Please tell me your sick bug protocol!

[ClemFandango1]

Dd1 seems to be frequently bringing home sick bugs. Ds8 never did, and is turning into an emetophobe because of it.

What's your best sick bug protocol to prevent spread?
What products do I need to have in in advance?

Please be really descriptive! I have never understood what people mean when they say 'i bleached it' (did you use bleach neat? How did you do it?).

Bleach??

Let them rest, no food, many fluids, bucket by bed with tissues. TV on, let rest.

Mine was anti-bacterial spray any time somebody moved - on loo, taps, basin, light switches, door handles - basically anything they touched outside their own room (& also inside, but slightly less frantically)

Yes, thick bleach, not diluted, wiped across toilets and bathroom surfaces. And as above, liquids and rest for kids. I still use hand sanitiser, even though the Con Govt wants us to believe that COVID is totally over.

(I don’t use it a lot routinely and it seemed to help)

good luck!

I dilute bleach and wipe surfaces that sick kids are likely to have touched in the last hour before being sick as well as using diluted r bleach to wipe surfaces nesr the point of vomit (usually bathroom).

All dirty towels, clothes, bedding get stored in the bath until they go in wadhing machine and obviously hands are thoroughly scrubbed.

We also ensure no sharing of cups /food during that time - dd2 will oftem just swipe the nearest drink normally, and only sick kid uses the 'sick bathroom' - lucky in this respect to have other toilets/bathrooms to use.

Halloween trick orvtreat buckets are good size sick buckets too, so i got about 4 years ago

Bleach as above

stock up on dioralyte

I also put myself on a strict diet of just rich tea fingers for a few days in case I catch it as they seem to be the blandest most non offensive thing to bring up if you do 😂 I just feel like I don’t want any big meals making a reappearance at 4am ! Once I know I’m past the danger time (a few days) I start eating normally again

We save the empty Xmas chocolate tubs too for this !

Everyone in the house has their own towels so no germs passed that way (and you know who's dropped them!).

I’m sceptical that you can really prevent transmission as they may be contagious before symptoms start and will also be for a long time after, which is more than enough time to pass it on within a family. Always washing hands with soap rather than using hand sanitiser can help (the gel doesn’t work for many gastric bugs).

Same. Most family members will catch it before the appearance of symptoms/after the symptoms are gone so I'm not overly cautious.

I just lie in my bed dying until I'm better then deal with all the cleaning up then.

Thanks all!
Clearer on the bleach now.

I thought to catch it you needed to ingest poo or sick particles? So perhaps they're not contagious before they're first sick?
But I'm not a Dr, so very well could be wrong.

On the cleaning side:

• thick bleach on a damp cloth, wipe over TV remote, light switches, door handles and other touch points. Clean surfaces in kitchen and bathrooms.
• get the windows open for a good flow of air through the home
• wash towels and bedding on a 90c wash

hope it clears quickly!

I like dettol and hibiscrub. Pure dettol to the spray.

Halloween sweet buckets 😂

Towels underneath them in bed.

Disposable sick bowls (I have a stash) means so real cleaning up.

Small sips of water.

Dioralyte if they can tolerate it.

Bananas, rice cakes, apple juice and toast once they feel like eating.

Sorry I got wrong end of the stick with your question.

I would just clean up with dettol/bleach. Milton wipes are good for door handles and light switches etc. Clothing/bedding in washing machine.

TBH I've never caught a sickness bug from my kids so must be doing something right. Touching wood right now!!!

When mine were sick - it always seemed to be during the night. So I’d just stay up with them wrap them in a duvet and towels and watch TV until the worst was over. Then put them back to bed. We would also plan what present they were going to get. I suffered horribly from emetephobia as a child and teenager so my aim has always been to make these things not too awful. So I’m calm and no drama and they got a present!
Germ control was to make sure I washed my hands a lot and made an effort not to touch my face. Then spray everything with dettol. Chuck every towel in the washing machine and give the toilets and bathroom a thorough Cleaning a few times a day.

Bleach

I've actually managed to stop a horrible vomiting bug from spreading with the magic of bleach (and isolating myself). And that was a horrible one. My brother had it, my sil, my gran, my cousin, her two DCs, my nephew, then me. I locked myself in my bedroom (in the loft) and DH dropped me drinks etc. I bleached everything when I started feeling better. Went round the house with a little bowl of watered down bleach and a cloth and wiped touch points. Also really bleached my bathroom.

DH and my DC didn't get it and we were living under the same roof, so think it was either they had iron clad immunity or the bleach and isolating worked!

I've tried similar since though and struggled as DCs are bigger and get everywhere. Also don't have a spare room to banish DH to anymore.

We use antibac wipes for door handles, remotes, switches etc and cordon off a bathroom for the sick person to use.

I like the idea of disposable sick bowls, as a pp suggested!

It's a tough topic but how, or really WHERE, do people clean the sick bowl?? 😷🥴 I get rid of the offending stuff by pouring it down the loo and bleaching - but then what sink do people use for actually rinsing, bleaching the basin/bowl etc? Our little bathroom sink doesn't accommodate the sick basin.

I would get rid of the vomit in the toilet then put the bowl/bucket in the bath or shower. Add dettol or bleach and fill up with water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Then pour away. Add touch more disinfectant, give a scrub round then rinse everything down.

However, I am the pp that uses disposable bowls so I don't do any of that any more!

Sterizar.
Yes to hot water and bleach.
But I bought Sterizar and made it a habit of spraying everything with it. I'd even mist school coats in it. This was after a year of getting stomach bugs 6 times! This was more than I'd had in my lifetime but there was just this one year where it was relentless.
The other thing we started doing was cycling all year 'round. We never take public transport in winter... or anytime really. Once in a while, sure. But getting off public transport was a life changer. Our illnesses absolutely dropped off once we stopped taking buses and trains.

Isolate
Bucket
Disinfect
Hydrate

Oh and wine (or gin) for the yet to be sick person sorting all this out.

3 DDs that always got/get sick, protocol is

Raise alarm - one of us yells to the other.
Bucket - we keep buckets on hand upstairs.
First sign of reprieve one of us washes & changes said child while the other dose the bed. Bed always has waterproof mattress protectors on. It all gets rolled up and put in the machine or bath.
If the middle of the night it’s Milton or dettol wipes for clean up. We have wood floors in DDs room, no longer have rugs. We spray dettol or Milton once kids out of the room in the morning.
I have spare bedding, one bed set always set up with duvet cover & pillowcase so it’s just a matter of grabbing it and putting on the bed after fresh sheets put on.
Extra towels or the disposable mattress covers on top of bed ready for next round.
Washing - I usually do a quick water wash to clear the chunks, then a second wash with white vinegar for smell and extra clean before doing a bog standard wash. Depending how bad it is I will usually not bother taking the duvet cover off before washing.
Keep everything as clean as possible, try to keep cross contamination down especially when changing bedding and moving child around. Don’t try carrying to bathroom while still throwing up as it just spreads. If they are being sick in the bed or on the floor just let them continue or have a bucket to hand, it’s already happening no need to panic and move them until they stop, your already cleaning it up so it doesn’t matter how much you need to clean.
And lots of hand & face washing for everyone as well.

Emetaphobic here!!

We are lucky enough to have an en-suite, so I bring them in with me, and put their mattress on the floor by the en-suite.
After they have been sick I wear a pair of disposable gloves to clean everywhere, and wear a mask myself during the whole process (before covid I used a scarf!) so I don't catch anything.
Everything is cleaned with anti bac and kitchen roll, then sprayed with the detol spray that you don't have to wipe down. Everything that they touch is also wiped/sprayed, apart from their drinks bottle, but I give them a fresh one when empty and wear gloves to put it in the dishwasher.
I need to be in charge so I know where the germs are. Their dad would let them go anywhere and touch anything and it would spread like wildfire!