Motion sickness meds for kids

[MSPeeler]

I got a script from our pediatrician for generic Zofran dissolveable tablet, tastes like grape chew-able Tylenol. Works quick!

 

[JoieNsk]

I would suggest you contact your family Doctor again........He or She knows your family best and will likely have the best ideas on what to use.

Have a great cruise.

AKK

I would totally agree with the quoted post.

My daughter is car-sick badly all her life, since she was a baby. Now she is 17, and it still is pretty bad.

I used to give her Bonine while we were living in Europe, and give her Dramamine since we moved to US when she was 8. I don't give it to her all the time, only if we drive for more then 2 hours, or we are in the parks or on the plane etc. And she never had any adverse effect from any of those medications.

She actually didn't get car sick on the cruise, but the weather was good, and we didn't experience a lot of motion.

If the kid gets "knocked out" - I would be careful, consult the doctor, and try the meds at home, beforehand probably - to see which one would not cause any bad effect.

 

[mmfox316]

motion sickness meds, even the supposedly "non-drowsy" formula totally knocked out my kids.

i just wrote a long response on this topic in another thread, so i'm copying and pasting it here.
it's regarding sea bands - which also come in a size for children.
--------------------------------------------------------------

i have very severe motion sickness - also on land. For years i took prescription medicine, also on land and on cruises.
Until i discovered the wonders of sea bands. I had heard about them for years and just thought it was a bunch of nonsense.
but it really works - also for my whole family (also motion sickness sufferers - especially DD).
The claim is they work on about 60% of the people who use them.
they work on everyone in my family who's tried them (me, DH, DD, DSIL, my elderly mom and my sister with ovarian cancer).

I've been using them now for about 5 years. Non-stop when i'm on a cruise, and during attacks when i'm on land.

i put them on before i even board the ship, and don't take them off again until after disembarkation at the end of the cruise.
They're based on acupressure. There is a hard plastic nub that presses into each of your wrists.
i hope they work on you as it's always better to use a non-drug solution when possible.

Here's a link to what i'm talking about.
they have in both adult and child sizes (my daughter, who's 31, has such small wrists that she uses the child size).
www.sea-band.com

I also recommend sea bands

 

[YayDisney]

Has anyone had success with Sea Bands for car sickness too? Only my DD gets a little motion sickness so I bought them for her for our upcoming cruise, but my DS gets Car Sick sometimes and I wonder if they will work for him too. Its a drive to Port Canaveral and if he can enjoy the way up, it will be a better trip for all of us!

 

[cmph]

Has anyone had success with Sea Bands for car sickness too? Only my DD gets a little motion sickness so I bought them for her for our upcoming cruise, but my DS gets Car Sick sometimes and I wonder if they will work for him too. Its a drive to Port Canaveral and if he can enjoy the way up, it will be a better trip for all of us!

I used them for rides at Disneyland... not that that's the same as a car ride, but I definitely enjoyed Star Tours, Soarin', etc, more than I otherwise would have! Can't hurt to try... they aren't like pills that you need to take a certain amount of time before, so I would just have your DS use them for the car ride and pass them off to DD when you arrive at the port.

 

[YayDisney]

I used them for rides at Disneyland... not that that's the same as a car ride, but I definitely enjoyed Star Tours, Soarin', etc, more than I otherwise would have! Can't hurt to try... they aren't like pills that you need to take a certain amount of time before, so I would just have your DS use them for the car ride and pass them off to DD when you arrive at the port.

Thanks! My husband gets very motion sick on those simulator rides - I got some for him for the ship also, but it's great to know that it might work for rides!

 

[cmph]

Thanks! My husband gets very motion sick on those simulator rides - I got some for him for the ship also, but it's great to know that it might work for rides!

Simulator rides are the worst for me! I took Bonine too, but literally as we were getting in line to get on Star Tours one day and Soarin' the following day (somehow I didn't remember to take it either day when we left our room and of course those were the first things we hit!) so it had maybe 10min to work. I'm quite sure it didn't have enough time to help much, but sea bands are immediate. Soarin' was actually enjoyable, and Star Tours wasn't exactly my favorite ever - but I didn't want to die, LOL. HUGE improvement.

 

[YayDisney]

I didn't want to die

Ha ha ha - that is pretty much how he describes it. We are in Fla. so we have Mission To Mars in Epcot - OMG what a mistake for him to ride it - we'll try it next time we go

 

[cmph]

I wanted to post a reply here for future reference. I don't know if our (new due to a cross-country move) pediatrician is particularly conservative or just somewhat useless in this area, but he refuses to suggest anything other than Dramamine or ginger for my 8yo. Multiple conversations with his nurse (I wasn't apparently allowed to speak to him directly) were irritating, to say the least. I said I specifically did not want to use Dramamine and explained why (two times, in two separate conversations) and the answer was "I know, but that's all he suggests other than ginger". A bit frustrating to be given the suggestion of the thing I was trying to avoid when I had already explained why I wanted to avoid it! I asked if that recommendation was based on his age (8) or his weight (87lb - he's just about 5ft, as we don't grow them small in my family!), and she was not able to answer that question nor interested in another "let me talk to him and get back to you" call. I asked why meclizine was ok'd previously for my daughter (11, already adult sized at 5'6", 125lb), and if they knew why the kids' version had been pulled... and she had no clue what medication I was referring to, had never heard of it nor the brand name Bonine. Like I said, she had already called me back multiple times, and she obviously didn't want to do it again, so I just gave up. I totally get why they don't want kids to take unnecessary medications, but then why suggest the medication I want to avoid? And why suggest ginger but no other homeopathic options even after I reiterated my reluctance to use Dramamine? ah well. I miss our old pediatrician a heck of a lot right now.

Ginger doesn't help me at all, but I'm reminding myself that doesn't mean it won't help him. I can give him Dramamine before bed, but that isn't going to work during the day. I guess I'll be bringing a couple of different ginger options, kids' sea bands, and a lot of hope for good luck! Crossing fingers he is one of those kids who has motion sickness issues elsewhere, but is fine at sea.

 

[party-of-five]

I wanted to post a reply here for future reference. I don't know if our (new due to a cross-country move) pediatrician is particularly conservative or just somewhat useless in this area, but he refuses to suggest anything other than Dramamine or ginger for my 8yo. Multiple conversations with his nurse (I wasn't apparently allowed to speak to him directly) were irritating, to say the least. I said I specifically did not want to use Dramamine and explained why (two times, in two separate conversations) and the answer was "I know, but that's all he suggests other than ginger". A bit frustrating to be given the suggestion of the thing I was trying to avoid when I had already explained why I wanted to avoid it! I asked if that recommendation was based on his age (8) or his weight (87lb - he's just about 5ft, as we don't grow them small in my family!), and she was not able to answer that question nor interested in another "let me talk to him and get back to you" call. I asked why meclizine was ok'd previously for my daughter (11, already adult sized at 5'6", 125lb), and if they knew why the kids' version had been pulled... and she had no clue what medication I was referring to, had never heard of it nor the brand name Bonine. Like I said, she had already called me back multiple times, and she obviously didn't want to do it again, so I just gave up. I totally get why they don't want kids to take unnecessary medications, but then why suggest the medication I want to avoid? And why suggest ginger but no other homeopathic options even after I reiterated my reluctance to use Dramamine? ah well. I miss our old pediatrician a heck of a lot right now.

Ginger doesn't help me at all, but I'm reminding myself that doesn't mean it won't help him. I can give him Dramamine before bed, but that isn't going to work during the day. I guess I'll be bringing a couple of different ginger options, kids' sea bands, and a lot of hope for good luck! Crossing fingers he is one of those kids who has motion sickness issues elsewhere, but is fine at sea.

Sorry for your frustrations. I feel your pain; I could write a book!

We've had good luck with the sea bands, Motion-ease, and benedryl (but of course that can cause drowsiness). Our first cruise night ever my 3 older kiddos (9, 13, 14) had a tough time. Our stateroom hostess told us to call room service. They sent up green apples, ginger ale, and saltines. It helped. We also made sure the kids understood they were moving and what direction they were moving. That helped too! I know you're looking for meds, but just wanted to share our experience.

 

[cmph]

Sorry for your frustrations. I feel your pain; I could write a book!

We've had good luck with the sea bands, Motion-ease, and benedryl (but of course that can cause drowsiness). Our first cruise night ever my 3 older kiddos (9, 13, 14) had a tough time. Our stateroom hostess told us to call room service. They sent up green apples, ginger ale, and saltines. It helped. We also made sure the kids understood they were moving and what direction they were moving. That helped too! I know you're looking for meds, but just wanted to share our experience.

Thank you! I mostly just wanted OPTIONS, you know? That's the part that most frustrates me - you can only ok 2 things, one of which is the thing I want an alternative for? Now I feel like I can't use really anything else other than sea bands, homeopathic or otherwise, b/c there is really no chance that sea bands could have any kind of side effect and pretty much anything else could! (Other than crackers, etc, of course.) He'll be getting braces soon, and I'm definitely going to put that off until after the cruise so he can at least have ginger ale.

 

[party-of-five]

Thank you! I mostly just wanted OPTIONS, you know? That's the part that most frustrates me - you can only ok 2 things, one of which is the thing I want an alternative for? Now I feel like I can't use really anything else other than sea bands, homeopathic or otherwise, b/c there is really no chance that sea bands could have any kind of side effect and pretty much anything else could! (Other than crackers, etc, of course.) He'll be getting braces soon, and I'm definitely going to put that off until after the cruise so he can at least have ginger ale.

I completely understand wanting to be prepared. Just a suggestion, maybe ask at some pharmacies? I've had pharmacists give me suggestions in the past that I've then taken to discuss with the pediatrician.

Hoping all goes well and your son doesn't even need anything. Hopefully he'll be too busy having fun to even notice the motion!