My 5 year old just drank some water from a stream!

[Woollybobble]

We have a stream behind our house , it’s lovely and shady down here in the hot weather.
My 5 year old was collecting rocks, I turned my back for a few seconds and he was putting his head in and licking up some of the water.

I have attached a photo of the stream in question. Do I need to be worried? We go on holiday this weekend, I’ll be gutted if he ends up with upset stomach and diarrhoea from this!

Don't worry, there's nothing you can do anyway so it's pointless. I bet he'll be ok.

He’ll most likely be fine unless you’re downwater from a waste water treatment plant or a dead sheep. People swim and splash in streams all the time to no ill-effect, and that must involve swallowing water sometimes.

lol

I have no idea if there’s a dead sheep. Definitely not near a waste treatment plant.
The water is flowing don’t know if that makes a difference.

Gosh l grew up in the countryside we often drank from streams…. In recent times you are more likely to get ill from tap water!

Honestly if they've got to 5 and that's the worst they've done you're doing well! They will be totally fine.

Unless he drank a pint of it, he'll be fine.

Ooh how lovely! I’m sure he’ll be fine, it’s probably very fresh, but I understand your dead sheep anxiety.

Farmers don't leave dead sheep in streams. I wouldn't encourage it but I also see no harm in it. I've swum in plenty of rivers and the sea, you can't help but swallow water at times. I've never been ill from it.

What a glorious place to have on your doorstep!
Whilst I'm sure he will be fine, only time will tell. Fingers crossed.

My dad was a countryman. He always said if you had to drink from a stream, pick a fast flowing one and have a shot of whisky with it to kill any bugs. Obviously not appropriate for a 5 year old but may be useful advice for someone

You're fine - it's a fast flow.

Looks pretty bloody refreshing too!

Calm down. He had a lick of water, not a pint. Flowing water is better than still. He’s more likely to get Ill from feeling your anxiety.

Do you think when he was collecting rocks, he wasn't going to put fingers in mouth etc anyway?

He will be fine!

DS and I drank from a waterfall in Brecon. We were thirsty. It is water. No ill effects.

Well, you'll soon know.

We have a stream in our garden, I wouldn't encourage it but I wouldn't worry about it, it looks like it's flowing fairly feeely

I used to drink from streams all the time on hikes as a kid. Encouraged by my parents. I'm still here.

What area are you ? I think some places you can check water bacteria levels ?

I wouldn't give it another thought, he'll be fine

@Yellowgiraffepinkdog
West Yorkshire

By the age of 5, they should have eaten a slug, a worm, painted the walls with poo, had a wee in a toy teacup and tried to make you drink it, licked a dog/hamster/inside of the washing machine, and if they haven't done any of those yet? Well, at least, better late than never!

Prepare for an upset stomach though. All part of parenting!

A friend drank from a lovely clear waterfall on a rocky hillside, walking up stream we found the actual dead sheep lying in the stream, the friend was fine.

I regularly drank from puddles (for some unknown reason) and lived to tell the tale.

He's very unlikely to be unwell. It's a shallow stream, not a stagnant pond, and presumably it flows fairly well. Obviously the water isn't as clean as drinking water, but it's almost certainly not going to make him ill, and even if it does, it's very unlikely to be serious.

During WW2 my grandad and his fellow soldiers drank from a well in North Africa. It turned out to contain a dead camel that been chucked in there by German soldiers as an attempt of sabotage. None of them suffered any ill effects.

Also, dead sheep rotting in streams really isn't a thing that happens on any regular basis, certainly not in populated areas.