Remedy for young child with motion sickness

[lauracjc]

Hello everyone. I am hoping you will be able to help me out with this. My DD (4) has been showing signs of motoin sickness lately. We will be taking the AutoTrain next week to WDW and I want to be prepared in the event that she should start to feel sick. I talked to the pediatrician today and she told me that there is nothing I can give her because of her age, but to maybe try some benadryl and don't let her do anything such as read, color, play video games, etc.. That will make for a really long trip. If anyone has any ideas or remedies that have worked for your youngsters I would appreciate it.

I am already planning to take some ginger ale, ginger snap cookies, a washcloth to wet for cooling off, a change of clothes, and a bag.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[karliebug]

dont they make dramamine for kids? I could have sworn my kids have taken them. What about those bracelets that put pressure on some place on your wrist? I don't know if they work but it couldn't hurt. I don't see how benadryl could help motion sickness at all, except maybe make her sleepy?

 

[moxiecola]

Dramamine is for ages 12 and up (just checked the package). My son gets car sick too esp. on school field trips in the bus. He sucks on lollipops and it helps. I had been told once not to look out the side window of a car because the fast motion of things going by can cause the nausea...they also said to look out the front window (the winshield).

 

[creativeamanda]

Chewing gum always helps me when I have motion sickness. I used to get it all the time as a kid.

 

[Asellus]

the bracelets are called seabands. They work for some people but not for everyone...still they're cheap so it doesnt hurt to try. (when driving to FL when I was a kid, my parents always kept large coffee mugs in the car just for that purpose....funny how motion sickness always happened on the way back)
mints would probably be good to have around too...not only do they help with nausea...but also helps if the worst does happen.
Also Dramamine is available for over 2, its called dramamine chewables.

 

[UP Disney]

Ginger does the trick for my family. We depend on it for our annual Disney trips. Without it, my DD got sick on the airplane and DH got sick on many of the rides. We use ginger tablets but I've heard ginger snaps and ginger ale work as well. That is something that a young child could have safely.

Mythbusters had a show about all kinds of motion sickness and they found that ginger worked better than most things except for the dramamine (which makes us drowsy).

ETA: After rereading your post, I see that you plan on using ginger snaps and ginger ale already.

 

[wvdislover]

My DD10 has been taking Dramamine since she was 1 1/2 years old. She has a sensory disorder and would get deathly ill every time we rode in the car if she didn't take the Dramamine. We started at a small dose (1/3 to 1/2 tablet, depending on the child's weight). Check with your pharmacist on dosages. Do NOT mix it with an antihistamine, though, b/c then you will be basically double dosing your child (Dramamine is technically an antihistamine). BTW, the Wal-Mart brand of motion sickness medicine is a LOT cheaper. Take it from someone who knows! Good luck!

 

[5fordisney]

My kids took dramamine and my youngest was 4 at the time. I know I bought something that children could take at a low dose. I might have broken the tablets in half. Talk to your pharmacist. Speaking from personal experience from someone who gets deathly motion sick, nothing really stops the nausea except dramamine. Bonine is another brand I think. Good luck!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

the bracelets are called seabands. They work for some people but not for everyone...still they're cheap so it doesnt hurt to try. (when driving to FL when I was a kid, my parents always kept large coffee mugs in the car just for that purpose....funny how motion sickness always happened on the way back)
mints would probably be good to have around too...not only do they help with nausea...but also helps if the worst does happen.
Also Dramamine is available for over 2, its called dramamine chewables.

Yea why is that? DD was fine on the way there but on the way home it was bad news for us. Unfortunately all we had was a paper mcdonalds bag and that DID NOT work. Next time we will be prepared with a bucket.

 

[Sally_K]

I have suffered from motion sickness all my long life. I get it mostly on train trips but it also happens if I sit in the backseat of a car (front seat is fine as long as I don't do any reading). Anyway, what I thought you might want to know is that on the train, I can read fine without feeling nausea if I wear my sun glasses (they have a wide frame that blocks side view (and the movement that causes motion sickness).

I hope this helps and that you have a good trip!

 

[Asellus]

Yea why is that? DD was fine on the way there but on the way home it was bad news for us. Unfortunately all we had was a paper mcdonalds bag and that DID NOT work. Next time we will be prepared with a bucket.

I think its because on the way there, their mind (and mine as a child of course) was preoccupied with the excitement of Disney, but on the way home, the disappointment of going home.

 

[flying_babyb]

Make a mickey braclet. This works so well, and I discovered it by accident. I was having wrist problems so I wrapped my upper wrist with coban. Well, i take the the bus and get sick everyday. Well that day I didnt. So the next day, I took a peice of strechy cloth with snaps in it (to shut it) and wore that. And guess what it worked! Its all about the pressure on one the pressure points. I would reccomend making about 5 inches down from the base of the hand. You could make them close with velcro too. Or if your looking for a quicker way try the support asile at wal-mart. You could stamp or paint on it. Remember tight but not cutting off circulation. I betcha it would work wih kids, especally if there cute. I plan on making cute ones for my car trip to Washigton DC this summer.

 

[teacher100]

I found out my DS got motion sickness on an airplane! At least we were landing. The pediatrician said to give Benadryl he never got sick taking that. If we forgot though he would get sick 45 minutes down the road. The Sea Bands work too. It got to the point he couldn't ride the school bus with all the stopping and starting. We took Sea Bands to Disney World. We started out not using them and then he felt queasy. He put them on and he felt better. If you go on the Safari, make sure you ask for a front seat.

 

[Darcy03231]

When we took our kids on a cruise and were concerned about motion sickness our pediatrician said to use Bonine for children. It comes in a chewable tablet. Luckily no one but me needed them.

 

[lauracjc]

Wow, what great responses. Thanks a lot! I think I am going to go with the sea bands and I will take along some benedryl too. I am still hesitant to give the dramamine or bonine even at half dose. I guess it is because it says dosage for 6+ and the pediatrician said no. I also asked about something such as Little Tummies just in case and she said it has all been taken off the market for under 6. I thought it was only cold meds.

I too suffer from the dreaded motion sickness and plan on taking something for myself. I know how miserable it can be and don't wish it on DD. I am not going to mention it to her but if she should start to feel queezy I will slap on sea bands, give her a dose of benedryl, make her eat a ginger snap with a gingerale to sip followed by a lollipop with a cool washcloth on her head.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[heartbeeps]

I'm not sure of age restrictions on this product; I'll be taking it with me to Disney next week as I suffer from motion sickness. Perhaps call the mfr. and ask about age restrictions: http://www.motioneaze.com/

I'd think this might be one of the more innocuous things you could try. For me, I need to keep something on my stomach at all times when I'm feeling motion so I'll have pretzels on hand and green apples as both are said to help.

This link says it's safe for kids and gives lots of good tips you might want to consider: http://www.motioneaze.com/kids.html

Good luck!

 

[tzolkin]

my two youngest ones have horrible motion sickness. they usually start vomiting within 5 minutes of being in the car. they both started this at around 8 months. (now 4 and 2) they can take dramamine. if you research it, everything says it's recommended for children 2 and up. i'm not sure why your doctor is telling you they have to be 6. my doctor claims that is the only option for little ones (and i haven't found anything else myself either). the non-drowsy ones (like ND dramamine and bonnie) are a different medication that little kids can't have (meclazine, i think). dramamine is closely related to benadryl. dramamine makes them pass out for hours, so it can really only be used on long car rides. i will only give it to my kids very rarely. in our normal lives, we have multiple trash cans in the cars and they wear waterproof bibs with pockets (in case we miss). we also always have a supply of extra clothes, wipes, paper towels, etc. i'm hoping it will get better as they get older. DH grew out of it by the time he was a teen. i still have motion sickness, but i have control over whether i get ill or not.

Wow, what great responses. Thanks a lot! I think I am going to go with the sea bands and I will take along some benedryl too. I am still hesitant to give the dramamine or bonine even at half dose. I guess it is because it says dosage for 6+ and the pediatrician said no. I also asked about something such as Little Tummies just in case and she said it has all been taken off the market for under 6. I thought it was only cold meds.

I too suffer from the dreaded motion sickness and plan on taking something for myself. I know how miserable it can be and don't wish it on DD. I am not going to mention it to her but if she should start to feel queezy I will slap on sea bands, give her a dose of benedryl, make her eat a ginger snap with a gingerale to sip followed by a lollipop with a cool washcloth on her head.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[StephMK]

I feel for you, my youngest got car sick several times. Luckily, DS6 seems to be outgrowing it now. One hint would be not to give her any milk on the trip. I read somewhere that can make it worse & it did seem that way for DS, a milk lover! Morning travel after breakfast is now just a pop tart or cereal & some water. We used to give him 1/2 of the chewables Dramamine which helped but he hates the chewables & medicine feeling. Now we can travel w/o meds & he does ok.

He also used to get sick watching a movie in the car. It was placed between he & his sister. Now we have dual screens so he can watch it straight ahead. Not totally sure that made a difference but I think not watching from an angle helped too.

 

[go2cindys]

My granddaughter & I both suffer from motion sickness. We took the autotrain last November (we had a room) and neither of us suffered from motion sickness. The train does rock and I was truly amazed that we did not feel even slightly nauseous!

Good luck,

 

[What are we doing?]

Ginger does the trick for my family.

Ds has mixed results with ginger, but I think we'll try it again. Dramamine makes him so drowsy!

I am still hesitant to give the dramamine or bonine even at half dose. I guess it is because it says dosage for 6+ and the pediatrician said no. I also asked about something such as Little Tummies just in case and she said it has all been taken off the market for under 6. I thought it was only cold meds.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/p...2=16143&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-BRAND

The link above is for the chewable Dramamine, and it has dosing information for as young as 2 years old.

Our family doc and I had a big go-around last year about the new, once a day non-drowsy Dramamine. That is not recommended until children are 12 years old, and due to the current AMA policy of not allowing children to have drugs until they are tested as safe on children, our doc would not approve our using it for ds.

During my "discussion" with the doctor, I did a lot of research on motion sickness medicines (especially after the doc prescribed a medicine that's usually used before surgery to calm patients I wanted to stop vomit not put the kid to sleep!). Dramamine (regular and non-drowsy) are anti-histamines. Apparently, all anti-histamines do whatever it is that Dramamine does but some are better/less drowsy than others, so Benadryl does what Dramamine does, but it makes the user sleepier.