3 year old DD just developed car sickness. Please help.

[imblet]

My DD has been sick in the car 4 times in the last couple of weeks. I can only put it down to travel sickness as she is otherwise well. It is getting to the point where she doesn't want to go out in case she is sick and we are due to go away in a couple of weeks and the drive will be about 4 1/2 hours. I have never been car sick in my life so have no idea what to do. Any tips/suggestions.

Difficult,I suffer and so do two of ds's.i have never been keen on drugs ,but anything ginger is good for nausea,drink ginger cordial etc.We have tried wrist bands etc to no avail.Homeopathy can work but didn't for us.

i find distraction is best ,story tapes/cds,no reading or DVDs in car as the focusing causes a problem.Plenty of water and breaks and supplies of clean clothes and stuff to clean up as necessary so that she doesn't feel too dreadful if she is sick.

Not really suitable for a 3 year old but the best solution we have found is chewing gum as it stimulates the salivery glands.

sorry not much help but you both have my sympathy

Oh god, mine's just done this, too. Twice on holiday and once since we got back. I would welcome advice on drugs as DD hates gingery things.

joyrides are good

some info here

Travel bands worked for me.

Also play games that encourage her to look into the distance - I spy, spot the coloured cars etc. Focussing on toys and books in the car are sure to make her sick.

Keep the car as cool and airy as possible. Make sure there are no 'sicky' smells in the car - boiled sweets, sweaty people etc. (Not that I'm saying you smell!!)

lol @ sweaty people causing car sickness. Sorry it just appealed to my sense of humour.

Those Joy Ride things look doable. DD would think she was getting a sweetie, too! Anyone used them? I have also seen the travel bands in Sainsburys so will give those a try. Also, what homeopathic remedies are recommended for travel sickness, does anyone know?

I have used the joy rides and so has dd and they worked. I also used the bands on my dd and they worked too.

We've used joyrides, they do seem to work. DD had a spell of being sick during any journey over an hour, but she hasn't been sick once since we started using joyrides.
Not a big fan of drugs either, but some things are just necessary.

You can get them from Boots.

joy rides are fantastic. they do make people drowsy, though. iirc they last up to 24 hrs, so you can give them the night before, they get a good nights' sleep, then are ok in the car. kids really can't taste the medicine either.

i get really bad travel sickness, and it isn't just being sick. if she says she has a headache, tummy feels funny (she may say hungry), or noises are too loud, those are all symptoms as well.
fresh air, being able to see ahead all help as well.

NONE of the 'alternative' medicines help me - wrist bands, ginger etc, make no difference. try them if you want, but drugs have been my only answer.

DD always says her tummy hurts and the straps are too tight. I try and make her look out the front of the car etc but sure as anything, twenty minutes or so later she is sick. I try and get her to do it in a bowl or bag but it's hard to catch it! Cue smelliness (which can't help her if she feels sick anyway) and stickiness and yuk.

I will definitely try the Joy Rides, cheers everyone. We have to drive to Gatwick on Thursday morning so I will report back!

I took our kids to the GP last year as they both used to get very car sick. He prescribed an antihistamine called Phenargan which you give to the child the night before the journey, and top it up in the morning if you need to. I also have several friends who swear by it.

Whenever we go to visit the PILs, who live a 5-hour car journey away, we leave at 6pm so that, by the time the carsickness would normally kick in, the kids are asleep!

Luckily DS (now aged 5) seems to have grown out of it. DD is nearly 3 and still boaks if awake and the journey has lasted more than an hour though .... so will keep using the Phenargan!

Thank you all so much.
I got stuck with something at work so was delighted when I logged on again and found so much help. I will try the joyrides and if that doesn't help the phenargan might be the answer for the long drives.
I am really bad driving at night when I am tired so your idea mummy dragon won't work for me and little imblet hates ginger so no chance there.
I would love to hear back from you Horton after your trial with joyrides.
Thanks again all.

Phenergan is basically a v strong antihistamine that'll knock them out. All travel sickness tabs when I was a child were phenergan and I remember taking them and they are definitely not good for shortish journeys in the day. We've found travel bands to be miraculous with DD.

Hi. Can you sit your child on newspaper in the car? Have you recently changed the car seat?

Apparently sitting children on a newspaper or a magazine means they slide a tiny bit and this helps somehow.

A lot of schools do it on bus journeys. Well mine did anyhow.

Tic tacs work for DD! But you have to talk to her all the sodding way too. I guess that's the distraction bit.

OP it's worth buying disposable bed mats and putting one under the child and one on top like a blanket. Then if they are sick you can just fold them in on themselves and you can stow them in a plastic bag. No more changing clothes at the motorway services.

Always tie long hair back before car journeys. DD has gorgeous long curly blond hair which doesn't improve with the addition of bits of regurgitated toast.

Also keep bicarbonate of soda in a little pot in the car. Any small pools of sick, when mopped up should be sprinkled with it - this gets rid of the icky smell which will start everyone off vomiting.

Oh and if anyone has any tips for stopping me vomiting which clearing up DD's vomit, please let me know

i sometimes get travel sick even now and the only thing that has worked for me is that i must sit in the front of the car.I have no idea why this is but it has been an enormous help.This is one of the reasons why i would never go on a long coach journey

mummylin - I get carsick if I don't drive - DH loves this because he can drink when we go out knowing I would always wish to drive home to avoid hurling.

its a horrid feeling isnt it ,I also get sea sick so never again will i be going in any type of boat,strangely enough i am fine in the air.

Disposable bed mats or newspaper is an excellent idea, for under DD even if she won't tolerate something over her, thank you! At least it might mean we don't have to leave a sicky car seat in the car for a week while we're on holiday.

imblet, I will definitely let you know how we go with the Joy Rides. I plan to go to the chemist tomorrow and get something so will let you know what they recommend and how it works!

Oh god yes, I got canal sick once . Planes are different though and trains. Funny how cars and boats are bad but trains aren't.

i can go on a train but i have to be facing the way i am travelling,and if our friends and i get a six seater taxi out anywhere i cannot sit facing the wrong way.

Ooh I couldn't go backwards, I refused to go backwards on BA in club class. No, I like to see what I'm hitting when the train crashes

We are very odd you know that, everyone else has grown out of this, it's just us

well i am very old with grandchildren and i still havent grown out of it yet.dont think there is any hope for me now