Car sickness in kids - does taking a break every 30 mins help?

[Mamabear12]

Unfortunately, it seems my DD (3 years old) has car sickness if we are in the car more then 40 mins and if there are a lot of turns etc. She used to be fine when younger, but now complains of tummy aches and last car ride said she felt like she would throw up. This is my worse nightmare, as I have a sever phobia of vomitting. I know I must get over this some how w two young kids. But anyway, I read on tips for helping w car sick, but wanted to ask...bc once we got out of car after 15 mins she was completely fine. She never actually got sick...but was close I think. Anyway...we have a two hour drive coming up in a couple of months. If we take a break every thirty mins, does that reset her clock, like we would get another 30 mins before she starts feeling ill again? Sounds stupid I know, but I am not sure how it works. Like if she starts feeling better again and we get back in car, does she start feeling sick again right away, or do we have some time? I never had car sickness..my husband said he did as a child.

Oh gosh, stopping didn't really help me. What helped me then, and still does now when DH drives, is fresh air. I either have to have the window down or the a/c on.

Things that trigger me, are bad driving , ie jerky driving, as in sudden stop/starts, perfume smells esp musky style and other strong smells, and heat. And don't ask me to read a map or anything, I get really angry/agitated as it used to make me sick as a child, and I have the memory of that ingrained. I'm a terrible passenger.

My dd gets bad car sickness but we give her kwells kids. Makes a huge difference although they are difficult to come by just now. However I think they might be for over 4 years (dd is 5yo). I still get bad travel sickness and need to drive. Don't let her read/play iPad etc in the car.

It may be an old wives' tale but my ddad (coach driver) swore by sitting on a newspaper , something to do with the static electricity it causes. I've never tried it with any if the dc as they only feel queasy if they've been staring down at their gadgets for too long.

I was horrifically car sick as a child and still am now, though less so. Yes, taking breaks did help, also keeping cool, fresh air, sitting behind the drivers seat, sucking mints and story cds to distract me. Things that made it worse were bad driving, twisty roads, strong smells, trying to do anything other than stare straight ahead and bizarrely certain types of Music (think it was maybe a rhythm thing). I'm always fine if I sleep - any chance you could do the journey at night?

DS1 suffered terrible travel sickness, but nothing since we changed our car for one where he sits higher up and can see out more easily. It is possible to change her booster seat so she sits higher?

Usually seeing where they are going helps. So get her a forward facing seat that safely fits in the middle seat of the car then she can see through the front window easily.

Plus get kwells travel sickness pills from boots. Think it's about 1/4 tablet every 6/8 hrs at that age, but they will advise you there

If you can position her car seat in the middle so she can see out of the front? It makes a huge difference to be able to see in the direction of travel.

Are you me? I have the worst vomit phobia and my son 6 years old is car sick. I dread long car journeys and get very anxious during them. Sometimes he is ok and other times he is sick, open window and sing a long cds seem to help. I sit in the back of the car and literally feel like crying that I am stuck in a car with vomit, it is my worst nightmare too. Drugs made him drugged and was horrible for him and us. I can vouch for nightime travel, no sick when asleep. Stopping doesn't seem to stop it and is unrealistic on a long trip. I hate it and have a big problem with it and avoid long trips and has caused arguments with me and DP because he says I need to get a grip which of cause I do, but can't

I used to get awful travel sickness as a child and regularly had to do a 5 hour trip to see family. Bizarrely the only thing that worked for me was to eat the whole way! My parents used to pack a lunchbox with lots of little snacks that I could pick at along the way. Fresh air, staring straight ahead helped too.

I still can't look down or read on long car/train journeys!

My dsd has always had travel sickness. She says that when she feels sick she can't read or do anything other than look out of the window to orientate herself (e.g. on a boat they advise people to look at a fixed point in the sea). Opening a window for fresh air helps, but when she was little and not able to tellbus in advance we used to make sure we had a large pot on long journeys. She is much better now she's older but does sometimes take travel sickness pills - she's 15 though so not sure if there's anything out there for little ones.

This is clearly of no use to you right now but the only thing that cured me of travel sickness was learning to drive. I must look at the road differently now

Please encourage your DD when the time comes to learn to drive fairly quickly

Not sure what age you can have them, but the wrist bands have always helped me.

Being able to see out the front window too. I had one relative who was a very stop and start driver and I always puked in his car. Even on 30 min journeys. Keeping a constant speed on the motorways makes a huge difference.

Was horribly sick as a child. Stopping would have helped, but the nausea would have come back again once we restarted and more quickly than first time and so on. I used to always try and lie down (many years ago!), shut my eyes and block it all out. Music would help.
I still feel ill as a passenger and use the same tricks.

Our dc have been through it too. We avoid any toys or books in the car and line up various audio-books and nice music. The eldest sits in the middle to get the maximum outside view (moans the most) and we keep the car cool and let air in the windows when we can. Otherwise I try and sick proof the car for any long journeys, take sick bags and changes of clothes.

I was very car sick as a child and the thing that helped me the most was wearing pressure bands on my wrists, they were like sweat bands with a little plastic dome that pressed on the inside of my wrist. Don't know why they worked, but they did!

The pressure bands do help, you can get them from most pharmacies - about £8 (don't forget to ask for the child size).
Is she nearly 4, or only just 3? There are good anti-carsickness tablets available - various brands - which are generally for age 4+. You just have to give one 2 hours before travelling.
Also a stream of cold fresh air and view of the horizon. Could you sit her behind the empty front-passenger seat and remove the headrest so she has an uninterrupted forward view? Play I spy games to keep her looking out of the car and don't let her have toys or books.

DS2 (8 yrs) gets car sick and the only thing that helps is taking Sturgeron tabs 2 hours before a journey. No reading although watching films is okay and audio books have been a life saver.

I always make sure I take a complete change of clothes, bottles of water and wipes and keep a small bucket/bowl and towel by his feet.

I have 3DC, one gets horribly car-sick, one a bit, and one not at all. Things that help are:-

1. Sitting the child in the middle of the back row (we discovered this by accident after DC3 was born and DC1 moved to the middle seat - overnight his terrible car-sickness was cured!) I think it's because they're then looking straight ahead out of the front window.

1. Having fresh air coming into the car - we open DC3's window a bit before the journey starts and keep it open.

1. Making sure the DC has been to the loo before the journey starts, and has had a drink of water just beforehand. Also that they are neither hungry nor over-full. Also that they are not over-dressed (take off coat/big jumper) Basically any physical discomfort (full bladder, thirst, hunger, hotness, over-fullness) can set off feeling sick.

1. No books/toys that encourage looking down. Playing a game that makes them look out of the window helps. We count red cars.

1. Always take the non-scenic big-road route. Twisty roads and hills make it worse.

1. Encouraging the DC to fall asleep (especially before unavoidable twisty bits). They don't get sick while they're asleep. Setting off just after lunch is good for sleepiness!

1. If all else fails, having a large tupperware with a clip-on lid for them to vomit into and then seal up. Also a big pack of wet wipes, some nappy sacks/plastic bags to put the soiled wet wipes/clothes into. Also, putting a big t-shirt over whatever the DC is wearing before the journey starts, so ideally you can just peel that off and they're clean underneath. And a towel under them over the car seat to minimise soiling on that!

Good luck.

My ds2 gets terrible car sickness, as do I, he's better if he's in the front seat which isn't always practical I know. Lots of fresh air And steady consistent driving with as few twists and turns as possible

I second the sitting on newspaper idea. Always seems to work; I have no idea why!

Have her eyes checked.

Seriously, it's a feature of eye trouble that she can't scan smoothly.
She may have a squint, or her muscles may be too strong on one side of her eye. You're looking for convergence problems, so go to a proper optometrist, not just spec savers for a focal length test.

My dd had travel sickness until she got glasses. She also sits up front, so she's not seeing glimpses of things as we pass by.

Nothing to offer you about your vomit phobia, unless you want to start pouring out tins of beans onto plates as some kind of aversion therapy.

DD2 has always been car sick. Since she was 5 months. Even doing a 10 minute car journey she was sick. At 8 months we did a long 2.5 hour trip and she was sick everywhere! We went to the chemist and they gave us something called Phenergan and she hasn't been sick in the car since! We do only use this on long journeys now

Sit in front
Travel at sleeping time
Sit with eyes closed (never mastered it as a child but I would do this now if no other options)
Take anti emetic drugs

It's caused by confusion between what you can see (no movement relative to the car) and what you can feel (movement of the car). So not seeing, e.g, sleeping, or looking up and out of the car to see movement, is best.

Oh, always have a change of clothes for yourself! My mum nearly got me out of the car once (on way back from night away) and I was sick all over her. She wasn't impressed at having to change into pjs by the road side. Though the beeping drivers were impressed

My dd is 14 and has always had terrible car sickness. Not just nausea, actual, projectile vomiting.
She has Kwells or Joyride tablets every journey.

However, a few weekends ago we went away for the weekend. Driving for around 2 and a half hours. In the way there she had her tablets and was fine.
Whilst away, she had a flu type bug, and was taking paracetamol all weekend. Before we set off home she asked for a "tablet". Completely forgetting about the Kwells, I gave her a paracetamol. She believed she had been given a travel sickness tablet.
Guess what? No nausea or sickness at all. We didn't realise until we arrived home. Mind over matter?

Still air in the car always sets off my motion sickness. I don't like to drive or ride in a car without the fan going, ideally at medium or higher. If you're not driving at freeway speeds, opening the window might be an option.

Strong smells and warm temperatures are bad.

She's not still rear facing, is she? If she is, you want to turn her front facing. My motion sickness is always worse when I'm facing the back of a train.

This isn't the time for the scenic route. Major highways are best. People who get carsick do not enjoy scenic drives on winding roads, trust me on this. You might be able to make that tolerable, but it's probably never going to be enjoyable for her.

We have chewy candied ginger candies here in the US. Do you have those? Those help me with nausea.

Make sure you have something on hand for her to drink. Soda with sugar works well (ginger ale or Coke). Diet soda or water will help some, but not nearly as well. Juice that is more sweet than acidic might work. You don't want milk for this- it won't help nearly as well, and milk vomit is NASTY.

Sugar does help a lot of people with nausea. Unfortunately, healthier alternatives just don't seem to work as well.

Prepare for the worst. Have towels, paper towels, some bottled water for cleanup purposes, and a change of clothes (better, a couple of changes of clothes) for her. Have plastic bags (ideally, big Ziploc bags, or some bag that you can close and make watertight) to hold things that have been vomited on. If she is old enough to vomit into a cup or bag, a supply of large disposable paper cups or Ziploc bags would be good for this. That's going to work better than a reusable basin, because then you don't need to wash it, and it's easier to get the smell of vomit out of the car as soon as possible. The smell of vomit can trigger more vomiting.