Car Sickness-child

[kandb]

My son just turned 7. He has never gotten sick in the car but on occasion says "he feels sick, like he's going to throw up". Usually our rides are short and then he's fine when he gets out of the car. We are going on a 6 hour car trip to Williamsburg next week and a long road trip to WDW in August. I am wondering if I should give him a childrens bonine before the trip to Williamsburg, just in case he starts feeling sick? Today he was in the car for around 30 minutes and told me shortly before we were home, he felt like he was going to throw up. Just want to avoid him feeling sick. Any suggestions are appreciated. His stomach was not empty when he felt like this today, actually we had stopped for lunch beforehand.

 

[cnavarrete]

We always give our daughter Children's Dramamine before (and during if need be) a road trip. Rolling down the window helps when they are not feeling well. I try to plan for no more than 3 hours or driving between stops where we will have our feet on the ground for decent break. We also carry motion sickness bags in the car just in case.

 

[BigAlsGal]

It took us a few trips to realize our kids do get carsick. Its not just on regular drives but on long trips. We give all our kids Dramamine and enjoy a puke free trip. Plus it knocks them out so its peaceful too.

 

[Disney Khaleesi]

I sometimes get carsick and I can't read anything in a car otherwise I will for sure get carsick. It helps that I can sit in the front seat and keep my eyes straight ahead (which I understand young children cannot do). Otherwise a bottle of water and Dramamine works wonders.

 

[LISmama810]

My daughter is like this, too. On long trips (anything longer than an hour) we use those motion sickness bands (they're like wrist bands with a plastic dot that you put over a pressure point on the wrist). Anything longer than an hour or two, we also giver her Dramamine.

If she starts feeling sick, she stops reading or playing on her iPad or whatever. We also always have barf bags handy (thankfully we've only needed them once).

I've also heard it's important to get their hearing and vision tested, because both of those can contribute to motion sickness. My DD had her hearing tested recently, but it's been a while on vision so I'm making an appointment for her soon.

 

[holden]

Children's Bonine would help. Our DD13 gets car sick all the time. If she's in the car for more than 1/2, she's sick. We give her Bonine for long rides and cruises. Give the first dose a day before you leave. Also, I'm not sure if they still make the kids version, so check with your doc about how much adult Bonine to give him.

 

[Mouse3Dad]

Our DD9 started getting car sick after about 8+ hours in the car on our trip to WDW. A few things we have done.

• The 1/2 dosage of Dramamine.
• Moved her seat to the middle of the back seat so she can see out the Front window and she looks up.
• Some car games that will get her to look out the window instead of down or at a screen.
• Remind her every 30 minutes or so to look up. Look out the window, take a break from the DVD screen or tablet.

 

[kj2mom]

My niece uses Seaband wristbands. She always has them with her for every car ride and it is habit for her to put them on everytime she gets in the car.

 

[Dancemomof3]

Myself and all 3 of my kids get car sick. You can try Motion Eaze also. It's a little bottle of oil. You put a drop on your finger and put it in the little soft spot behind your ear lobe. It's best to do it about 1/2 an hour before you get in the car and reapply every couple of hours. It works great for my girls and I, not so much for my son. We do use children's dramamine for him. Just in case we have an ice cream bucket with a lid that we keep in our car. We double line it with shopping bags. IF someone gets ill we tie off the bags and put them in a gallon sized ziploc until we can reach a safe place to stop. We've only had to do this twice. Oh and we keep a package of clorox wipes to clean up any messes that may get in the car and baby wipes for the sicky to clean themselves up with

 

[Betty Rohrer]

the motion sickness pills did not help me at all. in fact if I am not driving to this day 15 minutes and I am sick, only thing that helped me was getting old enough to drive

 

[behappyJules]

DS7 gets car sick and nothing worked. Tried the wrist bands and Dramamine would put him to sleep, but on long trips he would wake up and the drowsiness would make him feel even worse. We drove 16 hours to Disney last August and were so worried about the long trip, but the flights were just too expensive. We borrowed a DVD player that attaches to the front seat head rests and he watched Disney movies the entire trip without feeling nauseous once! I think keeping his head up and facing forward did the trick. From now on, that's our go-to for long trips.

 

[kandb]

Thanks everyone. He has never vomited in the car but we have never gone on a long trip with him. Hoping the dramine will ward off any sick feeling.

 

[imthemamahere]

I was the kid who got sick in the back seat. As an adult, I typically drive long-distance trips, because I still feel rather unpleasant when I'm a passenger. And I've got a kid who inherited my stomach. Poor boy. Stop and go traffic often makes things worse for motion sickness sufferers, so I wish you a smooth ride, with no traffic to speak of!

I'd go for the motion-sickness meds. You can check with your pediatrician about the exact dose - I know our doc has occasionally given us different dosages than what's on the bottle...

Make sure his stomach is never too empty... or too full. So during your drive, aim for small, light meals, small snacks in between... In my experience, you're more likely to get motion sick on an empty stomach, and a very full one can make its own nausea when on the go. Ick. You should also keep your son hydrated. Don't let him guzzle, but have him take small sips of water at regular intervals. If you let him have soda, ginger ale and even Coke can help. Again, in small sips. Guzzling is NOT a good idea for a motion-sick stomach! I'd also bring a simple, salty snack - something like pretzels or maybe Saltines. This might sound really weird, but sucking the salt off the pretzel (or even eating a few) can help keep the queasiness down. Let the kid have some air while you're on the go - crank down a window on his side of the car. Fresh air on the face can help. I know that's more comfortable in April than in August - if you have a backseat a/c vent in the car, make sure it's pointing at him for your August trip, and open the window when you're going at a good clip - the heat won't feet quite as obnoxious when it's coming in at 65mph. And of course, make sure he gets out and walks around at any rest stops you make. That will both give him fresh air and a chance to move and NOT be stuck in place longer than necessary...

Keep several sealable bags in the car, just in case. And paper towels, perhaps a full towel he can drape over himself if he starts feeling ill, a full change of clothes readily accessible without unpacking the whole trunk, and some cleaner/Clorox wipes.

Good luck

 

[Pesky]

Yep, Dramamine. Took forever to convince DH that DS had motion sickness. Hurling on a boat did great. Now I just take precautions if it is a long trip. Like imthemamahere, I also make sure I have empty grocery bags and wipes in the car just in case.

 

[figment41]

I was the kid who got sick in the back seat. As an adult, I typically drive long-distance trips, because I still feel rather unpleasant when I'm a passenger. And I've got a kid who inherited my stomach. Poor boy. Stop and go traffic often makes things worse for motion sickness sufferers, so I wish you a smooth ride, with no traffic to speak of!

I'd go for the motion-sickness meds. You can check with your pediatrician about the exact dose - I know our doc has occasionally given us different dosages than what's on the bottle...

Make sure his stomach is never too empty... or too full. So during your drive, aim for small, light meals, small snacks in between... In my experience, you're more likely to get motion sick on an empty stomach, and a very full one can make its own nausea when on the go. Ick. You should also keep your son hydrated. Don't let him guzzle, but have him take small sips of water at regular intervals. If you let him have soda, ginger ale and even Coke can help. Again, in small sips. Guzzling is NOT a good idea for a motion-sick stomach! I'd also bring a simple, salty snack - something like pretzels or maybe Saltines. This might sound really weird, but sucking the salt off the pretzel (or even eating a few) can help keep the queasiness down. Let the kid have some air while you're on the go - crank down a window on his side of the car. Fresh air on the face can help. I know that's more comfortable in April than in August - if you have a backseat a/c vent in the car, make sure it's pointing at him for your August trip, and open the window when you're going at a good clip - the heat won't feet quite as obnoxious when it's coming in at 65mph. And of course, make sure he gets out and walks around at any rest stops you make. That will both give him fresh air and a chance to move and NOT be stuck in place longer than necessary...

Keep several sealable bags in the car, just in case. And paper towels, perhaps a full towel he can drape over himself if he starts feeling ill, a full change of clothes readily accessible without unpacking the whole trunk, and some cleaner/Clorox wipes.

Good luck

Agree with all of this
We have never used medications but pretzel sticks and dum dum lollipops are a must. The sucking helps the most. They must suck on the lollipops not just lick them or or bite them. When things calm down, eating a few pretzels in between sucks help with the dizziness. This is a pregnancy nausea trick also. Some baby stores do sell ginger lollipops buts we prefer the flavors of dumdums. They are small but do the trick.

Definitely get air blowing on them.

The points of the seabands is the pressure point. If you ever forget them you could make a fist but tuck your thumbs in and it helps just not as fast.

Our dr also said Benadryl could help but we never had to try it.

We also ban any looking out the side windows. We have to keep reminding this but it is amazing how fast things can go downhill on a sunny day looking out the side window.

Reading and playing games looking down never works for us either. Especially games on an iPad or iPad where the screen rolls like a racing game. These are bad news for us.

We do have a friend that uses the iPad screen as a movie and their son can not take his eyes off it. If he does it is game over for that car ride.

One crazy thing is talk radio. I don't know if it the monotone voices or what. But we need to have fun upbeat music on. Maybe it just keeps our minds off of it. But lately that has helped too.

If you do need to use a bucket have it pre lined with paper towels and a bag to prevent sloshing. Sounds gross but that noise and the smell could get to the whole car going if not properly taken care of quickly.

Good luck

 

[PlainJane]

I've had car sickness my whole life. I haven't really tried medications for it. I have learned the following things though.

1. Frequent turns and stops (think city or possibly neighborhood driving) quickly lead to nausea.

2. Straight roads, like highways, are much easier to tolerate.

3. Frequent breaking and acceleration, so traffic jam type driving, leads to nausea. If you've hit a traffic jam, I would consider taking the next exit and deciding it's time for a meal, snack, or a break.

4. Looking down is a horrible idea. Looking up at a video might be fine, I've never tried, but it's best to be looking straight ahead outside. So, books on tape that the kids would enjoy or fun music are both things to consider.

5. Keep the car at a comfortable temp. I personally do not like fans blowing in my face, which helps some people with nausea, but it is very helpful to just have the temp of the car comfortable. Being hot can definitely make nausea worse.

6. Once my nausea has hit the point of no return, I have to physically leave the car for my nausea to subside. The car being in park is not enough. I have to get out.

7. Being hungry makes me more succeptible to car sickness.

Knowing these things has helped me cope better with my motion sickness.

 

[behappyJules]

This made me remember that we also had DS ride with no shoes or socks. We just put flip flops on when we had to get out for a break. Keeping his feet cool definitely helped with his comfort.