Car Sickness

[StilltheSame]

Crazy - just read that you are going out today - try fresh air with the window down blowing in his face if you can - it always makes me feel better than air conditioning - even if its a bit warmer. Let us know how the little guy does.

[springfieldva]

I know of a mother who (on the advice of a pediatrician) gives her school aged kids a dose of Benadryl before they take long car trips.

[StilltheSame]

I have done that - a diluted dose - in rare circumstances for a long car trip - the most recent being last year - we flew for 4 hours and then had a 5 hour drive through the mountains - it helped one - the other threw up - 4 times!

[phonelady61]

Originally Posted by StilltheSame

I have done that - a diluted dose - in rare circumstances for a long car trip - the most recent being last year - we flew for 4 hours and then had a 5 hour drive through the mountains - it helped one - the other threw up - 4 times!

I was just going to say the same thing that only served to make me quesy as well . My car sickness laughs at benadryl . LOL !!! pretty much like roaches laugh at raid ,oh well you get the idea .

[sweetana3]

Whenever you are planning any motion sickness medication, it MUST be taken well ahead of time so it is in the system before the motion begins. Otherwise it cannot be kept down.

[returningtonepa???]

asak your pediatrician---there are many new products out there--some can be worn behind the ear--if sleepiness is a side effect that's so much better!

[crazyme4878]

Today went very well! We didn't even have to stop for him to walk around. I think his sickness is directly related to heat. It was cool this morning and evening and we kept the air conditioning on strong. I picked up some peppermint candy for the future. I'm hoping that he can use them as a talisman to make him feel better about going out of the valley. Right now, he whines and complains and pleads not to go anywhere on dirt roads...which leaves about ten miles of road to travel! He doesn't believe me on the air conditioning, water, and closing his eyes--all of which I have tried to get him to do before this thread. This is something physical he can see and hold and decide when to eat.

I forgot to get him the shade, but I can put up a towel in the window if needed until we get one.

Thank you so, so, so much everyone!

[jungeon]

Originally Posted by crazyme4878

I tried searching the threads without any luck on this issue yet. Does anyone have a good way of dealing with car sickness in young children? I don't really want to give him dramamine (sp?), but if it gets bad, I might have to.

My son is 6 and began getting carsick on dirt roads around age 3. We just moved and now to leave "town" (which you have to do to go anywhere, including the grocery store) you have to drive for about 40 minutes over mountianious, curving, washboard dirt roads. So far, he has only gotten sick once or twice. But he dreads leaving the valley and doesn't want to go anywhere. We currently only have a sedan, but plan on getting a SUV when money allows it. Maybe that will help?

I was thinking about putting him in the front seat until we get to the highway, but I just finished reading two threads about that on here and it sounds too dangerous. The middle-back seat only has a lap belt, so it won't work with his booster.

Anyone have tricks of the trade? He doesn't read or look at anything in the car anymore. I have tried telling him to look out the front window and not the side, but he says he can't see the front. I also blast the air conditioning to make it cooler for him.

Actual there is a very simple cure for motion/car sickness.
First you must understand what motion sickness is. It is when your inner ear and eyes are saying 2 different things to your brain. Its no different than being spinned around really fast and feeling sick to your stomach after.
I'd also like to add that my mother, brother, grandmother and myself all have motion sickness to varying degrees. Luckily I lived in a city where half the time your standing on a bus so you never even realize that you are motion sickness sufferer(you don't get motion sick while standing).
1)It is no wonder your son is getting sick, car sick children should always travel in the back centre seat. In my car which has 6 seats 3 in the front and 3 in the back, the only one a child can see straight out of the front is the middle centre seat. Hence as a kid I never even knew I had motion sickness.
2)Minty gums or flavour make motion sickness feel not as bad. Motion sickness can be affected by the way you sit. When I sit facing forward on a train I feel motion sick. Facing sideways or backwards I feel nothing. As well as hot spices on the mouth because it just makes you forget about feeling sick
3)In my day car seats boosteres never existed, make good use of it, and make your son ride backwards.
4) Go easy on the pedal heavy foot, quickly breaking, or accelerating whic many women makes motion sickness worse
5)Ask the dealer for a smooth riding car, one with good suspension that doesn't bounce around too much when it hits a bump which worsens MS.
6)Closing your eyes helps a little, because your eyes don't get so messed up
7)Focusing on a distant object is not to bad either if you can 6 if you can;t do 7
8)Do not eat before you travel. If you leave in the morning better to travel on an empty stomach and eat on return than to eat full drive and feel sick. If he still feels sick, do not eat dinner the night before. I am a student so maybe it is easier for me to skip meals than a 6y/o, but eating intensify motion sickness or MS.
9)The cure for motion sickness as far as I know is which I only ever had to use twice in my life dates back to my african grandmother who invented it when she use to have to go on long drives with my dad into town as they live in the middle of nowhere. Not another person for as far as the eye can see in a 9 hour drive up and down sand dunes. Its a mix of herbs which you drinking hot the only one I know to exist in america would be garlic tea made from crushed garlic and putting a newspaper on the stomach.

[wyoquilter]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this or not because I haven't read all the responses, so I'm sorry if this is a repeat.

Look into giving your son Ginger. It has been studied and has shown that it greatly helps with motion sickness as well as most any other reason for an upset stomach.

Here is but one link to many different sites that talk about the affects of Ginger for motion sickness and/or an upset stomach.

From Motion Sickness to Chemotherapy, Ginger Can Help | EcoSalon

I know that eating gingersnaps when I have an upset stomach really helps and this was before I learned that Ginger helps with nausea.