Car sickness in small child

[kandb]

My son (7 yrs in 2 weeks) has starting to complain that his "stomach feels shaky" when we are in the car. Today we drive in NYC to see eye dr which is 45 min. He did not complain but on the way home he said he stomach was starting to feel shaky. He has said this on some other occasions as well. We were planning to drive to WDW this summer but now I am worried. Can I try over the counter bonine? Any other suggestions? How will I know if he can handle the long ride? Does the feeling usually go away after a while?

 

[Alesia]

I find that ginger works better than any OTC medicine. You can get ginger pills, but I prefer ginger chews. Crystalized ginger also works.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

were his eyes dilated today? if so not being able to focus could have caused the problems. as for your trip to Disney a lot of the things to pass time can cause this problem. ie movies, video games and phones. not that I am much help as neither ginger nor otc meds worked for me. only thing that helped me was getting old enough to drive amd driving my self

 

[bumbershoot]

Does he read or play videogames in the car when this happens? We found growing up that we had to look forward and not read books at all, to not be ill. (didn't have handheld videogames in my childhood, of course)

 

[strat68]

My daughters, even as adults, cannot read in the car as it makes them nauseous. What does his doctor recommend?

 

[zilp]

OTC motion sickness meds can help. I use the adult version of Bonine, I believe the kids version has a different active ingredient. I give my kids Dramamine. Benadryl also works well. I would talk with a pharmacist to determine the best dosage for your childs' age & weight.

No reading, limiting tablet use and cool air blowing in their face can also help. Stopping the car every couple of hours for snacks, drinks and to stretch really help too.

 

[kj2mom]

My niece gets very car sick, she wears bands on her wrist in the car and has never gotten sick again. I believe they are Sea Bands for children.

 

[sharona]

My DD13 suffered from motion sickness quite a bit when she was younger. I was difficult to go anywhere in the car!!! Lots of trial and error but we did eventually learn to manage it. I can recommend some non medicine tips that we used that were usually successful:

Make sure your child sits in the middle of the back seat so that he/she can see out the front window of the car. This really is the biggest help for those who get car sick.

Never start the drive when your child has an empty of a very full stomach - I would always make sure they eat a light meal before your time in the car.

No water while in the car. Lemonade is good as it can relieve nausea.

Keep saltines in the car for when that icky feeling starts.

No reading or video watching while in the car.

 

[VillainFavs]

Going to have to try a variety of things and see what works. Here are some of the things that work for my kids.

No reading, phones, video games, movies. Nothing that they're focusing on something up close.

Seabands.

Don't travel on an empty stomach.

Motioneaze. It's an all natural oil that they dab on behind their ear. Don't know if it's psychological but it helps them both greatly. Here's some info on it. http://motioneaze.com/

Stop every couple hours just for some fresh air, get out, walk around. Can be just a five minute break.

If you can, travel at night when he'd be sleeping anyway.

 

[ForeverAlice]

I have it and so does my son. On short trips he is okay but not long ones. On long trips I give him childrens dramamine. It works good for him and he normally never gets sick while taking it. We also have our car windows tinted dark, and make sure to use AC in the car even when it's nice outside. I also keep emesis bags (I buy them on Amazon) in the door pockets, seatback pockets etc. I have never had to clean up sick out of the car thanks to those. Just twist and drop in the trash. He does not watch movies or read or use electronics in the car unless he has had dramamine. I am usually good as long as I ride up front. My daughter and husband never have any issues with it though.

 

[pooh4evr]

We have also used children's dramamine, and my great grandma swore that chewing doublemint gum helps, which I think it does. So I always have some of that in the car along with crackers, and 7 up too. Being carsick sucks!

 

[PrncessA]

My son gets car sick (and sea sick we found out) at very random times, so random that we haven't been able to track down what causes it to happen. It doesn't seem to be tied to wether or not he is playing a game or reading, or where he is sitting in the car. We now store gallon size ziplocks in our car, and now in our WDW park bags, because it has happened on the bus.

Fresh air always seems to help him a lot. When we are going on a long car trip we pack Dramamine and that has helped.

 

[sharona]

Anything spearmint or lemon flavored will calm a mildly upset stomach. Having lived on lemon ices and lemon drop hard candies when I had mourning sickness, I can assure you it is effective!

 

[morgan98]

I am 45 and still get very car sick. My father recalls me getting sick on many a trip and I was so bad that I could get car sick in as little as 15 minutes (when I was a child). I have gotten better, but am still not good. When young, taking regular Dramamine, well ahead of time, usually worked. For me absolutely no reading and sitting in the front seat helped immensely.

Even now, I have two dozen Bonine in my purse should I have to ride with someone to a business meeting. I still occasionally get sick while sitting in the front seat with my husband driving. This occurs when driving curvy roads, etc.

However, my biggest trigger, that I do not believe anyone has mentioned, is being too warm in the car and not having air movement. I never wear a coat in the car and try to get a car cooled down before starting off as a passenger. Just another thing to be mindful of.

 

[chicagoshannon]

We use Dramamine for kids. For this trip, we will also be trying Sea Bands for kids. He will sometimes get sick after rides so hoping the bands prevent that.

 

[kandb]

Thank you all so much for the GREAT advice. We are planning a 3-4 hour trip in April, I will see how he does then. This has just started recently. If he is uncomfortable the whole time, we will consider flying down to WDW instead of driving. I don't want him to be uncomfortable for 17 hours driving to FL. Hopefully some of the great advice will help on our April trip. Thanks.