Could it be travel sickness?

[Posey]

Ds, who is now a year old, is the most appalling traveller. Any journey over about 15minutes long and if he's not fallen asleep, he's screaming. He's been like this since about 4 or 5 months of age, around the time he went into a proper car seat in the back. Normally he's a really happy boy, but just cries inconsolably on journeys.
Could he be feeling sick at this early age? I had car sickness from the age of 2 and it seems to affect all the 2nd born children on my side of the family. Wherever possible we travel to coincide with sleep times, but still he sems to wake after 45 minutes. Both our families live away so we do do a bit of travelling.
Anyone got any experience of this and any suggestions as to what we can do to help him.
Thanks

Some kids love the car, some seem to hate it. Maybe he's feeling sick maybe he isn't, but you'd probably have had some "evidence" by now if he were carsick. When possible (i.e. when someone else was driving) I would sit next to ds in the back & distract him in every way possible: toys, picture books, snacks. When he was around 1 yr old we also invested in a few children's cd's which, over time, provided comfort & enjoyment. But sitting with ds had its pitfalls too of course; it set up an expectation that I would always be back there with him. The dislike of the car seems to get less pronounced over time, though it can take a few years.

Unfortunately we had this with our ds1 from a very early age until approx 20 months. All car journeys had to be planned round his sleep and even short journeys of 30 minutes to the nursery resulted in continuous screaming and whining. We tried everything from food, drink, sitting next to him but nothing worked. The worst journey was when we got stuck in the French petrol strike and were attempting to get to the ferry port despite road blocks. The whole journey took 3 hours and during that time ds1 screamed non stop for 3 hours. Despite taking him out his seat, playing with him etc etc, nothing worked. Even as he got bigger things didnt improve. I tried nursery rhymes/songs etc which helped a little and it got to the point when I couldnt take it any longer after ds2 came along. Ds1 was 18 months old by now and the only thing that would snap him out of it was to stop the car, undo my seat belt, turn round and put my face about an inch from his and scream at the top of my voice to shut up and miraculously he would. Pretty extreme and very unpleasant to do but I would have killed him otherwise. I think he got so used to screaming he would just do it regardless.

after my ds1 was about 12 months i started talking to him about all the things around eg. oh look here are the traffic lights red for stop, here's a tractor oh look at those wheels etc. he then became interested in his surroundings. this also corresponded to the time he changed to a forward facing car seat. can you put him in the front (no passanger airbag)? i also bought a tape with children singing on it as he responded to the voices - he wouldn't respond aswell to nursery rhymes sang by manic deranged actors in that horrible patronising 'up down' way
have also heard about a toy steering wheel with sounds for children that sticks onto dashboard as he will enjoy copying you though this may need the batteries to be taken out to keep sanity.

My son has been the same, now at the age of two he has changed for the better. I usually keep his favourite toys in the car and he is only allowed to play with them there. He also enjoys music, so I play his favourite CDs for him. Raisins in a small box takes him ages to eat, as does an apple. I also got him a car seat that you can put backwards in the car, so he can sit in the front seat next to me facing me which makes it easier for me to talk to him (apart from actually being safer than the forward facing ones). Apart from that I can only say that your son will probably get used to travelling in the end, but it could be another year.

A dummy and constant, non-stop nursery rhyme tapes worked for us. In the end I not only knew all the words of all the songs, but even knew the order they would come in. Worse, I started to have favourites. 'Oooh, Wind The Bobbin Up, I like that one!". He loved the Monkey Music tapes in particular and in the end I'd heard it so often, I barely noticed it, and even when I was in the car on my own I'd find I'd driven for 10- 15 minutes with the tape on without noticing.
The higher seat so he could see out also seems to make life more interesting too. Also food - oatcakes, banana and stuff, and drinks, provided regularly. I do sympathise, it sounds grim.

Thanks everyone for your help.
He normally has a companion in the back, his 6 year old sister who tries very hard to entertain him. When she's fed up, her car seat moves to the front, I drive and daddy goes in the back.(he does it because he finds it hard to concentrate on driving with him screaming, and if I sit with him in the back I just start feeling sick!)
We use lots of toys but will try the steering wheel one. And the endless supply of food!
Thanks again, its given me some ideas to try.

I am reading this thread with great interest as we went on a 40 min car journey at the w/end and Dd1 (3) was sick after 20 minutes and moaning etc. and Dd2 was also moaning and crying inconsolably after 20 min. We only use a car about 2x year, but it is a major problem when we do! What do people do have children who suffer from travel sickness but they have to use the car regularly? Company, food, travel bands all seem to be ineffectual. Help!

We have similar problem with ds (age 5.5). We give him Joy Rides tablets available over the counter, not sure if you can give them to under three yr olds. He needs to take them 20 mins before start of journey, & they seem to work for up to 6h! dd (age 3.5) now showing signs of developing travel sickness, mind you both dh & I are STILL travel sick so there's no hope for our children. I always keep a spare set of clothes for ds & dd, wipes & a plastic bowl in the boot of the car!!

My two have both suffered badly from travel sickness since the age of 1. They have been sick in cars, coaches, planes and ferries. They have been sick sometimes just going to the local sainsburys and sometimes we have had blissful intervals of a few months with no sickness.We have had some hellish journeys (short and long) and we have tried to minimise the amount of travel we have done as a result of this problem.
Tried everything suggested on this thread, most of the suggestions help but do not solve the problem. It is hard work and if the journey is on country roads sometimes you just have to accept it will be bad one. As soon as they are old enough teach them to use a bowl when they feel ill,(we keep a tupperware container between them on the seat). Ours feel much more upset about being covered in vomit, than actually being sick and it is not always possible to stop in time. Always keep a kit in the boot, spare clothes, wipes, bottle of water for rinsing.
Try and keep stop if they start to feel bad and let them walk around a bit.
Another tip is to put something under their feet in the car (we use and upturned empty toy crate). I was told that if they can rest their feet on something it helps to stop that 'fairground ride' feeling.
When they are old enough, personal steros can help (with story tapes). If any one finds a magic cure please let me know.

Thanks again all.
The reason I wondered if it was car sickness even tho' he's never actually been sick is that my cousin (40+) still has travel nausea very badly but has never been sick.
I remember being given some awful medicine before car journeys. Don't know if it was an anti-emetic or just a sedative cos I would always fall asleep really quickly so wouldn't feel sick!
Will just carry on with the recommendations and see how it goes for now.

I have a couple of suggestions. Try changing car seats. Maybe you could borrow from friends. My cousin bought 3 or 4 car seats (she has lots of money) before finding one that her eldest ds liked. Luckily the next two kids were happy with his choice.

Also, as far as car sickness goes, it's really important to view the horizon (or at least as far away as possible) to avoid motion sickeness. Try and distract your child with outside things far away. Play a spot the tree/car/bird game. And don't give them books, toys etc. to play with. Also, if it's possible, try changing drivers and/or cars. My ds always threw up with my dh driving in his car and never with me driving in my car and only sometimes with my dh driving in my car. Try not to feed them too much, or anything very sweet before travelling. I have lots of experience with this as both my ds and I suffer terribly from motion sickness. I couldn't go on swings or seesaws for any length of time as a child and neither can he. He even threw up in a plastic paddle boat in 6" of water after a few minutes of "bobbing" in the sea.

Thanks SophiaAmes! I have a few friends with children out of car seats now so could ask to try theirs for a journey and see if it makes any difference.
Also does anyone know if there are any legal things regarding children travelling in the front?
I am always better in the front than the back as I can see the bends as they approach etc and prepare myself for them. If he travelled well in the front I would happily sit in the back with dd while dh drove on long journeys.

If you are in the uk I don't think there is any legal problem with having a child in front. The only issue would be if you have an airbag on the passenger side in front...if so, under no circumstances should you let your child sit in front.