extremely car sick ds - any tips

[cheeselover]

Hi, from around the age on 12 months my son has been very car sick, even on short journeys. After a difficult holiday in forward facing hire car seat we had hoped a rear facing seat would help (have a BeSafe Izi) but although he can see out well he was still sick after only 10 mins of stop-start driving in London the other day.

Any tips appreciated! At the moment we just try to cycle/train everywhere possible but occasionally will need to drive places (Grandparents in rural area etc). Thanks in advance

What age is he? would think forward facing seat is prob best, just from personal feelings of being travel sickness sufferer. Don't let him have any books or anything close up in his hands, watching dvd's is prob a no no too, my ds, who doesn't usually get travel sick, sometimes feels queasy when he has his mini dvd player, maybe some music/kids cd on to occupy but not focus on would be better. Need to keep car coolish & have fresh air coming thru vents.
If u have choice of car (partner/parents), its usual for cars with hard suspension to be better & more bouncy cars to be worse, but not everyone responds the same. Also if possible to have ds in front (depending on age) then thats better too. If he can sleep for journey thats usually good too.
Hope this helps a bit, i remember being v car sick as child

How old is he?

Have you tried any of the over the counter medication?

How about distractions such as audiobooks?

It may not work for short distances or for a toddler, but in the end I go armed with bowls and towels and bottles of water. He does throw up, but because he has a bowl at hand I don't have to stop immediately. He isn't particularly distressed, and I can drive safely until a suitable stopping point.

We use the wrist bands for dd2 and dd4. Don't know how they work but they do. Would definitely recommend them.

I would second the wrist bands. I get very car sick and had to stop taking tablets when pregnant, but even more car sick than usual. I never went back to the tablets!

Thanks guys, he's 14 months, wrist bands sound good and hadn't thought of over the counter medication, don't know if he's too young but will look.

I would say try the wrsit bands, although they didn't seem to work for my DD. Travel sick tablets would be ok for long journies but not for every short journey you go on. I think you can also get some homeopathic remedy that may be suitable for babies so may be worth asking at the chemist.

DS1's travel sickness kicked in at that age - he is now 9 yrs.

Some of this advice isn't really age appropriate as your baby is only 14 months

1 Do not let the car get too hot - no heating and put the A/C on or open a window.

2 Do not give any dairy for brekkie - toast and juice. (you might need to wait a while for this one)

3 We use Kwell tablets which are very good, not sure what age you can use this fronm.

4 Travel bands are good

5 Never, ever buy an in-car DVD player - it will lead to barfsville.

6 I haven't used this tip but I have heard some people rave about putting newspaper on the car seat. If it doesn't stop the barfing it will at least absorb the barf.

7 Don't put the radio on too loud.

\link{http://www.expresschemist.co.uk/traveleeze_travel_sickness_pastilles.html\Traveleeze} worked on my travel-sick DS (flying as well as driving - ferries OK though, surprisingly!) but they say from age 2, & from a quick google, 2 is the lowest age given for any OTC pills.

They last 24 hrs so can be taken the night before; with luck they (& the idea of sickness) are forgotten about next day.

You can get sedatives for pets, can't you? I wonder if there's anything like that you can get for toddlers?

avomile worked for me from teeny.

Very useful, I'm going to start off with wrist bands and will note down the medicines for when he's two. We have another car journey to do at the weekend so will experiment! Really appreciate all your comments.

I get very car sick and I seem to have passed it on to dd2. Some tips that I have learned either through my own sickness or dd2's:

Never, ever let him read in the car

Try to play "I spy" or something so he always has to look out of the window.

Always keep a bowl or bucket in the car for occasions when he is sick.

Be prepared to stop and let him get out of the car if he feels sick.

Never let him travel on an empty stomach - the more he has eaten the better (but avoid dairy as a previous poster said)

If possible, take snacks for the journey - dd2 tends not to be sick or even feel sick if she's eating - she's a bit older so I take bananas, packets of crisps etc for her to nibble on. It sounds wrong but it really does work for her.

Always have a complete change of clothes in tne boot.

Obviously he's a little young for some of these, but you can bear them in mind for when he's a bit older. He possibly will grow out of it, but he might not - I didn't.