A phobia is distinguished from an ordinary fear by the irrational and excessive anxiety caused by the stimuli for the phobic individual. For example, many people would not want to explore caves because of a fear of snakes. But some people with a snake phobia, called ophidiophobia, are afraid to walk on the sidewalk in downtown Chicago because a snake might be there. So, hundreds of millions of people may fear vomiting, but they don't alter their daily lives because of it the way emetophobics do.

Here are some things that have been observed as characteristic of early emetophobia, in relative order of significance: obsession with stomach feelings - By the time a child is old enough to be at risk for emetophobia (age 6 to 10), the parent should have an idea how often the child complains of stomach upsets. If there is a sudden marked increase, try to remember if the child vomited recently. This is apt to be the most critical sign in a child. Avoid offering antacids to the child.