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I would bring her.

How long is the flight and how long of a drive do you have to and from the airport? A 45 minute flight with 2 15 minute drives is totally different from a cross country flight with a couple hour drive.

How old is she? Old enough to communicate that she's going to get sick? Small enough to carry through the airport if she gets worse?

How are your parents with sick kids? Helpful or germaphobic?

ETA: I see she's 5 and your youngest is 2. My only worry would be getting both kids through the airport is she gets worse. But if you have an umbrella stroller for her and a carrier for the toddler you should be fine

@Ajsmommy: I'd bring her. She probably won't throw up all day, right? Maybe not ethically the best thing to do but air travel certainly isn't an exemplar of morality.

So sorry, this is such a difficult decision... stomach bug usually takes a day to go through, but DS also had an episode where he threw up 2 times in the morning, was very ill for an hour or two, then popped back up as if nothing happened . So I hope that's it for you...

I agree I *probably* wouldn't cancel if it were just a short flight and she is truly acting alright. Just beware that even if she's acting fine now, a lot of car rides, traveling and commotion and getting through security...etc. will make her sick. So maybe give it a lot of time so you don't need to rush through the airport. And yes, bring a lot of plastic bags and ideally have it mount over a medium plastic cup so it is easier for her to hold onto it to throw up if she needed it.... and bring a lot of hand sanitizer and paper towels! Paper towels, and change of clothes. And don't let your guard down, only bananas and crackers and water (no milk or juice) ONLY if she's hungry. DS was sick in another occasion where he was at home for a day but seemingly was all fine the other day. We went to a zoo trip with a friend as planned, but the brunch and car ride made him sick, and he threw up at the library when we just stopped there on our way home to return books. Yikes

ETA: Not sure how old your DD is but make sure you bring extra underwear / diapers / pants. These things sometimes come with diarrhea Better be safe than sorry

@Ajsmommy: I am a former regular user of the site who no longer has an account. However, I was here when you absolutely took the moral high ground on shaming parents for sending kids to school with coughs/colds. You made a lot of people feel bad about not having the flexibility you seem to have for staying home with a sick kid. And now you want to bring a vomiting child on vacation? Either your stance on sickness has changed, or you think your trip is more important than others’ health in this particular instance.

Post is here for reference. https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/oh-its-just-allergies?fbclid=IwAR3Tnco6CXF7FitH9pDG_lnXOvn176Rr0oW169FTp0T-1xevg16qRQukjAc#post-2821396

I agree that it absolutely sucks, but please don’t bring a child with a stomach bug on a plane. That’s not fair to anyone.

I don't have any opinion on what you should do about this because it is a tough situation, and I"m sorry you're in it! That being said, I will tell you the worst family vacation I've ever had in my life was bringing my stomach bug sickened kid on a family vacation...he ended up puking in the bed at 3 AM in a king-sized rental so we had to wake everyone up banging around changing sheets and doing laundry. Then everyone woke up sick, including my SIL's fiance, who ended up pooping himself on the shared rental couch, and spent the rest of the trip puking into a mixing bowl while my SIL and MIL tended to him. Everyone in the house got sick including my FIL and MIL, but it hit my SIL's fiance the worst! We were playing a game of Ticket to Ride when it hit him like a Mack truck. I had asked my husband before we left if we shouldn't delay our arrival by a few days but he said everyone would be so "disappointed" and that "sick kids is just part of life." He ended up not being about to play golf with his dad, go on the fishing trip, etc., because we spent the whole time dealing with sick people and recovering from the exhaustion of it all. That being said, we didn't lose any money from it, because we drove down. That sort of changes the scenario.

This situation is super disappointing but I’m in the cancel/stay home/try to save the family vacation camp, I don’t think it’s fair to others or your kid to get on a plane like that, not to mention the risk of contagion to you and your other family members discussed by pp’s that could easily ruin the trip anyway.

Also, I really like you and have gotten good advice from you that I appreciate for a long time on these boards now, but gotta say I read the clickbait-y link from the mystery lurker (reveal yourself?!) and tend to agree with her, it’s pretty crucifying how adamant you are on that thread

@Ajsmommy: it really really sucks, but I would not bring a puking kid on a plain. One, if she already feels sick, and is prone to motion sickness, she will be miserable. Two, think of all those people going on vacation who are likely to get sick too then. It sucks, but it’s so not fair.

That said- my kids aren’t pukers unless they have a bad stomach bug. My younger one gags and throws up with a bad cold occasionally but each of them has gotten motion sick once ever. So I get why you would reasonably feel less alarmed by the throwing up. If she stops now and is fine for a few hours, I might risk it (and feel really really guilty and worried about it, but I get it). But if she is still throwing up then rallying an hour before you need to leave, I just don’t think you can. Plus when they get a stomach bug the diarrhea usually comes after.

Is there another flight in a day or two when you could rebook, still see your mom for a day or two, then go on your next flights as planned?

I would absolutely not bring a vomiting or recently vomiting child on a plane, not just for her own sake, but for the sake of the rest of the passengers. If DD had to throw up in her seat into a bag, the particles would circulate that whole plane and everyone else who might be going on vacation...or elderly...or immune-compromised...would be exposed. I get that there are situations where your kid has been fine all day and doesn't get sick until they're on the plane, and there's nothing you can do about it. But this is not one of those situations. It sucks to cancel or reschedule but please respect everyone else who would be traveling on that plane.

How is she doing? I know some airlines let you delay to a later flight at no extra cost. It's worth a call.

I'd be worried about getting everyone sick once I got to my destination. We hosted Christmas when my DD was 8 weeks old and some family members were coming to stay with us (driving rather than flying, though). Their kid puked the morning they were leaving but they changed his clothes, piled in the car, and proceeded to come. Long story short, 8 of the 11 people staying in our house got the norovirus, including my 8 week old daughter. It ended up being a miserable 5 days and almost resulted in an ER trip for my baby. I wouldn't want to get your mom and anyone else you might see sick as well so I would probably take the financial hit and schedule for another time when everyone is well.

Oh my gosh, please don't bring that kid on the plane. It's totally unfair to the other travelers. Even if they don't get sick (which they could and it would ruin everyone's trips!), there might be people who have really sensitive reactions to vomit. It could start a chain reaction on the plane which sounds...not great.

I took a sick baby on a plane when a family member died and I wouldn’t do it again. It was not fun and I had all kinds of guilt about exposing all those people though the airport/on the plane. If it wouldn’t have been because of a death in the family I wouldn’t have done it.

I took my kid on a plance once and THEN she started showing symptoms. Ugh, it sucked. I would not do this intentionally.

@babypugs: I've been on a ferry boat with people vomiting all around and it was terrible. Vomit and flying are high on my list of fears/aversions, that would be so miserable, lol.

@2littlepumpkins: Oh my gosh that is horrifying! I am not sure I could have handled that ferry boat ride. I also have a massive vomit aversion and it makes flying super rough for me. Conversations like this--and the thought that people might knowingly bring a vomiting kid on a plane--are kind of giving me a panic attack!

Any update on how it went?

@bhbee: Ugh, similar experience... when LO got air sick, the flight attendant gave us some serious side eye and was really rude about bringing a trash bag and some napkins. I was completely covered in puke and had already gone through my spare clothes because LO peed all over me while I was changing his diaper before the flight. (Had to put the pee clothes back on, lol)... We're traveling to a family wedding end of May and I'm already dreading it - flight is six hours so it's not like I can cut down on his eating/drinking the whole flight...

@periwinklebee: ugh why are they not helpful? Maybe they think you are a jerk if your kid gets sick but at that point can’t they have some compassion ... I’m so sorry you have to deal with motion sickness. I’ve always had it myself and when I was 8-9 I puked alllll over my dad at the end of an international flight (thankfully not earlier I guess!). Needless to say they did not hold us up at customs