Travel sickness in 2.5year old

[mima08]

Hiya, I am looking for tips on how to deal with the ever more frequent incidents of travel sickness with my little son.

He used to be fine travelling for hours, but over the last 6-12months has started to get travel sick on car journeys, buses, flights, boat rides, trains - pretty much every form of transport that is not walking (or his buggy).

And its not just long or rough journeys: the most recent one was this morning on a 20min car ride. Before that it was on a very calm flight, during the approach to landing. Again, not a long journey. I am really baffled, as we tried eating/not eating/eating very bland biscuits or banana/not looking at books/games/toys etc. We also tried the pressure wrist bands - though he was really proud of wearing them, they seem to make no difference at all. He has never been a kid to throw up a lot (even as a baby) and although he is distressed when it happens, he is normally ok within minutes afterwards - but of course it is not a nice experience for everyone (including that poor taxi chap recently who was ever so friendly and helpful).

For long journeys I'd be willing to try Joyrides, but that seems really not appropriate for short inner-London trips.

Strangely enough, he is perfectly fine on the mini-carousels at the fairground...

Any tips or suggestions, please?

Thanks, mx

[nunheadmum]

Our daughter was awful when she was younger. We used Travella homeopathic travel sickness pills. Can't say how they worked but they did help. You can get them in Health Matters and lots of chemists too now.

[vintagebelle]

Hi,

I really feel for you and your son. Unfortunately I understand all to well. My son developed travel sickness at around one and a half and is now six and still suffering, he carries a sick bag around with him for all journey's. like you we tried the bands as he was until in the last year too young for medication. We now use over the counter travel sickness tablets which do not stop the sickness but seem to lessen it slightly. Have just looked on the netdoctor site and it suggests this, may well be worth looking into 'For long journeys, an antihistamine preparation such as Phenergan or Piriton can be helpful, although it does have a sedating effect and will encourage them to sleep'

[LVWT]

For shorter journeys try ginger nuts.

Works for me.

[StraferJack]

our daughter suffers badly from this too. Driving to a festival in Dorset last year we had 3 incidents - what joy

But it is inconsistent (which makes me suspicious of wristbands and homeoptahic remedies "working" - could be pure coincidence) - she managed a 2+ hour journey around winding hills of Perugia without any real problems - we told her it was a long car ride and she should go to sleep. Plus their car seats are set up differently which seemed to help - angled more upwards than forwards I think

But what has definitely worked every time is holding her head so it doesn't loll around - she stresses and is not happy for the length of the journey but she doesn't get sick

[StraferJack]

Obviously my last post is of no use to people driving on their own.. but just in case there is another passenger who can sit with them.

[mima08]

Thanks all for your replies - it's a bit disheartening to see it getting worse, rather than him "growing out of it" as others told me... Plus, I am a poor traveller, so maybe it can be inherited? No idea.

Will get the Travella tablets for the next longer trip, thanks nunheadmum.

Has anyone tried something called joyride? I know they are from 3yrs up, so maybe something for the future (Btw; what a name of a kiddie's tablet!).

LVWT - do you mean the normal biscuits? Any brand ok?

SJ - yep, it's the inconsistency that really throws me, too: sometimes its perfectly fine (incl. about whirly carousels that would make me sick), other times it's after a few minutes on the bus!

it's a puzzle...

thanks

mx

[bizzylizzy]

We have used Joyrides or Kwells kids since my daughter was about 2. She started getting sick when she changed from rear facing to forward facing in her car seat. We started with half a tablet and they really helped. She was inconsistent too, sometimes being sick on a 10 min journey and other times doing a 6 hour drive no problem. Now she is a bit older (4) she is happy to have her old potette travel potty on standby and use that if she feels sick so there is much less mess and cleaning up to be done. The potette is great as you can bag up the sick and store it until it can be binned and meanwhile just pop in another bag so it is ready to go again. Really though, it was the pills that made a massive difference. The drug in then is called hyosine or hycosine or something if you need to look for another brand. It has been used in babies as young as a year for sickness treatment so is ok at a slightly younger age than recommended on the packet

[mima08]

Thanks bizzylizzy, that is very helpful. I've been humming and hawing about whether to go down the tablet route (and will definitely try ginger nuts for short trips), but at the same time we (and him) don't want to miss out (or be miserable) when going on holidays, family visits or event just popping to the museums.

The idea of travel potette is great - will try this as it comes with us everywhere at the moment, anyway.

With the joyrides does your daughter still get sick if she looks at books, watches a video etc in the car? If we visit family in Devon, the trips can be pretty long (and boring) and it would be nice if he had some entertainment other than our singing...

I remember myself talking an over-the-counter travel pill bought in Oz before going on boat trip, and it was amazing: I could read, sleep, play cards - whereas in the past I would have held on to a bag for the whole trip. Unfortunately, I can't remember name or ingredients (and am sure they were for adults, anyway)

[bizzylizzy]

We haven't tried her with books or anything yet (daren't!!) but my niece, who also gets sick and takes tablets can watch videos with no problems. We found that as our daughter got a bit older she has got a bit better so we can now do local journeys with no problems 99% of the time so we only give her a tablet when we are going on a longer trip e.g. to Ikea. Also, the tablets last for 6-8 hours so she only needs 1 per day. We also have the window down so she has plenty of fresh air - she has a blanket for if she feels cold.

[LVWT]

Yes any brand of gingernuts did the trick...not sure if it was the actual ginger that is supposed to be good for nausea, or the fact child was told (and still is five years on) to nibble it very slowly.

The concentration for a three year old nibbling biscuit slowly can be very distracting.

[mima08]

Yes, the distraction technique works - up to a point. Thanks again, all for your suggestion - will buy gingernuts & tablets and put them to a test on Saturday on a day trip... travel potette at the ready :)