My kid is a puker so I can totally relate. On transatlantic flights, I’ve found that it pays to open the plastic bag containing your blanket carefully to leave as much of it intact. The plastic, though thin, often does a better job of holding the spew than the airline-provided airsick bags.

Oooh, I can so totally relate to this story. I live in Seattle, but all of our extended family (on both sides) lives in Europe. My children have taken at least one transatlantic flight a year since they were born. I’ve walked off that flight looking like a walking human refuse zone more times than I can care to count. My favorite experience: we used airmiles to fly business class to London – the one and only time we’ve done so. As I swung my then 12-month-old in his Kelty kid-carrier onto my back to get onto the plane, he barfed all over himself and all over me. Particularly my hair. I’ll never, ever forget it. 10 hours smelling of vomit, with vomit causing my hair to stick together. Even a $6,000 seat with acres of room doesn’t help you feel any better.

Awwww, if I was on that flight I would have totally helped you and when I was a flight attendant I would have helped you then, too. Yeah, forget the sick sacks. Ask the attendants for the bags they use to pick up trash. Much better (I know, I flew preggo with 24 hr sickness – bad, bad, bad).

Actually, two flights ago this poor young guy sitting behind me started getting sick, REALLY sick. And you’re right, no one helped, well at first. I quickly took my sandwich box out of the plastic bag and handed the bag to him. And the f/a did help him when she realized what was going on.

I think my hubby can totally relate to you. The only difference is he had to take care not only our kids but ME. Yup.. I have the thing about flying and eating. So now I know better to eat light and not stuff my face with food. Not that it will be a problem anytime soone with all the cut back on food from the airline. ;)

Totally agree about the t-shirt. I always pack extra t-shirt for us as well. Most of the time when we fly we will fly to Asia which can last as long as 24 hours in total. So I always want to change my stinky shirt before we land. :)

Thanks for stopping by The Q Family. You are on my reader now. :)

I think you can add that in my case, my spouse will not help me either. I’ll never forget the look he gave me when I was kneeled down in front of my son, rubbing his back with one hand and cupping a little pool of vomit in the other hand!

I just flew back from the UK to San Francisco and some poor kid (around 10 years) behind me started throwing up about 1 hour before landing. I swear the flight attendants, having handed over a few paper napkins, stood next to this boy and his mother for 30 minutes talking about whether they were going to Monterey or the wine country! Don’t these people get sensitivity training? Meanwhile the rest of us were passing back the air sickness bags and wipes, like a UN humanitarian mission.

Thanks for the comments. It’s better than therapy!

Wow, and you are still here to tell the story with your great wit! I can not even imagine such a trip.

Luckily my kidlet very rarely vomits and was 6 years old before her first time.I think she has done it twice in her life…although one of those was a fun night in Istanbul & most it went into my hair. Fun! The gulet cruise got her once too, but not like a woman from Oz who had her head in a bag the whole 4 days. Jeesh, poor thing.

Our worse traveling was when she was a baby because she truly hated the car seat and took about 2 years to adjust to that. We lived in the boonies so had to drive everywhere with a screaming kid.

My worse time was dealing with bathroom issues on the Sahara overnight. That sand is just not made for an overweight gimp like me! ;)

First, my sympathies to all of the moms who have had to deal with air sickness. I have an EXTREME fear of vomit. So when my then-12-year-old daughter vomited on a recent plane trip, I was very thankful that I wasn’t with her.

One weekend, she took a solo trip to visit out-of-town relatives (a trip she takes almost monthly) and missed her flight home (thanks to her uncle). To kill time, they went to eat, and apparently, it didn’t sit so well. Right as the plane was taking off, she reached for the air-sick bag (thank goodness there was one) and threw up. She vomited a couple of other times, and after filling her air-sick bag, had to improvise with a bag she had in her purse (some of it did get onto her clothes, unfortunately).

When I picked her up at the gate, I asked her if the flight attendant helped her at all. As she tells the story, the flight attendant was more concerned with the guy sitting in her row who was having a panic attack. Luckily, my daughter is so laid back that she laughed about it.

I would have helped you! Really!

The closest I can come to this story is a blowout poop of epic proportions that required changing in the trunk of a car parked next to Independence Hall (the car was mine – there was just nowhere else to do it). But on reflection, that’s really for wimps. Your story is much much much worse.

These stories and the comments are hilarious! (Glad I wasn’t there or you would have had two people throwing up on you). The poop one comes in as a very close second.

OMG I can relate to this! I would have so helped you. I had such a bad experience once in a department store in the summer with my 1.5 year old. He was in shorts, wearing a diaper that I now know was loose. I was holding him on my hip and standing at the checkout counter about to pay for my purchace when there was a terrible roar and an explosion of poop shot out of his nappy, dripped down my arm and smeared my shirt! I was at a smelly loss, not to mention the horrified look on the checkout lady’s face. All I could do was rush him to the store bathroom an grab a change of clothes for both of us along the way. Thank goodness I was in a department store. My bill was much higher since I had to add the unexpected purchace. Now I laugh, but I learned the hard way and now keep whips and a change of clothing for both of us in the car.

Janette
Sounds smelly. Thanks for commenting and visiting TravelSavvyMom.com
Jane

The exact same thing happened to me with my 15 month old daughter on a flight back from Buenos Aires to the States. She threw up on me as we boarded the plane, as soon as we got to our seats, and continued to do so the entire flight home. Thankfully I did have a change of clothes for both me and her, which helped until she threw up again…and again…and again. My husband is a physician though and he had a good idea that helped: Children’s Benadryl, which we happened to have along. Benadryl is an anti-emedic (anti-nausea), besides its usual use as an allergy med. It helped our daughter stop throwing up plus made her sleepy and gave us all some much needed rest.

When I was 11 years old my siblings and I went on our first sans-parent flight to Zacatecas, Mexico, from Chicago. We made a mistake in the date/time of the flight and had to stay in Chicago overnight. My parents had prepared a special package for us with candy and games for the flight and they gave it to us that night at the hotel. My 5-year-old sister ate THE ENTIRE BAG OF CANDY the night before. As soon as the plane started going down the runway, she turned yellow and said, “Chivet, I’m going to throw up.” Lucky for me, there was a barf bag, and I had to hold it for her while she puked up about 15 sour balls and an family size package of Skittles, among other things. When she was done, she closed the bag, handed it to me and said, “Here you go.” Then she fell asleep for the entire flight, leaving me with her bag of vomit. I didn’t smell, but at age 11, that kind of traumatized me and I always, always, look for the vomit bag in airplanes, especially when traveling with my two kids.

@Elizabeth: That is an amazing and terrifying story! I hardly let my kids cross the street by themselves, let alone international borders. Wow.

@Beth: I have never heard that about Benadryl. Of course, it takes a brave parent to give medicine to a puking child. Sounds like the payoff is worth it though.

I have a 3 year old who always pukes on the way home from Mexico. Before we board we buy a cheap but thick towel. He can use it as a blanket and it’s right there once he gets going. Also, my husband and I have a game plan in place. Whoever is by the window, is the catcher and comforter. The parent by the isle is in charge of disposing, extra napkins and water. It works out well, almost to the point where were aren’t even phased by it.