likelihood of motion sickness/remedies question

[Rock'n Robin]

Yesterday I was shopping for motion sickness remedies. The bonine, which I have read does not make you sleepy, is not for kids under 12--which all of mine are (11, 8,5). The non-drowsy dramamine also says for people over 12. The one with kids dosage on the box is regular dramamine--but on a 4 night cruise, I don't want anyone "sleeping it off". Should I get bonine and count on using 1/2 or 1/4 pills, or just hope no one gets motion sickness?
BTW, if I get an upset stomach on Body Wars, Star Tours, Tower of Terror etc. should I worry about getting motion sickness myself on the ship?
Robin M.

 

[lisak1]

I guess everyone's reaction will be very different, but when our family took a short 3 day cruise a couple years ago, we had no reaction to the movement at all, we hardly noticed it. It was enjoyable, if anything. I do have difficulty with riding in cars/ buses from time to time, but absolutely no problem on the ship. My sister, on her first cruise a couple of months ago had a couple bad days, but she went on the trip knowing that she does get seasick, having been other smaller boats (day excursion... fishing trips, etc.) before. Good luck, but likely everyone will be fine.

 

[TnRobin]

BTW, if I get an upset stomach on Body Wars, Star Tours, Tower of Terror etc. should I worry about getting motion sickness myself on the ship?

YES - I can ride any roller coaster made and I am just fine. Put me on one of those virtual reality things and that is all she wrote. I got VERY sick on my first cruise. Since I waited to take the Bonine until after I got sick, I did not feel better until the middle of the next day. Now I take it at about noon of the day we sail and I feel just fine.

As for the kids - I would talk to your Dr. I would not give them 1/2 a pill. I have heard that for children a dose of an antihistimine works wonders. So you may want to give the kids benadryl.

 

[mamagoggle]

I am very prone to motion sickness and have to take Bonine before going on any attractions like those you mentioned. I made sure I took some every day on our cruise to avoid problems. My children also suffer from motion sickness to varying degrees. Of course everyone is different (and the calmness of the water on each cruise also varies), but it would help to be prepared. I have heard of people using lower doses of Bonine for their children, but you should consult with your pediatrician before doing that. My children took regular dramamine the first day (only a half dose to avoid being too groggy) and they were fine and we didn't even need it for them on the other days.
Some people have also used natural remedies like ginger and seabands and have found them effective though I haven't tried them myself.
Many people find that the ship doesn't bother them at all...but, I would be prepared just in case.

 

[tezb]

Anyone know if the bonine is just as effective in extreme conditons or going on a boat excursion where you are more likely to feel the motion. I have taken for our cruises as a precaution but the movement was mild....just wondering its effectiveness for a smaller boat.??

 

[hydster]

When we go cruising Hubby and I always start taking the Bonine about 3-4 days before we leave so we get it into our systems and get accustomed to it. We take it every morning when we wake up (or if we are too tired we take it at night regularly we just play it by ear) and head off for the day. We have found for US that prevention is the easiest method! As for our kids they were 9,7 and 3 when we went before. My 9 year old is VERY prone to seasickness so we talked to our pediatrician about her. He told us to give her half of a 12.5 mg bonine at night and see how she did at home and then if she did well to continue on the ship which we did and she did great. My 2 boys didnt even know they were on a boat and never took any kind of medication at all but I did have it with me at all times just in case! My suggestion would be if you are concerned about it and are trying a new pill such as bonine that you should try it out a few days before you leave to make sure you dont have any ill reaction to it like hives or something that could make your trip really miserable! I didnt do that with the patch that you wear behind your ear and it turns out I was allergic to the scopolamine in it and I ended up very sick in my cabin for the first 3 days of my 7 day cruise years ago so my advice would be to try it out at home so you dont ruin your expensive trip. Benadryl will do the same thing for children as Bonine (my ped told me anyway) and my pediatrician told me to give that to my 2 boys if they started feeling ill but since I knew how they reacted to Benadryl from colds and allergies in the past I didnt give it to them before we left! They didnt get sick at all and didnt notice the movement. The natural remedies I have heard work although the seabands or relief bands dont work on me or my husband as our pressure points in our wrist are too deep for the buttons or shock to hit. The ginger is supposed to help as well but we didnt have good luck with that the time we tried it either. I would go expecting the best but prepared for the worst!!

HTH
Heidi