Sleepover DISASTER wwyd

[sunnyshowers]

It's my dd birthday sleepover and they're still awake shouting and screaming and laughing....discussing fun the next day..that's ok ish.
My big quandary is that at midnight my 3 kids started vomiting and vomiting and vomiting. The younger ones hadn't mixed but when dd felt funny I removed her immediatly. ..and then she started a half hr later and they're upstairs while the party s downstairs.
Now what do I do??? I m so tired I can't fathom it. At midnight I should have called but didn't have the measure of the sickness. They ate the same thing today so it's a bug or poisoning...pretty sick cramps. ..screaming when pain comes etc.

I'm awful but I m finding myself angry that the girls are running riot downstairs (not all to be fair) I ve gone in several times but I just went in and got "when's breakfast...what are we having again?" Which I get as I'd planned a great one...
But to be honest I need to get them home asap in the morning before I burst into tears.
So at 8 I text parents-phone and say kids sick all night...take your dc asap in case it's a bug or what?
The riot would be fine if dc weren't so sick and the sick would be fine if I didn't gave 8 other 10yr olds ....just together it's a mess

Poor dd was so looking forward to this special party and she's a crabby mum who's prob made her unpopular in one night....

God, you poor thing, I had salmonella once (from a supermarket sandwich) and was hospitalised for 4 days.

It can be serious.

Hope they soon pick up.

I would highly recommend a sleepover themed party. The kids come in their pajamas, have tea, movie and a 'midnight feast ' at about 9pm then get parents to collect them at 9.30. The kids are happy because you can cope with more of them and they get to have a laugh and sweets followed by going home with a party bag.
It was a great success when I did it with my 10 year old.

I know they've gone now but for future reference, I would collect my child at any time of the day/night if the host phoned me. You did well to get through it and to manage any sort of breakfast for them.

If you've put up with it until 4am, it's your problem. You should have split them up long before now. You cannot scare people in the middle of the night because you invited far more kids than is sensible to a sleepover, and are now surprised that they are as high as kites and can't sleep. You'll just have to stick it out until morning, then send home asap.

Oh god, sounds like a nightmare!

I've read this thread with interest, OP! I hope you don't mind a hijack.

My dd had a sleepover for her 10th birthday party. They had a lovely time and lights out was at midnight. The children were well behaved. Space elsewhere for the children who wanted to sleep.

Some children brought tablets with them, and stayed up for most of the night on their tablets, so were knackered and grumpy the next day. I didn't know whether to remove them to make them sleep, as they had obviously brought them with their parents' blessings.

What would other posters have done? If you let your child take a tablet or phone to sleepovers, how would you feel if the host took it away?

I've always been happy for my dc to have screens taken away at sleepovers, I've done it myself, had the kids put them on the dining table at say, 10pm, they get them back when they get up in the morning.

Luckily I knew the other parents so we'd discussed it beforehand and we're on the same page.

Making a mental note to ask 'have you got ipad/phone' at drop off, and if so adding to dropping off parent 'what's your rule about electronics at bedtime?' Never thought of that one!

Hope everyone's feeling a bit better OP Poor birthday girl!

I feel your pain OP and these things happen. I once had a nightmare sleepover for dc1's birthday....down to one child in particular who was rude, crude beyond their years, didn't sleep and somehow broke a bedroom ceiling light so shards of glass came raining down on those beneath - it was a miracle no one ended up in A&E! At that point I completely lost my shit and delivered chastened children home but I should have called the child's parents earlier to come get him. My dc1 cried at how horrible it had been.

I learnt my lesson & manage sleepovers very differently now which my dcs are in accord with.

Hope your dcs feel better soon

I would have rung all the parents as soon as the vomiting started.If they know their DC are on a sleepover that will be their first thought when the phone rings and nobody will thank you for passing the bug on to their family.I think it sounds like a bug rather than food poisoning which normally starts with stomach pain and diarrhoea, whereas a virus usually starts with feeling crap .
If you have a big sleepover like that it is the nom for them to be awake til 4 or 5 am- that is kind of the point.I normally go to bed and leave them to it.

@Zhx3 What would other posters have done? If you let your child take a tablet or phone to sleepovers, how would you feel if the host took it away?

I dont take DDs ioad off her at night, but she self moderates brilliantly and it's always put away by 8, on the times she's had a sleep over (only one or two mates at a time) dd will usually put hers away a little later and her friends follow suit.

I wouldn't allow dd to sit and play on it all night long sleepover so I probably would ask for them to out away at 11/12 ish and remove it if they'd sneaked it back in the early hours of the morning and was keeping others awake.

Dd knows when in others homes she follows their rules, so if they say no tablets, or say they can only on them for an hour, then she is to do as she's told and I'd be happy for the parents to take it off her.

For DDs 11th bday we had half a dozen kids bowling etc, behaviour was appealing and even dd and her best friend were cringing, shouting, swearing, sexual innuendos, running wild. I know they get excited, I know the dynamics change, but a NT 10/11 year old knows perfectly well that running onto other lanes, pulling cushions off other families seats, calling each other fuckers, throwing food around the resteraunt isn't how you behave.

It was meant to be bowling,food and then skating afterwards but I cut it all short and contacted parents to either collect, or let them know I was dropping them back off and I told them why. A few were a bit pissed off as they'd planned a day out etc, but not at me, at their DC for behaving so badly. It really was a shock, dd hadn't seen them act like that before and I'm so please we had said only her best friend could sleepover that night.

Can't stand sleepovers, I've had crying kids, kids chasing our cats, non sleeping sleepovers. Mine always end up Ill after they've been to one, probably because of the ridiculous late nights. We don't do them now, the DCs agree they're overrated and overdone. I would have definitely said party over at the first vomiting, and no way kept it going overnight. Hope your littles feel better soon, noro seems particularly vicious this time around.

Glad you survived OP!
I hate sleepovers, we very rarely had them when DC were small, and only max 2 others.
When the DC have been to sleepovers, I have always had half an ear open for the phone/text, and was once called middle of night to collect my son ( who was vomiting) but would gladly have collected if host said others were vomiting - and would also have offered to drive the other gest home to help the poor host.

I wouldn't let them have tablets in the bedroom at all tbh as my children are only allowed Internet in communal areas of the house.

I would definitely have taken them away at bedtime.

OP, I would want you to phone in the middle of the night rather than expose my dc to the bug.

The minute the sickness started you should of phoned the parents to collect...I would much rather be woken at midnight,to collect child , than an ill child days later followed by the rest of my family

If you let your child take a tablet or phone to sleepovers, how would you feel if the host took it away?

I think I'd want a kid to be able to phone or text me in the night if they were worried or scared for any reason, without having to go and ask the host where their phone was, so I wouldn't want the host to take their phone away. A tablet might be different, though.

I must say that when I was a kid I could never sleep at sleepovers, or on overnight school trips. I was a bad enough sleeper at home, but away from home, I was even worse. Even after the most hysterical gigglers had finally fallen asleep, I would still be wide awake and would then become increasingly anxious and would convince myself that there were things lurking in the dark and the house was haunted. So I used to just read quietly with a torch (for some reason we all took torches on sleepovers back then). If not, I would literally just lie awake for hours feeling lonely and scared until the morning. I wasn't a big fan of sleepovers for that reason, really. I only really started to enjoy them when I was in my teens and it became a bit more civilised.

Oh my goodness. That was sundered the sleepover from hell. The poor birthday girl :(

My DD is only 6, probably NT though I do wonder, and I'd already asking for sleepovers. I've sid absolutely NO WAY as bedtime is hellish enough with her and my 4 yo twins. Just the thought of more sleep deprivation and illness on top
Hope they're feeling better OP

Sounds an absolute nightmare. I hate sleepovers, DD is usually good but DSS got banned because he would keep waking up his mates and insist they stay awake all night, and keep us awake.

Worst one was when DD was 8. She went to sleep and they were all good, split into two groups. DD ended up sleeping with me. I heard a noise in the middle of the night (about 3am) and went downstairs. 3 of the girls were dressed and trying to open the front door, they wanted to go home! I was horrified and sent them back to bed. Don't think I slept much after that.

Littlehen I am filing that idea away for future years!

I have no plans to EVER have a sleepover for DD. I'd be too stressed and know none of them would sleep so going to save myself the grief. Birthday parties are bad enough (DD wants to invite 15 of her school friends to a soft play place..fine as they organise everything and deal with the carnage).

As a parent if my DD went to someone else's house and their kid was sick, I'd want to know straight away so I could collect her and bring her home. I wouldn't be happy if the mother waited till the morning to let me know that her kiddiewinkle had upchucked most of the night. While it's not your fault your kid was unwell, it was your responsibility to look after this kids while they were there and if you weren't coping (as you quite rightly were looking after your own kids) then the others needed to go. If the parents were unhappy about you contacting them, tough. Your kids health is more important to you...just like my DDs health would be more important to me so I'd want to know ASAP!

Personally I think sleepovers are a fun experience that we shouldn't deny children. They are such a bonding experience. I'm not keen on them but dd2 who is now 13 really enjoyed all of hers.

Why are people having a go at the op for not ringing parents? The children had food poisoning that's not contagious. Once they start vomiting everyone will have been exposed anyway if it was a bug.

" it was your responsibility to look after this kids while they were there and if you weren't coping (as you quite rightly were looking after your own kids) then the others needed to go."

Your 10 year child needs looking after at 4am?

Food poisoning such as Salmonella is contagious.
I had Camplylobacter once and was told by the GP that is was contagious.

"Is Food Poisoning Contagious?

Yes, some of the food poisonings can be contagious. Whether you could transmit the disease to another person depends on the type of infection you have.
•Some microbes like E. coli, Norovirus, Salmonella and Camplylobacter could cause very severe and contagious forms of food poisoning. The patients could spread these microbes either through their fecal matter or by vomiting. These organisms could easily affect the caregivers if they do not take proper care while caring patients. You would notice symptoms after a day or so of being infected by these contagious agents"

Oh! I didn't know this!. I stand corrected.