Car Sickness - Are some cars worse than others?

[Nicnocknoo]

My dh has just agreed that we can get a new car. As ds1 gets very car sick, I was wondering if anyone could share their experience of whether different makes of car are worse for travel sickness?

Our last two cars have been Peugeots.

Not sure about makes of cars, but wanted to let you know what helped my DS, who used to get very travel sick. He took Phenergan, which is a hayfever treatment, but has the side effect of warding off sickness. You can get it over the counter at chemists and tell them it's for travel sickness, as it's well-known for this. Be warned though that it can make you either very sleepy or very hyper - affects people differently. Sleepy is good for long journeys, but obviously hyper isn't, so test it out first.

My DS is now old enough to hold a bowl, and if he gets sick, pukes into the bowl. Very easy to clean up

AllDirections - how interesting. Heightened sense of smell (air fresheners, leather seats,even perfume or aftershave etc), migraines, hyperemesis, travel sickness. Me too. I know there is a connection between migraine and post op vomiting (I get that too).

So sorry to hijack the original thread, but it does all seem a bit more than coincidental.

I am sure they are all connected follyfoot. I vaguely remember coming across some research that connected ice-cream headaches and motion sickness in childhood with migraine in adulthood.

Yes! We've always driven Fords with the odd other make here and there. DS1 has never had any problems, ds2 is fine to watch one dvd then has to stop for half an hour before watching another. This was how we did long journeys in our Mondeo.

We bought a Xsara Picasso when DD was born. 1st time out in it, within 15 mins ds2 was complaining of feeling sick, one time we were out, ds1 was complaining of feeling like he was going to be sick. We got home, he stepped out of the car and threw up. Even in the front you felt travel sick tbh. We only had the car for 2 months. I've heard of a few other people suffering with terrible travel sickness in Picassos.

We now have a Galaxy adn no worries with that at all.

In my experience french car are the worst - who knows why. When I was a child my parents had first a citroen, then a renault and I was sick ALL the time. Then they bought a volvo, and no more vomiting.

Yep, get ice cream headaches too....

Follyfoot, AllDirections - definitely all connected. DS suffers from cyclical vommiting syndrome (sometimes referred to as adominal migraine) which is linked to migraines and also motion sickness. I'm going to start questioning him on his sense of smell.

I'd heard french cars were worse too. Softer suspension again.

Mypandasgotcrabs -thanks for the info re Ford as was wondering about a Galaxy...

Aw, poor him, have just googled it and it sounds horrible

Wont it be interesting if he has a heightened sense of smell too? If my daughter sprays a tiny bit of body spray on in the car, it will make me retch. If someone is smoking in the car in front of me and has their window down the teeniest bit, I can smell it. If the lad in our office walks through the door, the smell of his aftershave (with undertone of cigarette smoke) is overwhelming. Yet I dont think anyone else notices or can even smell it. All very odd.

I've also got vestibular neuronitis so unpicking that from symptoms that have been around since childhood is quite difficult sometimes.

my niece (3) throws up in cars, planes, buses- everthing that moves, pretty much. i still suffer quite badly too but mostly only in cars. someone suggested getting a motion sickness wrist-band in a chemist - supposed to work like accupuncture as it has a little ball that presses a point inside the wrist. a friend's DD apparently stopped feeling sick completely after wearing it. sorry this not helpful re car make but just something med-free to try, possibly......

I still suffer badly (unless I'm driving) - I find that sitting in the front passenger seat is next best, then in the middle of the back seats (so I can see out the front windscreen). Cars where there isn't much roof height set me off as well. But a lot of it is driving style - when DH drives it's all accelerator-brake-accelerator-brake adn the "lurching" makes me sicky (and DD2 actually sick). The "sitting up straight and paying attention to what's going on around" advice also make sme feel worse - if i close my eyes and zone out if I have to be in the back of the car, I'm usually not too bad.

I keep the temperature as low as everyone can bear it, and stop as soon as anyone shouts "I feel sick" even though the DDS are mostly OK.

Apparently when I was small, if we were going out anywhere, my mum used to dress me in my oldest clothes as I would always be sick before we got to wherever it was, and would need to be changed in the car park.

I get travel sick, as do both of my dd's. For us, a hard firm ride seems to help a lot, spongy soft suspension is a real killer. My dh has had two peugeots as company cars and they have been terrible. Longer cars also seem to set us off (I always put my seat well forward when sitting in the front). Other triggers have been leather seats (think its the smell) ,black interiors, and tinted windows.
Vauxhalls have always worked out quite well, think they generally are quite firm, but we fared much better in the Astra than the Vectra. hth and good luck.

Yes, I get travel sick, have done since small, hard suspension much better than soft. Also to have large rear side widows is good, less 'closed in', dark tint on rear side windows a no-no too. Cars with low seat position quite bad too (I think)

V important for rear passenger (if travel sick one) to have good clear views out the front of car.

Thank you for all the advice - really helpful and the bad experiences mirror many of those of ds. A Peugeot estate clearly is not the best choice!

Follyfoot - I remember when ds was a baby he used to get very agitated and upset if I picked him up when I was wearing perfume or if dh was ewaring aftershave...

I still have it now, so only ever sit in the front.

I never eat anything first thing in the morning before going in a car either, I take a pack up and eat en route. I found that was the only way to avoid being sick.

DD used to get badly travel sick :(

as above erratic driving would set her off - always puked in SIL car & was so embarrassed poor might:( - SIL realised there were lots of speed bumps on her usual route home & now avoids those & takes a straighter route - BIG improvement

SIL also has a bigger car, as does my Dad & she was always sick in his too -

Basically over the years we've realised that she seems better in smaller cars - or big cars are fine - with more careful driver - picking your route carefully helps - avoid twist, turns, roundabouts & speed humps as much as possible - car air fresheners are a definite no no - no milk or anything similar a few hours before a journey - stick to water or cordial - no sweets etc either - simple foods such as rice

The sea sickness wrist bands are a godsend for DD, but she still likes to have a bucket & plastic bags she can grab herself - it makes her feel more secure, even though she's rarely sick now:)

Oh & as you mentioned his sense of smell - you might want to try him with lavender aromatherapy oil - but ONLY the real PURE stuff - its anti sickness & calming too, so can help - DD can't handle chemical air fresheners but loves Lavender :)

Nicnocknoo, that's really interesting! Doctors said that DD1 suffered from abdominal migraines but I still don't know much about it. She's had regular migraines since she was six and has a lot of time off school. She starts vomitting within 20 minutes of getting a migraine and the smell of leather or celery can set it off.

Rockinhippy, I wonder if lavender oil might help when we have migraines or when we feel them coming on.

Adult or child?? AllDirections (sorry tired & brain dead

Rosemary oil is better for the start of headaches/migraine, - but not good for a very small child, I use it on my DD(8) as headlice repellant too though - Lavender & or Chamomile are the only oils you can safely use on very small kids - Lavender good for sickness, stress, antiseptic & to boost immunity

hope that makes sense

Thanks rockinhippy, it's for me and DD1 who is 14 so rosemary oil will be fine. Also for DD2 who is 10 but she gets migraine less frequently. How do you use it? Straight on the skin???

I was thinking that I might get some lavender to use in the car but I think it might cause me to be more carsick due to the strong smell on top of the car 'smell'.

I put a drop on my finger & wipe it across my forehead - same as those sticks you buy but more effective as its pure stuff

if they are older then you could use it in the car too, as its a refreshing smell - its used for jet lag too

nicknocknoo - I'd recommend the Galaxy all day long. I've got the mk2 so is the same as the VW Sharan & Seat ALhambra. We got the Galaxy as we're Ford people, and much prefer the Ford styling both internally and externally to the other two. I've been in the middle row once coming back from a long journey to settle DD down and each row of seats is higher than the one in front so you get a good view out of the windscreen even in the back.

If you're looking at the mk2 age, try to get one with the built in car seats. Ours has and they're brilliant, much comfier for the older ones than one of those hard booster seats and a lot higher as well. PLus they have a bit that pulls down so can be used from when they come out of the rear facing seats if you have a baby.

My 5 yr old DD started complaning about feeling queasy in our car - Ford S-Max diesel. She was fine in our old one (Volvo).

I've actually found the worse car I've ever been in for travel sickness is the Ford Galaxy. I've felt or even been sick in two different Ford Galaxy's - the original shape 1990's type. Newer type seems better

Avoid anything too high up! XSIL had a jeep thing, not sure what make, and it rolled around like a ship in a storm. Grim despite good visibility. And I NEVER get travel sick. It really was awful.