To not want to take my kids to farms

[Lifeohlifeohhhlife]

Have a 5 month old and 3 Yr old.

I must admit I'm a bit of clean freak at home. Anyway I've never taken my kids to a farm. One of the first questions a Dr asked me at a and e when my baby was very ill was 'have they had any bbq food or been to any farms?!' and its kinda stuck with me..

Im sure I will take them eventually just really nervous while they are so young and vulnerable...... and would really like to take them sooner rather then later.

I know aibu but does anyone feel the same about all that animal poo and germs?! Happy for people to talk me out of this one or show some solidarity if you feel the same..

Plenty of babies grow up on actual working farms!!! YABU.

My daughter basically grew up on a livery yard and we have loads of pets at home. Going out to city farms was my favourite activity since she was a baby.

She has never been ill from it ever. It's actually very healthy for kids to spend time on farms/yards.

Is this actually a thing? DS is 5 and we have never taken him to a farm in his life… Zoos yes, and there were some random goats and rabbits at the county show that he petted, but have never even considered a trip to a farm as a day out.

We are in London so there are some city farms locally, but have just never had any desire to go to them (and DS has never expressed any desire to go either, though he likes Tractor Ted right now).

I don’t think your children will be mentally scarred if you take them somewhere else instead.

@Changechangychange I think near me they're called petting zoos it's not an actual farm

Haven’t taken him to a petting zoo either! We’ve been to London Zoo (loads), Berlin Zoo and Toronto Zoo. Lion/tiger/giraffe zoos.

Have to admit I was put off farms when I saw two fuck off massive rats at the City farm near me ... also don't see the appeal of visiting them to be honest.

To be fair, there have been outbreaks of E.Coli at children's farms - in particular, one at Godstone Farm in Surrey in 2009. I used to go there with my sons in a largish group of friends and they all teased me about my excessive hygiene, but I pointed out that there could be contamination on all the play areas from children who had been in the sheds. In fact we had been just before the outbreak.....The report is here assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/342361/Review_of_major_outbreak_of_e_coli_o157_in_surrey_2009.pdf

I thought it was good to expose your child to germs! Your 3 yo would love it OP. Give it a whirl and just wash hands frequently 🙂

😂 I agree. My dd got sick being around other kids never from being at a farm.

I think you may have a valid concern. Farms and farm animals are not that hygienic. Having said that my DCs LOVE farms. We go frequently and it's a favourite type of day out for us.

There are hardly any illnesses that pass from animals to humans! Plus you're mostly outdoors. Unlike...well pretty much anywhere else where children gather together, be it school, nursery or soft play where all those viruses and germs that transmit from child to child hang out.

Go pet a goat. It's much safer.

There is some risk from campilorbactor and e coli infection and as it is associated with animal sources and undercooked burgers, that is probably why you were asked by doctor.
Good hand hygiene is essential on entering and leaving farms and before eating your packed lunch etc. It is not an insignificant risk and there have been a number of confirmed cases and outbreaks traced to farms every year. But if you follow the hygiene rules the risks are minimised to make the benefits of a visit worthwhile.

It's not a zoonosis issue as you will not be petting sick animals. It is a bacteria issue. Particularly é coli 0157 and campilabactor and salmonella which are all carried by different animals, usually in their guts and then their poo. The transmission is through our mouth, usually by hands touching our mouth or hands touching food that is then eaten. Clean hands avoid this.

@ClareBlue - I caught Campylobacter from a 4 star hotel restaurant, I would rather chance the farm where I have control over the food and hand washing!

Please visit a farm with your children and talk with them about all the animals, their names and the sounds they make. I read with children, up to year 6 so age 10/11, and find it quite surprising how many can't identify animals or know the names for animal babies.

I'm not sure what a 5mo would gain from a farm..?
Take them to the zoo instead.

I've been taking DD regularly since she was 2, and letting her hand feed the animals. She had never been ill as a result.

The only time she has a really bad stomach bug it was picked up from gymnastics.

Children live and roam on farms perfectly fine. These days I think we are so knowledgable about germs we can be overly cautious but as long as your kids' hands are washed thoroughly after contact with any animals or their poo/ food and washed before eating and drinking then should be okay. Kids need some germs to build an immune system so try not to fret x

We live rurally with farms all around. We're surrounded by sheep, cows, horses, chickens, llamas and so on. It's a really healthy and positive environment to grow up in.

My friends dd was chucked in to the lamb pen in her walker before she could walk while she was lambing. My dc spend day in day out at the stables along with sheep and goats. We don't even have any mains water on site. They are the healthiest dc I know. Kids love animals, just wash their hands occasionally

Yes, this is true. I also helps prevent allergies, the same way as having a varied diet from start does. Avoiding certain foods and dettoling your home is doing your children a disservice.

Ha ha, I see visits to farms/woods etc as immune boosting!

And I have a bit of fear over germs myself (mainly sickness bugs!) and so softplay makes me anxious, but farms I almost see as an antidote!

i actually agree with you. i said no to nursery trip to a petting zoo for the same reasons. for those mentioning soft play, germs etc, my main worry was ecoli (an outbreak at a petting zoo years ago had several fatalities i seem to recall) rather than just general germs.i also had a thumb sucker and was very aware she would take it out to pet a goat or whatever, but it would be back in her mouth way before she got anywhere near a tap.

There’s hand washing facilities all over farms so as long as you practise good hand hygiene, nothing will happen. I’ve taken my DC a fair few times to various different farms and they’ve never got sick as a result.

Does your older child go to nursery or playgroup? I would have thought that the probability of picking something up there was higher.

Kids grow up on farms all over the world. I don’t think that something like a petting zoo would be particularly germy. You could ask the zoo staff for reassurance if you wanted to. If you know any medics, you could ask them what the A&E doctor might have been getting at when he asked you that question as there might have been something in particular on his mind based on her symptoms, or an outbreak of something locally, or something like that.