Preventing and Relieving Motion Sickness in Children
Though anyone can experience motion sickness when traveling in a car, children ages five to fifteen seem to be the most susceptible.
The best thing is to try to prevent motion sickness from happening, and there are several things you can do before traveling to prevent or reduce chances of motion sickness happening.
Preventing Motion Sickness Before You Travel
Make sure your children are well rested before traveling. Do not feed them rich foods before leaving on your trip. Light, nourishing foods are best, and easiest on sensitive tummies. Foods higher in carbs tend to be easier to digest when traveling in the car.
Make sure your child’s car seat faces forward, and that he is seated high enough to be able to look out the windows.
Fresh air helps prevent feelings of motion sickness, so maintain proper ventilation by rolling down windows as far as weather allows.
Bring toys to occupy your child, but don’t let him read, color, or play video games.
Be especially careful if you enjoy playing games such as “Spot the License Plate” or “Spot A Color”. If you do play these games, caution the children to look out the front window instead of the side windows, so that their peripheral vision doesn’t see objects flashing by the sides of the car, which tends to make motion sickness symptoms worse.
You can help prevent motion sickness by driving smoothly, with no abrupt starts or stops, and by gently turning corners. Keep the interior of your car simple-don’t hang anything around the mirror that dangles or flashes colors as it moves. Those baby shoes might be cute, but watching them swing back and forth as you travel might cause your child to feel miserable.
It is important to keep your youngster occupied and entertained while traveling, and one of the worst things you can do is to keep asking whether or not they “feel sick”. As much as possible, do not draw attention to bodily sensations they may or may not be feeling.
Make frequent rest stops as you travel.
Motion Sickness Symptoms To Watch For
If your child has been riding happily, then all of a sudden loses interest in whatever he was doing, he might be getting motion sick. Yawning doesn’t always mean that your child is tired; he may be motion sick. If your child becomes either cold or sweaty, or if he starts shivering and looks pale, suspect motion sickness. If he complains of queasiness or nausea, he is most certainly experiencing motion sickness, and it’s important to stop as soon as possible so that you can try to relieve him.
Relieving Your Child’s Motion Sickness
Pull into a rest area as soon as possible, and let your child get out to walk around. Have some water for him to sip. Take your time, and allow your child to move around and get some fresh air.
Once your child starts feeling better, you’ll want to continue on your trip. If at all possible, allow your child to sit in the front for a while, instead of the back seat, so that the motion sickness doesn’t flare up suddenly again.
Motion Sickness Relief Items To Carry While Traveling
When my own daughter was young, I always carried plastic bags and paper towels in our car. I kept paper napkins and a supply of wet wipes in the glove box.
Don’t leave home without placing a small wastebasket or some other type of washable or disposable container in the back seat, in case your child vomits. Make sure it’s within easy reach if he needs it.
Along with bottles of water, I usually carried ginger ale and pretzels or Saltines when we traveled. Both of those items tend to relieve mild motion sickness symptoms.
One other thing you might wish to do is to check with your child’s doctor about whether or not a travel medication might be beneficial for him.
With the proper precautions, you may be able to prevent motion sickness in your child, and even if he does become motion sick, you will be able to relieve his motion sickness symptoms by following these simple suggestions.
