What's the most efficient way to deal with an overnight vomit?

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DS (2.5) has gone to bed poorly and so we're on possible vomit alert. He's been sick overnight before but I felt like we could've dealt with it more efficiently than we did. I'm sure there are tips out there waiting to be discovered!

Kind of want DH & I to be like a vomit SWAT team: Inclean upchild back to bed--out

So any 'voice of experience' advice gratefully received!

I spread a large bathtowel on the floor so vomiting child can be whipped out of bed and placed on the towel to catch most of it. I also make the bed up with a sheet then a towel then another sheet on top so that, if you're quick, you can take off the top sheet and towel and still have another sheet in place for putting child back to bed. Waterproof bed mats are great at times like this too but pricey so towels are an acceptable substitute.

Hope your DS is better soon.

Towel here too, but I just put it under the head of the child who has been/is suspected to be sick.

Towel and bowl by the side of the bed for older children in case they get enough warning, but it can be useful for catching follow up vom from younger ones.

Make sure you have lots of towels and sheets ready to go for a quick change. Don't worry about fully making the bed, as long as they have something under them and a cover to keep them warm. Try and avoid them being sick on the carpet, as then you need to get the washing up bowl out. We use a washing up tub with washing up liquid and water and a tea towel for scrubbing, and then open the window to let some air in. The way we do it is one does the bed, one does the child! Tempting as it is, don't bother with baths and stuff unless there's loads in their hair as it will just wake them up too much and make them fretty. Good luck!

I second the towel recommendation. Also have a stack of flannels in bathroom for wiping poorly child/vomit from round mouth. With towel, strip child on towel, ensure all vom clothes/sheets etc inside it and put in bathroom overnight if you don't put in washing machine immediately. Stops the smell going through the house, easier to clean from a tiled floor if it leaks. I also remove cuddly toys fairly quickly if we are in vomit alert!

DS's bed is always made up in double- mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector, sheet. When sick or nappy leak it's easy to take top layer off and carry on with the night (hopefully)

A potty makes a great night time substitute for a sick bucket if child finds a bucket too big to handle/have on lap.

We split it - one does child (shower - sick always goes in their hair and then stinks and makes them feel worse) and other strips bed and remakes it. We have a small bucket (eBay) and put that next to the bed, plus a towel over the pillow.

We also keep bedclothes all wrapped in the relevant duvet cover on labelled shelves so it's easy to find the right size undersheet etc in the middle of the night. Plus always a mattress protector on the bed and one spare.

Any sick covered bedding goes straight in the washing machine so if we need more its already on the way to being clean.

Thanks!

Going to put down a towel on the floor and remember the double sheeting sandwich for next time (obviously can't do it now with DS asleep) as that is genius.

It wasn't until the first time of cleaning up as a parent that I had a new-found appreciation for why my mum & dad were v.unimpressed with one of my childhood voms off the top bunk

Oh yes and soft toy extraction was completed before bed - learned that lesson the hard way from last time!

My top tip - wooden floors in bedroom. Learnt this the hard way after a week of vom gate. Carpet has never been the same and I can't say I'll miss it, once we get the floor restoration underway!

Towel over pillow. Lots of towels clean bedding ready to hand. Keep the hot water on. Wash hands! I tend to make up a bed in the room for me to aim child over a bucket as I hate vom

Puppy mats. Very cheap from pound shops. Can be put on the floor in case of over edge spewing and you can layer sheets with them, eg pad, sheet, pad, sheet etc so you can pull off sicky sheets and wet pad and voila sheets already to go instead of having to redress the bed at 2am.

If you have spare duvets and pillows, and expecting vom-gate, have the double sheeting, and the replacement pillow and duvet ready to dump on bed. So, child in shower, strip bed, sheet already there, add more stuffed duvet and pillow, dry child, and put back into be while you strip duvet, and load washing machine.

I second clearing all unnecessary stuff from bed and surrounding area. Soft toys, furniture, bedside lamps etc. towel/cut up bin bag by bed and large bowl to catch as much as possible.

I've had a toddler do a chunky vomit into my hair as I picked her out of the cot so sometimes there's no option but to shower (bleakly that was when I was on my own and at 3am in middle of winter so very tricky). I've also had my six year old do a projectile fountain that hit the CEILING - so if there's even a chance of a vom I clear away all I can from the area.

Buckets with a little toilet roll in the bottom (to help keep the splashing down). Whenever dcs are vomiting, they get a small bucket - it can sit on the floor by their chair or on the floor by their bed or on a box next to the bed so it's very quickly reached. If they have to vomit, they can grab the bucket and vomit. No running for the toilet with the mess trailing behind them (and on them).

Little dcs can use those small paint buckets like you get at B&Q.

Once they've vomited, they come into the bathroom for a clean up and wet wipe and I dump out the contents of the bucket into the toilet and wipe it with toilet roll, then clean it quickly with sanitiser and give it back to them for next time.

Managed to survive the night with no vom!

However, there are many vom-years to follow so I am storing away all these ace tips for next time.

I'd put down a towel next to his bed and when he woke up he saw it and said "what's that??" We still have some pampers change mats kicking around so next time I think I'll stick one under the towel to make sure the barf stays off the carpet.

I could never go to wooden floors in the bedroom though. We had it in our bedroom when we moved into this house and I hated it. So cold (we live north of the border)! Great for the living room though (even if still cold) as it would be wrecked now if it was carpet.

• line up several sheet and pj changes over the bannisters. so much easier to grab the next ones than hunt in drawers in the middle of the night.

-Make sure the washing machine is empty and ready to go. (only occasion I will leave it on at night). -collect ice cream tubs. once you get a decent stash of them they can be binned after a couple of vomits. In fact mine have always had a tub in their room, just in case, from about 3 or 4. -old towels over pillows and around the bed minimise the mess.

If it's any comfort mine were 'trained' to be sick on the laminate floor, toilet or an ice cream tub by the age of about 6. They were both sick last week and there was none on pj's or bed linen. I just milled around with antibac wipes and rinsing sick bowls, not much to clear up at all.

Mine will ask for a bucket if their tummy is feeling dodgy. They just carry it around from room to room.