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?

As I said before, I would reserve 111 for a child that I had moderate-severe concerns about. So consistently high fever that doesn't respond to Calpol, non-blanching rash, unable to keep water down etc...

Not a D&V bug.

Certainly not a d&v bug that’s only just started. Think I took my DS to the GP after five days once.

Makes you wonder what the point of it is then if they send everyone to a&e?!

Yes, funnily enough as the parent of a three-year-old I am aware that it is normal for a child to fall down, I wasn’t worried about him falling down, I was worried about the farmyard sand going in his mouth. Had this been a normal run of the mill sandpit I wouldn’t have posted.

Ah, I see. See, the thing is you posted:

Son is very accident prone in the sandpit he managed to jump forward and somehow get loads of sand in his mouth.

I read: "Son is very accident prone in the sandpit. He managed to jump forward and somehow get loads of sand in his mouth".

Whereas you meant: "Son is very accident prone. In the sandpit, he managed to jump forward and somehow get loads of sand in his mouth".

That's what punctuation marks are for. To make yourself clear.

Yes, you are so right I should have been more careful with my punctuation! Parenting can be so distracting! I came on here for help but I don’t think I will bother ever again.

You posted in AIBU. You wanted opinion. You got it.

How is your son now OP?

He’s sleeping at the moment, so far no more sickness or diarrhoea so hopefully it’s just a 24 hour thing. Thanks for asking

Hope he feels better now.

You sound extremely anxious. I think you should speak to your GP.

Glad he’s ok.

Loads of public playparks have sand pits. What stops foxes, rabbits, etc from accessing them at night time. Appreciate your concerns about farms but you need to keep this in perspective. Your son is not ill at the moment and probably won't be any worse than what he exhibited after basically eating some sand. Visit to GP at this stage would be wasting time.

Oh give it a rest DistanceCall It was perfectly clear what OP meant.

Please don’t be put off asking for advice again OP. There are a lot of well meaning posters on here too. Maybe AIBU not the best place to post though as some people appear to use it as a place to be downright rude and patronising. Hope DS is better soon.

Thank you timewarpted, and thank you to those who posted reassuring comments, it was appreciated.

To be honest it’s far more likely he picked up a bug from another child at the farm. The signs are there for insurance purposes not because there is any real likelihood of them contracting something.

ittakes2 I cant believe a staff member at a farm tolmyou your child would probably get sick after feeding a sheep and putting fimgets in mouth. Out of all the things kids out in their mouth, traces of sheep,
Or any other vegetarian animals saliva is definitely not something id worry about. People let dogs lick all over their faces and all sorts.

Jane wrt Clostridium difficile , a lot of children and adults have this bug in their bodies , along with billions of other bacteria , it doesn't usually cause an issue because all the other amazing fantastic bacteria that keep us functioning, keep it at such low levels that it doesn't cause us harm or symptoms.

Out of curiosity , has anyone else had the advice not to give milk if your child has a stomach bug ?

Grumpy, Yes I have and we don't give milk (or any dairy really) if vomiting as can make it worse.
I also don't give fruit juice if they have diohrea as it can make it worse. I try and stick to the brat diet.

111 don't always recommend A&E, even with poorly babies. In this area, once you're through the computer questionnaire, you often speak to a real life Dr or nurse who uses their judgement to advise next steps. I've been told to pop to the chemist with a child with a sore eye, for example, and to the out of hours Dr with a newborn with a skin infection. Good sensible advice. So, OP, you are totally being reasonable to follow the advice of 111.

And i second the no dairy thing. It really makes a difference.

@ificouldwritealettertome what's your problem? Grow up.

I think you behaved sensibly OP.
Jeez there are some patronising and nasty individuals on this thread. Post again OP but avoid AIBU.

jamoncrumpets You come across as someone waiting for the slightest thing to pounce on. That isn’t nice. Why so unpleasant to a worried mother? It makes you seem bitter about life.

Farms CAN be the source of many nasties...but you're highly unlikely to get anything from a wee mouthful of sand. As has been mentioned above, plenty kids are in and around this environment day in day out and they are the picture of health. I used to spend a day at the stables, cleaning up poo, brushing the horse, etc and stop for lunch without caring about cleaning my hands and I never once got sick. I'm not saying that you shouldn't wash your hands - just saying that you're child is most likely going to be perfectly fine!