Any advice for child with travel sickness please?

[PohSuan]

Hi,

Please can someone give me some advice about travel sickness in children?We've only just got a car so new to this.Anything that is good to try and anything to avoid?

Thank you!

[PohSuan]

Sorry.Wrong section!Can't seem to move it either.Any advice on that too?!

[DuncanW]

Take travel-sickness tablets before the journey begins

Wear travel sickness wrist-bands

Don?t allow the child to read or use tablets.

Avoid heavy meals before long journeys

Take the main roads where practical, not loads of side-streets

[Sue]

The travel sickness wrist bands worked well for me (on boats) and for my daughter when she was little, but you do need to make sure they are positioned correctly.

My granddaughters use travel sickness tablets in the car. They work for them.

You need to make sure the children take them at the recommended time long enough before you start travelling, and obviously at the recommended dose for their age.

Just in case, have sick bags ready - plastic carriers will do - and if possible somebody (depending on the age of the child) ready to hold the bag. If you're on a motorway or certain other roads, it may be impossible to stop.

Have a supply of wipes and clean clothes ready, just in case, and plain water (also to sip if necessary).

If they've got long hair, tie it back before the journey starts so they're not sick on it :))

Distract their attention with singing along, games etc, if you can bear it :))

And yes, as above, don't use loads of side streets or bendy roads, if at all possible. I'm rarely carsick but got very queasy on a very long bendy road abroad with a quite fast driver.

As regards moving the thread, I think you have to ask admin to do that.

[Grok]

Leave them at home.

[Sue]

Helpful advice from Grok as always.

It's getting really tedious.

[Laddy Muck]

In addition to travel sickness tablets, something to suck/lick containing ginger (assuming they don't mind the taste).

[Carrie]

If you have an old baby wipe box then you can line it with a carrier bag (from bitter experience check that the carrier does not have any holes first!) or use a nappy sack - slightly easier for a vomiting child to have a more stable target than a loose bag.

Make sure there is fresh air in the car, wind down the window a bit, and try to make sure that the child does not look out of the side window and looks straight ahead instead.

[snowboarder]

Junior quells, openable window, forward facing....and a large tupperware and muslin!

[Saffron]

Keep them in rear facing seats as long as possible. xx

[sunshine sky]

As a baby I was so travel sick I couldn't get down the road without being sick. It continued throughout my childhood. We tried EVERYTHING! Travel sickness tablets worked to some extent- some more effective than others. I never travelled anywhere till I was 11 without a bucket in the car! However we had a sudden revelation that was life changing. ALWAYS look at the horizon (or as close as possible). And NEVER look out of the side windows. Especially if you start to feel a bit queasy, it can stop it deteriorating into the plastic bag phase!! Apparently it's to do with inner ear balance or something?? It was like a switch being turned on. Suddenly car journeys became less traumatic for everyone...

As an adult I still have become unwell enough to be sick on occasions when this wasn't possible. Obviously it's easier the bigger you get as you can sit in the front seat! In the back seat is often possible to peer round the head rest/ seat belt etc but it can take a bit of working out.

[mima08]

What travel sickness tablets are using? We had something that was called (rather funnily) "joy rides", which worked well, but don't seem to be available anywhere anymore....

[Saffron]

Forward facing seemed like a good option, but it made our daughter worse, bc of the more upright position. If you have to go forward facing, keep the reclined position as long as you can. In the upright position facing forward there is more movement in the head, since acceleration and deceleration are absorbed differently compared to the headrest position in rear facing. This influences the inner ear / eye discrepancy that can worsen travel sickness. Rear facing seats are safer as well. I wish we had been able to keep our daughter in one longer. We just couldn't find the right one, but there is much more choice now. xx

[Northeastview]

We have borrowed a car for a few months and my daughter (4) gets very sick in it, and often refuses to get in. The thing that really helps her every time are the sea bands I used for morning sickness. They are a little strap to wear on the wrist and she gently presses the stud on them and is never sick or nauseous. We still have to have sick bags etc because she is an awkward sod and won't always put the band on.

[niksterboots]

My daughter also suffers. We take travel sickness tablets - I use Dramamine from the states which I get on amazon which is suitable from 2 years, but will move on to Kwells Junior once she's 4. It does make her drowsy though - great for long journeys and driving at night etc, but not so good when you're doing shorter journeys and don't want them to be grumpy and woozy for an outing! I am hoping Kwells will be less drowsy (if anyone has any experience of Kwells, please do let me know!).

The other thing we've found helpful for short journeys where we don't want to give her tablets, is constant snacking. I take a huge stash of apples chunks, breadsticks, rice cakes, ginger biscuits, lollypops, plain crisps etc. and she'll wear the bands if we remember to put them on. No idea if they work though as I've never tried them in isolation!

[wilko]

Sympathy here too. Our eldest (4) suffers with it. There is something especially gross about cleaning sick out of a car-seat buckle.

Things that work for her:

Snacking on dry/salty things in the car instead of eating a meal before travelling.

It is better driving at night than during the day, maybe just because she sleeps more of the journey...

Avoid milky food/drinks for a few hours before travelling.

Open the window for short bursts every now and again.

The smell of the air con when it first starts is a trigger for her for some weird reason.

We found plastic bags too unwieldy for her to manage, but vital for the clean up job on the roadside, along with a change of clothes and wet wipes.

The best option for us is empty plastic take away containers which you can put the lid on to contain the sick/smell until you can get out of the car and dump it. Plastic Christmas pudding bowls are even better for avoiding aim disasters, but aren't free...

[newtoedf]

My daughter suffers (so much so that as a toddler on our first long car journey with her for a holiday in cornwall we had to stop and buy new clothes by the time we got to Devon as she'd already been through everything we'd packed for a 2 week break!)

Second/third/fourth advice about looking out the front, no books or tablets/dvds etc and avoiding winding roads. We've recently found audio books a big help on longer journeys (download them from audible onto her tablet) and I found incontinence pads make good disposable car seat covers if you cut holes for the straps (there is clearly a gap in the market!)

[Mathilda]

I agree with Saffron about head movement being a trigger - I used to sit next to my daughter with my hand on her forehead, to keep her head still when coming up to traffic lights, roundabouts etc! Now she is older (nearly 5)she doesn't need this thankfully and though often feels sick in the car she is rarely actually sick, I still sit in the back between the kids for long journeys though just in case. Definitely avoid milky foods / drinks beforehand and open a window.

[Inkmaiden]

Although things have got better for my daughter from about aged 5, our experience is still largely the same as everyone else-no large drinks/meals before travelling, stop-start in traffic journeys are the worst, dry, salty snacks help and window open.

And we buy these in bulk- much better than a container.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Travel-John-66829-TravelJohn-Vomit/dp/B003IW8IXI

[Buffnutter]

All the above, plus make sure you don't put your perfume on just before you get in the car! (My mum used to do it sometimes when I was little and it was a sure fire trigger.) Also petrol fumes at petrol stations. Koo-di potty training car seat pads are handy for making it easier to clean the seat afterwards and Rug Doctor Odour Remover great for when you scrub and scrub the seatbelt/buckle but still cannot seem to get rid of the smell!

[nunheadmum]

Liners for travel potty's can be useful too for being sick in, particularly for older kids who can direct it more.

Also discovered Gin-Gins this year - ginger flavoured sweets in various strengths. Probably won't stop a serious barfer but good for when you start to get a bit queasy.

We also used Travella homeopathic remedy for my daughter when she was younger. Still can't work out how they work but they did seem to help on all but the most windy country roads. (Always at the end of the journey, just when you think you've got away with it...!)

[bkkmei]

We used Kwells for kids. It was a revelation. My son was always car sick before but we went on holiday with the Kwells, took long bus journeys, even a bumpy boat ride and he was fine! He even read his book & played on a tablet during these journeys. Best gbp2.50 I ever spent!

[PohSuan]

Thank you to everyone for all your brilliant advice,very grateful.Am going to try out your suggestions on our next journey.