To be really hopping mad at this other mother?

[Snoozysnuze]

My 8 year old son has his best mate over for a sleepover tonight. He's waited three years for best mate to turn 8 as that was the age set by his parents for sleepovers. Fair enough. Both super excited, counting down the days, hours, minutes until said sleepover.
My OH goes to pick best mate up, his mother hands over bag etc before casually mentioning that best mate has threadworms, but don't worry because they are really common and he's been treated for them. OH bit flustered, doesn't know anything about threadworms as none of us have ever had them so doesn't object and brings best mate home.
We have since looked up threadworms and they are a horror story, really itchy anus at night, increased bedwetting (apparently he has wet the bed twice this week) and highly contagious with eggs that can live outside the body for 2 weeks!
Clearly best mate and son have been playing together all day, and best mate has touched a lot of his toys and stuff. Since reading we have watched him like hawks and only caught him scratching his bottom once, and have insisted on hand washing immediately and before all meals etc.
The thing that really gets my goat though is that I am currently breastfeeding an 8 month old. Having read and spoken to a pharmacist we have decided to treat our son and OH for them anyway (NHS website says treat all in household even if not symptomatic, and he is now in our household...) but myself and 8 month old cannot take the medication so if we catch them it could be horrendous itchiness for a couple of weeks until hygiene sorts the blighters out. We also have to vacuum and damp dust the entire house plus wash several loads of soft toys that they have been playing with. He has also brought his own soft toys into the house which are likely riddled with eggs!
AIBU or should best mate's mother have called off the sleepover to protect in particular our 8 month old from potential infection? If it was the other way round our son would most definitely have been kept at home. They would have been terribly disappointed but sleepover could have been rearranged for another weekend very easily. Fuming is an understatement. Plus wish we'd known a bit more about threadworms before picking him up....

Is anyone else's bum getting itchy reading this?

I properly freaked out the first time the kids had worms. Mostly because my son (who massively overreacts to everything is very sensory-processing-disordered) screamed and SCREAMED and it was all a bit house of horror. Boil washed the cat. Hosed down the house, burned the bedding. Notified the local press, etc.

We've now had them for about the fourth time and I've practically given up - I just live with an itchy arse, the pharmacist reaches for the Ovex every time we walk in. The bloody things will outlive us, I swear.

Really common. Most people dont even know they have them. All iv ever done is treated and washed bedding

You and the baby should be able to take pripsen powder (suitable from 3 months), instead of the ovex, ok it’s foul but it does the job. I wouldn’t treat baby unless I saw signs in nappy. To be honest if your son has ever played in a sand pit at school/ nursery then he has more than likely had threadworms!

My ex wife used to get them she used to eat a lot of salads I oft wondered if she washed them enough;!

Me or the dc have never had them, the thought of them makes me feel like I have a thousand worms crawling over me. Gross.

(Forgets the point of the thread)- I would have taken him back home. I had a child to sleep once and two days laters Mum told me she’d forgot to mention they all had head lice and she hadn’t treat the child as he was coming to ours and didn’t want the lotion to still small. We all caught them. Only a few days before had I spend £300 ish on hair extensions, the glued in ones. They all had to come out. Oh how I seethed!!

I understand why you are worried but god it is a huge overreaction. So many children at his school will have/had them and they are together all day. It's just that you don't know. I feel sorry for the child he is probably very aware - but I do understand your concern if you hadn't heard of them before x

My ex wife used to get them she used to eat a lot of salads I oft wondered if she washed them enough

Eh? You can pick eggs up literally anywhere. They're coated in a sticky glue. You could use a cash point after a none hand washer, get a Gregg's while out and swallow an egg.

Don't put your hands in your mouth before washing is the key.

...bought anti-bacterial handwashing...

Worms and their eggs aren't bacteria!

According to my doctor back then, it's all about fingernails. Keep them short and brush them every morning. If kids scratch their bum in the night, where will the eggs go?

So many children have threadworms. When was he treated? As long as it’s been a few days as he’s had the tablet, lots of baths etc, it will be fine. School children always have them, spreading them about happily as Larry. It’s not the end of the world.

Gosh chill out. Surprised you medics and so uptight about threadworms! Something and nothing take the medicine enforce handwashing and wash bedding. Both mine had them at some stage once and went with treatment remember my sister having them early 89s but the medicine then was truly vile.

80s

My son’s threadworm was called Ned. Once you have kids you have to deal with some disgusting things. I’m surprised the mum told you about the worms As I bet most parents wouldn’t say a thing including those bleating oh my god on this thread.

Anyone else with no symptoms want to run out and get worm medicine with all this talk of people having them and not knowing?

Dd got them in a remote part of Italy and dh had to get the medicine from the pharmacist with zero Italian fun times

They are really common so I wouldn't get het up about it as long as the child has been treated. No risk of passing them on. And my daughter had them once when she was at nursery and honestly I wouldn't call it a horror show! She was uncomfortable/unsettled the night before we discovered them - then we did the treatment and all sorted. We washed all bedding and towels but that's hardly a big deal either. I really wouldn't worry.

MsTSwift DS got them in Germany last year. I came on here and some v. helpful MNetters told me the German word for the itchy buggers and the name of the medicine to ask for, which was brilliant as the pharmacist spoke no english. MN is a truly wonderful place sometimes.

... And I remember utterly freaking out the first time DD (reception, thumbsucker) caught them and generously shared them with her brother. I felt nauseous and ashamed of my unclean household! Now I keep a constant supply of ovex tablets in the bathroom cupboard and dole them out at the first mention of an itchy bum...

Massive overreaction, they constantly go round at school and to be honest you child has probably had them before and hasn't even noticed, they go on their own and often cause very few problems.

Not overreacting. They are very contagious. Is he at least in a sleeping bag?

The mother is off her head. Both for sending him and for telling you!!

It’s odd she told you I agree. Wrong call as has triggered all this hand wringing and panic in op and her dh. Honestly rule for nits and worms - treat immediately don’t tell anyone and don’t make a big dramatic drama out of something so mundane!

I think she could have texted before it got to the picking kid up stage. However I’d be surprised if your son hasn’t had threadworms, and you just haven’t realised. I was told by our doctor that up to 40%of kids have them at any one time. Some kids don’t even itch. If you ever see a kid itch their bum they probably have them. In my case a friend told me they were going round at school, my son had no symptoms but I took a flashlight and checked him an hour after he went to bed - and saw them! They are just so common in kids.

I would be mildly annoyed. I wouldn’t imagine we were all going to get sick or still be treating the mattresses come Christmas, like a PP. Don’t overreact.

What a lot of people seem to be missing on this is that the OP can't take Ovex because she's BF. If she does get worms, the hygiene steps you need to take to prevent cross contamination are pretty full on (changing the bedding and hoovering every day, washing down all surfaces in the bedroom once a day with a hot cloth) and that on top of looking after a baby. Yeah, I would be pretty pissed off at the mother.

I can understand your feelings, but seriously, kids at school will have them and you'd never know. All kids get them at some stage, it's not a big deal once you've had the experience. You just treat everyone in the family, and carry on regardless.