Freaking out after a park trip

[Ak627]

Today at the park I lifted my 3 year old up to go on a slide. At the same time another older kid was climbing up.

I noticed when he reached the top he had cut his knee and there was fresh blood coming out (not enough to pour down his leg but quite a nasty cut).

They both sat on the slide at the time next to each other and little boy went first. When my daughter finally came down she had her hands in her mouth.

I’m freaking out that the little boy has accidentally wiped the blood on the slide and then she’s touched it and popped her hands in her mouth, she also has a little cut on her hand so again i’m worried this would have come into contact with the blood.

I know if she thought her hands were dirty she would come to me to wipe them, but the slide was a dark tube, so she might not have seen.

The other kid’s dad was sat outside the park, I don’t think he knew his kid had cut himself.

AIBU worrying about this? Full disclosure, I do suffer with health anxiety. I washed her hands after we drove home. It’s just the not knowing if she came into contact with a stranger’s blood that is worrying me.

It’s understandable that you’re worried about this because of your health anxiety but I don’t think you need to worry at all. The chances that she has got blood in her mouth/a cut are very small and even if she had it’s extremely unlikely anything bad would happen.

You are worrying way too much
The blood probably didn't go on the slide
Even if it did she probably didn't come into contact with the blood
Even if she did it probably didn't go into her mouth
Even if it did go in her mouth the chance of the other child having a disease that is transmitted by blood - saliva contact is vanishingly rare

Sorry to hear that you struggle with anxiety.

Please try not to worry though, I think it's very unlikely that she will have got blood in her mouth/cuts. And even if she did, it's very unlikely anything would happen.

I agree with midnight. What help are you having for your health anxiety?

That’s extreme health anxiety. You need some help for that.

This might be a sign to get help for your health anxiety, it may rub off on your daughter and affect her .
(I don't mean to make you feel bad)

Crossed posts with pp

I think it will be important for you, if you can, to prioritise getting help for this anxiety. Kids are gross. Like truly repulsive. And that’s normal, and even desirable! If your anxiety will impact your daughter to the point of panicking over normal activities and her knowing she must come and wipe her hands if they might be dirty then that’s not fair. Your hands should be dirty at the park. It’s ok to be dirty as long as we wash up at home.

The chances of her being harmed by possibly coming in contact with some blood from a little boy’s cut knee is so so so so miniscule.

There is no risk of harm coming to your child in these circumstances.

I have health anxiety so I’m going to treat you the way I need to be treated, so apologies if I seem harsh!

What actually are you worried about? I presume blood borne illnesses?

The most common three blood borne illnesses are HIV, hepatitis b and c.

Hiv
There are just over 105,000 people who have HIV in the UK. Only 45 of those are under 15. 97% of people living with HIV cannot transmit HIV.
HIV does not survive for very long at all outside the body so it is incredibly unlikely your child is at any risk of HIV.

hepatitis b
hep b can live outside the body. However, only 0.45% of the population of the UK has hep b. Most of these infections are contracted outside the UK; and there is less than .1% of under 5’s who have hepb. It’s highly unlikely this child had hep b.

Hepatitis c
only 0.5-1% of the uks population have hep c: and most of those infected caught it through injecting blood. A kid in a swingpark is highly unlikely to have previously injected drugs.

You know you are being irrational. Believe yourself. And don’t Google - I’ve done it for you.

Christ thank God you weren't a parent in the 70s. We often stood in dog shit, cut out thumbs to be "blood brothers", went out all day and drank from the same bottle of pop..the local alcoholics gave us swings of cider from their flagon bottles

And ate slugs out of the garden thinking they were black winegums.

I have health anxiety and worry about far fetched scenarios like this all the time so I sympathise.

But honestly I can't see anything worrying about what you described at all.

It's obviously very easy for me to see as an outsider, and I know all too well how real the threat must seem to you, but try not to worry.

🤢

You would think you would be more worried about all the germs lingering on playground equipment as they are never ever cleaned 😅

Seriously op. Time to get some help. Please see a therapist. For your daughters sake. You will give her the same disease as the one you have. This shouldn't happen.

Help yourself so you can help her.

Even if she did touch or taste his blood; so what?

This is the UK, presumably your daughter is vaccinated to the hilt against all the common childhood infections.

The chances of the other young child carrying any blood-transmissible disease like HIV or Hep C is absolutely negligible .

It’s entirely your anxiety. Entirely. The chances of your child truly coming into contact with this blood is tiny, and the chance of that child’s blood containing anything of risk, considerably smaller still.

The slide itself would have been grubbier, and we all need a bit of grub to bolster our immune systems.

You have nothing to worry about.