it.

+1. With a lice comb. Every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Second grade at Chesterbrook by any chance???

It is happening there too? Sorry you are having to deal with that.


My question really was how can we do things differently in schools and I was hoping to hear from someone that might have had the issue successfully addressed at their school before trying to reinvent the wheel. We do not get notices every time it happens and maybe that is the first step. It is traumatizing for a child to have bugs in their head... it would be nice to save that from happening again without having to braid her hair every day for the rest of the school year.

Maybe three or four outbreaks is normal and I should not be concerned but we are at a rather small school with less than 500 students and after having only one lice outbreak in all of her years to having three this year it seemed alarming.

Lice DO NOT jump! Lice CRAWL from one head to another during head to head contact.

Honestly, while the AAP says it's not necessary to exclude children who have nits (eggs) but not live lice, I think it should be STANDARD that exclusion happens until all nits are gone in a child's head. Why? nits are eggs. they will hatch. When they hatch, the lice will eat and jump from head to head - that's their whole mission in life. And then they will try to mate and lay eggs on that new head. So if a few nits hatch during school they will jump to someone else's head. And so it goes.

BUT - parents will be up in arms because they don't want exclusion with nits - although honestly, if you comb and comb and comb correctly, you can remove all the nits (after you've killed the live lice with the medicated shampoo stuff (hair sectioned, only comb a small part, then move on - use the metal lice comb, do it in good natural light, do the child's entire head, do every single night (or morning) for days and days.)

Communicating that nits/lice were found is the first line of defense so you can immediately wash hair and then start combing, even if you don't see them.
having a "no nit" policy is second line of defense

[Anonymous]

Is this Inspired Teaching?

[Anonymous]

Use a lice comb to comb through hair everyday. You can catch it before your child is effected. Treat twice, always treat again about 10 days later you only need to miss one nit for it all to start again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Use a lice comb to comb through hair everyday. You can catch it before your child is effected. Treat twice, always treat again about 10 days later you only need to miss one nit for it all to start again.

Lice are heterosexual so you would need to miss two, and they would have to be a man louse and Larla his louse lady love.

But do check often because they can always get more at school.