AIBU to give up and let the bum worms win?

This worn anecdote is rank so read at your peril.

We had the worst week of my parenting life when my 11m old at the time got worms (and we've been through some bad times) We actually ended up at A&E twice in the middle of the night because I couldn't work out wtf was going on and nor could they, she was screaming like something out of a horror movie for hours on end. An unexpected part was 24 hours after the first dose of the treatment I changed her nappy and assumed it was full of uncooked rice. Thought it was a bit odd, went to work and it was playing on my mind so I went home and looked at the nappy again to see that sone of the 'rice' was actually moving a bit. Took it straight to the GP who said it was a larvae infestation and didn't let us leave, she called somewhere in london for advice and sent it off to them. Turns out that it was actually unrelated to the itchy bum and that was just good old thread worms but the other one had also been killed and dumped by the ovex. We actually had to take 4 doses of the ovex and we now take it every 3 months just to be safe. I can't go through that again. Good luck.

Came here to say this.

Also I had to get mine on prescription as I'm breastfeeding and the pharmacist refused to sell me them. The GP prescribed like 12 tablets or something ridiculous which for one prescription charge was great value!

Dont give up! Have you washed teddies, dressing gowns and other things the kids regularly handle? You also need to clean all round the beds, wipe them down and then vacuum all round. Pants at night and shower in the morjing.

We had a bit of a nightmare with them at one point. The following seemed to help us

• everyone in underpants and pj bottoms when sleeping. Taken off only in bathroom and straight into a carrier bag, into the washing machine.

• Bums washed every morning with a new flannel (straight in the bag).

• I always wash my hands after loading the washing machine and before pressing buttons (I suspect i was reinfecting myself here as I seemed to suffer the most)

It wasn't strawberry, it was raspberry, and it was PRIPSEN.

The reason why I have never eaten a raspberry nor a raspberry flavoured anything for 40 odd years.

People are talking about redosing regularly with ovex but isn't that meant to make the worms resistant to it...? I'm sure I remember a pharmacist saying something like that once.

We did two doses of Ovex a fortnight apart but the first had already worked, second was belt and braces. Washed sheets and trimmed nails but none of this shampooing carpets and stuff. I think you’re getting reinfected.

DS was our patient zero and I’m convinced from the timing he got them by eating the playdough at messy playgroup. Didn’t infect the rest of us; I think nappies and the constant bum wiping forms a good containment system. Figure out the source!

Wash the bedding and towels in a boil wash then just keep doing everyone on a schedule . Twice a month until you think they’ve gone then everyone every six months whether you have symptoms or … my seasoned advice!

You need to be extremely strict with hygiene. Toddlers bedding needs to be washed often. I would also take ovex every week for 4 weeks ( my doctors recommended this) hot wash any teddies and soak/disinfect toys. I found after cleaning them that it was easier to bag a load up and have a few out for the next few weeks rather than constantly cleaning loads of toys. Tell school/nursery to send letters out if any of your children attend one.

That pink medicine. Put me right off strawberry sweets and milkshake.
I was a thumb sucker and regularly needed dosing. I don't remember taking multiple doses or sheet washing.

Also - boots sell their own brand of the meds at about £8 for 4 tables, a considerable bargain compared to branded ovex!!

Nits are much worse because there's no medicine that really works.

Thread worms are fairly easy to get rid of with multiple doses so I suspect you are being reinfected somehow.

We have a few repeat bouts and I was pulling my hair out,

Make sure you tell nursery so they can bin play dough sand etc and make sure you do same.

I sympathise though, it's shit

I’ve been fortunate in that my kids have never had worms. Or nits. Just really really lucky. I did have worms a few times when young. It got to the point where my mum would give us medicine every 4 months regardless of symptoms. It was horrible. We called it pink medicine. It was nasty chalky powder that was dissolved in water. When a bit older I remember huge yellow chalky tablets. Mum used to crush them and give us the tablets with a spoonful of jam.
you have my sympathy. Worms are horrible.

Him being potty trained isn’t the issue. Good hygiene with his own toilet habits will stop him passing worms on to other people. It won’t stop him catching them. Since he got them first it’s likely it’s someone else in his nursery class that he keeps catching them from. Nursery need to know so that they can ask all parents to treat.

You are already doing more than enough to get rid of them. The problem is the repeated reinfection. Unfortunately young children put their hands in their mouths an awful lot, which is how you catch them. Someone else is spreading the eggs, and he’s putting them in his mouth. In your position I’d look into whether you can use that nasty tasting nail polish to stop kids biting their nails on one so young. You can beg and plead with other people to treat their kids, but ultimately you don’t have any control over that. I always assumed it’s impossible to keep a toddlers hands out of their mouth, but I might be trying to make it possible if I’d been dealing with what you have.

OP don’t give up! I was in your position a few months ago, I have 3 kids and had a blissful 7 years of parenting before dealing with the horrid little blighters.

in the end we have to take 3 lots of doses (so one and then again a fortnight later), but eventually we were clear.

I found you have to be careful when undressing so as not to spill eggs anywhere, and change bed sheets, knickers and PJs for the first couple of nights after a dose, as well as handwashing. I hid soft toys for a couple of weeks too as the eggs can survive that long.

I feel so bad for you, I struggled most my childhood with recurring ‘worms’. I have no advice but I know how awful it is so I manage you all find a solution

Take the normal dose three days in a row. Kills them completely and you don't need to re-dose. (Disclaimer this is what I do because it's the packet advice for the exact same drug at the same dose, in the country I live. Obv do not contravene medical advice on the say so of a random interneter.)

Cut children's nails as soon as you notice they are long enough to get a line of dirt under them (preferably sooner)

You don't have to shower in the mornings or shampoo carpets. That's overkill - just get them to wash hands ASAP first thing in the morning, before eating, and if you notice any hands-in-pants activity. You can wipe around their bums with a flannel if you want, but it's probably not necessary.

Clean pants on for bedtime and stick them in the wash in the morning and then wash your hands after putting the washing on.

Trim his nails.

You didn't mention if you are washing the bed sheets.
Also you definitely need to tell the older child's key worker as they need to be washing hands after the bathroom and before eating.

Iron the bedsheets.... apparently the heat kills them....I did this when my dc had them...WORST TIME EVER by the way. You have my sympathy. Iron all underwear too

I agree with telling the nursery. They need to chuck the play dough and sand out

Ask each place you attend with the kids to put out a note/text to all parents and also so they can bin any play dough, change sand, give everything a once over clean etc.

Mine had them once and a quick dose of ovex did the job. Your kids are getting reinfected somewhere.