Travelling challenge!

[lottiemungo]

DS (9yo AS) and I are going to visit family abroad in a few days. DS gets very travel sick and perhaps more significantly gets anxious about doing so. The journey will involve an hour long flight and an hour long car journey- nothing huge but it's massive for DS. we haven't done this trip for 3 years but it means a lot to me try to do it. DS is ADAMANT that he is not going. He can't stay home with DP coz DP cannot take tine off work, so if he refuses on the day then I'll have to miss the trip too. I've done a social story. I've shown him, and he has tasted, the anti-travel sickness tablets. He knows he can watch a DVD on the plane, or listen to music or whatever. He knows on the car journey we can stop every 20 mins if need be. I've shown him photos of the family we'll be seeing and who's collecting us at the airport. He's now refusing to discuss it at all and insists he's just not going. I've only got 4 days left, flights are booked etc obviously. Any suggestions of what else I could try?

By the way, DS rarely actually throws up, it's almost always just feeling nauseous. Distraction and listening to music works a treat. But just getting him to go is the issue, to be willing to give it a try.

Hi lottie I really struggle with motion sickness too and it is horrible so I can see why he doesnt want to go.

Probably a daft question but have you ever tried travel bands?

www.chemistdirect.co.uk/travel-blue-comfort-bands-for-travel-sickness/prd-h93?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Brand%20%7C%20PLA&utm_content=sRxW8sVnY%7Cdc_pcrid_24645831011

I dont know if it is psychological or not but they really do work for me and believe me I am rubbish in the car unless I am driving and sometimes even then I feel sick

Good luck

Can he sit in the front of the car? I get horribly travel sick but it's much worse in the back.

Also, is there a way of planning the route for the car journey so that you go on straight, main roads as much as possible?

Can he suck boiled sweets / mints (polos are good) or have something dry and sweet to snack on?

Also agree with ineed, the bands are worth a try (if only for the psychological, anxiety-calming effect).

my dd has motion sickness, it makes it worse watching dvd's or playing her ds while traveling. if we needed to travel when she was younger we had a lucky dip bag...with travel games from the pound shop, some fiddle toys etc, we would play the games together to take her mind off the journey. she looked forward to the lucky dip bag as she didn't know what was in it. I know this doesn't help the travel sickness but might take his mind off it.

Thanks all. Have been out all afternoon so couldn't reply earlier. He has tried the wristbands before but claims they make him feel worse!! Not sure how he's arrived at that conclusion but he's difficult to budge on that belief! And yes he'll be allowed to sit in the front which I agree does make a big difference. I like the idea of a lucky dip so I'll have a think about what it could contain.

The main obstacle is the psychological leap he has to make in advance of the trip. Think I might offer him a computer game that we have promised for his birthday, but give it to him when he arrives if he does the trip instead. I feel fairly okay about the trip itself coz I have lots of strategies up my sleeve. It's getting him to agree to go... If the bribery doesn't work I'm in big trouble. Am getting pretty stressed about it all. The trip involves visiting my ageing dad and other members of my family- I haven't been there for 3 years, and I really feel it's important for DS to know that side of his family. So it's not a trip I want to abandon...

Out of interest has his eyes been tested or does he wear glasses as many cases of travel sickness are related to the eyes not working properly together and mine is 90% better if I wear my glasses.

That interesting Kat - no they haven't been tested recently but I never get the impression his eyesight is impaired in any way, so I don't think that's it. He has a lot of sensory issues and motion sickness is one aspect of it, and then of course there's the high level of anxiety about feeling sick, or expecting to feel sick.

Its not just how well the eyes work but how well they work together my eyes are helped by glasses but my brother who has eyes that are unable to work together (he switches between them but has 20:20 vision) has awful travel sickness and dyslexia.

So is that something that a regular optician can identify easily? Or does identifying the problem need more specialised investigation?

Was also going to mention that travel sickness is common with sensory processing issues, from what I've read and ime!

Just trying to think if there's anything you could get to get him excited about the journey and distract from the anxiety. Eg my 7 yo ds would think this booster seat backpack was the coolest thing ever and would love the idea that he could pack it with his own stuff. (Not cheap, but in desperation?!) Or one of the cheaper booster seats but one that has a cup-holder, or is glittery, or anything really that gets him excited and wanting to use it on a journey?

Normal optician I think.