my 5 year old came down with what we think might be food poisoning, but could have been a quick flu too. She started throwing up at midnight and it finally subsided with an complete blow out from all orifices at about noon. She's fine now and in great spirits. Eating, playing and for all intent purpose, fine.
My question is, since I was awake the entire night with her, I asked her dad to watch her in the morning so I could get some sleep. During which he decided it was best to move her from her bedroom to the tv room so he could watch political news. Well that lovely move caused her to start to vomit again. SO he grabs the closest container, which happen to be my novelty, plastic, big popcorn bowl that I like to put chopped veggies in, and soak legumes in.
She used it for about 3 hours of vomiting when I awoke to see this. I know its a plastic bowl, and easy to replace, however I have some attachment to it. I have had it a long time. Can I clean it sufficiently that all the germs are gone? Would it just be better to toss it?
If you clean it, the germs will die. The only threat to you is the psychological damage of eating out of a bowl that once held barf. The bowl will be germ free and clean after you wash it.
Yes, you can use it. If you wash by hand, add a little bit of bleach to the water and rinse well. If you put it in the dishwasher, the water wil be hot enough to get rid of the germs.
of course you can clean it and use it again - i'd use vinegar just for peace of mind, but honestly you only need to put it in the dishwasher.
Yes, you can use it again!
Just wash it and use it.
Sheesh, my cat uses our bowls all the time, I soak my feet in one of my dutch ovens.
Wash and reuse.
Oh the germaphobes are so paranoid!!! Of course you can use it again!!! Just wash it out like you would any other dishes. I'm pretty sure you've washed dishes with for more dangerous germs in them that what came out of your daughter.
If you're nervous, I would soak it in bleach water, but yes, you can use the bowl for food again.
Yes. You can use it again. You can use bleach to sanitize it.
Sorry your daughter was sick!! Glad to hear she's better now!
My question is:
Do you think your dirty dishes get clean when you wash them? Seriously! Do they still have germs and debris on them when you take them to put them up?
Imagine that her fork was in her mouth. Then she puked, should you throw away her dishes? Do they get clean in when they're washed????
If they are clean then why wouldn't this bowl get clean too? Soap works. If you don't trust soap to wash your dishes then add a tiny bit of bleach to the wash water or the rinse water and let the bowl sit a moment or two. Be sure to rinse the bleach water off before letting it dry so that it won't smell like bleach so much.
I think that anything that is not porous is safe to use after it's been properly washed in the manner that all your dishes get washed whether that's a dishwasher or by hand.
Our "barf bowl" when I was a kid was our popcorn bowl... lol. Never did us any harm. My husband looked at me like I was nuts when I handed my daughter one of our bowls when she was sick, though. :)
I am sooooo glad to read I'm not the only one who has used a kitchen pot or bowl for a puke pot! Use a little bit of bleach & scrub away. I'm sure the acid in her stomach made anything that landed in the bowl much safer than half the dishes served at our last family reunion picnic :)
Toss it or keep it for a future vomit bowl if your really attached to it.
It's OK to stay attached, but keep it under the sink for the "vomit bowl", or other clean up activities that don't envolve "eating".
Is the interior of the bowl scratched up? If it is - I'd do as another person suggested and retire it as a food container but keep it for clean-ups etc. If the surface is smooth, no scratches or pits or dings, I'd clean it first by wiping with antibacterial wipes, then rinsing with the hottest water it can take, then regular washing with plenty of soap. The thought here is that if it's scratched up inside, those scratches could hold onto germs (not forever, of course!). And I tend to get rid of scratched or badly dinged plastic ware just on principle that you can't really ever get it fully clean after it's scarred inside....
Just wash it with antibacterial dish soap. Our largest plastic mixing bowl doubles as popcorn bowl and barf bowl when the need arises.
Its fine.
When my kids were Toddlers, I taught them to RUSH over to a rubbish can, if they feel sick or have to barf. And this has saved... many a throw-up accidents... that otherwise would have ended up everywhere in the room.
And/or when sick, my kids learned to keep a rubbish can, RIGHT near them. Again, I taught them this, from when they were Toddlers. AND I keep a roll of paper towels, RIGHT near them too, whenever they are sick.
And ya know, it works.
They do it.
And I also keep a little rubbish can near them, whenever they are sick.
My son has been sick all this past week... and I kept a little lined rubbish can, RIGHT near him. And he'd go to it and lean over it, JUST in case when he was coughing up a storm.
The reason I use a plastic bag lined rubbish can for barfing in is... because then, it is easily tied up and thrown away, after.
Easy. No fuss. And it is already in a plastic rubbish bag.
I see no reason to use bowl.
Just a rubbish can.
Use it again. I am sure you will clean it out very throughly. Vomit is just food that came back up.
i wouldn't consider tossing it. run it through the dishwasher. it's fine.
khairete
S.
It sounds like a 24 hour stomach virus. The flu lasts two weeks, and food poisoning lasts 48-72 hours.
We have a mixing bowl we use that we call the Barf Bowl. I just sterilize it in the dishwasher before I use it for cooking again. If I didn't have the dishwasher, I would wash it in hot soapy water, rinse it, and then boil up a pot of water and pour that into it. I'm a freak about vomit germs, though. Any other germ and I can handle it, but vomit is something that sends me over the edge. I do whatever I can to prevent the other girls from getting it at the same time.
Ughh men. That sounds like something my husband would do.
Rinse it in super hot water, wash with anti bacterial soap and if in doubt, boil water and pour it into and on your bowl. Sounds like stomach flu. Food poisoning lasts longer.
Get a new one for your veggies and legumes, but since you have an attachment to this one, you can just keep it for future sick days. Kids can't always make to the bathroom in time, so we've often used a little bucket for this purpose. Also works well when they need a break from their beds and end up lying on the couch. Definitely pays to have that bucket nearby!
Glad she's feeling better!
J. F.
