Thoughts on Nit's ?????

[funfunfun]

What are your policies thoughts on this subject ???

[madasahatter]

My thoughts on nits.....they're part and parcel of kids going to school. Only ever treated them with wet combing, never chemicals (DS only had them once). Occasionally girl mindees have gone through phases where they just can't get rid of them, but the parents have tackled it. I always tell parents when a mindee has nits so they can check their children's heads (I don't say who has them, just that a child has them......usually the child tells everyone LOL!)
The most annoying thing must be when parents don't do anything about it. I once went on a school trip with DS and one of the girls had her hair tied back and all you could see were loads of eggs in the hair around her ears... extremely obvious to everyone.

I don't have a policy on them, never needed one.

[funfunfun]

Well im setting us at the mo ....currently using a childminder myself .

However the cm luks after children a few who are always getting them .Mum is not tackling the issue and cm is still looking after children .
My child came home AGAIN with nits but cm is due to look after other children with nits & continous regardeless . I exspessed my concern am i being 2 pushy .

I think my cm should be taking more steps so that mum actally does sort out the problem .

and why should i just put up with that.

[mamasheshe]

are we legally allowed to tell the parent if the child has nits i thought we weren't this is what we where told at our icp (we all said this was ridiculous that's why i rember it )

[funfunfun]

my cm had previoslly told me the children she minds has them all the time .

I no she is not allowed to do this however she has .

I spotted the nits in my daughters hair, she hadnt told me about that

would you send a child home for having them to get them treated and return

?
whats would you do ?

[sandy64]

sorry couldnt read this without itching my head no were suposed to say somone has headlice please check your lo tonight also in my illness policy i have child to be excluded until headlice have been treated but unless we no child has them its hard

[funfunfun]

CM has said she writes a concerns note although cannot and is not allowed to send a child home for headlice

Is this right ?? i obvs am not set up get but am in the process

seems bad that you have to keep a child who has headlice when other children can catch them .

[mamasheshe]

CM has said she writes a concerns note although cannot and is not allowed to send a child home for headlice

Is this right ?? i obvs am not set up get but am in the process

seems bad that you have to keep a child who has headlice when other children can catch them .

no don't think allowed to exclude for headlice or tell parent that their child has them !!

[sandy64]

i wouldnt send a child home id just make sure parents checked hair id probably add to lo parents who had them that they have been scratching lots today so please check. im scratching again what is it with head lice just the thought makes me itch lol

[aly]

no as other people have said part the parcel...you cannot send home...all you can do is express your concerns again and hope she hasanother word withmum...and she should not be tellign oyu who has them.!

[sarah707]

To clarify and hopefully answer your question at the same time...

We are not allowed to ...

- Exclude a child for having nits - unless our policy states that we will.

it is not on the HPA list for exclusion either -

http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile.../1194947358374

If parents went to Ofsted and complained that their childminder had excluded their child I do not know what would happen.

We are not allowed to -

- Check a child's head for nits

- Comb a child's hair for nits

- Put lotion or conditioner on a child with nits

Now I know some childminders do those things, but it is considered invasive to treat a child or look at a child's head.

We are only allowed to do procedures on children if we have been specifically trained to do them... so anything not taught at your first aid course is a no no!

If we see a child with nits, we should inform all the parents BUT we must maintain confidentiality.

We cannot say 'that x girl has got them again, sorry' or 'check your dd's hair, she was rubbing heads with y who's scratching today'.

However, if a child is repeatedly coming to me with nits, I do have a policy that states I will ask parents to collect and treat them before bringing them back... and I know some pre-schools do this with repeat offenders.

As I said before, what Ofsted would make of this I do not know but it is to protect me and my family as much as anything else.

Off for a good scratch now. Hth

[funfunfun]

so in my case

what do i do when my child is continuoslly getting them from the other children in her care .

[funfunfun]

Totally understand the confidentality thing though personally i was gobsmacked when she told me .

Id hate to think that she does this with other parents about my children .

However my concern/problem is that my child is the 1 coming home with nits .

[madasahatter]

Try using a tea tree shampoo and conditioner. Nits are supposed to not like the smell/taste.
My niece had nits constantly for nearly 2 years (years 1 and 2 at primary). Both me and my sister regularly combed her hair. My niece would ask me to go through her hair once the other mindees had gone home because by the time my sister picked her up it was dark and the lighting in their house made it difficult to see them properly. So I would be checking and my sister would be using conditioner and wet combing every other day. You just get on with it.
Try and see it in a different light....your child must taste nice and have nice clean hair as that is what nits are supposed to prefer

[miffy]

so in my case

what do i do when my child is continuoslly getting them from the other children in her care .

It's annoying, yes, but your childminder can't do anything about it other than ask the other mindees parents to check for nits and treat if found.

All you can do is raise your concerns with your childminder - in writing if you feel it necessary.

Sorry that's not much help

Miffy xx

[francinejayne]

Ooh I'm all itchy now!