Kid is sick, then carries on into family attraction

[Breadandbutta]

I'm just interested in what other people think.
A kid, pale as a sheet, walking slowly, threw up just before the entrance to a family attraction this morning. I'd say they were about 9yrs, with mum/dad/siblings. Not much sick, mostly liquid, so presumably they had a fairly empty stomach. Dad gave the child some water to rinse his mouth and the family carried on into the attraction and headed straight to the toilets. Dad was walking alongside him. Mum didn't bat an eyelid and stayed with their other 2 children.

Aibu to think they should've gone home? I'm just curious as to what others think when they see a kid throwing up in public when about to embark on a half term day out in a busy place with lots of kids! Or is there probably a reasonable explanation for the kids sickness, other than a gastro bug?

Travel sickness maybe?

I would have thought of travel sickness.

I am emetephobic so prone to panic, but could he have been travel sick as opposed to ill?

noone here knows the full story so we can’t judge and nor can you.

Car sick.

I think it depends. If they know it's travel sickness then yeah I get them continuing, but if there is the possibility the child is ill then they should have turned away. If they are 9 years old I would expect them to be able to say they were unwell and neither of my children if sick would want to go on a day out.

As others have said, probably travel sickness. My DS used to have it when he was younger, we once had to pull into a McDonald’s to try and take him to the loo to vomit but it ended up happening in the car park. Not our finest moment but there you go.

DS gets travel sick so that's possible.

Also, my niece has CVS and vomits when excited. She goes very pale, is sick once and then is fine. She does it every birthday, every Christmas and every family day out. You'd see my brother not batting an eyelid and taking her to the toilets as well.

Of course we can judge.

It could be travel sickness. But I also know people who will delude themselves into believing their child has anything other than a bug, so they don’t have to keep them home. A friend once said to me “well he threw up 4 or 5 times at home, but I think he was just excited from yesterday’s party”. Nah, you just want to send him to school.
So it could also be stupid parents.

Car sick or nerves.
Though my parents did once continue the scenic day out they had planned on the home day of a holiday, regardless of my having a vomiting bug. So perhaps irresponsible parents. I’d have given anything for a quick trip down the motorway to my bed.

DS was diagnosed with migraine after similar. Worth keeping an eye on. Medication helped a lot.

We don’t know why the kid was sick so how can we say? He might have started with a bug then yes I’d take him home, he might be travel sick, he might be having chemotherapy, he might have a chronic condition. We can’t judge without knowing why he was sick. The fact the parents didn’t think much to it shows it was expected or they knew about it

Car sick. DS had it something awful.

Travel sick if anything like me and DD!

If it happens like clockwork at big events / on big days then it’s obviously psychological! Although migraines can be functional too tbf.

I would assume travel sickness too, OP, although the selfishness of some parents never fails to astound me so who knows…

Probably travel sickness. There are also some medical conditions where children throw up a lot. We don't know the context or full story, but it sounds like a common occurrence and no big deal by the way you describe the family behaving

Lots of possible reasons for sickness in children - stress/excitement, travel, medication/treatment, allergy - that make it fine to attend.

My guess would be he gets car sick.

We can judge, but not accurately because we don't know the full details. That then makes the judgement pointless. But you're right, we do have the ability to judge.

Has anyone suggested it could be he was travel sick?

Niece is 18 now and it's cyclical vomiting syndrome which isn't fully understood but is believed to be linked to the gut/brain in a similar way to some migraines.

We do have some ways of helping her after well over a decade of symptomatic vomiting but she's autistic so some of the methods don't work well when she's overstimulated or in shutdown.

I also have a student in my tutor group with CVS but hers presents differently with very different triggers.

I’ve vomited on arrival at a theme park and halfway round and stayed - as an adult I still suffer badly with travel and motion sickness, and just a minute too long on the wrong ride means I end up being sick. I can totally tell the difference between that and a gastric bug though!

Thanks everyone. It's reassured me that the unanimous judgement here is that the boy was probably travel sick. They just made me nervous, as I do struggle with emetophobia and posting here is like compulsive checking. I get so anxious about sickness. Luckily we all had a nice 4-5 hours out, but we did make sure to wash our hands extra well!!

Possibly child had travel sickness, medication for it doesn't always work/is unsuitable for some children to take.