to not want my 3yo to go to a petting farm without me

[pianointhedark]

DD is 3.2. Her preschool are doing a trip to a petting farm, which I feel reluctant to let her go on.

My main concern is hygiene. With the best will in the world the staff cannot be watching all the children all the time, and obviously it would only take a moment for her hand to go into her mouth before it had been washed. Obviously I could impress upon her not to do that, but she's only 3 and I can't expect her to understand why or remember.

I did ask whether they needed any parent helpers, but the answer was no. I then told a little white lie - that DD can be wary of animals and for that reason I would prefer to be with her, but again the answer was no - apparently they can't allow one parent to go because then all will want to go and they're sure DD will be fine.

AIBU to not want her to go? Sometimes I worry that I am being overly PFB and would appreciate some MN perspective.

I think you need to get a few more details before you make a decision. When my DD1 when on her first preschool outing I nearly didn't let her go as I was worried (she is PSB, not PFB). It was a trip to a large Santa's Grotto, and I was worried that she would get lost or scared in the crowd.

Parents weren't allowed to volunteer to help as we all wanted to, but they had a ratio of 1 adult for every 2 children (and in one case 1 to 1 as the child needed extra help), so every child had a hand to hold. The adults were the all the staff and the CRB checked Committee members

She had a whale of a time, loved every minute of it, I was so pleased that I didn't let my worries stop her having a lovely time and when it was DD2's turn a couple of years later I had no hesitation to let her go too.

Ecoli can be caught from ruminants brokenhearted
Not many people keep them as pets.

Yabu it's a petting zoo not hand feeding crocodiles.

My presence prevented DD from sticking her thumb in her mouth the whole time
Your presence, are you a Jedi

YANBU to be concerned OP and to want to know how the risk will be managed. I generally find that children are more obedient when told not to do something by teachers or nursery staff so the children are more likely not to put their fingers in their mouths until they've washed their hands whilst at the farm because this what they'll be told to do.

Do you like her to wash her hands each time she strokes a cat or dog?

Erm yes I do with my DDs. I thought that was normal

Diwnamongtherednecks said being PFB was ok and we'd all done it at some time.

Errr. No. Actually.
I have never been PFB.
I am the opposite. I am a bit too laise faire. And Also favour benign neglect!!
PFB makes me feel ill. And I despise parents passing their anxiety onto their children.
So, please don't tar us all with the same brush.

If visiting petting farms is so dangerous why has it not been banned for under 5s?

There's loads and loads broken. The next big flu pandemic will probably emerge from a chicken on a farm somewhere in China. Swine Flu, H1N1, and of course HIV leap to mind.

Not relevant to a nursery petting zoo visit I know, but interesting.
Zoonosis
HSE

YABU, it's not the end if the world, my LO is 21 months and loves stroking the dog and horse and I often forget to wash both her hands and mine you don't want to know how many times I've done that and eaten something

I'm a firm believer that a little bit of dirt & grub is good for a child and an adult too. I've been around horses for years and have only ever fallen I'll from other people, never my animals.

I'm surprised ds has survived to the grand old age of eight. He rarely washes his hands (despite being told to do so). We have two dogs and two cats which he strokes/hugs a lot.

I hope you don't let dd eat meat from a BBQ or in a restaurant OP. You've no idea if it's been cooked properly and that's a substantial E Coli risk.

Or is it just this one event you've got hung up on?

Look she's your child, send her, don't send her, it's up to you. Just don't keep her at home thinking you're keeping her safe from some real and immediate danger. Because you aren't. What you're doing is depriving her of a worthwhile and fun time because you're scared something will happen to her. As a parent that's your right. Just don't let it become a habit or YOU stand a chance to become the biggest risk to your child's healthy development.

Gloves?

I didn't let my 3yo thumbsucker go on the nursery trip to the petting farm.

I'm not generally hung up on cleanliness/germs, but e coli is really nasty.

Why are posters referring to stroking cats and dogs and their kids being fine so the OPs will be fine? You do know that cats and dogs are not the same as cows, sheep, goats and carry different diseases don't you?

Yes, the risk of contracting E. coli is slim but the risk is there. And, as my consultant told me, you don't build up an immunity to E. coli 0157 and me having had it recently won't protect me from it in the future either.

I'm not saying the OP shouldn't let her daughter go, but I do think she has reasonable concerns and shouldn't be thought less of because of them.

The risk is miniscule but yes it is a real risk. A farm near here (Herts) was sued and subsequently closed about ten years ago after a young child who visited contracted e-coli and was left completely paralysed.

The farm re-opened about three years later under a new name and with a huge number of hand washing facilities and safety signs up.

There is a reason why all farms and petting areas have hand washing facilities these days and that's because even though the risk may be small, the consequences can be awful.

Having said that OP I think that if you trust the staff at the nursery and are happy with the ratios and that they are fully aware of the consequences of non- handwashing then your dd will be ok. I am also quite ott re. Washing hands and that's because I had to report on this court case so understand that it's not just being 'pfb' about cleanliness. My daughter now absolutely knows that she has to wash her hands after touching an animal.

You are unlikely to catch anything from cats and dogs but you CAN catch E. coli from sheep and cows and that can be fatal.

YANBU OP. There's E. coli and then there's E. coli 0157. Anyone can catch it and have a bit of bloody diarrhoea but under fives are much more likely to develop complications such as kidney failure. I've brought DS to a petting farm before, but I wouldn't let him feed the animals. Not until he's old enough that I can make sure he washes his hands before touching his mouth or face. I did notice though that there were notices everywhere regarding hand washing and did wonder at the time if it was due to the aftermath of Godstone Farm.

What would concern me after reading this thread is the thought that some of the nursery staff might not really understand at all how important it is to be really careful - just look at some of the ignorance on this thread!

Maybe like some of the people in this thread they think it's all a bit PFB to be fussy about handwashing, and a bit of dirt is good for you, and anyway they grew up on a farm and they're fine, and they pride themselves on letting their own kids teethe on the dogs toys and doesn't everyone know there are lots of fussy neurotic people out there making silly health and safety rules, and ahh isn't that sweet look at little Thomas standing there sucking his thumb looking at the animals with big happy eyes... you get the idea.

At least if you take your own kids on a visit rather than sending them through nursery you'll know to be careful yourself rather than relying on the staff taking the risk assessment seriously enough, when judging by this thread there's clearly an awful lot of ignorance out there about things like E. coli.

There has been several well reported outbreaks of e-coli (in petting farms) one where 12 children were hospitalised and as mewkins stated this is why hand washing stations were made compulsory - it is a very real risk.

I am far from obsessed with hygiene,but I do ensure my DC's always wash hands after touching the animals.

All of you ridiculing the OP are being very unreasonable - it is a very real risk - but one that is managed by good hand washing.

OP the pre school will have done a risk assessment and I doubt very much that they would put any child in their care at risk by not ensuring hands are washed at the very frequent hand washing stations. AT our local farm they are situated at every section.

It is more likely that the children will catch E.coli from lettuce that animals. No one ever starts a thread saying they want their child's Nursery to stop serving salad.

than animals not that animals.

How did we get to 2014?

My presence prevented DD from sticking her thumb in her mouth the whole time
Your presence, are you a Jedi

I just stopped her putting her thumb in her mouth. This was ten years ago before Godstone Farm. The nursery staff weren't that careful and there weren't many sinks anywhere so I was glad I went.