motion sickness sentiments (Photo credit: lilywarrior)

The first time one of our children threw up from motion sickness was on an overstuffed airplane. Our three kids were all under the age of 7 and I was working hard to ignore all complaints from all members of my family (“I’m hungry”, “I want to get out of my seat”,  ”I have to go to the bathroom”, “We are never traveling with kids again”, “I feel like I am going to throw up”).  The last one registered when my then 2 year old son hurled all over himself and me. Now the phrase of “I feel sick” during any phase of motion including a 3-D movie sends me running and we never take long car rides without the “throw up pitcher” and some definite precautions.

Five Tips to Deal With Motion Sickness

1.  Encourage your child to look out the window and focus on something far away.  It keeps the mind and body in sync (mind sees movement and body feels movement).  One perk of getting car sick is that you get to sit as close to the front of the car as is safe. Third row seats are enclosing and don’t allow enough visual moving input for a child prone to car sickness.

2.  Sea Bands.  You can buy these in most pharmacies and at Target. the pressure point can help with motion sickness.

3.  Ginger.  The data is conflicting but try some ginger tea or ginger gum before and during travel.

4.  One of my son’s teacher swears that the candy Lemon Drops cured her brother of car sickness.  We tried it and surprisingly it seems to work!  It may be the strong flavor or the sugar or just plain placebo effect.  Suddenly ALL of my children were feeling sick and asking for lemon drops!!

5.  Medication.  Talk to your child’s pediatrician before giving even over the counter medicine for motion sickness.  I found that Dramamine left my children dazed for a whole day.  Benadryl can have some anti-nausea effect and might help your child sleep during the ride.  Meclizine is available without a prescription and can be helpful for children 12 years of age and older. Again, all of these medications can have potentially serious side effects so talk to your pediatrician to see if any are right for your child.

Some kids just get sick.  Don’t let this ruin your car adventures!  My friend who travels regularly with her four children who ALL get car sick just brings a dedicated pitcher (“the throw up pitcher”) with a lid and empties at the rest stops!  Sounds gross but life goes on…

What works for your children?