Do any of you have kids - young or older or grown - with severe motion sickness when riding in the car??

Looking for answers here!

By Colette on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 08:34 am:

I had it really bad as a kid and the only solution for me was to sit in the front seat, not look out the side windows, have a window cracked for fresh air and no reading. I would get it really bad if I was in a car with leather interior or if it was a smoker's car. My youngest dd gets it too, but it seems she gets it more when dh is driving than when I am. She seems to do better on a highway, rather than stop and go traffic. I am going to try drammine with her though, because we are going on vacation this summer and it's a 600 mile car drive to get there.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 09:57 am:

I had it terribly as a child, too. After throwing up in the car a few times I always got first dibs on the window seats. Fresh air is a big help and watching the scenery out the window. I still get motion sickness on ships or when not driving or sitting in the front seat of a vehicle. Dramamine is my best friend. LOL! DS gets it occasionally, and Dramamine, the smallest dose, works well.

Sort of OT, but anesthesia makes me very sick as well. The prescription motion sickness ear patches are WONDERFUL! I'm sure to ask for one every time I have surgery now.

Helpful info here, although I would not have a child ride in the front seat. Motion sickness is the lesser of two evils when factoring in the high risk of death/injury for a child in the front seat in the event of a crash.
http://www.medicinenet.com/motion_sickness/page4.htm

By Marcia on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 10:32 am:

One of my girls gets car sick when we drive long distances, so I give her Gravol. It's not available in the US, but would be like dramamine. We also took it with us on the cruise last year, but we were all fine. We'll be taking it again this time, just in case.

By Kaye on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 11:10 am:

My middle kid used to get very sick as an infant (riding backwards). Benedryl is a little milder form of dramamine (works in the same way) and that made all the difference for him.

By Kay on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 01:04 pm:

I always used to get carsick as a child, and still do if I'm not in the front seat. Studies have been done to show a correlation between motion sickness in children and migraine. Children may experience 'abdominal migraines', and it's set off by riding in a vehicle and the plane of vision is off a bit by the moving scenery. As an adult, I have chronic migraines, so I'm willing to bet there's something to that theory.

By Reds9298 on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 01:08 pm:

I had it very bad as a child, got a little better in early adulthood, then got unbearable after I had Nat. I CANNOT ride in the car anymore, unless it's a VERY short distance in the front seat or at nighttime, which seems to help. I hate it! I was always fine on planes, although I haven't flown since I had Natalie so who knows now. I can't go 2 swings on a swingset or I'm dizzy and nauseated for 20 min. It's ridiculous! I haven't found anything that doesn't knock me out that works for me honestly. Dramamine and Benadryl completely knock me out. I'm very sensitive to medications anyway.

I have it terribly and it's a total pain. As a child I just had to ride in the front seat and I was generally fine, but now that's not really an option for kids.

By Luvn29 on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 01:23 pm:

Dramamine! They do have non-drowsy versions of motion sickness meds.

Also make sure that they never do anything while in the car. That includes reading, playing video games, even looking for a radio station or cd. The smallest thing can make you so sick. Even if you just look down briefly. And don't let them look out the side window because that can make some kids sick because of the landscape flying by. It's best to look out the front window.

By Tink on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 01:41 pm:

I had it badly as a child and haven't outgrown it much. I do much better if I drive or sit in the front seat but if I have to sit in a back seat, I do better sitting in the middle where I have a clear view out the front windshield. Watching the scenery out a side window is guaranteed to make me sick. A window cracked open for fresh air helps. Most of the time, I can't read, knit or spend much time looking at a map. Dramamine keeps me from getting sick but I'm so drowsy that I'm cranky and miserable. The behind the ear patches are wonderful but I only use them on major trips, not just for driving for a couple of hours. Gingersnaps, ginger ale and ginger hard candies (made by Altoids) all help me.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 06:09 pm:

We are lucky at my house, apparently! All 4 of us survived car rides to Niagara Falls, South Dakota and northern Minnesota! They kids were always doing something in the car!

By Imamommyx4 on Saturday, February 9, 2008 - 11:46 pm:

I don't know about severe motion sickness. But ginger root capsules or gum help alot even with my 6 yo dd. Take it about 30 minutes before you leave and see if it helps.

By Karen~admin on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 10:36 am:

I've read that it's genetic, that if a parent is pre-disposed to motion sickness, then one or all of the children will probably suffer too.

I was asking because, as a child, Jen got car-sick easily. I thought she'd grow out of it, but at 23, it is much worse!

Friday night, we went to the mall after work. She ate while we were there; we shopped until the mall closed, and she begged me to let HER drive home because she gets so queasy in the car. Well, I insisted on driving, and we got 1/3 of the way home, and I had to pull over. She's sitting there with the door open, puking out of the car. As soon as she could close the door, I pulled into a parking lot. Once she was finished, she wanted to drive, so I let her drive then, and she was fine.

She says that when she goes out, no matter whose car she is in, she MUST sit in the front, and most often, she drives because of it. I didn't realize it was as bad as it is.

A friend and I were just discussing abdominal migraines this past week. I didn't even know there was such a thing.

I know *I* can't read in the car, it makes me sick. And I do get seasick on cruises when the water is *rough*. I guess I just thought it would get better as she gets older, but it, in fact, has gotten much worse.

:-(

Thanks for all the responses. I'm going to mention the ginger to her.

By Imamommyx4 on Sunday, February 10, 2008 - 11:57 pm:

Dh and oldest ds get motion sick pretty easily. I started developing it about the time I hit 40 and gets worse as the years go by. But about a year ago we were watching a Mythbusters episode about things for motion sickness. They did several things--ginger (which where I first thought about it), the seabands that press on a certain nerve and the usual meds like meclizine and Dramamine. They tested them in Adam and the oriental guy. They said the ginger root worked best with no side effects. So we tried and have been pleasantly happy to find that it decreases the nausea tremendously and alot of times, it never develops.

But after we started using it, I started thinking about ginger ale the stomach ailment remedy of my youth. If my stomach hurt at all, my mom would make me drink ginger ale and it always felt better. I used to think it was the fizz, but it was the ginger all along.

By Karen~admin on Monday, February 11, 2008 - 09:33 am:

I have 2 sets of Seabands, and I use them sometimes when we cruise; I gave her a set last night. :-)