Establish a House is a series I run every Tuesday with posts that cover cleaning to cooking, discipline to diapers, and everything in between. You can read more about the series here.
Today we are talking throw-up, vomit, puke, upchuck – whatever you call it at your house. It’s not pretty, very smelly but something we ALL have to deal with. Warning: If talking or reading about this makes you squeamish, stop reading!
We use “throw-up buckets” for everyone except the baby. Old plastic ice cream containers work great. We actually use dishpans since we don’t usually buy the kinds of ice cream that comes in buckets. The dishpans
are big enough to contain what’s coming, the sides are high enough to stop any splashes but they are light weight enough for even small hands to hold. Oh and the target is big enough you can’t miss! That’s really important because at our house if you are over the age of eight and throwing up you are responsible for cleaning up anything you get on the floor, or bed, or couch because you are old enough to know when you will throw up and should be ready with a throw-up bucket or run to the toilet.
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| What our throw up buckets look like |
To clean up, the buckets are rinsed down the garbage disposal and then sprayed either with lysol or a combination of bleach and water to help kill the oh-so-not-lovely smell of puke. Bleach water is also run down the disposable for the same reason.
With my babies under two I usually hold them on my lap with a towel to catch anything that comes up. Those poor little ones don’t know what’s going on and usually only want mom. I pull my hair back and hope it isn’t too bad but typically have to change my clothes and their’s too several times. If possible any soiled clothing gets thrown in the washer as soon as possible!
Most of my kids choose to stay camped out on the couches in the living room so they can watch tv or sleep. A couple, though, prefer the comfort of their own beds. Sometimes that makes it hard to remember to check on them and see how they are faring.
As tummies begin to feel better we pull out the frozen otter pops (popscicles) to start rehydrating without over doing it. All clothing and blankets get thrown in the wash while the sickie takes a shower or bath and their “sick spot” on the couch is sprayed down with disinfecting spray. When it looks like the worst is over we open all windows and doors to let the room air out.
How do you handle the stomach bug at your house?
We teach all our kids at a very young age to run to the toilet. I do not handle throw up well, so if it’s just me home, they better RUN! Because of this, the only time we have any clean up to do, is if it happens at night. We use gripe water, hydration solution, and I just bought some activated charcoal to try out! (Also clay water works well.) Like you, we have designated bowls for being sick in, but we just rinse and use a little soap, or spray some vinegar water to kill the smell. We don’t get the stomach bug often, so I’m sure there’s more we do that I’m just forgetting at the moment…
When you enter a certain stage of life, or when it is coming out of both ends, we usually just camp close to the john and keep the puke bucket nearby, usually on my lap, while sitting on the throne. I also use disinfectant spray on all the door knobs, light switches, & faucets. I use a little bleach and pre-wash the dishes before they go into the dishwasher, and use some peroxide in the washing machine, and on all the counters and toothbrushes.
I’ve learned from really sad experience that it’s important to keep a puke bucket in the bathroom for when it’s coming out of both ends uncontrollably!
When I was growing up we had this really awesome ice cream bucket that we decorated with stick figures puking and we looked in the thesaurus for any and all words related to puke. We all thought it was hilariously funny and it made the sickness slightly more bearable. It think we kept that bucket in the car. VERY IMPORTANT to keep one in the car!
And in case you are wondering, apparently in Australia they call it “chunder.” Chunder from down under. ( :
I like how you make kids clean up their own, though is that ever too much to ask when someone is just too sick? I’ve been extremely sick twice in the last few years and I was too sick to stand up much less clean up. I passed out right on the floor and my husband had clean up duty, the poor man!
Taking care of family members when they are sick is truly one of the most humbling, self sacrificing things we do. It’s truly helping us become more like Christ, though most people don’t stop to think of it that when in the midst of the sickness.
There have been a couple of time when one has been too sick so I do clean it up but for the most part if they can hold the bucket or keep it on the floor and just lean over the edge of the couch or bed I expect them to hit the target. It’s not too much to ask them to do that.
I keep throw up bags in the car and buckets under every sink! If I smell or hear it I end up throwing up with them, so I have to be prepared!
We are “barf bucket” people too. Ours are currently the cheap $1 colored bowls from Walmart. We have 5 kids and 5 bowls that follow them to bed when they are sick or even think they will be sick. They get rinsed, lysoled and put back next to them until all puking has ceased. I make sure to have plenty of tissue on me to help with the face mess afterwards. That seems to freak my little ones out the most, not what’s in the bowl but what’s on their face. Lots of “sippy” cups with gatorade. Good luck!!!
Oh, and because my hubby works in the medical field, we have those nifty blue bags with the plastic ring at the top(the ones they send you home with after surgery) in the back pocket of all the seats in our van. Luckily, we haven’t had to use those yet.
Yes, the dusty pink Tupperware mixing bowl we received as a wedding present, of which we never liked the color, has served us well as the “Throw-up Bowl”. We put a couple paper towels in the bottom of the bowl for two reasons. One, it keeps splashing to a minimum. Two, it’s easy to grab a corner, slip the mess out of the bowl, and flush it down the toilet. Then, since you’re already in the bathroom, usually the tub is handy to rinse out the bowl.
I used to use Lysol to disinfect everything until I found out that it only disinfects surfaces and not the air and that breathing the fumes is not good for you anyway. Since then I have become a Registered Aromatherapist and use essential oils for many things including a disinfecting spray to disinfect the air and all surfaces, even when we’re not sick, such as after cutting meat or the like.
The other bonus to using essential oils regularly around the house and for building immunity is that we aren’t sick much anymore.
I feel really lucky that my kids really haven’t had the stomach bug. Last year my husband was out of town for a night and that was when my two year old woke me up because she was crying. I went to check on her and there was puke everywhere. (It’s a good thing I have a strong stomach). I put her in the tub and cleaned up the mess, sprayed vinegar around and put the load in the wash. I rubbed her belly with DoTerra’s Digestzen and held her until she felt like she could sleep. Luckily there was no more puke. The older kids know to run to the bathroom, however, my oldest had a fall riding his scooter and ended up with a concussion. He wasn’t feeling well and tried to make it to the toilet. At least he made it to the bathroom and again I was thankful I have a strong stomach. I cleaned it up with vinegar to begin with and later went in with a paste of lemon juice and baking soda. After wiping that all around I sprayed it with vinegar and cleaned it all up. Here’s hoping to healthy kids!
We have had the stomach bug at our house for a week now. I thought we were over it, but my two year old isn’t doing well today. We use the ice cream buckets. We don’t seem to throw up a lot here and I realized that my little ones don’t know what to do if they need to throw up. I realized this after my four year old threw up on the carpet and all over herself. I walked her to the bathroom and told her if she needed to throw up anymore to throw up in the bathroom. I left for a second and came back and she had thrown up all over the toilet and the toilet seat was still closed. So we had a talk about what to do if you need to throw up. My most important thing is that if you absolutely can’t make it to the bathroom or a sink and have to throw up somewhere just make sure it is not on the carpet. I would much rather clean up a blanket or the tile than the carpet.
Is it awful that I laughed through the post and many of the comments. Laughed in an “oh, have I been there” sort of way! By 4, our kids are expected to stand over a toilet. If they wake up during the night, I have told them to throw off the handmade quilts and hit only the cheapish white sheets!!!! Sheets can be hosed in the backyard and washed with bleach. I only buy white sheets, too! My husband usually stands in the doorway of the child’s room or the bathroom and sprays a cloud of lysol. The offending sick person must pass through the cloud before reentering domestic society 🙂 We use the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet for a few days until the tummies are better. I like the disposal idea, though. Too bad our old old house doesn’t have one and we don’t trust the pipes enough to put one in.
We use old ice cream buckets which I keep under all the bathroom sinks. We usually move their mattresses to the floor in front of the TV and let them lie down and watch TV until they can hold down crackers and soda. By 10, they better make it or they are cleaning. Mostly, though, they are pretty good about it by 5.
Still, I hate the stomach flu more than anything else.
Thanks for this timely post. I read this on Wed, the 9th and actually thought, “Hmmm, our youngest hasn’t ever had a stomach bug.” OOPS! He got sick that night, but I used your towel idea and that was so nice. It was so easy to chuck that in the wash when it got “used” and it served as a blanket in the chair as well. We use old ice cream buckets for the messes and I REALLY like you idea of having the kids clean up after themselves. I think that I had always just thought, “oh poor babies, you are sick and I will do everything to make you better.” I do give water or Gatorade and crackers and work back up into real foods. This past weekend, four of our family of seven came down with something and it was a madhouse trying to keep everyone with buckets and blankets and limited foods. I started using the attitude that they CAN do somethings for themselves even while sick. I am still going to help them feel comfortable, but I sometimes get sick too and somebody needs to know how to take care of us all.
Thank you again and I am SO glad you are feeling better!
I was glad I read this post last week when two of my five children have come down with a stomach bug and now it has hit me too. I loved the idea of children eight and older having to clean up their own mess. My eleven year old has a habit of not making it to the bathroom or the bowl so last night before she went to bed I informed her that from now on she would have to pick up after herself if she had an accident. Well she woke up four or five times and didn’t have an accident once! Success!!!! Thank you for your encouragement and ideas! Now hopefully the rest of the house does not come down with this bug too!
Judi 🙂