Question:
The thread about lice is really scaring me, and I hope to avoid having
to deal with it if at all possible. My daughter, who started at a
brand new school this week, has waist length, *thick* curly hair that I
wouldn't want to cut (and she wouldn't want me to either), but now that
I've read about what needs to be done to get rid of lice, I'm
frightened -- it takes 30 minutes, twice a day to keep her hair combed
as it is! Not to mention the rest of the house, and myself -- I also
have long, curly hair, and no one's going to be doing mine if lice goes
through the school and into our house! It also doesn't help that my
mother, who has worked in schools for many years, and dealt with
outbreaks, sending kids home, etc.... (and who doesn't like my choice
of schools for my daughter, incidentally), keeps warning me about how
hard it will be, and how nearly every school deals with it at some
point.
Anyway, since this is a brand new school, they're still putting the
coatroom together -- I don't think anyone expected weather this cold
now, but this is the second day out of three that everyone's been
wearing jackets/raincoats and or sweaters. Yesterday everything went
into backpacks, 'cause nothing was ready to be hung up. I imagined
they'd be getting cubbies of some sort, or hooks separated by
partitions. No such luck. Today when we went it, there was a long row
of standard coat hangers, at different levels, hanging on shelves,
which I guess they can set their lunch, etc... on. I thought Sage
would wear her sweater in class, but when she took it off, I told her
to put it in her bag for today.
She knows not to share combs, clips, headbands, etc... but what other
things are there that cam be done as preventatives. I don't think the
school is unwilling to adjust things, I just think they didn't think
about it (yet), and I'd like to have some ideas if I approach them.
There are only about 30-35 kids in the school (there'll be more each
year), and they share one coatroom.
Any ideas that you've heard of, or have worked for you in the past
would be appreciated.
Answer:
You know, I only remember one outbreak of lice at school when I was growing
up and, while I had a friend who got it, I never did.
I think the most important thing you can do to prevent transmission of lice
is to remind your children repeatedly that they should never, ever share
hairbrushes or combs with their playmates and they should never put anything
on their heads that has been on someone else's head (hats, hoods, barrettes,
etc.). This is hard for kids to obey, I know, but it's the single biggest
factor in transmission of lice.
Honestly, this is something I've never thought to be worried about. I would
sure hate for Aurora to get lice, though. While she doesn't have the thick
curly hair that Tina's daughter does, she does have long hair that is *very*
fine. Getting lice out of that hair without cutting it would be a nightmare!
My girls have been in school collectively for seven years and have gone
through some pretty bad lice infestations and (knock on wood) have never had
lice ourselves. The girls know not to share combs, hats or other garments. I
have no clue how we have gotten away with not getting them, but I just
wanted to let you know that it is possible to be in the middle of an
infestation and not get it.
