the 4 hour rule. it's worth repeating.

The Four Hour Rule is simply this: When you (or someone you love) throws up, you must wait four hours to eat or drink again.  Simple.  But genius.  The lining of the stomach takes four hours to heal.  When someone throws up, check the clock and write down the time exactly.  Tell the victim they can have a little drink in exactly four hours - not a minute sooner.  (I have tried cheating at 3 hours and 45 minutes with disastrous results.)

This is tricky because after one throws up, they are very thirsty and crave a drink of something.  DO NOT GIVE IN.  Unless you like doing laundry and cleaning up partially digested food.

When I hear someone say "My daughter threw up all night and I cleaned the sheets five times" I want to say it was your own fault for not following the 4 Hour Rule.  As a rule, people do not keep throwing up after their stomach has emptied.  They throw up again after you put something else in it.

Sharing the 4 Hour Rule might be the nicest thing you could do for your friends in this season of sickness.