6 answers

Suggestions for When Toddler Is Vomiting

Hi Moms

My 2 year old son caught the infamous "GI bug" last night and has been vomiting. He of course is miserable and does not know how to give warning that he is going to vomit and gets scared when he does. I was wondering if you have any strategies for "containing the mess." A bucket frightens him and I basically have been just sitting in the rocking chair covering him, myself and the floor with towels to try and prevent too much mess.

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Thanks for all the great suggestions. We wound up just covering up us and the floor with bathroom and beach towels, and doing extra laundry! Thank God it only lasted about 12 hours and today he is acting if he wasn't even sick at all. I wish I could rebound that quickly!

More Answers

Poor little guy! My then 19 month old got sick and was vomiting pretty bad, all I could do was use towels and change her sheets constantly. The washer and dryer worked overtime for that. They get so scared, just keep doing you what your doing. That is probably the best to keep him calm. Hope he gets better soon.
Take care,
K.
(Do you have the "splat mats" people use under high chairs?-that might be good to place under him.

I just went thru this with my son... lol and well i ended up just using a reg salad bowl... its smaller than a bucket so it didnt frighten him, i tryed the bucket at first and like you stated it scared him! Well good luck, hope your son feels better!

what we use is a brown paper bag(the ones you get shopping) we line that bag with a plastic shopping bag. Its hard becuase kids hate throwing up and they do get scared. We just stayed there with the kids and waited until they looked they were about to vomit and had the abg handy. It is a nice way to recycle those bags you have lying around.

My daughter is 2.5, and we just flew home from the caribbean with her vomiting the entire way with food poisoning--fun!

What we did was use Bibsters--if you don't know, they are paper disposable bibs made by Pampers (I think other companies make them as well). This worked like a charm. I had her wear the Bibster all day, and when she started to vomit, I just lifted it up to contain the mess (they fold in at the bottom to form a cup that caught the mess really well). When she was done, we just got a clean one, and her clothes stayed dry and clean the whole way home.

I don't why I didn't think if this sooner with GI bugs, as she is also afraid of using a bucket or the toilet, and we always ended up washing many, many towels. Good luck--hope he's feeling better soon!

My son had the GI bug this week, and it was truly awful. We only had to deal with the vomiting for one night - thank goodness. I sat with him in the bathroom and then when he started I would get in the tub with him. It was still pretty messy but at least it was all in one place. I still had to change clothes frequently though. Hope he feels better soon.

What usually works for us is a blanket. If he is lying down or sitting with you keep a blanket on you. When he feels like he is going to throw up, just let him go on the blanket. You can then throw the blanket into the wash and clean up your son. It means a little extra washing but it also works as they get older. In the middle of the night, my daughter knows if she gets sick just to throw up on the top blanket on her bed. It keeps it contained so we just have to wash the blanket and not the blankets and a trail from the bedroom to the bathroom.

With a little one, it also means you can comfort them and keep them occupied say with a kids show on television rather than sit in the bathroom waiting for it to happen again.

In the meantime, while he is sick, try to keep him hydrated. To do this, don't give him a lot of fluids give him a teaspoon of water or pedialyte about every 15-30 minutes until the vomiting subsides some. If he holds that down, you can try a little more at a time. The idea is to get the fluid into him and have it stay in him. Also, try the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, apples and toast).

Good luck with your little one and try to stay well yourself.

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