Mumsnet, the UK’s largest network for parents, has spoken to more than 1,000 parents about dealing with nits and other unpleasant childhood afflictions to mark the publication of the website’s new book, How to Blitz Nits and Other Nasties.
78 per cent of surveyed parents believed that bringing back the nit nurse, sometimes referred to as ‘Nitty Nora’, would be an effective way of eradicating headlice for good.
Nit nurses were phased out in the 1980s and 1990s as health officials abandoned the practice of mass head examinations in favour of better public education on the issue.
The Mumsnet research found that one in ten parents who have experienced nits would be willing to give up a week’s salary to eliminate headlice from their family for all time. Five per cent said they would be willing to lose a fingertip if it meant they never had to treat nits again.
Despite regular pleas from teachers, 64 per cent of those surveyed said they knew other parents who had knowingly sent their child to school or nursery with untreated nits, although only eight per cent admitted to having done so themselves.
Nine out of ten parents agreed that keeping children at home with minor conditions while they are possibly infectious is very difficult to balance with holding down a job.
Eight out of ten said schools, nurseries and childcarers should be able to send home children whose parents repeatedly fail to treat their nits, but only a third thought repeat offenders should be named and shamed.
Parents were also asked which childhood afflictions were the worst to deal with. The top ten were:
- Threadworm ('worms')
- Molluscum
- Ringworm
- Foreign objects in noses, ears and other orifices
- Warts and verrucas
- Nits
- Poo where it shouldn't be
- Conjunctivitis
- Vomit
- Fear of dragons under the bed
Mumsnet founder, Justine Roberts, said, ‘Before you have kids, nobody tells you about inspecting the toilet bowl for worms, which is probably just as well.
‘Once you’re in possession of an infested child, your only option is to deal with the situation as best as you can - but How to Blitz Nits and Other Nasties distills the best hard-won wisdom for parents fighting the urge to drown the entire house in bleach.’
