Motion Sickness in Young Children on Rides

[pollyanna30]

We are taking my 5-year-old nephew to Disney World the end of April. He gets motion sick in the car and has to have Dramamine to go on any long trips. He does do better when he is watching a DVD straight ahead of him and not looking down at anything. My question is what rides should we restrict him from? We don't want to give him Dramamine because it makes him sleepy and would cause him not to enjoy the parks as much. He really wants to ride Dumbo,Toy Story Mania, and the Carousel but we are just not sure. We know not to put him on the Teacups and Dinosaur (which we're pretty sure he would love!). He isn't really a risk-taker so we don't have to worry about roller coasters. What has been posters' previous experiences with small children and motion sickness at WDW? Also, do you think the buses will be a problem? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Moneypenny]

DD (4.5) also gets motion sick in the car and on the plane. We also wanted to avoid dramamine because of the drowsiness. She rode Dumbo, the carousel, Peter Pan, Pooh, and Small World in MK without trouble. In AK she rode Triceratops Spin and in Epcot she did Nemo and Spaceship Earth. She was fine on all of them.

ETA: The buses were not a problem except for the Magical Express back to the airport because the A/C wasn't working and they had a promotional movie going. I had to keep reminding DD to look at me or out the window and not at the screen.

 

[Rora]

I get motion sick in the car and on rides all the time.. the only thing that helps is Bonine. It's the same as Dramamine but it doesn't make you drowsy at all.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...isions_inline&resnum=0&ct=broad-revision&cd=3

Good luck!!

 

[tzolkin]

My two younger children vomit every single time we get into a car. They have been like this since they were 8mos old. For obvious reasons we were extremely worried about the rides and using the busses to get to the parks.

We had our own vehicle, but tried the busses (barf bag in hand). We never used our car the whole trip because they were better off on the busses. We also anticipated possibly not being able to do any rides with them, but were pleasantly surprised. They did not get sick once while at Disney. Honestly, that was the best Disney magic for us... not dealing with vomit for almost 9 whole days (they did both get sick before we made it out of Orlando on our way home)!


Good idea to avoid the teacups. The only other one I would suggest to avoid is Star Tours. When I was a kid, I once had the man sitting next to me get sick and I had to hold my feet up the whole ride.

 

[lorilori]

I'll second what Rora said, Bonine for Kids is the ONLY thing that works for motion sickness without causing ds to fall asleep. He's 11 now and has taken it for years. One tablet on the ride down (8 hours) and usually for MK I'll just give him 1/2 a tablet because we'll do Dumbo, the carousel, rides that would make him sick first thing in the morning. The only place I've found to buy it is online though, Drugstore.com usually has it on sale.

 

[pollyanna30]

Thanks for responses so far! I am feeling better about the situation already. I will have to check on the Bonine. For some reason, I was thinking that he was too young to take it. Any specific feedback on Toy Story Mania? I know it has a motion sickness warning on it.

 

[g-dad66]

Thanks for responses so far! I am feeling better about the situation already. I will have to check on the Bonine. For some reason, I was thinking that he was too young to take it. Any specific feedback on Toy Story Mania? I know it has a motion sickness warning on it.

The car whirls around rapidly and abruptly when it moves from one scene to the next, then it is calm for 15 seconds or so before whirling again. I've not heard of anyone getting sick on it, but I suppose it could induce some queasiness in someone with a really, really sensitive stomach.

 

[daileyad]

Has anyone tried the sea bands for their kids? Their doctor recommended to try them first before medication. My husband, who gets quite motion sick, says they don't work at all. I don't want to spend $20 ($10 x 2) for something useless but I thought I would try them if they work for kids.

 

[tzolkin]

Thanks for responses so far! I am feeling better about the situation already. I will have to check on the Bonine. For some reason, I was thinking that he was too young to take it.

He is technically too young to take it. All of the non-drowsy ones are not to be used by children under 12 (it's a different drug than dramamine). The Bonnie for Kids is suggested to be used by children 6 and over, but a 5 year old would probably be fine. (I would ask the doctor and try it out before your trip.) My problem is that there's nothing, even prescription, for kids 5 and under.

Has anyone tried the sea bands for their kids? Their doctor recommended to try them first before medication. My husband, who gets quite motion sick, says they don't work at all. I don't want to spend $20 ($10 x 2) for something useless but I thought I would try them if they work for kids.

We tried them (both kids and I) and I thought they worked slightly. If you just get a little queasy feeling they might help to alleviate that. My two kids are usually vomiting within 5 minutes of driving, so I think that's a little too extreme for the bands to help. The few times they wore them we did make it almost to our destination (about 40 mins) before they got sick. They were much too little (15mos & 3yrs) for it to be a placebo effect, so I think they do help, just not enough. I actually just found them two days ago, so we're going to try them again.

I found them for $7 at our local drug store. If they don't work, you still have some "totally awesome" bracelets. (For some reason, the only kids ones I've seen are flourescent zigzag colors. I guess they haven't changed the design since 1991.)

 

[jb01]

Our friend has 2 kids who took Bonine and were fine. Also remember cars have different vibrations then rides and your nephew might be fine on them.

 

[pickles]

Have you tried Ginger..I just got myself some..I think that is what was suggested on these forums. Now, if folks have used ginger with luck for motion sickness could tell me how to dose myself while at disney.
I love rides, but have gotten vertigo/motion sickness(not puking , just very uncomfortable feeling) as I have gotten older. It is getting to the point now I almost dont want to do many of the rides

I am hoping ginger will work, bonine and dramine have had little benefit for me

 

[tzolkin]

If you like the taste of ginger, you can buy candied ginger in the bulk bins at some grocery stores. You could just keep a bit in a ziplock baggie and chew on a piece before certain rides or after to settle your stomach.

The taste is a bit too strong for my preschoolers so I don't know firsthand how well it works, but I know many adults who always keep some in their car or purse.

 

[KRCMOM]

I went on a cruise while suffering nausea in my third month of pregnancy...OUCH. (Hey, it was free, we couldn't say no!) Sea bands did zippy, zilch, nada. My husband burst out laughing when I put them on and I told him what they were - clearly he did not understand my desperation - but he was right in the end! I spent most of the cruise in our stateroom in bed, sea bands and all, praying for the sea to STOP moving...

 

[indimom]

Our kids were 5 & 7 on our first trip. They took non-drowsy Dramamine or Bonine every day of the trip. We did talk to our pediatrician first and they suggested a half-tablet each. We had a great trip and no motion sickness.