Car Sickness - North Bergen,NJ

My son started getting car sick around the same age. I noticed it was when I let him drink milk in the car. Now I let him eat crackers (goldfish) in the car, but nothing to drink. I also bought him Sea-Bands for kids. They're wristbands for motion sickness. And I took the headrest off the seat in front of him so he could look out the front window instead of the side. He's 3 now, and hasn't gotten carsick for about a year. I don't know if he outgrew it or if it's because of my "system". All I know is my car smells a lot better! Good luck.

My son would get carsick in any vehicle (including giant city buses) except an suv. Stop and go traffic was the WORST. We learned to stop giving him any dairy on the day of a car ride. That helped. You should speak to your doctor about dosage for dramamine for long trips. That always worked but knocked him out. Planning trips around naptime sometimes worked but sometimes he even vomited in his sleep!
We always traveled with plastic bags, extra clothes and towels for cleanup. I'm not sure if it was our purchase of an suv or his age, but it all ended at age 3. Good luck!

My daughter suffers from intermittent car sickness and we've found a couple things that are helpful in preventing it:
- no dairy in the car or a couple hrs before - milk in particular. We use soy milk instead.
- make sure a window is at least a little open on his side of the car
- take very curvy roads slowly
- some people have good luck with putting the car seat in the center of the car instead of on one of the sides. This does not work for us, but it's worth a try!
- lastly, this isn't something you can prevent, but we've found that she's much more prone to motion sickness if she has a cold. The excess of mucous seems to give her a more delicate stomach.
- For long rides, try giving a 1/2 dose of Dramamine. This is very effective.

Good luck!

Are you sure he didn't choke on his food? Maybe the eating was the issue.

Hi J.,

Yes, my daughter did it when she was weeks old and still gets car sick. My doctor told me to give her a tea spoon of Benadryl for long road trips. That is something we can't control. And try not to let him eat or drink before the drive. Have him eat a little something 30 mins. before the ride because nothing in the stomach is even worst for them. Trust me, I have been going through this for almost 7 years with her. Always have a bag ready with a change of cloths and a bag for trash ready with paper towels in the truck, you will need it. The benadryl sould help some. Ask your doctor. Good Luck! :)Her 17 year old sister from a first marraige is the same way.

Car sickness is said to be caused by feeling motion not expected by what is viewed. Adults are advised to look out the window for instance, and view the road ahead. Many adults find that if they drive they don't get car sick. Well, babies don't drive, but if the child has been given something that is focusing his attention, such as a DVD, perhaps that could be an issue. Maybe just eating and drinking are focusing too much local attentionn on his part. Of course if he falls asleep in the car, you should be in good shape.

Eating in the car is dangerous (what if he chokes- he's strapped in his carseat) and messy. A lot of people get sick from eating in the car. Try just giving him a toy to hold in the car instead of a snack. I would also try Sea Bands. I have no idea if they make them for kids, but I'd check it out. They must have a website that you can look it up. They're supposed to help relieve motion sickness. I would definitely try them before I tried something like benadryl.
Good luck. I hope you find a good solution in everyone's suggestions. Hopefully it is something as simple as Sea Bands or a "no eating in the car" rule.

J.,

I get car sick myself and have done quite a bit of reading on this issue to understand it. Here are 2 things I have learned that appear to be true in my experience that may help you:
1) One theory is that it is caused by the confusion between your eyes/experience and your mind, which is why it is agravated by curvy roads and unexpected waves. Meaning, your body thinks you are in a stable enviroment - car, boat, plane, but then when you start to experience something that goes against your expectation, your mind gets disoriented and then sick. So the more your son can see the road ahead and know the curve is coming so he can experience it with his mind and eyes the better he will be. Perhaps you can put the car seat in the middle of the back seat if you don't already so he can see out the front window.
2) I have also read that the road rushing past in your peripheral vision aggravates the condition. So if you can block the side windows (perhaps with just one of those sunscreens since you still need to see out it) this might help. Or if you can find sunglasses he will wear with significant side protection.
Kind of a hassle, I still experience it today at 45 although it doesn't stop me from anything except being anxious to take a cruise! Although I did take one and just getting up in the cool fresh air of the deck seemed to take it away in that case. In a way it is a mental thing, but not the way people say to "just don't think about it"! Although, since I am old enough to have been a kid when they allowed kids in the front seat, I can say it did get me the front seat a lot so I could see out. Barfed on my cousin once and no one doubted me again!! I pray this is the very worst thing you will have to handle with your wonderful son!

J.,

Have you recently changed anything in his diet. My son was never car sick until after his 3rd b-day (he is 3 1/2 yo now) and at his 3 yo check up the pediatrician changed his vitamin prescription from drops to a tablet. I was giving the drops to him (since birth till age 3) first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach) and they did not bother his stomach, but when he was switched to the tablet he started to throw-up if his stomach was empty and he took a vitamin (needless to say we switched to taking them at night and have had no problems since). Just take a look at your routine and see if any changes like that have occurred within the last 2-3 months. Good luck and hope it is not turly car sickness.

Stop giving him anything to eat or drink in the car. Its not necessary and makes for a much cleaner car seat. Unless you are driving for more than 2 hours straight theres no reason to feed him. Lots of people get queasy while eating or reading in the car.

One of my daughters had this problem when she was younger (she's now 4 yrs). Her pediatrician recommended a dose of children's claritin prior to a long drive and it seemed to work. We also restricted her eating and drinking just prior to driving, especially avoiding milk. Good luck.

I have two daughters ages 6 1/2 and 3. Both of them experience motion sickness, such as I have since I was a child (maybe it's hereditary as so does my mother!). To the point that if we are driving more than 1 hour, my oldest has to take Dramamine. My youngest is just starting to show the symptoms so we don't yet know how severe she will have it. This works wonders, once they are old enough so check with your pediatrician first.

While riding, if he mentions he doesn't feel well, immeadiately roll the window down as the fresh air will help alleviate the nausea. Even stop if needed. I have found that when my daughter says she's sick, it means immeadiately find a safe spot and pull over as she will vomit. She immeadaitely will feel better and we can continue on our way.

Also, always bring spare clothes as you'll never know when you'll need it (even something to help clean up the car seat afterwards). Good luck!