The Vomit Bucket

The whole family is down with some stomach flu which I thought was food poisioning initially. I've been wiping vomits 2-3 times daily for each of my babies (including the big one). A yucky and tiring task.

When the kids were younger, I didn't know how to handle vomit. Sometimes in the middle of the night when they looked like they were going to throw up, I would carry them to the bathroom as quickly as I can. This is definitely the wrong thing to do because not only does it leave vomit on the place of origin (usually the bed), there will also be vomit on my clothing (usually the shoulders and back) and a trail of vomit all the way to the bathroom. Ewek!

After a while I got smart and decided not to carry them to the bathroom. I just let them throw up all over the bed and I cleaned up afterwards. At least this way there is no vomit trail. Usually, I tell them to try to throw up on the floor at least if there is no time to get to the bathroom. Cleaning up the floor is much easier than the bedsheets.

I hate cleaning vomit. Previously I used to try to rinse the vomit off their soiled clothing or the pillow cases, bed sheets and blankets. But that was before I thought of the SCOOP METHOD. With the SCOOP METHOD, I try my best not to touch the vomit. I would fetch a toilet roll and a plastic bag. Then I use the toilet roll to scoop up the vomit into the bag. I do this whether the vomit has landed on the floor or the pillows and the bed. Sometimes I finish up the entire toilet roll in the process. If the vomit is on the floor, I would spray something (anything) to get rid of the smell and use a wet cloth to wipe the floor after I've finished my scooping task. If its the sheets and pillow cases then I'd put them aside, quickly change new ones and throw the soiled ones in the washer the next day. Before I thought of the SCOOP METHOD, I remember crazy nights when I would go to the bathroom and use the shower to try to wash or rinse away the vomit from the sheets and pyjamas then leave them on the floor before throwing them in the washer again the next day. This left dripping water all over the floor because I couldn't wring them as dry as the "DRY" function on the washing machine. Not anymore. Now I just scoop and wash the next day.

And now, after days of wiping vomit I finally got the EUREKA moment. EUREKA! I came up with the Vomit Bucket. Now why didn't I think of this much earlier? I took a pail and showed it to the kids and informed them that if they could not make it to the bathroom they were to rush to the pail or the pail would rush to them so they could throw up into the pail. They both giggled and wanted to try it out immediately (*rolls eyes*). Nevertheless, they both DID get to try it out over the next few days.

The vomit bucket is perfect. It has saved me from lots and lots of clean up work. Whenever, I here a cough or a cry in the middle of the night and I see their faces turning green, I would rush to them with the pail and EWEK! Then I'm off to throw the contents into the toilet bowl, flush, rinse with sweet smelling soapy water and we go back to sleep. Hahaha. Now why didn't I think of this much, much, much earlier?

So, how do you clean vomit? (If you get the maid to clean, please don't share. I'm jealous. Lol!) However, I would like to hear your experiences of hiring a maid.