Is this worms??

zaksmum

They are very common in kids. Once they start school they seem to get the lot...head lice, threadworms, all the childhood infectious diseases.

My neighbour told her child they were just bits of cotton that had got stuck and the medicine would help get them out.

pinkcandyflossprincess

most threadworms seem to be picked up from school tbh. the easiest way is to check your sons bum at night to see if you can spot any of them, if you do that will give you the answer.
there is a banana flavour medicine now, you all have to take one spoon then you take another dose 2 weeks on. you can buy it over the counter at any chemists, boots etc.
to avoid the speading in between its best putting pants and pyjamas on your son at night in case he scratches etc.

re the cat, just follow regular worming and it should prevent any contact from cats..that would however be roundworm and tapeworms rather than threadworms.
thread worms are very common in kids, just something people dont like to discuss...if your parents etc have very regular ontact with your son, it may be worth asking them to take a dose of medicine too.
my daughter has had them 3 times, i dont know why its her that gets them over the others its a bit worse in girls though as they travel into other areas .
it is treatable , just remember to do the follow up treatment two weeks on the dot and talk about hygeine at school etc, keep nails short, dont be touching loo seats, all that business but tbh the eggs of thread worms can lay dormant anywhere so even though you can be vigilantly clean it doesnt allways prevent you catching the awfull critters.

freda

I'm running the risk of sounding a bit rude or critical of your parenting here, please take note that I in no way intend to be either.

But, at six, how can you not be involved with his toileting at all? Do you ever check that he is doing it right, washing his hands properly? I have a 5 year old and a 4 year old, and I still go and check the wiping and hand washing most times they go to the toilet. So many of their friends horrify me - they don't wipe, flush OR wash their hands, although they swear blind they have done. Little children are horrors for hygiene and just want to do the business and get back to playing as quickly as possible.

So, considering that worms are caused by the sharing of fecal matter, usually by dirty hands going in mouths, maybe check your son's toilet hygiene as well.

Of course, if your son is fine with the above (as he may well be!), ignore me and go on to the next post

gingin_2

freda wrote: »

But, at six, how can you not be involved with his toileting at all? Do you ever check that he is doing it right, washing his hands properly?

I think at that age I probably wasn't checking their toilet habits either. If I was almost six I wouldn't want my Mum standing there watching me wipe! I trust that my children know to wash their hands properly, it's not a hard concept, water, soap, water, dry.

meer53

My daughter has had threadworms. She's 12 and let me check her bottom as it was itching so much. One tablet got rid of them, followed by the second one 2 weeks later. We all took one too. I agree that at 6 you should tell your son that you need to check, if he doesn't want to let you, just get him the medicine. We are all paranoid about handwashing now !

meritaten

if you suspect worms then it doesnt do any harm to treat them. Whole family not just the child - someone may have them and not realise. and the family pets too!
It is nothing to do with cleanliness - as another poster says they can be picked up by anyone in a public place!

krlyr

If you don't want to check him for worms, just tell him that the cat had worms so everyone in the house has to take a tablet, rather than make him feel singled out. They don't really taste unpleasant and you can swallow them whole or chew them up.

MarilynMonroe_2

Just pointing out the cat worms wont be the same as the childs worms.
I got them after I had my dd, I swear I got them off one of the midwives or doctors, never had them in my life before but had them so bad I had bad pains. Got powder off the doctor and they went.

Mado

freda wrote: »

But, at six, how can you not be involved with his toileting at all? Do you ever check that he is doing it right, washing his hands properly? I have a 5 year old and a 4 year old, and I still go and check the wiping and hand washing most times they go to the toilet. So many of their friends horrify me - they don't wipe, flush OR wash their hands, although they swear blind they have done. Little children are horrors for hygiene and just want to do the business and get back to playing as quickly as possible.

Considering the Op says he is doing it mostly at school, how could she be involved? :think:
I certainly didn't get involved with their toilet habits unless they asked, and even if, god forbid, they didn't wipe properly... well, it's never been the end of the world.

katglasgow

My daughter has had worms twice :shocked: - clearly visible in her no.2s once you knew what you were looking for. She is a thumb sucker and we also have a cat who gets wormed but sometimes not when he should have been. I was told by NHS 24 if you suspect your child has worms, to pull down their jammie bottoms and shine a torch on their bottom at night as this is when they come to the surface - it goes without saying you could really only do this to a very young child! My daughter also had a spell of finding it uncomfortable to sit on a chair at night as this would be when her bottom was itchy (until I realised what the problem was).

I am obviously a bit mortified this has happened twice. We now track when the cat is wormed on a calendar and have a very strict hand washing policy in place. If you suspect one person in the family has worms the whole family has to take the medication on both occasions and you should also wash all bedding and towels at the same time.