Kids & Seasickness

[Jimbo]

One of our granddaughters is pretty susceptible to motion sickness. She usually barfs on a plane, so it seems that she's likely to get seasick. She's 7, and I see that Bonine is recommended for people 12 and older. Is there anything else that's safe for little kids?

 

[babylisa4]

From the time my son was about three he barfed on about everything that moved. We traveled quite a bit but always with wet wipes, plastic bags, and dramamine chewables. I think these are for kids younger than 12. The key is you have to give them before you travel. The dramamines are a little bitter but taste kind of like orange baby aspirin. They also have non-drowsy dramamine but I can't remember the age limit. I think we gave it when he was younger than 12 with the Dr.'s permission. Honestly, if you take the 3 or 4 day cruise, you don't really feel like you are at sea that much. It seems like you travel mostly at night. My son didn't have any trouble on the ship. The seas were not really rough when we traveled but I do remember one time our table mates(an adult) was sick but our son wasn't bothered at all. I'd go for it- just be prepared- the good thing was these kids usually know what it feels like when they are about to blow and they can let you know. We tried the wrist bracelet things but they didn't help him. When he was a little older we got the patches behind the ear. I'd talk to your pediatriician to make sure what meds you can use or not.

 

[taeja71]

Our pediatrician suggested Benadryl. A drink of Ginger Ale worked for me as well (on top of the patch I had on and the Bonine I had just taken). Take her outside, let her see the horizon, breathe the fresh air. Even not looking off the side of the boat helped too. Your granddaughter may have such a great time she may not notice any movement! Wouldn't that be great? Hint- Be sure to search for other motion sickness threads.

 

[cruisenewbie2004]

ginger is wonderful remedy for motion sickness, but be sure to buy items that actually CONTAIN ginger. Most ginger ale does NOT. It has ginger flvor, which is not the same thing. A good idea for children are ginger snap cookies (the real ginger kind).

Altoids also make intense ginger candies.

 

[Ginny]

The first time we cruised DD was 4.5 years old. We didn't think about motion sickness because she had easily flown across country several times. But, the first night at dinner in Parrot Cay, she told me that she was not feeling well and that her tummy was upset. This cruise was during the Hurricane Floyd evolution so the seas may have been a bit rougher but were pretty similar to our first nights on our other 3 cruises. Don't laugh but I think I bought out the Dramamine in Treasure Ketch that night. I gave us both some dramamine and we slept until the next AM with no problems the rest of the cruise.

DD normally does great but when the seas are rocking or its a smaller boat (like the Golden Eagle Catamarran), we give her Dramamine. I forgot one time when she was about 7...............and let's just say that "we made our presence known" at the Character Breakfast. Our servers were wonderful and the characters even remained behind while we changed her outfit so she wouldn't miss anything.

The non-drowsy Dramamine is not for children under 12. I hope this helps.

 

[firsttimemom]

There's a chewable dramamine that can be taken by younger children. My DD has taken it for carsickness since she was about 4.

HTH!

Liz

 

[lildeb724]

My doctor suggested bringing lollipops for my 3 1/2 year old to help. He also suggested chewable dramamine if it got bad.

 

[Jimbo]

We learned at elast one very useful thing out of this. DD bought some Bonine for the trip, and it turns out that Bonine is the same thing as Meclazine. My mother-in-law has an expensive Meclazine prescription for vertigo, and she'll be saving some money real soon!

 

[mickeyboat]

My pediatrician recommended Benadryl for DD3 and DD4. She said traditional seasickness medicines (Bonnine, Drammamine) can act unpredictably in small children.

DD3 gets car sick easily and she didn't have any problem on the ship. She didn't even notice the motion.

Denae

 

[tracyl921]

I bought Wal-Mart's brand of dramamine for my DD, 7 and DS, 4. We were on the 9/18 sailing and on thursday had extremely rough waters due to Jeanne. (They were handing out barf bags in the dining rooms). My DS was fine, my DD on the other hand got seasick. I tried to give her the dramamine, but forgot to get the chewable kind. So after trying to hide 1/2 a pill in cinnamin bun didn't work, I bought sea bands. These did work for her.