in car pukage...anyone got tips?

[preciouslillywhite]

my dd, after 5 years of sometimes looking greenish when in the car, and occasionally throwing up (about once or twice a year), has now decided (after a nasty incident on a coach from Harwich at the beginning of summer) that she gets Officially Travel Sick.This means that she now goes green about a minute into a journey and has to get off whatever she's on-car or bus-usually in middle of nowhere.

It's a pain- not only cos we're always finding ourselves walking up and down random streets in Streatham or Thornton Eath on the way to somewhere else while she "gets some fresh air" but cos it's really sad to see her little peaky face-journeys are now no fun at all for her and she's already starting to ask me anxiously about the details before we go anywhere...

Anyone got any tips?

Sit her in the middle seat at the back and tell her to look out of the front window. They are more likely to be car sick looking out of the side windows.

there are wrist bands which put pressure on an acupuncture point on the wrist which we bought in desperation after a nightmare journey to cornwall...(9 hours!)

I was very sceptical but they seemed to work for ds, especially because he had sort of decided he was travel sick...

Cream crackers to nibble on helped sometimes. And sniffing a lemon!

Some cars do roll a lot in the back (I'm thinking of an ancient Renault estate we had as a child).

There are also tablets you can get from pharmacist but not tried them.

i was a very sicky child, so much so that parents didn't get a car till i left home! i was also banned from school trips.

i mainly grew out of it but still can't go on coaches. be kind to her - i often got very snappy when trying not to be sick. never had any luck with tablets or acupressure things but do experiment.

oh yes renaults are vom-wagons. no reading, open front windows so fresh air. no travelling on an empty stomach either, not a good idea to be stuffed but i still get queasy if in a car when hungry. could try her in front seat.

Agree with open windows, and looking out of front.

DS (3) gets travel sick, and we carry sick-kit: bowl, wipes, spare clothes and plastic bag. He's really good at asking for the bowl (usually doesn't give us enough notice to actually pull over). He is also pretty neat about puking, so we hardly ever have to use spare clothes, but obv it;s reassuring to know they are there!

It sounds more like anxiety than actual travel sickness on short trips.

So I think you should look at treating her anxiety with distraction and relaxation techniques, and if that isn't enough, perhaps see your doctor or a homeopath or some alternative therapist for some ideas.

I have a very car-sicky daughter of 18 who has been so since she was around 8 years old.
She uses acupressure bands, and sits on a thick pad of newspaper and hasn't been actually sick in my car for years.
The newspaper earths the static electricity build-up or some such scientific explanation, sounds very odd but it works for her.

Thanks all...trouble is have three kids in the back- two (inc dd) have to go in car seats which have to both go by the side windows, so we can't be flexible and stick her in the middle.

We've tried opening windows, sucky sweets, frequent stops- none of it seems to make any difference. Will try the accupressure thingy, and tablets. Getting a bit desperate now though because we use the bus all the time and it's going to end up costing me a fortune on me oyster if all journeys have to be done in 5 minute bursts

I was sceptical about travel sickness bands as well, but they worked for us.

We moved house and the road in to town is fairly windy, plus roundabouts etc. ds2 was puking every time we went anywhere.

We told him about travel sickness bands, and kept our scepticism to ourselves. And he stopped being sick overnight.

Unfortunately it only worked for about 18 months!

However, he is rarely sick nowadays, and able to give us plenty of notice these days to find somewhere to stop. He usually feels better after actually being sick and isn't too bothered by it!

A nappy sack in a large ice cream tub or similar is our preferred vomit receptacle! (As the nappy sack is leak-proof and the contents can then be easily disposed of.)

Playing a DS or reading in the car is a complete no no for him, and makes him feel ill very quickly. Looking out of the window at the horizon helps, as does keeping the car cool and plenty of fresh air, and dressing very lightly - T-shirt no jumper.

We got in-car DVD players, but I didn't think he'd be able to watch them. But to my surprise it seems to have really helped. He hasn't been sick at all when watching a DVD since we got them 18 months ago.

Sorry that's so long, hope you find something useful in there!

castille- I think you're right about anxiety. she seems now to take it as a given that she will feel/be sick on any journey. As I said she was sometimes a bit dodgy before and never really made a causal link between car/being sick but now somewhere she has picked up on the concept of "car sickness"...

Goblinchild- I'm going to give the newspaper a go today and see if I can convince her it'll work beforehand!

One tip which worked for my brother (at that age) was upstairs on the bus and right at the front - looking out of the windows!!
Also in the front seat of the car with a steering wheel like dad!!

DD has moments of travel sickness -or rather she did until we discovered the sitting on a newspaper trick (a tip from a TA on a school trip).

I've no idea if its just the power of suggestion or if there is any science to it but it works for DD.

Personally, I hate going on ferries and use the acupressure bands. I still feel quite nauseous for the duration of the crossing but they stop me from actually puking.

sorry Roisin I missed you earlier- must have x posts. Will try the bands. Also the carbs Stripey

She sounds a bit like DD2.

She was travel sick a few times between the ages of 3 and 6, and although the memory of it still haunts her (she is 9 now), the thing that has helped her the most is me telling her that I was the same at that age and I just grew out of it.

She does still get very would up before travelling (and we have to travel a lot as we live in France, so ferries, planes and cars all required to see family), and she isn't an easy traveller, but she hasn't been sick for 3 years.

wound up not would up!

I still feel awful now if I have to sit in the back seat. And I still feel sick if I so much as glance at a map - would it be possible to to move her seat into the front?

I think she's too small BabyValentine- she's only just 6. And a little 6 to boot...don't you have to be 12?or quite tall?

I get carsick and so does DD (who is 3). Mint tic tacs seem to help DD a bit, for me, I have to drive. That's no sodding help to you OP (sorry) .

Can I just ask of other people with sicky kids - does anyone think it's related to the car seat? I have switched DD into a Britax Trio and since then she's been vomiting most car journeys. It's a sit up seat rather than a reclined one like her old one (a Britax first class) and it's an absolute bugger to clean when she hurls on it because it dribbles down the holes in the sides onto the car upholstery (urgh).

I think children can travel in the front as long as they are in a child seat and you turn off the airbag though.

Sorry I can't read the posts as it makes me feel sick (pregnant)But I suffer from travel sickness.This is what works for me, a hard sugary sweet,sitting in the front and following the road as if I am driving and never looking anywhere eles.One look to the back and the sickness kicks in.Good luck.

And if she is sick, a tupperware bowl with a lid keeps the smell in, won't leak and can be washed out easily.

the newspaper thing really does work! my physics teacher told me about it years ago as i used to get terribly car sick! try it! it works! its something to do with static...

What - literally just sitting on a newspaper?

I was an awful traveler as a child after mum and dad bought a Montego - bloody awful - we nicknamed it the vomit comet (although as it only went up to about 50MPH comet was a little over the top).

Like the OP I then persuaded myself I got car sick and was sick most journeys - there is still a family joke about Birch Services (we never got past them - and when I went back I was amazed how close they were).

Nibbling at ready salted crisps helped me, as did singing along to Barry Manilow .

I have never been sick through drinking alcohol though - so that's something.

One of those tall plastic boxes from Terry's Chocolate Orange segments makes a good 'sick bucket' - fits neatly into side pockets, big enough opening to chuck into. Or one of those cereal dispensers sold in £ shops - you want something which can be quickly grabbed & has a lid.

Keep a 'Vom Bag' in the car, consisting of a t-shirt & jeans for each dc, selection of carrier bags for bagging noisome clothes, wipes, mints.

Once 1 dc has chucked, open windows, bag soiled clothes etc & put out of sight - or the sight/smell will set the others off...