Why is it that kids always seem to get sick in the middle of the night???!!!!?

Question

My 3 kids always seem to vomit at night when asleep. Why is this???!!! Leaves me washing sheets, doonas, pillows and pj's at 3am in the morning. Is it just a cruel irony??!!

Does any other mum's find this happens? Why can't they be hit with these virus's at a decent hour of the day?

Answer 1

Oh, but what fun would there be cleaning up vomit when you're awake? Then you would be awake enough to realize you want to vomit yourself.

Crystal J - am I weird? My body temp drops A LOT when I'm sleeping.

Answer 2

I find when im sick im up sick all night but then sleep all day. Its like our bodies take on a whole new time, awake sick all night sleep all day.

Answer 3

Its because your temp. rises when you are asleep and bateria and virus' grow in a hotter enviroment.

Answer 4

Hi Charilee

Somone above me said that  its because they are lying down.

I agree with this.

I find that when a child ( or adult for that matter) is lying down the "stomach contents" has more chance to "rise"

Works the same with regular indigestion too.

The idea is to elevate the head of the bed.  Can do this by placing a few extra blankets on the bed, or by propping one end with a few bricks.

Or like my uncle in Holland who has polio, you can saw the legs of the foot of the bed!!

This trick (allmost) gaurentees no more 3am wake up calls

But nothing is 100% childproof, hey

Answer 5

im not going to lie i was one of those kid who only got sick in the night i cant remember ever getting sick during the day unless i was sick the night before which i guess is better then getting to school and then getting sick but who knows im sure my mom loved getting woken up in the middle of the night and having to change sheets and clean up vomit.. i have one on the way so i dont know how it feels yet

Answer 6

nightmare.

Answer 7

Murphy's law. and...if you are really lucky your dog will get sick in the middle of the night too. No Doc/No vet. It's a rule :)

Answer 8

Charliee - Same problem here.

I was hit with a bug last night, and it was so horrible. However, I am the mum, I do the washing, so I get my backside to the bathroom. I feel fine at the moment. I think it's the whole chicken pox thing. Ironically at 1am, I was a very sick puppy. I bounced back quick though

3am Wednesday morning I found myself 1 1/2 away from home in the ER after my Tobias had taken his heel off with a broken piece of glass, sleep walking.

Consider yourself very lucky you weren't that sobbing Mum watching her baby have 3 stitches and his heel glued back into place.

But I totally feel your pain. I am so used to being up at that time, it's like breakfast time for me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 9

ALL THE FUNS AT YOUR HOUSE THIS WEEK!!!!

i hate that too,, mine sometimes start up saying theyr not feeling well at 8pm,,, so i cant sleep worrying,, then at 3am i hear the SPEW,, so i pretty much get no sleep

and all my kids have vomit phobias so if 1 vomits they all cry and carry on,,, NOT FAIR

hope yours are well soon,, gastro is the worst virus,, followed by tonsilitis at a close second xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 10

It's because they are lying down. You can reduce this by elevating the mattress. Stick a blanket under one side of the mattress and lay the baby there.

Answer 11

Most likely viruses begin to develope or occur during late night hours....It is when the body of the child or person settles down from the day and is at full rest when it all begins to take it's toll...I am not a mom myself,yet,but always see this happen....Hope your sweet little ones feel better soon...: )

Answer 12

Lol this question made me laugh I'm 18 but I don't think I've ever puked during the day... only at night. Like I had the stomach flu last year and threw up from midnight to six am... and I've always thrown up between midnight and six or seven... I have no idea why though. =/ I hope my kids don't do that... I would not want to clean up vomit in the middle of the night.

Answer 13

because during the day that would just be to easy for you

Answer 14

haha, i do feel sorry for you. it seems they LOVE holding it until 3 in the morning. i would guess its because the digestion has settled and everything is JUST being sorted out when the bad stuff has to come out. a veritable plague for parents everywhere.

Answer 15

I was the same way..... although there were some times i would do it in the evening. dont remember if i did during the day "/

Answer 16

Probably the same reason most babies seem to want to be born in the wee hours, guess its just karma lol! :)

Answer 17

Well, in my experience, when they get sick during the day it has always been in the car!!  Then you have to practically detail the car, and if youre on the highway, you really dont want to pull over, so you hope they stop puking...... kids, gotta love em!!!!   :)

Answer 18

Hi Claire how right you are , my kids are a little older than yours and its really hard when their small , now if one child had a sickness bug ,( yes in the middle of the night every time ) i give all my kids sick bowls so if one gets ill they hopefully be sick in the bowl it doesnt always happen cause they for get they have a bowl in their bed and 3 of them are boys and you know what men are like when there ill , lol.xx

Answer 19

Yes I have had many a dash to emergency at night time (2am, lol) and had to sit there with a child with a temperature and visibly ill for 4 hours. I went in when it was dark and came out in daylight.

Answer 20

I think no matter what time of the day, it would be awful to deal with. Haven't you ever woke up in the middle of the night running for the bathroom? Maybe the body is just digesting all of the food from the day, and it upsets the stomach. Who knows. I do know that I know exactly how you feel.

Answer 21

from what i understand, most common "bugs", such as rotovirus which is a common cause of vomiting and diarrhea in children have an incubation period of roughly 12 hours.  this means that the body does not react to it or show symptoms until about 12 hours after it enters the body.  so if your child goes to school, chances are they caught the virus between 10am and 3pm, hence the symptoms starting between 10pm and 3am.  if they are too young for school, they may have caught it off a shopping cart while they were in the supermarket with you, etc.