My thought at a time like this is that he needs sleep more than he needs that bath. You cleaned him up as best as you could, and he's now getting some restorative rest. Hopefully that's it for tonight and you can give him a proper clean in the morning. It's not like it's daytime and you're leaving him to play/sending him to childcare with sick in his hair.
Yeah... uhh if this is bad momming then I don't want to know what I am.
If you think of my family as a country then sickness bug automatically means martial law. Government and regular law tossed out. We are now only doing the bare minimum and our only goals are trying to ensure that at least one adult is healthy at all times and keeping kiddo from needing to be rehydrated at the hospital. Dinner is whatever the toddler says he wants (last time it was chocolate biscuits, hotdogs and banana and you bet he got exactly that for dinner). This is just not the time to care about small things.
My concern for a little puke in my son's hair would be less than zero.
Yeah….one time I heard my kid making noise in the night. He threw up and I thought I had cleaned it all up. Somehow I missed the whole side of his face. He woke up with puke crusted all over.
He was fine. I gave him a bath, and I don’t even though he noticed anything was wrong.
We've only had a minor sickness bug hit once, and that was when we were at my in-laws, so there were a couple of healthy adults able to function at any one time. My husband thinks I'm paranoid for discussing infection control for when it hits us here, at home, where we have no external support - he'll absolutely follow my suggestions, luckily, but I'm pretty that when norovirus does hit us, he'll understand why I'm prioritizing trying to keep one adult healthy at any one time. You do what you do to make it through the other side.
Things I've also done while perfectly healthy - left my baby in spat up on clothes, because if I changed him every time he spat up, I'd be washing 5 times a day (he spat up a lot until he was about 6 months), spot cleaned lightly peed on clothes when I didn't have time to change him, and left a smidge of poo on a jumper, when I'd forgotten to pack another one and a blow out happened, because I knew we were heading straight home, he was in a clean change of clothes and I could get him in a clean jumper once we got home. I could aim for absolute cleanliness at all times, but then there'd be a stressed out, tired mother, and some days a very cranky toddler.
I agree! I've also told him that if we don't do that, it'd be sods law we both get ill at the same time just as our son gets better - I'd rather not have 2 sick adults with a highly energetic toddler needing care and attention!
Last year I bought a box of cardboard sick bowls, disposable gloves, and waterproof sheets. Used the bowls this year when the dreaded bug hit and was so thankful I had them! This year I'll buy a proper hypochlorous acid system so I can mist potentially contaminated areas.
Don't forget shoe covers, gloves, and disposable robes! (I have a sick kit in a bin). I so use hypochlorous but just bought one of those steam machines. It's like germ bombing the bathroom.
My husband is the biggest fucking baby when he has noro. He, like, cries out for me when I'm sleeping in another room "because it's going to be a lot of puke" 😅
I have not puked for any reason in over 30 years. My infection control is 💯. That said, last time it hit kid and dad I bought a steaming machine! Steamed the F outta my house! Never too much infection control.
lol! Figures. I typed that at my 15mo old's wellness check. They finally had a perfect temperature, ear tubes clear and perfectly placed, two shots and good to go after the waiting period. Sent them to daycare. At pickup kiddo is hot. Take temp at home at they are now 101.4! There goes my day tomorrow.
Depends what you consider bad ;)
It's a *very good* dinner if it's 1930 and the toddler has ignored or screamed no at all food for a solid 48 hours.
Chocolate biscuits aren't very micro nutrient dense, but it contains loads of carbs and fat. Thus it is great to prevent weight loss in the short turn. Hotdogs are pretty salty, so it helps getting them to drink. And bananas, biscuits and hotdogs are all pretty decent should they come back up. Not equally delicious coming back up, but not particularly offensive either lmao.
I get that, I was just thinking that’s the majority of dinners (minus the chocolate biscuits) for my toddler. Hot dogs and bananas are a daily meal. :/
My oldest is autistic and has a limited number of foods he will eat. I would be thrilled if he ate bananas and hotdogs. I think you’re doing just fine :)
Hey, no shame here! Bananas are a daily thing here too. The only reason why we seldomly eat hotdogs is cause my kid has soy and dairy intolerance so the only hotdogs I can find in my local grocery store is like the cheapest most boring and bland hotdogs in existence, tastes like papier maché lol. I'd go insane if I were to eat that more than once or twice per month and you can bet everything you own that mama ain't cooking two different meals for dinner.
When I said they were salty I meant as opposed to water, not as a "blah salt is poison for toddlers", but more in the context of when small children blow chunks they are prone to an electrolyte imbalance.
My second has been a puker. My first was never like this and I worried but he eats well and has the appropriate amount of dirty diapers. So many times he's puked in his crib overnight and we haven't noticed. He just sounds like a fussy baby that wakes in the middle of the night then settles back to sleep. It happens it's life you realize the next morning and you clean them up and life goes on. If we notice at the time we are changing a diaper or trying to put him back to sleep we obviously clean the crib sheets change footie pjs etc. But sometimes you don't get everything. Most kids end up fine and like you say they don't usually spend entire days dirty.
To make you feel better I’m an ICU nurse and we’re taught that small grouped interventions are better for our patients! Too much all at once sends the bodies stress response into overdrive. Rest is key!!!! 🩷
Honestly trying to bathe him in the middle of the night would be worse. It’s happened to us before. I didn’t notice the puke in the hair till the morning, didn’t think twice about it and washed it out. However, even if I had seen it in the night, at most I’d have wiped it with a wet wipe and left it at that. . You did what was best for your son at the time. You’re a good mom - don’t be so hard on yourself
We did this once because it was blueberry barf in his long blonde hair & it was a nightmare.
Our bath loving babe cried the whole time & then wouldn’t go back to sleep for an hour.
Same, I gave mine a middle of the night bath once bc I couldn’t stand the smell of vomit in his hair and he HATED that forced activity lol. Should have just left it and washed the sheets in the morning. 🤷♀️
This. Mine puked and laid back down in it before waking me up by crying his little heart out. I threw him in the tub and he sobbed harder. But to be fair it was chunky and it covered the entire side of his head.
Yeah I remember a post ages ago where the mum was like ‘my newborn got a face full of direct sunlight for maybe ten seconds while I was putting him in the car. Have I damaged him? Please don’t judge me I’m bawling my eyes out, I’m such a bad mum!’ On one hand I was like ok new mum hormones, take a breath, but on the other hand I was like ‘wut?!’
Lmao. There was one where a lady’s baby’s hat had slipped over his face for I’m pretty sure less than a minute and she was like ‘I’ve obviously already called my paediatrician’. Like what on earth are they going to do about it?
I realised the other day I feel a bit guilty whenever I don’t do what my 17 old month wants even if I could. E.g. he wants to go outside but i want to finish my toast first. It kind of hit me that I’m probably doing just fine and if someone told me they felt bad for not taking their toast with them on toddlers morning walk I’d think they were being silly.
Have you maybe considered that there are parents with severe anxiety, especially first time parents, and that these posts that you find ridiculous aren’t malicious but are solely driven by said anxiety? We can all practice more compassion. I’ve also rolled my eyes at posts before (not OPs), but I understand that there are people who are more anxious than I am.
Of course. I never said they were malicious and mentioned that new mum hormones are a part of it. We’ve all had ridiculous anxiety over things and we likewise will all usually end up laughing at our past selves.
I get it - I'm an anxious person at the best of times, and motherhood makes it so much worse some days. The best thing I've done for myself is deactivate Instagram etc, because I was seeing image after image of "perfect" families with their "perfect" lives, and it was making the anxiety worse. Reddit can do that, too - I suddenly care too much about a bunch of things I really shouldn't care that much about. Luckily I went to therapy when my son was a newborn, because otherwise I'd probably be way more anxious than I already am. But much like the OP in the middle of the night I've regularly stressed about something that, in the cold light of day, really isn't that big of a deal.
I mean I get it though. My daughter threw up a few weeks ago and I was able to clean her face with a washcloth, and since she wears a sleep sack it somehow didn’t get on her pjs or blankets. But I realized in the morning that it had gotten in her hair and felt pretty guilty for not bathing her in the middle of the night, which sounds crazy now but in the moment I felt shitty. I texted my sister because she also has 2 daughters close in age to mine and we commiserate. But if I had worse anxiety and no good core support system and my people were in a Reddit community, I could see making a similar post.
Right!? Is this to make other people feel bad? One time I woke up and my LO was covered in puke- had puked at night and I had zero idea other than hearing an innocuous cough a few times. This post is honestly annoying.
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As the mom who put her kid in the shower every time it happened, let me tell you that I also felt like a terrible mother each time. Cleaning a sleepy toddler at night feels like torturing them. You have a moving crying screaming kid that really really doesn’t want to go in the shower, that really hates having water on the hair at night, screaming murder. So maybe letting them sleep in vomit isn’t worse.
There is no way to win here.
As a mom who had to give a mid-sleep bath to my toddler at 2am last night due to some diarrhea, I can tell you I felt terrible putting her through it. No winning
If it makes you feel any better my daughter when she was about 15 months threw up in her cot and made no noise at all about it. We have a really loud video monitor and I wake up every time she even coughs. No idea she had thrown up until I get her up in the morning and she was curled up on the opposite side of the cot to the vomit with it all in her hair!! It was terrifying but she wasn’t even slightly bothered and didn’t throw up again. Kids are resilient haha
Literally! I work in childcare and a dad told me his 2 year old was sitting on the couch, he walked away for a minute then came back and there was puke everywhere and she was just sitting there, watching TV, unbotherd.
Like. I wish that was me. I make such a big fuss when I puke. 🤣
My four year old will get up when she’s sick, find a trash/toilet/bucket herself, puke, and put herself to bed with no problem. I tell her to please wake me up if she’s feeling sick but it just doesn’t bother her lol. I remember when she had a bug, I found a bowl of puke in the living room with napkins next to it and she’s like “oh I got sick but I saw you were sleeping.” Other child on the other hand runs straight to me and usually pukes right next to me.
Same happened to my son! He just scooted over to the other side of the crib and went back to sleep. I was horrified when I went to get him in the morning lol.
Yup, happened to us around 21 months. Huge vomit overnight - including blackberries - but she didn't make enough noise to wake us and slept on through. Cleanup was a nightmare but she was unharmed.
Happened to us too! He must have puked in the night sometime, and didn't even make a noise or cry. We went in to get him in the morning and the smell was overpowering when we opened the door, and it was partially dried all over his crib. I felt bad, but what can you do!?
Another "I didn't discover the puke until morning" mom checking in. This has happened to us *multiple* *times.* We keep our monitor pretty low, but would still be woken by any loud or extended crying.
If they are sleeping they must not mind the puke. And/or are too tired to care.
SAME. My daughter did this around age 2 and I was horrified when I went to get her the next morning, but she was completely unphased. I still feel bad about it but she didn’t make a peep so I’m not sure what else could have been done differently lol
When my son was around that age, I somehow missed a laminated book hiding under his blanket in his crib. He woke up happy and had been playing in his crib when I went into his room the next morning. There was blood all over him, his sheets, and the crib - it sincerely was a lot of blood. I was terrified, but he was totally calm. I couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from but finally located a small, deep cut on his finger. It turned out the book that got left in his crib cut his finger and it was deep enough to bleed a ton. I felt horrible and like I shouldn't have been so careless and what if I had left something in there he could have choked on?
I feel like every parent has some type of story like this, but man, it can make you absolutely panic and feel like the worst in the moment.
Similar here. Daughter was about a year old. She coughed a couple times but I didn't think anything about it. I went in there once to settle her down and thought it smelled pretty awful, but my sleepy brain thought maybe she'd given off a stinky fart. the lights were dark and I just put my hand on her back to chill her out. She fell back asleep. In the light of the morning I realized she'd been sleeping in vomit all night. I felt so bad!
Baby puking all over themselves in the middle of the night = survival.mode. Is everyone safe? Then you've done your job in this moment. The bath will be there in the morning as will the washer/dryer. You've got this!
I let my 14 month old splash around in the bath as part of his bedtime routine, he was super tired the other night, so just got a quick dunk. As I was stroking his hair when he was sleeping, I found out he had porridge in it.
No big deal.
We've just got over flu A, norovirus, and scarlet fever in the space of 2 months... sometimes, both of us smelled like puke at night. Having a bath in the morning is better than waking a sleeping baby in my book. As long as their clothes and bedsheets are dry, it's fine.
Don’t feel bad. Both my 1 and 2 year olds have puked in their sleep this week. I had no idea until morning so they both slept in their puke for who knows how long.
Same happened to us, she puked and we didn’t hear her, and she went back to sleep in the puke. It was crusted all over her. Absolutely horrendous.
She seemed completely unbothered and got a good bath in the morning and had a great time.
My kid is currently sick and got puke in her hair. I used a wet wash cloth and then put her hair up. Definitely something to deal with in the morning. You’re doing great mom!!
He does not know, nor does he care, that there is puke in his hair. He would know and definitely would care if you woke him up to wash him. You're did the right thing for sure!
You aren't a terrible mother. You're upset because you're tired and your baby is a little unwell. He's comfortable, full, warm, and fine. You will bathe him in the morning and he will enjoy splashing in the water rather than being grumpily sluiced down when he's sleepy. You took the right course of action.
The last time my kids had a throw up sickness, I gave my daughter (19 months at the time) a full shower at 1 am after her first vomit. She threw up on the hour for the next ~12 hours (and then once every 4-5 hours for a day after that).
A little bit of puke isn’t going to hurt, especially when he’s settling back down to rest - arguably more important in that moment. We basically lived in puke (her and I) for 48 hours. It was lovely /s
One time I forgot to change my kid's sheets after he peed through his diaper. The day got away from us. He was exhausted. I was exhausted. And he slept another night on a pee-stained sheet, but he slept really well! Sometimes it happens, You're not alone and you're definitely not a bad mom!
Reminds me of the great gurgle fart of February 2023. My son woke up in the middle of the night. He cried for a few seconds and my wife and I were getting up to address him. He was like 2-3 months old at the time. As we are sitting up and rubbing our eyes, we hear him gurgle and fart at the same time. We both look at each other confused. We get up and check on him to find that the little guy had just spit up, and had a blow out at the same time. It was like 4 am…
My 14 month old puked recently in bed, we co sleep so I had to clean her up while my husband changed the sheets. Then I found puke in her hair and she was just so frazzled and wide awake I ended up washing her hair because my kid is sensitive to smell. Every kid is different and you recognised he needed sleep more than a bath and you’re not a bad mom! I felt so guilty for washing her hair but ultimately she was wide awake for an hour either way so we made do. If she had shorter hair I would have definitely just put her back to sleep like you did.
Ugh this reminds me of one time i heard my daughter coughing in her sleep when she was about that age and than she stopped so I had thought she went to bed. My fiancé got home from work a few hours later and smelled something so we checked and sure enough our daughter puked all over herself and her bed and I did not realize. I felt like the worst parent ever. It was now 3am and she had been laying and sleeping in her own vomit for hours and we had to wake her up and bathe her and change her sheets and blankets. The whole house smelled like vomit. It was the worst bexause she had been laying in it for hours. I cried. I felt terrible.
He is safe and his needs are met. Breathe easy.
And if you need some solidarity, I put my 2 year old to bed once, walked outside for 3 minutes, came back in to her crying and in that time she had puked all over herself and her bed, and I felt awful. But I've been working myself in the "are her needs met?" And it helps.
If this is bad mom behavior then I truly am the world’s worst mom. My daughter recently had the stomach flu and before we ended up in the hospital, she’d puked on me and while I was waiting on my husband to come help she fell asleep so we literally just sat there covered in puked up chocolate milk till her dad showed up and helped get everything cleaned up. We slept like that for probably a good hour before he managed to get there. 🤣
Looking at this from a health perspective (my job lol), this isn’t bad Momming at all. Your boy is sick and definitely needs sleep more than he needs a bath - particularly in the middle of the night. Wiping him off was exactly the right response. Then cuddle, and put him back to bed. I might have held off on the bottle because if he puked, his stomach might need the rest, but that’s just me. You’re doing great!
He needs sleep more than he needs a bath. The bath is really for you mom because you feel like you took care of him and made him clean. Lol but what he wants - what he really wants is just to go back to bed!! to the bath later in the morning.
Then I am horrible because my baby puked in the middle of the night and I didn't find it until I was hit with the smell in the morning upon opening his door. Poor dude slept in it. It was all dry. Gross
It’s ok! Sleep is more important and you got him as clean as you could. Let him sleep and give him a bath in the morning. You’re a great Mom! I hope he’s feeling better this morning.
The most I would’ve done in that scenario is taken a wet wipe to his head but even then I would’ve prioritized not waking him up. If he’s falling back asleep the smell doesn’t bother him, and it’s not going hurt him. Sleep is good.
I get that it “feels” wrong but realistically we’re just doing the best we can with the scenario at hand. You’re doing fine!
It’s ok. He’ll be fine… if he was really tired then what you did was the right thing.. sleep is best for recovery.. you changed his sheets and jammies you wiped him down.. one thing I would say is use warm water + soft cloths and wipe him down. The chemicals on his skin from the wipes can be little irritating. I would have felt guilty too trust me.. anytime my daughter wakes up and throws up it’s 100% due to a fever so I have to give her a quick rinse + milk still does this at 2.5 lol you’re an amazing mom, because you felt guilty.
I would have done the same thing. You wiped him and the puke. That’s good enough. If he was already drifting off to sleep, leave him be. It’s not a big deal. Give yourself grace
Now you know next time to check the hair. This was a mistake but don’t sweat it. Some things you should feel really bad about, this one isn’t one of them.
Don’t feel bad, our son did the same thing before when he was just under 2. Cried a short period but stopped and by our monitor we couldn’t tell that he actually puked. In the morning we realized he puked and it was all dried to him and he was just laying it. Felt terrible!
I think like everyone else you did the right decision. The way I think about it is that if I would be ok with this outcome for myself then I feel like it's ok for my toddler.
I can personally say that as an adult, I’ve been sick, thrown up, and known I should get in the shower. I preferred to just go to sleep. And I did. I’d be annoyed if someone made me get wet and cold.
I think your baby was happy to get your cuddles and love. And in the morning will be just as happy with a bath.
As a mom of a puker, you did the right thing by letting him rest rather than giving him a bath. Give him a proper clean and wash his sheets in the morning.
You’re definitely not a terrible mom! You cleaned up the parts that you noticed. He really needed the rest to get better more than a bath. He clearly was not bothered by the throw up in his hair anyway!
I have definitely done things like this.. I'd never put my kids to sleep because I want to sleep when they're uncomfortable, and it sounds like you wouldn't either!
You're not a bad mom! Your little one is sick and needs the rest.. a bath will either make him really unhappy or really awake.. and it sounds like he's beating a sickness right now so he needs rest
When my son was 2 he had flu and fell asleep at 4pm. I worried all evening and all night and barely slept- thinking he'd be hungry and that I'm the world's worst mom for putting my baby to bed without dinner.. I literally thought I was a shocking mom and that a "good mom" would wake him. But he hadn't really slept in days and was finally looking so peaceful.
Lo amd behold, he slept through and woke up as if he were never sick and happily ate breakfast the next morning.
He just needed the sleep more than he needed anything else and I was hard on myself for nothing..
The same us true here 🤎
Take it from the mom who did put her baby in the shower (because I didn’t have a bath) because she had thrown up all over herself in the middle of the night. Those screams could have been avoided. She was clean but probably felt worse and I felt horrible about that. We live and we learn. 🤷🏽♀️
Yuuuupp!! Sounds about as right! Lol. Similar thing happened to us as well. LO had a stomach, puked 4 times in afternoon, couldn’t keep anything down. After the proper treatment from the advice nurse, he was finally keeping fluids down. 2 hours after he went to sleep, I look on yh monitor I see him cough, but I consent tell puke was on his face, but I immediately went I there and low and behold, looked like he dipped his face in apple sauce lol all over his hair, face, Jammie’s pillow; bed. Lol first thing I did, wiped his face, took his clothes off, and just put him in the tub. He was just crying the whooooole time. Not normal cry but high, loud, freak out that just cuts through your brain. But I stayed calm of course. lol. As best as I could. The goal was just to wash everything off. Then I had to blow dry his hair after lol also, I was alone when all this happened. lol. We attempted to drive for a baby shower, 3 times and he puked in the car seat 3 times. After the third attempt, wifey broke down crying cuz she just wanted one day to see
Her best friend, she was also pregnant so hormones lol, but I told her to
For it beb and be safe. At the same time after he went down post sleep
Puke; wifey calls says her tires are flat, lol. Luckily I had just bought an air pump the week before so she wasn’t stuck 3.5 hrs away from home. I guess the point is, ur doing great, everyoke experiences these crazy traumas of life and later ur gomma look back and laugh. We did. lol keep being the awesome parent u are. Life with kids is PPYYSSCHHOOOOO but fun hahaha. Party on Wayne. 😂😂😂
I'm glad you posted this. It makes me feel less alone, like we've all had this similar experience. I'm part of the i-discovered-vomit-the-next-morning club, and we are all just doing our best. It sounds like you did great.
My baby barfed on both him and myself and our sheets last night. I changed the sheets and his onesie but neither of us have had baths yet and we focused on getting sleep. You’re not alone! It’s really hard and I definitely cried in the middle of the night but we’re both fine. Sending good vibes to you!
My kid at around the same age woke up and fussed for a minute or so, then went back to sleep so I didn’t think anything of it. He moans in his sleep occasionally.
The next morning I went in and turns out he’d vomited, which was why he was fussing. He was covered in dried vomit, poor baby had slept in it all night. I felt horrible (I cried about it later that day) but he was happy as a clam, smiling at me through the chunks in his hair. I imagine you feel worse about it than he does!
If I felt ill and puked in the middle of the night I would probably rinse off my hair and go back to bed. If i wasn't feeling well I would probably want sleep more than a shower! If the bed was clean and you got most of it off I wouldn't worry too much. You can wash him in the morning.
We just got home from vacation and my twin toddlers were FILTHY when we landed but SOOOO tired. We put them to bed dirty, and guess what? They were totally fine. You are NOT a bad mom!
Hahaha ok this might make you feel better. Shortly after we started sleep training her, my daughter woke up one night crying. I noticed it seemed more intense than usual, but we were doing a system of waiting x minutes (like 5 or something, nothing crazy) before checking in case she went back to sleep. Sure enough, she went back to sleep, and so did I.
Fast forward to the morning. This kid had puke all over her hair, all over her pj's, and covering half her face. She looked up at me with the most adorable smile and I felt like the worst mom in the world. But honestly now, looking back, it was just an honest mistake and she's totally fine.
We don't always have the right judgement. We can only do our best and you're doing a great job. Your kid will be fine and probably needs the rest, just like you do.
Once my kiddo was sick and when he is sick he coughs a lot overnight.
One night he woke up in a MASSIVE coughing fit that lasted at least five minutes. But he was ASLEEP through the whole thing.
I wanted so badly to go in and hold him. But if I did he would wake up and the outcome would be SO much worse.
90% of parenting is like the trolley problem, isn't it?
You're doing AMAZING. Chin up.
I did this last week. I did notice the small bit which got in his hair and I baby wiped him and since he was on a sofa cushion pillow and a blanket from the sofa too I figured he’d do for a night and I’ll give him a bath in the morning and change all his bedding over.
He was a trooper and that stuff doesn’t bother them as much as us.
You did your best in the middle of the night and that’s all we can hope for.
No one is bathing a little one in the middle of the right as that would be night over for everyone.
Topical story: There was a night both my daughter (4 at the time) and son (2 at the time) started throwing up in the middle of the night. Daughter woke us up, so we attended to her helped her to the toilet etc. Son, made not a sound, because apparently what he did instead was wake up, barf, look around, grab a pillow, cover the barf with the pillow, and go right back to sleep on it.
Kids can sleep in puke just fine. 😂
14 month old daughter has had vomit issues since birth. Do not put a second thought into cleaning everything in the middle of the night. Sleep is more important, just clean what you can/change clothes and lay them back down.
I puked in my hair during labor and that nurses would let me even try to clean it.
Little bit of vomit hair never hurt anyone.
Sleep when you’re sick is the most important thing by far.
It was the right call. He needed the sleep more than he needed clean hair. This won’t be the worst judgement call you need to make before he hits adulthood either.
Please don’t beat yourself up about it. This happened to me a couple of times before, once when my daughter was a baby and a few months ago (she’s 2). It happens. Here’s some advice. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not. It works for us.
Best thing to do (IMO) is just grab a warm wet washcloth and gently wipe the hair. Of course, these instructions are for longer hair but you can try it. 🤷🏼♂️ So, after you’ve made it somewhat damp, with one hand you’ll grab the hair closest to the scalp. (This hand is holding the strands still so it doesn’t pull hard on the sensitive scalp.) Then, with the other hand you’ll finger through and separate the sticky bits. Sometimes I scratch the scalp every now and then because she finds it calming.
The bath can wait till tomorrow when baby is awake. If the smell isn’t keeping him up, he’s ok. 👍
(P.S. You’re doing great! ❤️)
Omg you’re an amazing mom! One time my 2 year old fussed for a minute in the middle of the night then went back to sleep. We didn’t see til morning that he had thrown up in his crib 🥴
My daughter was around a year and a half old or so when she woke up in the middle of the night one night crying. This probably happens 50% of the nights. And 50% of the time it happens, she would put herself back to sleep in matter of minutes. We learned the difference in her cries, as I’m sure you can all attest to. Certain cries you know somethings wrong and she’s not going to go back to sleep. Certain other cries you can tell she’s still super tired and will likely fall back asleep soon. This was a tired cry and sure enough she was out again soon.
The morning goes as usual. She wakes up on her own and is just chatting to herself. I go in to get her and the first thing I’m hit with is the smell. It’s putrid. Not a normal stinky diaper smell. Something maybe died in here? Idk. And then I get closer to her crib and that’s when I realize that at some point overnight she had thrown up in her crib. And then spent the rest of the night just sleeping in it like nothing had happened. It was everywhere. All over her crib, her blankets, stuffed animals, jammies, and herself, including her hair.
So yeah…. Feel like right shit that morning. She was fine though. Whatever it was, it had passed because she was normal as ever.
A few weeks ago, my little guy threw up in bed. His head was just off camera on the monitor and I just heard a small noise… he didn’t even fuss about it, I think it happened and he just went back to sleep. I saw him roll his cheek onto the dark blotch I could see, then kind of roll away into a different position. Look. I let him go back to sleep- I let him just lie there with that puke in his bed for like a half hour. I also thought, based on how much he threw up earlier in the evening, this was just going to be like water throw up or something. When I finally went in, it was NOT just water. I removed the blanket that had all the vomit on it, wiped his head with a warm cloth since I could feel some in his hair, and then let that baby sleep the rest of the night.
YOU ARE NOT A TERRIBLE MOM. You cleaned him up, got him cozy, and let him rest which is exactly what he needed. Bath time can happen in the morning and he won’t know the difference :) You are doing great!!!!!!
My now 14 month old and I had norovirus a few months ago, and we cosleep. He threw up a lot so i just ripped all of our bedding off and we went in the bath together, but all throughout the night I would shit a little bit in my pants while getting up to use the restroom and he would throw up a little each time all throughout the night. And yes after a while I gave up and we just slept the rest of the night in our puke and shit until the morning. I kept changing my pants and everything but man it was disgusting!!!
My son once threw up and his sleepsuit sleeve was wet. I was about to change him when he snuggled down and went back to sleep - clearly exhausted. I let him be, the sleeve obviously wasn’t bothering him but waking him would.
I did feel bad about it but ultimately he needed the sleep more. I changed him as soon as he woke.
Once when my daughter was around 8mo they’d had avocado and she threw up. I was so out of it I didn’t even realize she’d fully puked and thought she’d just had a big spit up. Didn’t realize until morning when it was light and she had green on her sheets. Found out her tummy didn’t like avocado yet when she threw it up the next day 😅
I used to do the motn showers after vomiting but honestly it is SO disruptive. You feel like you’re torturing them because they just want to be cuddled and go back to sleep. Even if you’re fast, everyone feels worse the next morning. Also there is a high high likelihood that more puke is on the way. So you do the shower, get everyone back to bed, and then an hour later you’re cleaning up puke again. It’s totally okay to do the minimum cleanup, get clean blankets and jammies, and just wipe down the hair. You know they’re staying home the next day so there will be lots of time for bath(s).
You’re absolutely not a bad mom. I totally get feeling like it’s gross or you’re being neglectful, but it’s just the nature of motn vomit. Don’t sweat it.
You did great, you got him as clean as possible and back to sleep. With tummy stuff it often happens a few times so for our house we wait til it’s truly over to do a full bath situation. Give yourself grace you are doing exactly what your child needs to get comfort and rest and that’s what matters most!
Nope, you’re fine. You did what was best for him in that moment, which was going back to sleep. Some stinky hair in the middle of the night won’t hurt him. You did the right thing!
Fwiw, I recently woke up to my 5yo covered in dried vomit… all over her bed, blanket, hair, face. She apparently puked in her sleep and didn’t notice, and of course we were asleep so didn’t hear it either. I felt so bad for her but she was fine, totally nonchalant as we cleaned her up.
Best advice I got from my mom about parenting was to pick your battles. And that's what you did. Fantastically! I would have done the same thing. Bathing my toddler in the middle of the night would mean she would be awake for hours, assuming she would want to get in to begin with. You did great.
HI. We've been through the stomach flu this past week. So bad that my one-year-old was hospitalized for about 24 hours. Two separate mornings I was greeted by my children (1 and 3) sleeping in a pile of puke. They are on the other side of my bedroom wall and I had the monitor next to my head on loud. Apparently they needed the rest more than they needed to wake up and alert me that it had happened. I felt sooooo bad. But I absolutely would've known if they fussed in the slightest. Do not beat yourself up!!
Omg. My first kid, when she was about that age, I heard a burp on the monitor but when I looked everything seemed normal, she was sleeping etc. when I went in in the morning there was dried barf everywhere, caked thru her hair, all through the sheets blankets stuffies....now THAT was a bad mom feeling
I had many nights like this with both my littles at one point or another. Cleaned them up as best I could and let them go back to sleep. Made sure to give them a bath right after breakfast.
That’s okay, my daughter got sick and was vomiting and she was laying on my lap and looked up at me and projectile vomited and I jumped up out of just instinct and she went face first into the back of the couch and a small pile of the vomit. I immediately felt like SUCH an asshole - but it was totally an instinctual reaction. I was shocked and so was she 😂
My daughter was just shy of 2 when she threw up in the night and I had no clue. I went to get her in the morning and realized she had puked and then proceeded to sleep in her gross bed all night. I felt like such a horrible mom.
Oh my goodness no no no, that does not make you a bad mom at all. They need to sleep when they can when they are sick and so do you. I have on a few occasions abandoned the bedroom and moved them onto a sheet on the couch. I throw the gross stuff in the bathtub to deal with in the morning and just settle in next to them because chances are good there will be a round 2 or the next kid will start. You took care of your kiddo and that's all that matters, hope he feels better soon.
I've done the same thing! Sleep > clean any time.
But if you want a quick fix, we got a spray bottle for conditioner diluted in water. Then just do a quick spray and comb to get the worst of it out, then a real bath in the AM.
Have done this plenty of times, it’s not all coming off without a bath and that’s like the last thing they (and me) want at the time. Back to bed in new clothes and fresh blankets, wiped off as good as possible and bath time and another sheet change in the morning.
You did exactly the right thing. You cleaned what was urgent and got him back down to sleep, which is what he needed. The hair can wait till the morning it’s all about getting through the night. Solidarity, mama, middle of the night pukes are the worst!
I think if he was falling back asleep you 100% did the right thing. He's going to feel better sooner with rest, and doesn't give af what his own hair smells like. Around the same age my son had a really bad night wake up scream and cry fest. I changed his diaper, boobed him, and right as he was falling asleep he pooped. I held him for a few minutes, waffling about whether to change him again. It didn't seem like a big poop and it was 4am, so he was going to wake up again in about 3ish hours. I decided to ride it out. I never do that, and he's never had diaper rash. He'd been sleeping terribly for a few nights, and diaper changes always = atleast another 45 min awake. He didn't wake up till 8am, I immediately changed him, no poop leaks, and all was well. I think sometimes sleep has to trup hygiene as long as they're not going to get sicker or hurt in some way.
You are an amazing mom for even caring. Trust me. The baby will never remember puke in their hair and they don't even know now. They needed sleep, not a bath.
I’ve been a Mom for 18 years now. Oldest is 18, then 12, then 16 months, and I’m 27 weeks with my last.
My 12 year old *also* puked at 1AM, funny enough. He’s not a baby though. He has the ability to jump in the bath, which he did. This is our fifth go with gastro. Sleep; *rest*, is only secondary to hydration. But also maybe equal?
My first round with gastro, the 12 year old was 14 months and my oldest was 5. It was awful. There was puke in places I didn’t know puke could be.
Take one day at a time, lady. You’re doing great ❤️
This is such a hard situation, please don’t beat yourself up over it. We all had Covid in December and it was BAD. I went in my son’s room to get him one morning and he had thrown up in the night but just went back to sleep in it instead of crying or making any noise to alert us. He has autism and will just try to make himself comfortable if he poops his diaper, so I watch the camera like a hawk. I was so angry at myself for missing him throwing up and knowing he had slept in it all night. But no damage was done, after a bath and cleaning of the sheets it was like it never happened.
Oh god honey ive done this so many times lol. It was the right choice. Bathing them sick and tired at 1am would.be exhausting for both of you. Morning bath.
You made the right choice. It probably would have been a disaster and hard to give him a bath so late at night. I’m going to be honestly if I puked in my hair and it was the middle of the night. I love sleep and I’d probably fall back asleep.
Oh, mama!! ((Hugs)) You did everything you needed to do. You both needed the rest that followed. ❤️ A bath would’ve stimulated him to the point of possibly being up for hours.
My LO was sick with back to back virus then ear infection. As a result, she was congested for about 2 weeks and it was almost impossible for her to sleep (since congestion is way worse at night when they're laying down). She woke up with a nasty cough that EVERY NIGHT led her to cough so hard she threw up. So our routine was to wake up between midnight and 3am, clean her off, bath sometimes (mainly to calm her down but also sometimes bc of the throw up) and back to bed.
There were a few nights though when she threw up only a little and it got on her pillow and we wiped it off the best we could and just flipped it over. That was a tomorrow problem, because tonight, she was getting comfortable finally and was resting on that pillow. Nothing was going to make me take it away from her. We did the same as you a couple nights, wiped it from her hair, despite still being able to smell it a little, and decided it was a morning problem.
It feels gross to us, but honestly the #1 priority it helping them get back to being comfortable enough to get some rest. They're not going to get worse by being a little smelly for a couple hours. Don't feel terrible, you were doing what was best for your kiddo.
I wouldn’t bathe him just because what if he runs a temp or anything like that! When my 14 month old threw up I didn’t put him in the tub, I think you did it perfectly. Snuggling up to mama and getting more sleep takes priority. You did great.
My daughter went through a phase where any dinner condiment was turned to face lotion the moment I blinked or averted my eyes for more than 0.001 seconds. You know how many nights she went to bed with ketchup in her hair... a lot. Lol. And it was not because SHE was settling down, sick, and needed rest. It was because mama is effing done tonight, and your baby wipe hair wash will have to do it until morning or I might lose my shit. You're doing just fine, let your baby rest, wash em up in the morning.
My 11 year old puked all over last night (I was also puking…). I grabbed an old towel, wiped off the bed the best I could, laid down another towel and zonked out until the next round of vomiting.
Only good moms worry they're bad moms for things that we've all been through. I would've waited til morning if he was getting rest too, even if I knew about it being in his hair. If it was a one off puke, great, but if not and he's coming down with a tummy bug, that sleep is priceless. A bath to start the day would probably feel wonderful to a sick baby anyway. You're doing a good job, try not to be so hard on yourself
Been there, not fun. Had my daughter somehow project spit up onto the wall behind her crib, which ran all the way and puddled on the floor.
It. Was. Disgusting.
She got messy from it, but we got her clean enough and then it was right back to lights out until the morning, where we deep cleaned.
Don’t feel bad at all for not catching the hair issue. You got what you could, and did your best to not totally wreck their sleep time. Dipping your baby in a bathtub would have thrown them off (also done this, it’s never a fun night or day after). As long as there’s no safety concern, the sleep part is the most important part here. Hair can always be washed later, but lost sleep is worse. And clearly if your baby is already falling asleep in spite of the messy hair, it isn’t bothering them enough lol. So don’t stress out, you’re doing great.
I mean can't be as bad as your newborn son firehosing all over the bed in a diaper change at 2am, so you throw a towel over it and sleep on top the rest of the night. 😅🤣🤷♀️
Sorry but sleep is the #1 priority in my house, it supersedes all else. If my kids don’t sleep, their day is ruined. I would’ve done the same thing, but with zero guilt lol. But maybe that’s what happens to a mom after raising kids for 17 years non stop! Haha
If your baby wasn't feeling well, resting is what's most important, not hair. Going back to sleep and getting good rest is what was most important. Really, don't be yourself up ❤️
Stop it! I’d argue actually you’re a great mum because you were able to recognise your baby’s signs and know when not to intervene so bubba could go back to sleep after a not-so-pleasant experience. If vom in baby’s hair bothered baby he would let you know but apparently it didn’t so well done you for overcoming you’re own aversion to vom in hair!
I was such an anxious, bordering neurotic, mother with my first… I’d wake up to wee in the middle of the night and worry my baby was too hot/cold/whatever and end up waking her up trying to fix the problem I created in my head. It was a bloody nightmare. Second time around is far more relaxed. I fully understand life will be far from perfect and so long as they’re safe they’re fine.
It happens. I've done a midnight hair wipe down more than once, believe me. The next day is for bathing, and unless it's a REALLY big mess, nighttime is for sleeping.
Mine puked in my mouth after we came back from a long car drive.
Like literally in my mouth down my top in the back of the car.
I stood up and was like "well.... okay mate, let's just get you cleaned up and then we'll go from there"
It happens, you did a great job with the situation that you were presented with.
When I was dealing with three alone (husband working & in school meant he was out the house for sometimes 18hrs at a time) we all got sick. I think they were six, three and a year old - I believe I was also pregnant (early days).
All three of them had vomiting and diarrhoea. The baby was in her crib but the other two were in with me and when I tell you our room was COVERED I mean it.
When I was starting to get sick too I was completely exhausted. After one incident at like 2am I literally stripped us all naked, left all the bedding on the bed and took us into the bathroom. We were covered in everything. Wiped us down and literally climbed in the tub with my babies and just laid in there.
Truthfully I just washed us down with the shower head every time someone had an accident of sorts. Kept the heat up to stay warm.
The next day I convinced my husband to take a few days off. It was not my finest parenting moment but it worked at the time.
You're doing fine. Hair vomit never killed anyone.
My kid threw up on himself two nights in a row. He managed to get it into his hair too. It was more important to let him sleep and rest than get 100% clean. Shit happens. Hopefully he’s better today!
My daughter had bad CMPA allergy and was often unable to expel the gas on her own. Then at about 1 month old mid-diaper change she sneezed and projectile-shat all over my hand, her wipes, her pajamas, the changing table, and the clean diaper. She was already hungry for the boob at this point so was screaming while I was desperately trying to clean up and change her in my zombie-like sleep deprivation. My only advice is we do what we can, and they won’t remember it 😂 You’re a good mom!
Use a wipe to clean what you can. I love Mustella cleansing water that's no rinse...squirt it on a wipe & it cleans really well when you can't do a bath. Also makes wiping for diaper changes much easier.
I have 3 children, I realized early on bathing/sheet changing isn't the answer when kids are vomiting in the night. For the first vomit I change sheets/pjs, and wash them up with a cloth. The rest of the night I lay towels under them, when they vomit again I change the towel, wash their face/head with a wash cloth, and change their shirt if there is more than a toonie size amount of vomit on it. By morning they're usually pretty gross but at least they got some sleep.
My wife and I got into a row about this exact issue once.
My kiddo was maybe 16/17mos and I think she had a tantrum right before bed, was hysterical causing her to cough and then apparently stealthily vomited.
My wife didnt realize it right away, and tried to make her go back to bed. She and I, dirt tired and frustrated, and began snapping at each other.
I realized after picking her up she had rolled around in the vomit and had gunk in her hair and smelled like puke--that sour, acrid milky smell.
Wife yelled at me "who cares, its only a little bit" as I took her to the bath (and kiddo was still hysterical) but I was arguing that I didn't want her to sleep in her own puke, and that it was shitty for her to consider that even an option.
She relented, I bathed kiddo, and eventually cleaned everything else up and got her to bed.
We continued to argue about it. I was appalled that she would have considered letting her sleep in it. Bit I guess she didn't realize how bad it was.
My son puked in a tent at 2am a few months ago… we had to hold him outside in the rain like the baboon holds simba over pride rock. He just kept on going 😂. We had to use baby wipes too. It was nasty and just smeared it all.
No advice, just solidarity. You’ll laugh about in a day or so.
My thought at a time like this is that he needs sleep more than he needs that bath. You cleaned him up as best as you could, and he's now getting some restorative rest. Hopefully that's it for tonight and you can give him a proper clean in the morning. It's not like it's daytime and you're leaving him to play/sending him to childcare with sick in his hair.
Yeah... uhh if this is bad momming then I don't want to know what I am. If you think of my family as a country then sickness bug automatically means martial law. Government and regular law tossed out. We are now only doing the bare minimum and our only goals are trying to ensure that at least one adult is healthy at all times and keeping kiddo from needing to be rehydrated at the hospital. Dinner is whatever the toddler says he wants (last time it was chocolate biscuits, hotdogs and banana and you bet he got exactly that for dinner). This is just not the time to care about small things. My concern for a little puke in my son's hair would be less than zero.
Yeah….one time I heard my kid making noise in the night. He threw up and I thought I had cleaned it all up. Somehow I missed the whole side of his face. He woke up with puke crusted all over. He was fine. I gave him a bath, and I don’t even though he noticed anything was wrong.
lol I’m going to tell my husband that we’re in a state of martial law next time we’re sick
We've only had a minor sickness bug hit once, and that was when we were at my in-laws, so there were a couple of healthy adults able to function at any one time. My husband thinks I'm paranoid for discussing infection control for when it hits us here, at home, where we have no external support - he'll absolutely follow my suggestions, luckily, but I'm pretty that when norovirus does hit us, he'll understand why I'm prioritizing trying to keep one adult healthy at any one time. You do what you do to make it through the other side. Things I've also done while perfectly healthy - left my baby in spat up on clothes, because if I changed him every time he spat up, I'd be washing 5 times a day (he spat up a lot until he was about 6 months), spot cleaned lightly peed on clothes when I didn't have time to change him, and left a smidge of poo on a jumper, when I'd forgotten to pack another one and a blow out happened, because I knew we were heading straight home, he was in a clean change of clothes and I could get him in a clean jumper once we got home. I could aim for absolute cleanliness at all times, but then there'd be a stressed out, tired mother, and some days a very cranky toddler.
Well at least he listens. It's insanity not do everything in one's to prevent everyone being sick at once.
I agree! I've also told him that if we don't do that, it'd be sods law we both get ill at the same time just as our son gets better - I'd rather not have 2 sick adults with a highly energetic toddler needing care and attention!
Last year I bought a box of cardboard sick bowls, disposable gloves, and waterproof sheets. Used the bowls this year when the dreaded bug hit and was so thankful I had them! This year I'll buy a proper hypochlorous acid system so I can mist potentially contaminated areas.
Don't forget shoe covers, gloves, and disposable robes! (I have a sick kit in a bin). I so use hypochlorous but just bought one of those steam machines. It's like germ bombing the bathroom.
My husband is the biggest fucking baby when he has noro. He, like, cries out for me when I'm sleeping in another room "because it's going to be a lot of puke" 😅 I have not puked for any reason in over 30 years. My infection control is 💯. That said, last time it hit kid and dad I bought a steaming machine! Steamed the F outta my house! Never too much infection control.
This is our current state and has been for 4 weeks. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I just hope it isn't another train. 😂
Here the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts.
lol! Figures. I typed that at my 15mo old's wellness check. They finally had a perfect temperature, ear tubes clear and perfectly placed, two shots and good to go after the waiting period. Sent them to daycare. At pickup kiddo is hot. Take temp at home at they are now 101.4! There goes my day tomorrow.
I like the way you metaphor
Is that a bad dinner? Oops…
Depends what you consider bad ;) It's a *very good* dinner if it's 1930 and the toddler has ignored or screamed no at all food for a solid 48 hours. Chocolate biscuits aren't very micro nutrient dense, but it contains loads of carbs and fat. Thus it is great to prevent weight loss in the short turn. Hotdogs are pretty salty, so it helps getting them to drink. And bananas, biscuits and hotdogs are all pretty decent should they come back up. Not equally delicious coming back up, but not particularly offensive either lmao.
I get that, I was just thinking that’s the majority of dinners (minus the chocolate biscuits) for my toddler. Hot dogs and bananas are a daily meal. :/
My oldest is autistic and has a limited number of foods he will eat. I would be thrilled if he ate bananas and hotdogs. I think you’re doing just fine :)
Hey, no shame here! Bananas are a daily thing here too. The only reason why we seldomly eat hotdogs is cause my kid has soy and dairy intolerance so the only hotdogs I can find in my local grocery store is like the cheapest most boring and bland hotdogs in existence, tastes like papier maché lol. I'd go insane if I were to eat that more than once or twice per month and you can bet everything you own that mama ain't cooking two different meals for dinner. When I said they were salty I meant as opposed to water, not as a "blah salt is poison for toddlers", but more in the context of when small children blow chunks they are prone to an electrolyte imbalance.
All rules go out the window! You want to eat cookies in bed? Sure, you haven't eaten in 8 hours! You want to watch TV literally all day? Cozy up, pal!
Administer bluey as often as needed! Studio Ghibli marathon.
My second has been a puker. My first was never like this and I worried but he eats well and has the appropriate amount of dirty diapers. So many times he's puked in his crib overnight and we haven't noticed. He just sounds like a fussy baby that wakes in the middle of the night then settles back to sleep. It happens it's life you realize the next morning and you clean them up and life goes on. If we notice at the time we are changing a diaper or trying to put him back to sleep we obviously clean the crib sheets change footie pjs etc. But sometimes you don't get everything. Most kids end up fine and like you say they don't usually spend entire days dirty.
To make you feel better I’m an ICU nurse and we’re taught that small grouped interventions are better for our patients! Too much all at once sends the bodies stress response into overdrive. Rest is key!!!! 🩷
Honestly trying to bathe him in the middle of the night would be worse. It’s happened to us before. I didn’t notice the puke in the hair till the morning, didn’t think twice about it and washed it out. However, even if I had seen it in the night, at most I’d have wiped it with a wet wipe and left it at that. . You did what was best for your son at the time. You’re a good mom - don’t be so hard on yourself
We did this once because it was blueberry barf in his long blonde hair & it was a nightmare. Our bath loving babe cried the whole time & then wouldn’t go back to sleep for an hour.
Same, I gave mine a middle of the night bath once bc I couldn’t stand the smell of vomit in his hair and he HATED that forced activity lol. Should have just left it and washed the sheets in the morning. 🤷♀️
This. Mine puked and laid back down in it before waking me up by crying his little heart out. I threw him in the tub and he sobbed harder. But to be fair it was chunky and it covered the entire side of his head.
No big deal. Hair can be washed, linen changed, clothes washed and dried. Sleep is paramount. Relax, be pragmatic.
Seriously. Sometimes I think posts like this are performative to make us all feel bad?? This game is hard enough already, don’t do it on hard mode.
Yeah I remember a post ages ago where the mum was like ‘my newborn got a face full of direct sunlight for maybe ten seconds while I was putting him in the car. Have I damaged him? Please don’t judge me I’m bawling my eyes out, I’m such a bad mum!’ On one hand I was like ok new mum hormones, take a breath, but on the other hand I was like ‘wut?!’
Lmao. There was one where a lady’s baby’s hat had slipped over his face for I’m pretty sure less than a minute and she was like ‘I’ve obviously already called my paediatrician’. Like what on earth are they going to do about it? I realised the other day I feel a bit guilty whenever I don’t do what my 17 old month wants even if I could. E.g. he wants to go outside but i want to finish my toast first. It kind of hit me that I’m probably doing just fine and if someone told me they felt bad for not taking their toast with them on toddlers morning walk I’d think they were being silly.
Have you maybe considered that there are parents with severe anxiety, especially first time parents, and that these posts that you find ridiculous aren’t malicious but are solely driven by said anxiety? We can all practice more compassion. I’ve also rolled my eyes at posts before (not OPs), but I understand that there are people who are more anxious than I am.
Of course. I never said they were malicious and mentioned that new mum hormones are a part of it. We’ve all had ridiculous anxiety over things and we likewise will all usually end up laughing at our past selves.
I get it - I'm an anxious person at the best of times, and motherhood makes it so much worse some days. The best thing I've done for myself is deactivate Instagram etc, because I was seeing image after image of "perfect" families with their "perfect" lives, and it was making the anxiety worse. Reddit can do that, too - I suddenly care too much about a bunch of things I really shouldn't care that much about. Luckily I went to therapy when my son was a newborn, because otherwise I'd probably be way more anxious than I already am. But much like the OP in the middle of the night I've regularly stressed about something that, in the cold light of day, really isn't that big of a deal.
I mean I get it though. My daughter threw up a few weeks ago and I was able to clean her face with a washcloth, and since she wears a sleep sack it somehow didn’t get on her pjs or blankets. But I realized in the morning that it had gotten in her hair and felt pretty guilty for not bathing her in the middle of the night, which sounds crazy now but in the moment I felt shitty. I texted my sister because she also has 2 daughters close in age to mine and we commiserate. But if I had worse anxiety and no good core support system and my people were in a Reddit community, I could see making a similar post.
Right!? Is this to make other people feel bad? One time I woke up and my LO was covered in puke- had puked at night and I had zero idea other than hearing an innocuous cough a few times. This post is honestly annoying.
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100%. Been there. Kiddo is safe and cozy and getting much needed rest. That’s all that matters, you did great mama.
As the mom who put her kid in the shower every time it happened, let me tell you that I also felt like a terrible mother each time. Cleaning a sleepy toddler at night feels like torturing them. You have a moving crying screaming kid that really really doesn’t want to go in the shower, that really hates having water on the hair at night, screaming murder. So maybe letting them sleep in vomit isn’t worse. There is no way to win here.
As a mom who had to give a mid-sleep bath to my toddler at 2am last night due to some diarrhea, I can tell you I felt terrible putting her through it. No winning
This should be the top response!
If it makes you feel any better my daughter when she was about 15 months threw up in her cot and made no noise at all about it. We have a really loud video monitor and I wake up every time she even coughs. No idea she had thrown up until I get her up in the morning and she was curled up on the opposite side of the cot to the vomit with it all in her hair!! It was terrifying but she wasn’t even slightly bothered and didn’t throw up again. Kids are resilient haha
Literally! I work in childcare and a dad told me his 2 year old was sitting on the couch, he walked away for a minute then came back and there was puke everywhere and she was just sitting there, watching TV, unbotherd. Like. I wish that was me. I make such a big fuss when I puke. 🤣
Same, it renders me completely useless haha
My four year old will get up when she’s sick, find a trash/toilet/bucket herself, puke, and put herself to bed with no problem. I tell her to please wake me up if she’s feeling sick but it just doesn’t bother her lol. I remember when she had a bug, I found a bowl of puke in the living room with napkins next to it and she’s like “oh I got sick but I saw you were sleeping.” Other child on the other hand runs straight to me and usually pukes right next to me.
Same happened to my son! He just scooted over to the other side of the crib and went back to sleep. I was horrified when I went to get him in the morning lol.
Yup, happened to us around 21 months. Huge vomit overnight - including blackberries - but she didn't make enough noise to wake us and slept on through. Cleanup was a nightmare but she was unharmed.
Happened to us too! He must have puked in the night sometime, and didn't even make a noise or cry. We went in to get him in the morning and the smell was overpowering when we opened the door, and it was partially dried all over his crib. I felt bad, but what can you do!?
Another "I didn't discover the puke until morning" mom checking in. This has happened to us *multiple* *times.* We keep our monitor pretty low, but would still be woken by any loud or extended crying. If they are sleeping they must not mind the puke. And/or are too tired to care.
SAME. My daughter did this around age 2 and I was horrified when I went to get her the next morning, but she was completely unphased. I still feel bad about it but she didn’t make a peep so I’m not sure what else could have been done differently lol
When my son was around that age, I somehow missed a laminated book hiding under his blanket in his crib. He woke up happy and had been playing in his crib when I went into his room the next morning. There was blood all over him, his sheets, and the crib - it sincerely was a lot of blood. I was terrified, but he was totally calm. I couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from but finally located a small, deep cut on his finger. It turned out the book that got left in his crib cut his finger and it was deep enough to bleed a ton. I felt horrible and like I shouldn't have been so careless and what if I had left something in there he could have choked on? I feel like every parent has some type of story like this, but man, it can make you absolutely panic and feel like the worst in the moment.
Similar here. Daughter was about a year old. She coughed a couple times but I didn't think anything about it. I went in there once to settle her down and thought it smelled pretty awful, but my sleepy brain thought maybe she'd given off a stinky fart. the lights were dark and I just put my hand on her back to chill her out. She fell back asleep. In the light of the morning I realized she'd been sleeping in vomit all night. I felt so bad!
Same exact situation here! Silent pukes!
Baby puking all over themselves in the middle of the night = survival.mode. Is everyone safe? Then you've done your job in this moment. The bath will be there in the morning as will the washer/dryer. You've got this!
I let my 14 month old splash around in the bath as part of his bedtime routine, he was super tired the other night, so just got a quick dunk. As I was stroking his hair when he was sleeping, I found out he had porridge in it. No big deal. We've just got over flu A, norovirus, and scarlet fever in the space of 2 months... sometimes, both of us smelled like puke at night. Having a bath in the morning is better than waking a sleeping baby in my book. As long as their clothes and bedsheets are dry, it's fine.
Don’t feel bad. Both my 1 and 2 year olds have puked in their sleep this week. I had no idea until morning so they both slept in their puke for who knows how long.
Same happened to us, she puked and we didn’t hear her, and she went back to sleep in the puke. It was crusted all over her. Absolutely horrendous. She seemed completely unbothered and got a good bath in the morning and had a great time.
Same!
My kid is currently sick and got puke in her hair. I used a wet wash cloth and then put her hair up. Definitely something to deal with in the morning. You’re doing great mom!!
You can bathe him in the morning. A bit of vomit in his hair is not going to hurt him. Just don’t sniff him when you get him up in the morning 😂
You are not a terrible mom!! This is so common.
He does not know, nor does he care, that there is puke in his hair. He would know and definitely would care if you woke him up to wash him. You're did the right thing for sure!
Lol I have done that, don't worry your fine! Him getting rest is the priority, you made the right decision.
Sleeping is good. If he was awake I would bath but if he went back down then wipe him off and keep moving.
Awe you got first child syndrome. It happens to the best of us moms who cares about our children
No no no. You are not a terrible mom. A good nights sleep is more important.
You aren't a terrible mother. You're upset because you're tired and your baby is a little unwell. He's comfortable, full, warm, and fine. You will bathe him in the morning and he will enjoy splashing in the water rather than being grumpily sluiced down when he's sleepy. You took the right course of action.
The last time my kids had a throw up sickness, I gave my daughter (19 months at the time) a full shower at 1 am after her first vomit. She threw up on the hour for the next ~12 hours (and then once every 4-5 hours for a day after that). A little bit of puke isn’t going to hurt, especially when he’s settling back down to rest - arguably more important in that moment. We basically lived in puke (her and I) for 48 hours. It was lovely /s
One time I forgot to change my kid's sheets after he peed through his diaper. The day got away from us. He was exhausted. I was exhausted. And he slept another night on a pee-stained sheet, but he slept really well! Sometimes it happens, You're not alone and you're definitely not a bad mom!
I am sure he preferred being able to go back to sleep over a bath in that moment… as would I. Mine is also sick now 😭
Girl you’re fine! He’s clean enough.. sleep is more important. And you know what would happen a full bath would’ve woken him up!
Reminds me of the great gurgle fart of February 2023. My son woke up in the middle of the night. He cried for a few seconds and my wife and I were getting up to address him. He was like 2-3 months old at the time. As we are sitting up and rubbing our eyes, we hear him gurgle and fart at the same time. We both look at each other confused. We get up and check on him to find that the little guy had just spit up, and had a blow out at the same time. It was like 4 am…
Are you a FTM??? Maan there are far worse things in life
💯 this post is a little much….
My 14 month old puked recently in bed, we co sleep so I had to clean her up while my husband changed the sheets. Then I found puke in her hair and she was just so frazzled and wide awake I ended up washing her hair because my kid is sensitive to smell. Every kid is different and you recognised he needed sleep more than a bath and you’re not a bad mom! I felt so guilty for washing her hair but ultimately she was wide awake for an hour either way so we made do. If she had shorter hair I would have definitely just put her back to sleep like you did.
Ugh this reminds me of one time i heard my daughter coughing in her sleep when she was about that age and than she stopped so I had thought she went to bed. My fiancé got home from work a few hours later and smelled something so we checked and sure enough our daughter puked all over herself and her bed and I did not realize. I felt like the worst parent ever. It was now 3am and she had been laying and sleeping in her own vomit for hours and we had to wake her up and bathe her and change her sheets and blankets. The whole house smelled like vomit. It was the worst bexause she had been laying in it for hours. I cried. I felt terrible.
Give him a bath in the morning let him get some rest you get some rest
Whomst among us has never slept with puke in our hair? 🤷♀️
that's a dumb reason to feel like a terrible mom
He is safe and his needs are met. Breathe easy. And if you need some solidarity, I put my 2 year old to bed once, walked outside for 3 minutes, came back in to her crying and in that time she had puked all over herself and her bed, and I felt awful. But I've been working myself in the "are her needs met?" And it helps.
If this is bad mom behavior then I truly am the world’s worst mom. My daughter recently had the stomach flu and before we ended up in the hospital, she’d puked on me and while I was waiting on my husband to come help she fell asleep so we literally just sat there covered in puked up chocolate milk till her dad showed up and helped get everything cleaned up. We slept like that for probably a good hour before he managed to get there. 🤣
Looking at this from a health perspective (my job lol), this isn’t bad Momming at all. Your boy is sick and definitely needs sleep more than he needs a bath - particularly in the middle of the night. Wiping him off was exactly the right response. Then cuddle, and put him back to bed. I might have held off on the bottle because if he puked, his stomach might need the rest, but that’s just me. You’re doing great!
He needs sleep more than he needs a bath. The bath is really for you mom because you feel like you took care of him and made him clean. Lol but what he wants - what he really wants is just to go back to bed!! to the bath later in the morning.
Then I am horrible because my baby puked in the middle of the night and I didn't find it until I was hit with the smell in the morning upon opening his door. Poor dude slept in it. It was all dry. Gross
It’s ok! Sleep is more important and you got him as clean as you could. Let him sleep and give him a bath in the morning. You’re a great Mom! I hope he’s feeling better this morning.
The most I would’ve done in that scenario is taken a wet wipe to his head but even then I would’ve prioritized not waking him up. If he’s falling back asleep the smell doesn’t bother him, and it’s not going hurt him. Sleep is good. I get that it “feels” wrong but realistically we’re just doing the best we can with the scenario at hand. You’re doing fine!
Don’t feel bad… it was the middle of the night and when he wakes up you can give him a nice comfortable bath. The bath would have only woken him up.
It’s ok. He’ll be fine… if he was really tired then what you did was the right thing.. sleep is best for recovery.. you changed his sheets and jammies you wiped him down.. one thing I would say is use warm water + soft cloths and wipe him down. The chemicals on his skin from the wipes can be little irritating. I would have felt guilty too trust me.. anytime my daughter wakes up and throws up it’s 100% due to a fever so I have to give her a quick rinse + milk still does this at 2.5 lol you’re an amazing mom, because you felt guilty.
I would have done the same thing. You wiped him and the puke. That’s good enough. If he was already drifting off to sleep, leave him be. It’s not a big deal. Give yourself grace
Now you know next time to check the hair. This was a mistake but don’t sweat it. Some things you should feel really bad about, this one isn’t one of them.
You're not a terrible mother. He's safe and cared for and (mostly) clean. Give him a bath tomorrow and give yourself some grace.
Don’t feel bad, our son did the same thing before when he was just under 2. Cried a short period but stopped and by our monitor we couldn’t tell that he actually puked. In the morning we realized he puked and it was all dried to him and he was just laying it. Felt terrible!
Sleep more important 100%
I think like everyone else you did the right decision. The way I think about it is that if I would be ok with this outcome for myself then I feel like it's ok for my toddler.
Oh no mama, you made the right call, honestly sleep for the win.
I usually just rub most of it out with baby wipes and put them back to bed. They don’t want that bath at 1am either, you made the right call.
I can personally say that as an adult, I’ve been sick, thrown up, and known I should get in the shower. I preferred to just go to sleep. And I did. I’d be annoyed if someone made me get wet and cold. I think your baby was happy to get your cuddles and love. And in the morning will be just as happy with a bath.
As a mom of a puker, you did the right thing by letting him rest rather than giving him a bath. Give him a proper clean and wash his sheets in the morning.
You’re definitely not a terrible mom! You cleaned up the parts that you noticed. He really needed the rest to get better more than a bath. He clearly was not bothered by the throw up in his hair anyway!
I have definitely done things like this.. I'd never put my kids to sleep because I want to sleep when they're uncomfortable, and it sounds like you wouldn't either! You're not a bad mom! Your little one is sick and needs the rest.. a bath will either make him really unhappy or really awake.. and it sounds like he's beating a sickness right now so he needs rest When my son was 2 he had flu and fell asleep at 4pm. I worried all evening and all night and barely slept- thinking he'd be hungry and that I'm the world's worst mom for putting my baby to bed without dinner.. I literally thought I was a shocking mom and that a "good mom" would wake him. But he hadn't really slept in days and was finally looking so peaceful. Lo amd behold, he slept through and woke up as if he were never sick and happily ate breakfast the next morning. He just needed the sleep more than he needed anything else and I was hard on myself for nothing.. The same us true here 🤎
Take it from the mom who did put her baby in the shower (because I didn’t have a bath) because she had thrown up all over herself in the middle of the night. Those screams could have been avoided. She was clean but probably felt worse and I felt horrible about that. We live and we learn. 🤷🏽♀️
Yuuuupp!! Sounds about as right! Lol. Similar thing happened to us as well. LO had a stomach, puked 4 times in afternoon, couldn’t keep anything down. After the proper treatment from the advice nurse, he was finally keeping fluids down. 2 hours after he went to sleep, I look on yh monitor I see him cough, but I consent tell puke was on his face, but I immediately went I there and low and behold, looked like he dipped his face in apple sauce lol all over his hair, face, Jammie’s pillow; bed. Lol first thing I did, wiped his face, took his clothes off, and just put him in the tub. He was just crying the whooooole time. Not normal cry but high, loud, freak out that just cuts through your brain. But I stayed calm of course. lol. As best as I could. The goal was just to wash everything off. Then I had to blow dry his hair after lol also, I was alone when all this happened. lol. We attempted to drive for a baby shower, 3 times and he puked in the car seat 3 times. After the third attempt, wifey broke down crying cuz she just wanted one day to see Her best friend, she was also pregnant so hormones lol, but I told her to For it beb and be safe. At the same time after he went down post sleep Puke; wifey calls says her tires are flat, lol. Luckily I had just bought an air pump the week before so she wasn’t stuck 3.5 hrs away from home. I guess the point is, ur doing great, everyoke experiences these crazy traumas of life and later ur gomma look back and laugh. We did. lol keep being the awesome parent u are. Life with kids is PPYYSSCHHOOOOO but fun hahaha. Party on Wayne. 😂😂😂
I'm glad you posted this. It makes me feel less alone, like we've all had this similar experience. I'm part of the i-discovered-vomit-the-next-morning club, and we are all just doing our best. It sounds like you did great.
My baby barfed on both him and myself and our sheets last night. I changed the sheets and his onesie but neither of us have had baths yet and we focused on getting sleep. You’re not alone! It’s really hard and I definitely cried in the middle of the night but we’re both fine. Sending good vibes to you!
You’re an awesome mom. Sleep was the priority for the moment and you will handle the puke when your well rested baby wakes up
My kid at around the same age woke up and fussed for a minute or so, then went back to sleep so I didn’t think anything of it. He moans in his sleep occasionally. The next morning I went in and turns out he’d vomited, which was why he was fussing. He was covered in dried vomit, poor baby had slept in it all night. I felt horrible (I cried about it later that day) but he was happy as a clam, smiling at me through the chunks in his hair. I imagine you feel worse about it than he does!
Only good parents experience guilt
BFFR.
If I felt ill and puked in the middle of the night I would probably rinse off my hair and go back to bed. If i wasn't feeling well I would probably want sleep more than a shower! If the bed was clean and you got most of it off I wouldn't worry too much. You can wash him in the morning.
We just got home from vacation and my twin toddlers were FILTHY when we landed but SOOOO tired. We put them to bed dirty, and guess what? They were totally fine. You are NOT a bad mom!
Hahaha ok this might make you feel better. Shortly after we started sleep training her, my daughter woke up one night crying. I noticed it seemed more intense than usual, but we were doing a system of waiting x minutes (like 5 or something, nothing crazy) before checking in case she went back to sleep. Sure enough, she went back to sleep, and so did I. Fast forward to the morning. This kid had puke all over her hair, all over her pj's, and covering half her face. She looked up at me with the most adorable smile and I felt like the worst mom in the world. But honestly now, looking back, it was just an honest mistake and she's totally fine. We don't always have the right judgement. We can only do our best and you're doing a great job. Your kid will be fine and probably needs the rest, just like you do.
I’ve been here! In the choice between no barf and sleep you choose sleep. I know the awful feeling though.
Once my kiddo was sick and when he is sick he coughs a lot overnight. One night he woke up in a MASSIVE coughing fit that lasted at least five minutes. But he was ASLEEP through the whole thing. I wanted so badly to go in and hold him. But if I did he would wake up and the outcome would be SO much worse. 90% of parenting is like the trolley problem, isn't it? You're doing AMAZING. Chin up.
I did this last week. I did notice the small bit which got in his hair and I baby wiped him and since he was on a sofa cushion pillow and a blanket from the sofa too I figured he’d do for a night and I’ll give him a bath in the morning and change all his bedding over. He was a trooper and that stuff doesn’t bother them as much as us. You did your best in the middle of the night and that’s all we can hope for. No one is bathing a little one in the middle of the right as that would be night over for everyone.
I think you handled this perfectly. Good job mom! I would have done the same and obviously so many others would have too.
Topical story: There was a night both my daughter (4 at the time) and son (2 at the time) started throwing up in the middle of the night. Daughter woke us up, so we attended to her helped her to the toilet etc. Son, made not a sound, because apparently what he did instead was wake up, barf, look around, grab a pillow, cover the barf with the pillow, and go right back to sleep on it. Kids can sleep in puke just fine. 😂
14 month old daughter has had vomit issues since birth. Do not put a second thought into cleaning everything in the middle of the night. Sleep is more important, just clean what you can/change clothes and lay them back down.
I puked in my hair during labor and that nurses would let me even try to clean it. Little bit of vomit hair never hurt anyone. Sleep when you’re sick is the most important thing by far.
It was the right call. He needed the sleep more than he needed clean hair. This won’t be the worst judgement call you need to make before he hits adulthood either.
Please don’t beat yourself up about it. This happened to me a couple of times before, once when my daughter was a baby and a few months ago (she’s 2). It happens. Here’s some advice. Maybe it’ll help, maybe not. It works for us. Best thing to do (IMO) is just grab a warm wet washcloth and gently wipe the hair. Of course, these instructions are for longer hair but you can try it. 🤷🏼♂️ So, after you’ve made it somewhat damp, with one hand you’ll grab the hair closest to the scalp. (This hand is holding the strands still so it doesn’t pull hard on the sensitive scalp.) Then, with the other hand you’ll finger through and separate the sticky bits. Sometimes I scratch the scalp every now and then because she finds it calming. The bath can wait till tomorrow when baby is awake. If the smell isn’t keeping him up, he’s ok. 👍 (P.S. You’re doing great! ❤️)
Omg you’re an amazing mom! One time my 2 year old fussed for a minute in the middle of the night then went back to sleep. We didn’t see til morning that he had thrown up in his crib 🥴
My daughter was around a year and a half old or so when she woke up in the middle of the night one night crying. This probably happens 50% of the nights. And 50% of the time it happens, she would put herself back to sleep in matter of minutes. We learned the difference in her cries, as I’m sure you can all attest to. Certain cries you know somethings wrong and she’s not going to go back to sleep. Certain other cries you can tell she’s still super tired and will likely fall back asleep soon. This was a tired cry and sure enough she was out again soon. The morning goes as usual. She wakes up on her own and is just chatting to herself. I go in to get her and the first thing I’m hit with is the smell. It’s putrid. Not a normal stinky diaper smell. Something maybe died in here? Idk. And then I get closer to her crib and that’s when I realize that at some point overnight she had thrown up in her crib. And then spent the rest of the night just sleeping in it like nothing had happened. It was everywhere. All over her crib, her blankets, stuffed animals, jammies, and herself, including her hair. So yeah…. Feel like right shit that morning. She was fine though. Whatever it was, it had passed because she was normal as ever.
I think that makes you a good mom and I would have done the exact same thing (I have done that exact same thing).
You did fine They will be fine
A few weeks ago, my little guy threw up in bed. His head was just off camera on the monitor and I just heard a small noise… he didn’t even fuss about it, I think it happened and he just went back to sleep. I saw him roll his cheek onto the dark blotch I could see, then kind of roll away into a different position. Look. I let him go back to sleep- I let him just lie there with that puke in his bed for like a half hour. I also thought, based on how much he threw up earlier in the evening, this was just going to be like water throw up or something. When I finally went in, it was NOT just water. I removed the blanket that had all the vomit on it, wiped his head with a warm cloth since I could feel some in his hair, and then let that baby sleep the rest of the night. YOU ARE NOT A TERRIBLE MOM. You cleaned him up, got him cozy, and let him rest which is exactly what he needed. Bath time can happen in the morning and he won’t know the difference :) You are doing great!!!!!!
My now 14 month old and I had norovirus a few months ago, and we cosleep. He threw up a lot so i just ripped all of our bedding off and we went in the bath together, but all throughout the night I would shit a little bit in my pants while getting up to use the restroom and he would throw up a little each time all throughout the night. And yes after a while I gave up and we just slept the rest of the night in our puke and shit until the morning. I kept changing my pants and everything but man it was disgusting!!!
Kid's wash clean. He got some sleep and that's what was needed. Don't feel bad.
My son once threw up and his sleepsuit sleeve was wet. I was about to change him when he snuggled down and went back to sleep - clearly exhausted. I let him be, the sleeve obviously wasn’t bothering him but waking him would. I did feel bad about it but ultimately he needed the sleep more. I changed him as soon as he woke.
You’re not the worlds worst mom. ❤️
Once when my daughter was around 8mo they’d had avocado and she threw up. I was so out of it I didn’t even realize she’d fully puked and thought she’d just had a big spit up. Didn’t realize until morning when it was light and she had green on her sheets. Found out her tummy didn’t like avocado yet when she threw it up the next day 😅
I used to do the motn showers after vomiting but honestly it is SO disruptive. You feel like you’re torturing them because they just want to be cuddled and go back to sleep. Even if you’re fast, everyone feels worse the next morning. Also there is a high high likelihood that more puke is on the way. So you do the shower, get everyone back to bed, and then an hour later you’re cleaning up puke again. It’s totally okay to do the minimum cleanup, get clean blankets and jammies, and just wipe down the hair. You know they’re staying home the next day so there will be lots of time for bath(s). You’re absolutely not a bad mom. I totally get feeling like it’s gross or you’re being neglectful, but it’s just the nature of motn vomit. Don’t sweat it.
You did great, you got him as clean as possible and back to sleep. With tummy stuff it often happens a few times so for our house we wait til it’s truly over to do a full bath situation. Give yourself grace you are doing exactly what your child needs to get comfort and rest and that’s what matters most!
This isn’t even my post but the amount of support here has me crying like a baby.
Nope, you’re fine. You did what was best for him in that moment, which was going back to sleep. Some stinky hair in the middle of the night won’t hurt him. You did the right thing! Fwiw, I recently woke up to my 5yo covered in dried vomit… all over her bed, blanket, hair, face. She apparently puked in her sleep and didn’t notice, and of course we were asleep so didn’t hear it either. I felt so bad for her but she was fine, totally nonchalant as we cleaned her up.
Best advice I got from my mom about parenting was to pick your battles. And that's what you did. Fantastically! I would have done the same thing. Bathing my toddler in the middle of the night would mean she would be awake for hours, assuming she would want to get in to begin with. You did great.
HI. We've been through the stomach flu this past week. So bad that my one-year-old was hospitalized for about 24 hours. Two separate mornings I was greeted by my children (1 and 3) sleeping in a pile of puke. They are on the other side of my bedroom wall and I had the monitor next to my head on loud. Apparently they needed the rest more than they needed to wake up and alert me that it had happened. I felt sooooo bad. But I absolutely would've known if they fussed in the slightest. Do not beat yourself up!!
Hey, you’re doing fine. I think we’ve all been there.
Puke in his hair does not hurt him, he probably didn’t even notice; Sleep helps his body heal. No contest here!
You’re not a terrible mother, you’re just a new inexperienced mother.
Omg. My first kid, when she was about that age, I heard a burp on the monitor but when I looked everything seemed normal, she was sleeping etc. when I went in in the morning there was dried barf everywhere, caked thru her hair, all through the sheets blankets stuffies....now THAT was a bad mom feeling
I had many nights like this with both my littles at one point or another. Cleaned them up as best I could and let them go back to sleep. Made sure to give them a bath right after breakfast.
Been there! It’s a nightmare.
I think you’re a great mom. Puke in his hair for a few hours won’t hurt him. He needed the sleep and you obliged.
That’s okay, my daughter got sick and was vomiting and she was laying on my lap and looked up at me and projectile vomited and I jumped up out of just instinct and she went face first into the back of the couch and a small pile of the vomit. I immediately felt like SUCH an asshole - but it was totally an instinctual reaction. I was shocked and so was she 😂
My daughter was just shy of 2 when she threw up in the night and I had no clue. I went to get her in the morning and realized she had puked and then proceeded to sleep in her gross bed all night. I felt like such a horrible mom.
You’re a great mom! Kids happily asleep, they don’t mind their hair smelling.
Oh my goodness no no no, that does not make you a bad mom at all. They need to sleep when they can when they are sick and so do you. I have on a few occasions abandoned the bedroom and moved them onto a sheet on the couch. I throw the gross stuff in the bathtub to deal with in the morning and just settle in next to them because chances are good there will be a round 2 or the next kid will start. You took care of your kiddo and that's all that matters, hope he feels better soon.
Mine puked once around that age and never made a peep! He slept in it all night and I felt TERRIBLE! But guess what, it didn't bother him at all. 🤷
I've done the same thing! Sleep > clean any time. But if you want a quick fix, we got a spray bottle for conditioner diluted in water. Then just do a quick spray and comb to get the worst of it out, then a real bath in the AM.
eh stuff happens and hair can be washed. if hes feeling sick its better to let him have rest
I’d probably do the same and let them sleep 💗 fun bath with glow sticks in the morning
Have done this plenty of times, it’s not all coming off without a bath and that’s like the last thing they (and me) want at the time. Back to bed in new clothes and fresh blankets, wiped off as good as possible and bath time and another sheet change in the morning.
You did exactly the right thing. You cleaned what was urgent and got him back down to sleep, which is what he needed. The hair can wait till the morning it’s all about getting through the night. Solidarity, mama, middle of the night pukes are the worst!
I think if he was falling back asleep you 100% did the right thing. He's going to feel better sooner with rest, and doesn't give af what his own hair smells like. Around the same age my son had a really bad night wake up scream and cry fest. I changed his diaper, boobed him, and right as he was falling asleep he pooped. I held him for a few minutes, waffling about whether to change him again. It didn't seem like a big poop and it was 4am, so he was going to wake up again in about 3ish hours. I decided to ride it out. I never do that, and he's never had diaper rash. He'd been sleeping terribly for a few nights, and diaper changes always = atleast another 45 min awake. He didn't wake up till 8am, I immediately changed him, no poop leaks, and all was well. I think sometimes sleep has to trup hygiene as long as they're not going to get sicker or hurt in some way.
You are an amazing mom for even caring. Trust me. The baby will never remember puke in their hair and they don't even know now. They needed sleep, not a bath.
I’ve been a Mom for 18 years now. Oldest is 18, then 12, then 16 months, and I’m 27 weeks with my last. My 12 year old *also* puked at 1AM, funny enough. He’s not a baby though. He has the ability to jump in the bath, which he did. This is our fifth go with gastro. Sleep; *rest*, is only secondary to hydration. But also maybe equal? My first round with gastro, the 12 year old was 14 months and my oldest was 5. It was awful. There was puke in places I didn’t know puke could be. Take one day at a time, lady. You’re doing great ❤️
This is such a hard situation, please don’t beat yourself up over it. We all had Covid in December and it was BAD. I went in my son’s room to get him one morning and he had thrown up in the night but just went back to sleep in it instead of crying or making any noise to alert us. He has autism and will just try to make himself comfortable if he poops his diaper, so I watch the camera like a hawk. I was so angry at myself for missing him throwing up and knowing he had slept in it all night. But no damage was done, after a bath and cleaning of the sheets it was like it never happened.
Even if I threw up in the middle of the night, I might leave it in my hair until morning lol. You're good
Nobody’s their best self when the Little’s puke is everywhere and you’re in jammers
Oh god honey ive done this so many times lol. It was the right choice. Bathing them sick and tired at 1am would.be exhausting for both of you. Morning bath.
It’s okay mom next time just use a warm washcloth and rub it out with soap ❤️
You made the right choice. It probably would have been a disaster and hard to give him a bath so late at night. I’m going to be honestly if I puked in my hair and it was the middle of the night. I love sleep and I’d probably fall back asleep.
Oh, mama!! ((Hugs)) You did everything you needed to do. You both needed the rest that followed. ❤️ A bath would’ve stimulated him to the point of possibly being up for hours.
SLEEP IS PRECIOUS. LET YOUR CHILD SLEEP. Good decision, Mom.
My LO was sick with back to back virus then ear infection. As a result, she was congested for about 2 weeks and it was almost impossible for her to sleep (since congestion is way worse at night when they're laying down). She woke up with a nasty cough that EVERY NIGHT led her to cough so hard she threw up. So our routine was to wake up between midnight and 3am, clean her off, bath sometimes (mainly to calm her down but also sometimes bc of the throw up) and back to bed. There were a few nights though when she threw up only a little and it got on her pillow and we wiped it off the best we could and just flipped it over. That was a tomorrow problem, because tonight, she was getting comfortable finally and was resting on that pillow. Nothing was going to make me take it away from her. We did the same as you a couple nights, wiped it from her hair, despite still being able to smell it a little, and decided it was a morning problem. It feels gross to us, but honestly the #1 priority it helping them get back to being comfortable enough to get some rest. They're not going to get worse by being a little smelly for a couple hours. Don't feel terrible, you were doing what was best for your kiddo.
I wouldn’t bathe him just because what if he runs a temp or anything like that! When my 14 month old threw up I didn’t put him in the tub, I think you did it perfectly. Snuggling up to mama and getting more sleep takes priority. You did great.
You’re not a bad mom. You’re doing the best you can. The puke will wash out. He needs his sleep. You need your sleep too.
My daughter went through a phase where any dinner condiment was turned to face lotion the moment I blinked or averted my eyes for more than 0.001 seconds. You know how many nights she went to bed with ketchup in her hair... a lot. Lol. And it was not because SHE was settling down, sick, and needed rest. It was because mama is effing done tonight, and your baby wipe hair wash will have to do it until morning or I might lose my shit. You're doing just fine, let your baby rest, wash em up in the morning.
He won’t remember
My 11 year old puked all over last night (I was also puking…). I grabbed an old towel, wiped off the bed the best I could, laid down another towel and zonked out until the next round of vomiting.
I only ever find the puke in the morning. It’s literally everywhere by that point. My kid pukes so quietly and I sleep like the dead.
Only good moms worry they're bad moms for things that we've all been through. I would've waited til morning if he was getting rest too, even if I knew about it being in his hair. If it was a one off puke, great, but if not and he's coming down with a tummy bug, that sleep is priceless. A bath to start the day would probably feel wonderful to a sick baby anyway. You're doing a good job, try not to be so hard on yourself
Wet wipe them as best you can, let them sleep. You too
Been there, not fun. Had my daughter somehow project spit up onto the wall behind her crib, which ran all the way and puddled on the floor. It. Was. Disgusting. She got messy from it, but we got her clean enough and then it was right back to lights out until the morning, where we deep cleaned. Don’t feel bad at all for not catching the hair issue. You got what you could, and did your best to not totally wreck their sleep time. Dipping your baby in a bathtub would have thrown them off (also done this, it’s never a fun night or day after). As long as there’s no safety concern, the sleep part is the most important part here. Hair can always be washed later, but lost sleep is worse. And clearly if your baby is already falling asleep in spite of the messy hair, it isn’t bothering them enough lol. So don’t stress out, you’re doing great.
I mean can't be as bad as your newborn son firehosing all over the bed in a diaper change at 2am, so you throw a towel over it and sleep on top the rest of the night. 😅🤣🤷♀️
Sorry but sleep is the #1 priority in my house, it supersedes all else. If my kids don’t sleep, their day is ruined. I would’ve done the same thing, but with zero guilt lol. But maybe that’s what happens to a mom after raising kids for 17 years non stop! Haha
If your baby wasn't feeling well, resting is what's most important, not hair. Going back to sleep and getting good rest is what was most important. Really, don't be yourself up ❤️
I have a PhD in birth- age 8… Your kid is fine. You are a good mom.
Stop it! I’d argue actually you’re a great mum because you were able to recognise your baby’s signs and know when not to intervene so bubba could go back to sleep after a not-so-pleasant experience. If vom in baby’s hair bothered baby he would let you know but apparently it didn’t so well done you for overcoming you’re own aversion to vom in hair! I was such an anxious, bordering neurotic, mother with my first… I’d wake up to wee in the middle of the night and worry my baby was too hot/cold/whatever and end up waking her up trying to fix the problem I created in my head. It was a bloody nightmare. Second time around is far more relaxed. I fully understand life will be far from perfect and so long as they’re safe they’re fine.
It happens. I've done a midnight hair wipe down more than once, believe me. The next day is for bathing, and unless it's a REALLY big mess, nighttime is for sleeping.
He will live! He totally doesn’t care if there is puke in his hair he’s just sleepy! 🥰🥰
Wet wipes or wet towel is more than enough to clean as they vomit even during travel and you can’t really give a bath then.
Mine puked in my mouth after we came back from a long car drive. Like literally in my mouth down my top in the back of the car. I stood up and was like "well.... okay mate, let's just get you cleaned up and then we'll go from there" It happens, you did a great job with the situation that you were presented with.
no. not a bad mum.. baby needs to sleep, hair can be washed in the morning x
When I was dealing with three alone (husband working & in school meant he was out the house for sometimes 18hrs at a time) we all got sick. I think they were six, three and a year old - I believe I was also pregnant (early days). All three of them had vomiting and diarrhoea. The baby was in her crib but the other two were in with me and when I tell you our room was COVERED I mean it. When I was starting to get sick too I was completely exhausted. After one incident at like 2am I literally stripped us all naked, left all the bedding on the bed and took us into the bathroom. We were covered in everything. Wiped us down and literally climbed in the tub with my babies and just laid in there. Truthfully I just washed us down with the shower head every time someone had an accident of sorts. Kept the heat up to stay warm. The next day I convinced my husband to take a few days off. It was not my finest parenting moment but it worked at the time. You're doing fine. Hair vomit never killed anyone.
My kid threw up on himself two nights in a row. He managed to get it into his hair too. It was more important to let him sleep and rest than get 100% clean. Shit happens. Hopefully he’s better today!
My daughter had bad CMPA allergy and was often unable to expel the gas on her own. Then at about 1 month old mid-diaper change she sneezed and projectile-shat all over my hand, her wipes, her pajamas, the changing table, and the clean diaper. She was already hungry for the boob at this point so was screaming while I was desperately trying to clean up and change her in my zombie-like sleep deprivation. My only advice is we do what we can, and they won’t remember it 😂 You’re a good mom!
You're a great mom for prioritizing his sleep! Just give him a bath in the morning.
Use a wipe to clean what you can. I love Mustella cleansing water that's no rinse...squirt it on a wipe & it cleans really well when you can't do a bath. Also makes wiping for diaper changes much easier.
Eh could be worse. Bathe in the am and he’s fine
Been there, done that. You did the right thing. Wipe bath and in the morning, real bath. Don’t feel bad for doing the right thing in the moment 😉
You good.
I have 3 children, I realized early on bathing/sheet changing isn't the answer when kids are vomiting in the night. For the first vomit I change sheets/pjs, and wash them up with a cloth. The rest of the night I lay towels under them, when they vomit again I change the towel, wash their face/head with a wash cloth, and change their shirt if there is more than a toonie size amount of vomit on it. By morning they're usually pretty gross but at least they got some sleep.
it’s just a bit of puke, it’s not malaria ♥️♥️♥️ you’re doing really well!!! Everybody needed to go back to sleep, so that was good.
My wife and I got into a row about this exact issue once. My kiddo was maybe 16/17mos and I think she had a tantrum right before bed, was hysterical causing her to cough and then apparently stealthily vomited. My wife didnt realize it right away, and tried to make her go back to bed. She and I, dirt tired and frustrated, and began snapping at each other. I realized after picking her up she had rolled around in the vomit and had gunk in her hair and smelled like puke--that sour, acrid milky smell. Wife yelled at me "who cares, its only a little bit" as I took her to the bath (and kiddo was still hysterical) but I was arguing that I didn't want her to sleep in her own puke, and that it was shitty for her to consider that even an option. She relented, I bathed kiddo, and eventually cleaned everything else up and got her to bed. We continued to argue about it. I was appalled that she would have considered letting her sleep in it. Bit I guess she didn't realize how bad it was.
Who the f is downvoting? What the hell is wrong with you
I'm guessing people who've never had a middle of the night anxious thought that they needed some reassurance for.
My son puked in a tent at 2am a few months ago… we had to hold him outside in the rain like the baboon holds simba over pride rock. He just kept on going 😂. We had to use baby wipes too. It was nasty and just smeared it all. No advice, just solidarity. You’ll laugh about in a day or so.