Motion sickness meds for kids

[Carrie in AZ]

Please keep this story in mind when speaking to your doctor....

I planned a surprise trip for my hubby for his 30th: whale watching in San Diego. Since I had read about the possibility of getting sick on the boat, I decided to see my doctor prior to our trip. He prescribed me a patch to wear behind my ear. I do not recall the name of it. I put it on the night before and woke up in a huge fog and was nauseated like never before. We tried to make it to the boat but instead of whale watching, I spent the entire day throwing up. I have never felt so out of it!

Fast forward to our first cruise. Once again, I wanted my family and I to be prepared. Read here about Bonine. Two weeks prior to our departure we all did a run thru. Once again, bad results. Not only was I sleepy sleepy sleepy, I had a huge headache and was sooo out of it. Hubby also. I am very glad we took the advice of other DISers and tried this well before our trip.

I had also read here about ginger capsules, bought from GNC. We all took them twice a day leading up to our cruise and while on it. I also took along SeaBands and ginger gum. In the end, our seas were very calm and I think we would have been fine without anything. I did chew the ginger gum while we were on our small charter on Grand Cayman.

Since your cruise is a surprise you can't really try out something before you sail but if you go on a road trip before then, maybe you can try something then.

I hope sharing my experience will help others. I thought seeking a solution from my doctor was the way to go but it turned out very bad. He obviously had no way of knowing that would be my reaction to the patch, it was just too much of a dose or whatever.

Good luck!!

 

[sabrecmc]

I used Bonine for Kids when it was available, and now my daughter is old enough for the adult versions of things, so it isn't an issue, but I believe the kids version of Bonine used cyclizine, which is different than the adult medication. I don't know why it was withdrawn from the market, but maybe you can ask your doctor about it.

 

[cmph]

Please keep this story in mind when speaking to your doctor....

I planned a surprise trip for my hubby for his 30th: whale watching in San Diego. Since I had read about the possibility of getting sick on the boat, I decided to see my doctor prior to our trip. He prescribed me a patch to wear behind my ear. I do not recall the name of it. I put it on the night before and woke up in a huge fog and was nauseated like never before. We tried to make it to the boat but instead of whale watching, I spent the entire day throwing up. I have never felt so out of it!

Fast forward to our first cruise. Once again, I wanted my family and I to be prepared. Read here about Bonine. Two weeks prior to our departure we all did a run thru. Once again, bad results. Not only was I sleepy sleepy sleepy, I had a huge headache and was sooo out of it. Hubby also. I am very glad we took the advice of other DISers and tried this well before our trip.

I had also read here about ginger capsules, bought from GNC. We all took them twice a day leading up to our cruise and while on it. I also took along SeaBands and ginger gum. In the end, our seas were very calm and I think we would have been fine without anything. I did chew the ginger gum while we were on our small charter on Grand Cayman.

Since your cruise is a surprise you can't really try out something before you sail but if you go on a road trip before then, maybe you can try something then.

I hope sharing my experience will help others. I thought seeking a solution from my doctor was the way to go but it turned out very bad. He obviously had no way of knowing that would be my reaction to the patch, it was just too much of a dose or whatever.

Good luck!!

Oh goodness, you have had bad luck!! Although I have read a lot of bad things about the patch, so I don't think you're alone in that!

We used our Hawaii catamaran ride as a "test" of sorts, for the kids. I had used sea bands and Bonine myself already and knew it was fine. DD was fine with the adult Bonine during/after, no issues. But like you said, testing is always a good idea, b/c I know I can't rely on Dramamine for DS after our trial!! We sail on Dec 30, and they'll know on Christmas Day, so I do have a few days to give a test dose. I had really thought to do that, despite the catamaran debacle, so thank you for the suggestion.

 

[jne7043]

Our pediatrician wrote a rx for zofran for our son. He gets terrible car sickness so we wanted a back up. However, we tested out bonine for him (he is 10, half dose approved by our ped) and it worked great and the 1/2 didn't make him too sleepy in the car. We plan to use the bonine for the first day and use the zofran in case he actually does get sick. I know our ped will talk to you over the phone or you can ask that your son step outside the room for a few minutes at the end of his appt.

 

[thebrundogs]

Please let us know what you find out! I am in the exact same situation for next summer. My ODD does get sick on cruises--she'll be 11, but she is not a big kid (she'll probably weigh 65lbs at that point). Regular Dramamine knocks her out cold. I asked a family friend (who is a pharmacist) if I can cut a non-drowsy in half, but I haven't heard back.

 

[Andrea313]

My pediatrician recommended Benedryl for my 7yo daughter for car sickness. We use it when we go on road trips and it works for her.

 

[cmph]

Please let us know what you find out! I am in the exact same situation for next summer. My ODD does get sick on cruises--she'll be 11, but she is not a big kid (she'll probably weigh 65lbs at that point). Regular Dramamine knocks her out cold. I asked a family friend (who is a pharmacist) if I can cut a non-drowsy in half, but I haven't heard back.

Absolutely! My kids are super tall, so DS is 70-something lb (but 4'10" already, and the way he eats going for 5ft and 80lb by the time he turns 8). Probably not too far off from your daughter. I didn't dig into why I couldn't give him meclizine halved previously, but then I didn't know that Dramamine would knock him out and didn't feel the need to question it. I will add that when I talked to the pharmacist, she too told me to stick to kids' dramamine.

 

[cmph]

My pediatrician recommended Benedetto for my 7yo daughter for car sickness. We use it when we go on road trips and it works for her.

another new one to me! thx!

 

[DallasToDis]

Our doctor also recommended Benadryl for motion sickness and nausea for kids as she said the drug is basically the same as Dramamine. I know Benadryl makes a lot of kids drowsy though. Conversely my husband had a major allergy flare up while traveling post cruise. We were out of Benadryl, but had some Bonine so his dr said he could try that since it's an antihistamine!

We also brought the kid sea bands and they really did seem to help my DD who is quite prone to motion sickness. I bought them on Amazon. Just make sure the particular vendor lists the exact color. In the picture they were green camo, but the description said "Color may Vary". The ones we got were pink. My daughter was happy, but your son might not be so much.

 

[cmph]

Our doctor also recommended Benadryl for motion sickness and nausea for kids as she said the drug is basically the same as Dramamine. I know Benadryl makes a lot of kids drowsy though. Conversely my husband had a major allergy flare up while traveling post cruise. We were out of Benadryl, but had some Bonine so his dr said he could try that since it's an antihistamine!

We also brought the kid sea bands and they really did seem to help my DD who is quite prone to motion sickness. I bought them on Amazon. Just make sure the particular vendor lists the exact color. In the picture they were green camo, but the description said "Color may Vary". The ones we got were pink. My daughter was happy, but your son might not be so much.

That's interesting that they are so interchangeable... which makes me wonder if Benadryl will knock DS out too. We've never given that to him. And he would actually be totally cool with a nice bright pink, as long as it's not pastel.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

another new one to me! thx!

You might find this useful:
http://www.webmd.com/drugs/condition-13723-Prevention+of+Motion+

 

[DisMommyTX]

DS gets car sick (a lot) so we always give him kids Dramamine. However, DD is pretty resilient and doesn't like taking Dramamine, so we tried the Seabands with her when she was about 8. She LOVES them. She never uses anything else, and the bands really do seem to help her. She occasionally takes them off when it is calm, but any time it gets rough or she starts to feel bad, she'll put them back on, and she seems to improve right away. I personally think it is psychosomatic or at least partly a placebo effect, but the point is that it does work for her. So, definitely try the bands, especially for a tween who WANTS them to work instead of meds.

 

[Ms.Possum]

I would ask your doctor about Zofran. It's what I will take for my kids (I'm a doc but I'll get an rx for them from their doc). Far fewer side effects than the over the counter meds.

 

[belac]

I just bought children's Dramamine, while in FL for DS. Sorry don't have it on hand to get the actual med name. It was left in Florida at my mom's house.
The internet is great: here is a link
http://www.dramamine.com/motion-sickness-medicine/for-kids/?gclid=COqfraWMlc4CFdNbhgodGaEOQw

DH gets very seasick and DS wanted to go fishing so stopped and got that and adult size for DH at CVS for Fishing Trip. They both were fine. DS can get car sick so bought as a percaution cause if they got sick the charter wouldn't come back just to drop them off. I couldn't stand the idea of DS sick on a fishing boat for 4 hours.

 

[cmph]

I just bought children's Dramamine, while in FL for DS. Sorry don't have it on hand to get the actual med name. It was left in Florida at my mom's house.
The internet is great: here is a link
http://www.dramamine.com/motion-sickness-medicine/for-kids/?gclid=COqfraWMlc4CFdNbhgodGaEOQw

DH gets very seasick and DS wanted to go fishing so stopped and got that and adult size for DH at CVS for Fishing Trip. They both were fine. DS can get car sick so bought as a percaution cause if they got sick the charter wouldn't come back just to drop them off. I couldn't stand the idea of DS sick on a fishing boat for 4 hours.

Unfortunately, that's the one we tried that knocked him out! It wasn't just sleepy, he was pretty much rolled into a ball, eyes closed for the duration of our catamaran ride, LOL! DH was like "man, I didn't expect that."

 

[cmph]

I would ask your doctor about Zofran. It's what I will take for my kids (I'm a doc but I'll get an rx for them from their doc). Far fewer side effects than the over the counter meds.

Awesome, I love "fewer side effects".

 

[belac]

Unfortunately, that's the one we tried that knocked him out! It wasn't just sleepy, he was pretty much rolled into a ball, eyes closed for the duration of our catamaran ride, LOL! DH was like "man, I didn't expect that."

Yes then you must ask your Doctor. I called mine before administrating and did 1/2 a pill to judge the day before for any allergies ect as her recommendation. He never took it before that. Then the morning of trip I gave a whole pill. He had no reactions and wasn't knocked out. So every person is different.

 

[Starwind]

THe child Sea Band is available on Amazon; this one is sold by Amazon but colors vary: https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Band-Child-Wristband-pair-colors/dp/B004L4D0DU there are some other vendors on Amazon that specify a color. As the PP noted "colors may vary" could end up with a color your child will not appreciate. Vitacost also specifically sells the child size: http://www.vitacost.com/sea-band-nausea-relief-wristband-for-children-assorted-colors I am able to find the child size here in my local Canadian Walmart -- USA WalMart may have them as well. FWIW, I always use the brand name item, not a knockoff.

I use Sea Bands and find they help quite a bit, though for me they do not entirely solve the motion sickness problem. ONe thing I have found with them is if they appear to not be working -- adjust their placement. Being a little bit off can make a big difference (as in work/no work). As a PP noted, they do not work for everyone, but do work for most. The brand name Sea Band have actually had studies done using them (they have info on their website). I put them on at least 24 hours before the cruise and keep them on the entire time except for showering (though sometimes I take them off for shwering and regret it by the end of the shower) plus about 2-3 days after the cruise (I get land sickness when I get off at the end of the cruise). I brign a couple pair so if one gets soaking wet or really dirty I can change it out. One note: after a few days my wrist under the plastic bead starts to get irritiated; I found putting a piece of thin first aid tape over the bead helps a bit with that. It is one of the reasons I take it off to shower -- to give the skin a bit of a rest.

Because sea Bands are not enough for me, I also use Dramamine Less Drowsy (active ingredient is meclizine; same active ingredient as Bonine, but no aspartame is used in the Dramamine as it isn't a chewable). One thing that helped me was to use it at night, where I could sleep through the worst of the side effects. If I take it in "daytime" there is a one hour or so period a while after taking it where I want to sleep very badly, and then if I push through it the sleepiness "wave" passes and I am good to go. Hence why I prefer to take it at night -- I can be asleep when that wave hits

So discussing with the doctor the TIMING of the dosing of whatever they recommend is probably a good idea: they may have some good suggestions for how to time the meds so the side effects are the least disruptive.

This Mayo Clinic website has info on meclizine and a couple closely related drugs, including dosing information for children. It should give you some good information to talk with your MD about in terms of options: http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-sup...oute-parenteral-route/proper-use/drg-20069630 For meclizine for kids under 12 it says dose and use must be determined by one's doctor. Some other websites indicate that studies on meclizine in kids under 12 have not been done, but I don't know how current that is.

the final thing I do is use ginger in various forms. Ginger Ale (I prefer Canada Dry ginger ale, but that may just be a taste preference). Ginger snaps (I particularly like Shasha brand: http://www.shashabread.com/products/original-ginger-snaps and the last time we did a DCL cruise Amazon sold them so we had a couple packages shipped to our pre-cruise hotel; ended up only using one package).

And ginger tablets or capsules: Dramamine now sells standardized ginger capsules (Walmart and drugstore.com sell them among others): http://www.dramamine.com/motion-sickness-medicine/non-drowsy-naturals/ and it has dosing information for children 6-12 on the label and website. If you are considering using them, I would add it to the list to discuss with your MD to ensure it is part of a bigger plan and not contraindicated.

Finally, I have normal Dramamine/Gravol as a backup should all of the above fail, however it makes me very sleepy and is a last resort for me. Benadryl has also helped for me -- it is not as strong in anti-motion sickness as dramamine (the slight chemical compound difference does make a difference), but I also tolerate its side effects much better.

Bottom line: there are many options and your MD is in the best place to provide or help come up with a plan for how to tackle motion sickness. Based on my own experience, I encourage such a plan to have some layers to it -- if X does not work, add Z or replace with Y, etc...

SW

 

[Andrea313]

another new one to me! thx!

Oops...should have said Benedryl...autocorrect

 

[disneyholic family]

thought this was interesting - it's from an article on webmd about morning sickness remedies:

Another remedy, suggests Degnan, are acupressure bands (marketed as Sea-Bands), which lay over the Pericardium 6 (P6) acupuncture point, long known to relieve feelings of nausea. This suggestion is echoed by William Grant, EdD, associate dean of graduate medical education and research professor of family medicine at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York. Grant has coordinated a number of clinical trials on the effectiveness of Sea-Bands as a solution for nausea associated with morning sickness.
The bands are a noninvasive, drug-free alternative, he says. Between 67%-75% of patients using acupressure have high levels of relief from morning sickness nausea. A bonus, says Grant, is that the relief is almost immediate and does not have any unwanted side effects.​