Nits

[mikey4444]

My sister-in-law is mortified as her kids have come home with nits. It was my mothers worst nightmare as well.

Whatever happened to the Nit Nurse that used to come around regularly in my youth ?

[sherrardk]

They're extinct (nit nurses) - nits are the bane of my life :(

[BlackadderV]

Nitty Norah, the Dickie explorer. Of far more concern to me was when the School Medical Officer came round, grabbed you by the goolies and told you to cough, just to check for hernias.

[Slapshot]

^^^ What Blackadder said ! They ALWAYS Had cold hands!

[andy-hughes]

I never felt embarassed when my children came home with nits, which they did from time to time.

I regard nits in the same way as chickenpox or mimps - something children are likely to pick up sooner or later - not ideal, but not the end of the world.

The reason wny nits is still such a prolific problem is precisely that reaction - the stigma people feel makes them reluctant to report cases to the school for fear of being seen as less than hygenic.

The irony is, head lice only live on clean hair.

[Cloverjo]

I don't think your last sentence is correct, andy-hughes. They live on any hair they can get to. (It was on QI - my favourite source of information).

[mikey4444]

Clover jo...you are correct...its a complete old wives tale that nits only like clean hair.

B;ackadder...I feel deprived somehow, as I never had the cough test when I was growing up. Is it too late now do you think...I hate to miss out on anything free you know.

[gness]

Andy.....it's a bit of a myth that lice only live on clean hair......I dealt with lice on children who were clean and cared for and children who didn't see a bath or soap for months.....

The annoying thing was.....the parents of the uncared for children believed that myth.....and were chuffed and a bit smug.....a lousy head was something to sort of brag about....
......a badge of their imagined cleanliness....:-(

[andy-hughes]

I stand corrected on my error - thanks.

[mikey4444]

Enjoying this thread as well as my other this afternoon but does anybody know what actually happened to the Nit Nurse ? Or is she still around ?

[Daffy6543]

Nit nurses were abolished as they were cost inefficient and not really that good at eradicating the problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlJhPQuxFh0

[gness]

We didn't have a dedicated nit nurse, Mikey....we would just report any cases to the school nurse when she visited....about once a month.....not that she did anything.

A few cases and a letter would go to all parents....x

[mikey4444]

Daffy...I wished I hadn't watched your flipping link...I have come over all queasy now !

One of my abiding memories as a child in the 60's was being pinned down by Mum and her using that flipping horrid comb...and the awful smell of Suleo Shampoo.

[horseshoes]

That video is GROSS! I saw it on Facebook last week.

[Daffy6543]

You have to wonder why the parents of the kid in that video allowed it to get so bad!

[BlackadderV]

A fine tooth comb. I had to undergo that every week after bath night.

[Daffy6543]

You only bathed once a week BlackadderV ?

[janbee]

I remember OF a nit nurse but our school never had one. My mother though, did have a nit comb( and Derbac shampoo) which I hated. She would scrape it across my scalp and then when it was all done I was given strict instructions to "never play with that x again !!" (persons name deleted in case she reads this.

[BlackadderV]

I think most kids did that then, tin bath in front of the fire. Every other day it was a strip wash in front of the kitchen sink..

[jourdain2]

Daffy, everyone only bathed once a week. The rest of the time you had a good wash. Lots of houses didn't have bathrooms and getting a bath organised was a real chore. My boyfriend's parent's terrace in Saltaire had a bath in the kitchen covered by a worktop, so bathnight put the kitchen out of use. Better than lugging the tin bath in from the yard, however, which other friends parent's had to do.

[dustypuss]

"Tin bath in front the fire" !!!!!!!! You lucky so-so you had a fire!