what to do with a car sick toddler

[mollyb]

There have been a couple of discussions about older children, but what can I do with a 20month old who throws up horribly most journeys - from 2 to 300 miles, whether or not he's eaten recently, and regardless of whether he's tired or not. He's too small for barley sugar or pressure bands! Also- any good ideas on how rid our new car ofthe smell without resorting to firtree-shaped air fresheners? I've had to resort to sitting with him in the back when husband is driving so I can mop up as we go.....

This probably won't be any help at all, but as a child my mum used to feed me cold liver (I'm not joking here) and that was the only thing that stopped me being car sick!!

Could you give him lemonade or something - carbonated drinks sometimes help. Or a dry biscuit to eat in the car.

Mollyb my DS gets travel sick in the car although not to the extent of yours so its maybe easier to deal with although I have unpleasant and recent memories of sitting in the back and catching a handful of sick. Firstly he's not sick if he's asleep so any longer journeys I try to coincide with nap time. I try to avoid him looking down and concentrating on things so sing-a-longs help. Also if its a journey I'm particularly worried about I try to give him dry food (eg unbuttered hot cross bun, crackers, dry cheerios) beforehand. Sorry this might not work for you but it does help us, I think. I felt so sorry for him stripped bare in an emergency lay-by on the A42 on a recent holiday. Have asked in several chemists but no remedies available so young.

For the car... Firstly I can assume you have washed the car seat cover including straps (but them in a pillow case because of the metal bits). My DH has resorted to a nasty air freshener which I'm not overimpressed with because yes our car is also only weeks old. Have you tried spraying Fabreeze on the car seats? This helped with ours.

Homeopathic remedies work for my 2 dds and 2 dss (nephews), it's Petroleum 30, you can get it from good chemist/health food shops, or a homeopath. You can crush the tablet and give it on a spoon. My 2 were often sick on journeys but have never been sick if they take these. Good luck!

We used Febreze on our car after a disastrous journey with 2 dds being sick in turn. Seemed to work a treat. Sorry, no tricks for car sickness - they had a bug.

If you don't mind using medicine, Phenergan can help with car sickness. Ask at the chemist. But it will only be suitable for long journeys as it can make them sleepy and you won't want to drug your baby for the sake of a 2 mile journey.

Something else you could try, if your ds is cooperative, is a tape player and headphones. We discovered accidentally that this stopped our 2yr old being sick. You can buy special tapes but we just used toddler music tapes.

For ridding the car of the smell, you could wash the upholstery with a strong solution of bicarbonate of soda and water. Leave it to dry then vacuum any residue off. Then you could protect the seat with a cover available from Blooming Marvellous Hope your ds gets over his sickness soon. It's miserable for everyone.

My only comment is that he'll probably grow out of it. Mu elder brother was exactly like this to the extent that my mother had to take several changes of clothes for her and him on any journey. He's 3 years older than me and I don't remember him being car sick at all so he'd grown out of it by the time I would have been aware of it.

Other thought... is the car new to the extent that it smells of new plastic? That certainly makes me feel ill in a car (unless I'm driving). Are you wearing perfume or a particularly strong smelling deoderant that, in the confines of a car, make him queasy? A friend was always car sick when her mother wore perfume in the car.

The plastic seat covers from blooming marvellous are great - maybe cover the floor & bits of the seat with an easily removable and washable towel too as the sick will slide off the plastic covers (Oooh delightful!)

Hope this helps!

I suffered terribly from travel sickness as a child (until about 9 yr old I think) and my mum swears by ginger nut biscuits - apparently I would take ages to chomp through them as they are so hard, and the ginger is excellent for upset tummies.

They certainly worked for me when I suffered from morning sickness with both ds as well.

mollyb - what position is he sitting in? If he's behind the driver or passenger, then perhaps changing his position to the middle of the back or to the front passenger seat might help, because he could then see out more easily. I've always found that being able to see out forwards helps a lot.

Also, is he anxious about the journeys? That could make him more likely to be sick. But I'm not sure how you could help him there - he may not be old enough to understand.

when I recently bought some seabands in Boots, they had child-sized ones, but not sure if they'd be small enough for a 20 mth old. they certainly work for me.

My daughter suffers sickness when on long journeys and I have found that peptic bismol (thick pink liquid) helps her.

I came across this medicine once when I came into work one day with a really, really bad hang-over. I obviously looked as rough as I felt and one of the girls in my office asked if I had food poisoning when I was being sick in the toilet (I really was that hung over) and I just said yes to save further embarrassment.

She went to our local chemists and bought this peptic bismol. Even though I was hung-over as opposed to having food poisoning, peptic bismol settles the stomach and helps nausea.

I always keep a bottle in my medicine cupboard and, after reading the bottle one day, noticed that it is also recommended for car sickness.

My daughter has it 1 hour before a journey and has not suffered sickness since.

Although, it is worth mentioning that she is nearly 10 and has been using this medicine since she was about 8 so I am not sure if it would be suitable for your young child.