We often talk about our love for travel on A Mother’s Joy Blog, which I share wholeheartedly, but there is one aspect I find difficult about traveling with children, and that is car sickness. Both my daughter and my son, suffer from car sickness, and it is heartbreaking and debilitating. For us, it’s specifically cars — sometimes cabs, but never buses, boats, trains or planes. (Yet, hopefully!)
Let’s see for a moment the reasons that stand behind the motion sickness?
The eyes can see that we are moving (this is suggested by the moving landscape outside the car window), but the labyrinth does not record body movement. Added to this is conflicting information from mechanoreceptors that send information about the position of the body to the brain. The brain gets crazy – and the person vomits.
Everyone knows the symptoms of this condition:
- vomiting
- nausea
- pale skin
- cold sweat
- headache
- hyperventilation
I also have symptoms of “motion sickness”. It is enough that I am driving behind the driver’s seat and the driver is driving a bit more dynamically. This situation made me even more aware of the importance of choosing a route (without serpentine) and calm drive.
Prevention of motion sickness
This is the basic thing! If you do not take care of these few things that I described below, then no pills and interventions will help. Following these rules should not be difficult, and it can work wonders:
- The right driving technique above all! – I’m not surprised that the children in the car vomit – driving with a child is not a WRC rally, it’s worth taking care for a smooth, gentle ride, and look for adrenaline elsewhere.
I got some messages from friends, and basically, they say – “When a child goes with his dad on a rally driver – he vomits when he rides with me – he doesn’t” – something must be on the point. - Proper rest before departure is the key! – a tired and irritable child is more prone to motion sickness.
- A light meal before the road, no carbonated drinks before and during – still water, tea, chamomile on board, mint sometimes works. The child must be given fluids during the journey – their taste and quantity are important. Better often, and in small portions. Avoid sweet, thick, or salty drinks.
- The right climate in your Ferrari – light ventilation, optimal temperature. It cannot be too hot or stuffy, and the child should be gently dressed – better colder than too warm.
- No intense odors (including those nasty, allergenic aromas from a gas station) – also, pay attention to car fresheners – sometimes they are too intense and irritating, maybe it will be better to give them up. The same way toilet water – if you want to “smell”, do it after leaving the car. It is a good idea to close the outside air circuit, especially in winter, the smell of dirty air and smog is unlikely to help your little one.
- Air conditioning – before you go, you should clean up the cooling system in the car. After the winter, its nasty smell will certainly not be conducive to a peaceful journey without incidents.
- A well-planned trip – a large number of breaks and the possibility of stretching your legs are essential. Properly selected breaks can work wonders – if you notice that your child has symptoms of motion sickness, e.g. after 2 hours of driving, it is worth planning breaks every 1.5 hours.
- If you don’t mind, try driving at night – maybe your child will sleep through the journey.
- Riding in the direction of movement and a light breeze on the face – (but the light only. It is known that the air condition can be deadly and cause colds).
- Games and activities while driving – I know that we specialize in this – distraction from driving can effectively alleviate motion sickness. But never read or look down. Audiobooks are the best!
- No additional stimuli, i.e. music like in a SPA center – it should not be loud and irritating watch out for reading or watching cartoons and using smartphones – sometimes parents try to take a child in this way, but sometimes these moving characters only make things worse. After all, these are other stimuli that the toddler’s brain must analyze, and it already has a lot of it.
- Closeness to mom or dad – their presence will calm the child.
Some more home ways to deal with motion sickness:
- Putting on dark glasses for your child while driving (limiting stimuli, and trying to put the child to sleep)
- Covering the side windows of the car
- Mints are a common cure, but sometimes they make a child feel worse. So tricky!
- Child sipping water in small sips
- Restriction of dairy products on the day of travel
- Looking at one point ahead while traveling
- Eating a spoon of mustard (supposedly it works ?)
What about pharmacies for motion sickness?
Ginger – contains substances that inhibit nausea and vomiting – you can drink before the road and in the form of tea, but as a dietary supplement in the form of syrups / tablets, lozenges, etc. – but we give it to children only from 3 years old! It is also worth paying attention to the type of extract – in my opinion, it is better to choose this standardized than to buy products with powdered ginger root.
Popular medicine for motion sickness, for example, Gravol (containing dimenhydrinate) – for use from the age of 6, it is taken 30 minutes before the road – the disadvantage are side effects such as drowsiness, fatigue – this is the only medicine without prescriptions in this category.
Prescription drugs – there are several drugs with either dulling or strictly anti-emetic effects, so if you have a serious problem with motion sickness, it is worth considering a visit and a medical consultation before traveling.
Click here to check the wrist bands.
We have available wrist bands and patches, which by pressing the point from the bottom of the wrist are supposed to suppress nausea. Some parents praise, certainly, this method will not hurt. It is possible that we are again dealing with “the power of self-suggestion”.
And what are your ways for a quiet ride? What worked for your kids or you for motion sickness? Any comment is welcome!
These were our car sickness tips, and please, by all means, share yours!
Joanna xxx
