AIBU not to want my ds, 5, to go on a school trip to a farm after those ecoli incidents last year?

[wheelsonthebus]

They say there will be lots of handwashing etc, but I can't go on the trip myself to make sure my ds does it, and the expert on ecoli (Prof Pennington) said last year thinks all under fives should be kept away from petting farms. Trouble is, ds will be shoved in a class with older children while his class goes off the see the animals, and I will be the most unpopular parent at home (and probably at the school). What do you think?

yabu. let him go

Loads of parents will think you are being precious. But I agree with you. There is a particularly vicious strain of e coli circulating and you just can't make sure children wash their hands well enough in a large group. I would be similarly unpopular at school and home though so understand the difficulty.

Let him go. He isn't under 5.

I'd let my 4yo go, no hesitation and I am someone who worries terribly about stuff - I don't think this is much of a risk.

I would let my child go (it is actually quite possible that DD 4.5 will go on a school trip to a farm later on this year).

YABU - How many children visited farms and how many of those contracted ecoli?

The school will have done a risk assesment and i'm quite sure they will be very aware of the issues.

I'd let mine go. He's 3.

Prof Pennington also thinks that dishes should be dried with paper towels and I am not doing that either!

I do understand your worries though.

I would let him go. If you really are worried, get him one of these type of gels to use after touching animals?

gerionine - that's an idea

We have visited 2 of the farms involved regularly over the last 10 years and none of the children have been ill at all. Whilst I obviously did make them wash their hands, I didn't scrub them with bleach myself or anything.

YABU - let him go. If you are worried tell the school your concerns, I'm sure they'd be able to calm your nerves

when there was a d&v outbreak at ds's school the teachers said they were getting every child to wash their hands. When volunteering one day I saw how they got them to do it. They sent them off, 60 kids with two sinks, unsupervised, and the kids rinsed their hands with water and then dried their hands on the same piece of paper towel. Every single kid got d&v. Wish there was just a bit more basic common sense around about hygiene. If there was then probably I wouldn't be worried about a trip like this.

YABU - he's more likely to have an accident at home, if you keep him off.

That is far too much cotton wool imo.

We also used to go to the main farm involved - loads of us. (I say used to only because we have moved, I'd still go if we were local - we miss it )We weren't that fussy about handwashing (before eating & after being in the main shed), but all day the kids are touching things, fences, playground stuff etc - so you can't be washing them every 2 mins. None of the kids were ever sick after going. I think it was just 'one of those (unfortunate/awful) things' and will, if we let it, spoil a lot of fun the children could be having.

If you are worried give them some of the hand sanitiser (as previously suggested) it's such a novelty that they'll all want to share though, so be prepared for an empty bottle (the foaming ones are good).

YABU, I get nervous too but always let mine go and try not to think about it. Will be fine.

YABU he must go

Hand gels are not much good unless hands have been washed first, if there's proper dirt on them. Still worth sending one as a backup.

I would discreetly move heaven and earth to be one of the parent helpers and if I couldn't do that I wouldn't want my child to go. I might feel like I had to make him go anyway but I know where you're coming from OP, I'd be wishing I didn't have to. HOw can the teachers really make sure they all wash their hands well enough? Five is just the wrong age really - younger kids need more staff so are better supervised, older ones have more individual sense and and can wash their hands better by themselves anyway.

I think you need to let him go as its a social as well as learning thing, but most schools appreciate an extra pair of hands - have you thought of offering to go with them, that way you get to keep an eye on him as well as share the experience

I can't go with him as I work full-time. I realise it's a balance of risks - but my view is, why take the risk? We stopped going to farms after the ecoli scare (our personal choice). There's plenty of other places to take children. Wish they are going to a museum or something, personally.

I think it would be a really sad thing to not allow your ds to go. Visiting a farm is not an unreasonable risk for a child to take by any means. It gives them such a different experience from day to day sanitised life. you could keep your ds all protected and deny him these opportunities but you are also denying him the chance to live life to the full.

Last time we went to the museum with the kid's school we all (the whole class and the accompanying adults) came down with violent D&V. Germs are everywhere. There are many many ways for our kids to get killed. To me the "reward" of a day out in the country/interacting with animals and generally being a kid far outweigh the risks of ecoli, especially when you can pick it up from pretty much anywhere.

Why take the risk?!

I pressume you never leave the house then, due to the dangers everywhere.

Infact even in the house there is danger, does he live in a padded cell room?

It is hardly high risk, as i said before how many children caught ecoli compared to how many visited a farm?

Yes you are, very.

Thing is everybody carries e.coli (normally harmless and present in the gut of all warm-blooded animals) in their gut, so you could get it anywhere if someone with a virulent strain is going about not washing their hands after going to the loo or changing nappies.

Unless you religiously wash (not just rinse under cold water) all raw fruit and vegetables before consumption and keep your kids away from sand and soil at all times, you are exposing them to e.coli all the time.

YABU