Traveling with happy kids: how to handle motion sickness
Traveling with kids with motion sickness can be challenging! I know! My husband and 4 of my 6 kids struggle with this. Plus, they all struggle with it differently! Read on to discover how I handle people with motion sickness while traveling.
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It took us a long time to figure out why my first child was throwing up in the car. When she threw up, I thought she was sick. It wasn’t until my husband suggested she had motion sickness were we able to help her. Before this I had never heard of it. Now I know, on a mom’s level, much about it.
How do I help my kids with motion sickness when we travel?
- Motion sickness medicine or wrist bracelets
- Travel when they normally sleep
- Car games that focus outside the car
- Sit them in the front
- Keep them cool with circulating air
Motion sickness medicine or wrist bracelets
Disclaimer: I am a mom with kids who have motion sickness. I am not a doctor. Do consult your child’s doctor before giving medication to children under 6.
dramamine
My first daughter would throw up every time we traveled more than an hour. I remember at the time, finding Dramamine in the grocery store. At that time Dramamine did not offer the non-drowsy medication and it was for adults. I would give her 1 pill before we traveled. She slept most of the way and didn’t throw up!
* The benefit for the regular Dramamine is the child will sleep. In fact they will learn to sleep in the car. My two adult girls who have motion sickness still sleep in the car when they travel.
anit-naseua wrist bracelets
I had heard about Sea-band Anti-Nausea wristbands from someone. I like that it wasn’t medication and kids could use them. After searching a little bit, I found them. They tried them but didn’t stick with them. They preferred the medicine.
dramamine non-drowsy
Years later, I started to see the non-drowsy dramamine. I would pick this up instead of the regular. My two girls could now stay up and watch movies while we traveled in the car.
bonine
A couple years later, Bonine appeared on the shelves. I really liked this one. It was non-drowsy, in kid strength and not a tablet they had to swallow. My youngest son takes this one all the time. He takes just one for day we are traveling. The dosage is to take it every 4-6 hours but all my kids only took one and it lasted the entire day of travel.
My kids are able to watch movies and read on medication. They will stop watching or reading when they start to feel a little nauseous. Sometimes they like to just sleep. Sometimes we play car games.
Travel with sleep schedules in mind
My husband, who has motion sickness when he was little, went on vacation to the beach. His parents left after dinner and traveled through the night.
When my kids were younger, we were past driving through the night. Instead, we would leave after dinner and drive until about 9:00 or 10:00 and then stay in a hotel. We would then drive the rest of the way in the morning.
If you’re able, set you travel times close to nap times.
Car games that focus outside the car
These are great for both the medicated child as well as the unmedicated child. The perfect car games are:
- The License Plate game. There are many free printable ones on line. Kids can color them in.
- The Alphabet game. This can be a competitive game. It can be played different ways.
- For points: Each word gets you a point. Start with a word you see that starts with ‘a’. Continue counting ‘a’ words until a ‘b’ word is found by someone in the car.
- For fun: This is played with the whole car. Everyone looks for the letters together.
- Competition: Each person in the car plays the ‘for fun’ version on their own. The first to finish wins.
You can set up the rules before starting. Ours are the word has to be outside the car, the word has to start with the letter. We have added recently that words starting with ‘q’, and ‘x’ can be found at anytime. Create your own way and have some family fun in the car!
3. Conversation starters. Used to talk about anything you want to talk about. A non-motion sick person reads them with everyone answering. This can be from trivia (all sorts: faith based, history, pop culture, etc.), word problems (a little math is always good), and other travel conversational books out there that sparks your interest.
4. Sing! Create a playlist that gets everyone smiling and singing along. Turn the music up and sing your hearts out!
Where to sit
I placed my kids with motion sickness right behind the front seats. They did just fine. They were not allowed to sit in the back of the van.
If I had a child that still wasn’t feeling well, I would have put them in the front. That happened just recently.
My younger son, decided not to take his Bonine on our trip through the Appalachian mountains to Virginia. It was a warm day. We left at 7:00 am. By the time it got to 10:00 he wasn’t feeling well at all. He didn’t look well either. I decided that we would stop for lunch instead of eating in the car. As we looked for a place to stop, I rolled down the windows to help cool him down. I was only biding my time as he needed out of the car.
We found some dramamine at the convince store we were at. He swallowed his purchased pill and we ate our lunch. After a half an hour we got back in the car. I had him sit in the front, with the air blowing on him for the rest of the trip. By the time we got to our destination, he looked and felt better.
I know many adults who prefer to be in the front. My husband always drives. If you happen to be on a bus, do speak up and ask to be in front!
My take aways…
Be prepared for the worst. I always have plastic grocery bags on our trips. They are used for trash but also in case someone throws up. I make sure all of the bags are hole free. I also bring a roll of paper towels. Just in case someone makes a big mess with a drink or food, but also in case someone doesn’t get the bag soon enough. I store these out of sight but close enough to grab if needed.
If traveling on curvy, winding roads make sure your child is medicated and if possible sitting up front. They should be looking out the window, listening to music, sleeping or participating in the car games mentioned.
Planes, Boats and Roller Coasters…oh my! My family is all over the map on these. The youngest son does not medicate for any of these. My oldest daughter medicates for the plane. My husband medicates for the boat.
Knowing how to handle the various situations that arise with your child is important. Going with the flow is essential. Being able to stop and help the child regroup is important.
Keep them as close to front as possible, keep them cool and keep them distracted. This will help your child be happy as they travel with you on your many adventures!
Check out my other post on how to travel with happy kids: How to keep kids happy on a road trip.
Let me know what you think about the article. I love readers feedback!
