Worms - AIBU to ask you if ...

[CafeNoitSilVousPlait]

Your DC has ever had these?

A fellow school mum confided in me today that her girls get these at the start of almost EVERY term!

I didn't want to ask how she knew they had them - I mean, how does one check these things?

Every term tho! - always clear during the holidays apparently.

I was just wondering how common this is. And what should I look out for?

My DD just had them. She's two and was crying at night while trying to grab or "smack" her nappy. I whipped the light on and had a quick look at her anus and sure enough, there was one. It was horrible! They come out at night to lay eggs and the mucus they use to stick them to the anus cause an intense itch. People can't help scratching at night while they sleep and the eggs then end up up the nails and get reingested or passed on to others when we touch things.

We've all been treated (as advised) and followed the strict hygiene pattern to stop reinfection (the eggs can survive for 2 weeks on surfaces). I was horrified to read on the leaflet that 40% of under 10s have worms. Makes me want to worm children regularly like you do cats and dogs!

You might find this useful/interesting.

We were dewormed regularly as kids! When I first suggested DH take them because DS needed a treatment, he was mortified! Now, we all take deworming meds regularly. No big deal.

Mine have never had nits but have had worms several times ... I personally think you're susceptible to one or the other!
I worm them regularly (like a dog!!!)

My middle boy has had them.
I have three boys and the other two (one older, one younger) have never had them.
DS2 is a thumb-sucker though, which probably explains it!

He's had them three times and he's 4.5 years old

None of them have ever had nits though

My 2 year old had worms and I had to dose the whole family. Luckily the medicine tastes ok. I noticed one when I changed her nappy. Prevention is better than cure I guess. Keep fingernails short and clean (my doctor once told me that any child that bites their nails almost certainly has worms!). Also if you make them wear pants in bed they can't scratch their bottoms! All in all it's a bit yucky but worth dosing them up once a year with the medicine!

We've had them a fair few times. I think they are way more common than most people realise. I think sleeplessness, especially difficulty getting to sleep is a big clue, if they are too young to tell you their bum itches.

Keep nails really short, discourage nail-biting and nose-picking

yy - make them wear pants n bed and tell them to scratch outside the pants. Keep them in pants for several days after treatment. I keep Ovex in the medicine cupboard all the time.

worms AND nits in this house

Threadworms are very common in children I'm afraid. I worm all my family at least annually, If not every 6 months. Small children, as Happy says, will scratch their bums in the night and re-ingest the eggs.
Kids infect each other in school so you are more likely to get them if you have small ones, as hopefully bigger children know more about hand hygiene.
Our local Pharmacist reckons most people have had them and as we are rural, we are more likely to get them (soil etc...) the medicine is easy to take and works well, but you must wash towels, nightwear and undies on hot and hang in the sun for a few weeks. Don't worry though, although it is yuck, it is very very common.

Re; every term - have you seen the average Infants toilet? They don't know how to wipe their bums, they get poo all over the toilet seat, they don't wash their hands, they pick their noses etc (I work in a school and wash my hands a lot!)

Interesting. I worm mine regularly ( every 3 months) as they reckon about 70% of kids under 8 will have them at some time but we've only had nits 3 times. We have 3 girls at school and the eldest is in year 5.

Itchy bums are usually the sign. Harder to work out in kids who can't talk yet. DD is a thumbsucker and loves grubbing around in the garden and has had them a few times - Ovex (available on prescription if you can wait or over the counter otherwise) does the trick. Treat everyone in the family and wash underwear at 60 degrees. Same DD is apparently impervious to nits, unlike DD2 and me!

Ah the joys................!!

Gosh. Thanks everyone. eek !

hehe, i often gross my non parental friends with the worms stories!! After two bouts of them, I have decided that I will worm my child (and everyone else in the family) every six months, after all , the prevalence of worms in children warrants it!! We worm our pets to keep them parasite free, but not our children???? I had a long discussion with the pharmacist about this, and he tended to agree we should probably be routinely worming children!!

I can't have anything strawberry flavoured because of the worm medicine I had to have as a child. A pint of "strawberry" "milkshake". Blurgh. Makes me shudder just to think about it

I often wonder if my hatred of milkshakes was down to pripsen (the horrid raspberry/strawberry worm medicine)

Yes, we've had them several times. DC2 first caught them at nursery school. I have two children and a husband who never have symptoms, but me and DC2 it's always really clear. Never seen one of the wigglers, but have found eggs on DCs backside. Apparently lots of people have symptomless infections.

I can also spot the symptoms in other people's children (waking at night screaming, scratching bum randomly, sometimes wetting self when usually dry, symptoms sometimes seem like thrush in girls). I have diagnosed 3 other toddlers before their parents noticed (but didn't tell them ). First time parents of newly school-aged children seem blissfully unaware of the possibility.

Thankfully treatment is easy, although the hygiene measures are a real pain, especially with big families where there are so many towels, bed sheets etc.

Just returned from upstairs pilgrimage with torch ......... Happy to report all clear!

You should look out for an ithcy arse.

Yeah, don't assume all's clear just because no actual worm.

Mine have had nits a billion times but in 20 years (combined ages) of parenting, we have never had worms.

We can't bloody get rid of them. We've had to dose ourselves twice in the last four months, we do the whole, 'wash bedding/towels/underwear at 60o when you dose, wet dust all rooms, short fingernails, antibacterial hand wash every morning and after all toilet break' thing and still the fuckers have come back. I am almost resigned to just having them. Sigh.

Was that what it was called Tyler? Pripsen? I'm not alone then? Sometimes even yer acktual strawberry will make me gag.