To be freaked out after farm visit

[Janel85]

Went to petting farm yesterday with three-year-old son, was religious about hand washing due to e-coli and various infections, signs up everywhere warning to wash hands. Son is very accident prone in the sandpit he managed to jump forward and somehow get loads of sand in his mouth. I tried not to go into worry overdrive and washed his mouth out best I could with water. He has been complaining of tummy ache all day and I’m now very worried. No upset tummy today, but I’ve read up on it and it’s normally 3-4 or as many as 14 days after. What has me crazily worries is that I saw sandpits at farms are often a source. I want to take him gp tomorrow but I don’t know if that’s over reacting and if they could even reassure me this early?

Would you worry if it was beach sand? I would worry about dog shit tbh.

To be honest OP if you’re that jumpy about it and convinced your child is going to get ill just by setting foot on a farm, it beggars belief that you took him in the first place.

Please don’t use a GP appointment for your healthy child because there’s an outside chance he might get ill in the future.

I wouldn’t worry to be honest. I wouldn’t give it a second thought. My kids are part mud covered ferrets Christ knows what’s been in their mouths...well there was that one time when my smallest tried to eat his own poo...

OP, ignore those belittling you. I think he will probably be OK - is it true that if someone gets something they start being sick within 4-6 hours? Correct me if I'm wrong. Unless he starts getting a fever along with sickness & diarrhoea I think he'll be ok. But I would feel the same as you, if my DS had eaten sand from a farmyard sandpit!

When he says he has a tummy ache, could your ds mean his tummy hurts from falling over OP?

I took my daughter to a Gp appointment last year on a sunny day. She went in with a minor health issue and and came out of the doctor's room with 3 wasp stings on her arm and a prescription for cooling spray.

Apparently the little bugger flew from the open window into the sleeve of her cardigan and got her when she stood up to put it back on.

I live in a farm and my children are regularly rolling around in excrement.

It's good for the immune system!

I understand your concern OP. But I’m sure he will be fine. Just keep a close eye. No point stress of visiting GP. Kids are much more resilient than we parents fear!

E.coli is a common infection (a lot of cases of 'food poisoning' and 'holiday diahorrea' are E.coli). However, the worrying one is the 0157 strain that another poster referred to. This causes the extremely serious illnesses that have been linked with petting farms a few times. This strain came from the US and only arrived here in the last 30 or 40 years, so that is why middle aged people who grew up on farms (like me!) wouldn't have worried about it. It's rare to get sick from visiting a farm though and extremely rare to get a serious illness. Well run petting farms are very aware of hygiene take the health of their animals seriously and really, if it was a big risk they would never get insurance to let the children near the animals. As long as your child doesn't have any symptoms op don't worry about it and if he gets sick consult the GP. My DD often complained of tummy ache (several times a day for years) and I think she couldn't identify different tummy feelings so hungry or full or indigestion or anything in between was described as tummy ache!

*Are you getting any treatment OP? you need support. It's hard parenting with health anxiety.

Lovely patronising remark there.

Sometimes, someone worried about something doesn’t actually need therapy but human beings on a forum to just say “it’s fine, don’t worry.” And the OP can peel herself down from the ceiling and use it as a marker for future mishaps that perhaps it isn’t that bad, like the time with the sand at the farm.
Anyone would think that forums like Mumsnet were created for just that.

But no, an innocent thread asking for advice turns into “You need therapy.”

Nice.*

This!!

Every loving mother will occasionally be excessively worried about something and then likely to smack her head over it! 🤦🏼‍♀️ It doesn’t mean they bloody have anxiety issues FFS!

Op id be exactly the same. Of course your going to worry! And for the points you have mentioned.

I'd keep an eye on your son and if any new symptoms appear of his tummy ache continues for longer than a couple days I would get him in to see a gp. Better to be safe than sorry....Right?

I do hope he's okay.

Don't listen to the unhelpful Mumsnetters. Your here for help. So only read and take onboard the ones you find helpful. Don't fuel their fire. :)

Couldn’t agree with Ewanthesheep more! Try not to worry OP I understand how hard that is sometimes. All will be just fine

My son fed a sheep at a similar farm - the sheep’s tongue was all over my son’s fingers as it ate the food. While I was walking my son to the hand washing station which was 10 feet away... he decided it was a good time to stick his fingers in his mouth! When I mentioned it to the staff and asked if he was likely to get sick...they basically said probably! But actually he was fine.

I have chronic query fever. It's a debilitating disease from microscopic animal bacteria. Got it, I think, from petting zoo trip with dc.

DO NOT PANIC! It's easily curable with antibiotics if diagnosed early.
If he falls ill with fever, chills, pneumonia, go to dr and ask for test. Insist.

It's rarely diagnosed except for people around animals.
It's not easily contracted by healthy people.I was only one, my immune system was poorly. My dc didn't.

I was not diagnosed for a few years although, there is a "q-fever lung" that shows up on x-rays and I had pneumonia xrays twice when I fell sick.

Please, don't ignore it if (i doubt he will, my ds didn't) he develops symptoms, its a bad disease if not caught early.

Best wishes, I'm sure he's fine, I'm a worry wart.

My daughter licked the arm of a seat on the tube when she was a toddler & was absolutely fine!! Not a farm situation, but one that is probably the equivalent of putting a petri dish of bacteria into her mouth!

Thing is, ladies, thee is so much emphasis on perfect cleanliness that immunity to everyday 'nasties' disappears. There is the old adage 'aim eat a peck of dirt in your lifetime in order to remain healthy'. Modern children do not get the chance to eat anything that is not sanitized with the result that they cannot build up an army of antibodies. SHOCK HORROR! Eating dirt? Well, many years ago, kids ran around fields, ate dirt, swam unsupervised in streams and, guess what? They survived and prospered.
I don't suppose that sandpit was exposed to marauding cats and the like as it would have been required to have an overnight cover. 'Course, someones DC may have peed in it!

How is your son today? I hope he is feeling better.

The signs are to warn parents obviously but also a side effect of them can be to cause worry. I think the exposure you have described, was quite low risk. It would be unlucky if he became ill because of this.

I think if he doesnt have diarrhoea then just keep an eye on him over the next 14 days.
If he gets diarrhoea get a specimen and speak to surgery about sending it off for testing. Offer him plenty of fluids.
If he is struggling to keep enough fluids, or you are concerned he is ill, then make the GP appointment.

FWIW I once had Ecoli 157 (but not from a petting zoo!) and it was worse and longer lasting than a usual gastro bug (thats why I was tested), but there was no specific treatment needed, just lots of hygiene measures to stop it spreading.

My son has just been sick. He continued to complain about his tummy all day and vomited about half an hour ago, he is now asleep and I am very worried.

I absolutely would not worry in the slightest OP. I bet every single child in the sandpit put their fingers in their mouth at some point.

When my daughter was four we were in a churchyard and she was running around on the grass with her brother whilst I tended DM's grave. She somehow fell into dog mess which she got on her hands. She burst into tears from the fall and then wiped her face and mouth, not realising her hands had poo on. I was absolutely horrified! It ended up on her teeth and face but thank god not her eyes.

I rang my friend's DP who is an A&E consultant for advice and was told to rinse her mouth with water, wash face and hands as normal. She did have an upset tummy the next day and was sick but other than that she was fine.

I think you are overthinking this, try to forget it.

Don't worry too much OP my LO aged about 1 1/2 managed to eat some sheep sick at a local farm after some over zealous feeding first time we went and she was totally fine. I've been more careful since then mind!

I would say go to GP. If he is ok that's great but it's better to check. You are mum and thats natural you worry for your child. It's always better to check with professional if something seems not right than be sorry later for not doing it.

Please don't waste a GP appt for this if he isn't actually showing any symptoms apart from a tummy ache.

He was sick about thirty minutes ago

Hopefully it is a stomach bug or food poisoning and nothing more serious. Has he had any diarrhoea, as that seems to be a major symptom?

Is it worth phoning 111 and asking their advce?