Serious Car sickness, need HELP!!!

[heidi_timms]

We just moved to the mountains a few months ago and my DD has developed a serious car sickness problem. The problem is that the resort town we live in has limited shopping and necessities. There are two ways out of town to the nearest shopping/conveniences, which both require driving winding roads. Most recently, my husband had to take his truck into the dealership, which is 1 hour away. We drove seperate vehicles so we could run errands and leave his truck at the dealership all day. I was driving slowly and had to pull over halfway through the mountains after DD vomited to clean her up as much as possible. I do pack extra outfits for this reason, but our Britaxes are taking a beating.

I called the ped and she said that Benadryl has similar ingredients to Dramamine. I have tried it twice, but DD also happened to be napping because it was naptime when we made the drive.

I have also tried putting her carseat forward-facing, but it hasn't helped. She is barely over 20lbs (I think) and 14 months, but I do not prefer her forward facing for crash safety reasons, but I also do not want her to keep vomiting!

Does anyone have any other suggestions to help with carsickness? I have been cleaning her Britax seats (we have two) and both still have the vomit smell. I handwashed the covers and took sponges to the straps along with Febreeze and the straps still smell. Any cleaning tricks as well?

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[Marisa6826]

Well for the smell, go to Petco (or some similar pet store) and pick up Nature's Miracle. It's by the housebreaking stuff. Big white bottle with lots of red writing. It's not cheap - $7-10/bottle, but completely worth it. It does the trick every time.

As far as the carsickness goes, do you keep the window down for fresh air? Are you going out right after she eats? You also might want to try gradually working up to long distances. Do five or ten minutes and then come home. The next day, if that worked, try ten or fifteen.

Kailey's inner ears might not be mature enough yet to handle the twisty turnies. I'm also wondering if those sea bands might work. I looked at their website and they have kid versions.

http://www.sea-band.com/sea_band_usa.htm

Good luck!

-m


ETA - Here's what Ask Dr. Sears says:


TRAVELING WITH TOTS

Topics you will find:

Babywearing While Traveling
Car Travel
Car Safety Seats coming soon!
Settling Traveling Tummies
Cycling with Infants

CAR TRAVEL

How appropriate is the bumper sticker that reads, "If a mother's place is in the home, why am I always in the car?" Here are ways to make car travel pleasant and safe:

Rules for the Road

* Always wear a seat belt yourself and insist that all other passengers do as well.
* Always use a government-approved car seat for infants and young children.
* Do not use an infant carrier or an infant seat in a car as a substitute for a car seat.
* Look behind your car. In your haste to make an appointment, you rush into your car; jam it into reverse, and speed out the driveway, not realizing what or who could be lurking behind the car. Children love to play around cars. As a precaution, get into the habit of walking behind your car before entering; better yet, do a full-circle walkaround. As an added precaution, you can install an extended rearview mirror that increases your field of vision behind the car.
* Do not use an ordinary travel bed in a car as a substitute for a car seat.
* Do not strap two children or a parent and a child into one seat belt.
* Never let your baby ride in your arms while the car is moving. Avoid the temptation to not place baby in a car seat "because we're only traveling a few blocks."
* Do not leave the rear door of a hatchback or station wagon open. This lets in exhaust fumes, and dangerous objects may come through the open door in a crash.
* Do not allow children to play with sharp objects, such as pencils or metal toys, while the car is moving. These objects become projectiles if a car stops suddenly.
* Do not put groceries or loose potential projectiles next to baby, or even loose in the car. Put them in the trunk.
* Pregnant mothers should use seat belts. Until your child is born, you are his or her "car seat." You are protecting two lives. Keep the lap belt below your uterus, across the pelvic bone, to avoid injury to your baby from the seat belt.

Keeping Travel Pleasant

* Feed and toilet your toddler before the trip. A baby with dry pants and a full tummy is a more pleasant passenger.
* Treat travel like infant feeding: short, frequent trips rather than lengthy ones. When driving long distances, make frequent pit stops.
* Take along musical tapes, old favorites and new surprises. Start the tape right after buckling baby in and starting the car.
* Nonchokable nibbles, (for example, rice cakes) may settle the hungry traveler. Do not allow the little rider to suck on anything with a stick, like a lollipop or popsicle, a swerve or an accident could jam the stick into baby's throat.

CAR SAFETY-SEATS

COMING SOON!

SETTLING TRAVELING TUMMIES

Motion sickness results when the brain receives confusing messages from the senses. For example, when your baby is buried in the backseat, his eyes see only the stationary seat back, but the motion sensors of the inner ear tell the brain the body is moving. The equilibrium center in the inner ear is more sensitive in some babies than others. Try these stomach settlers:

* Plan your route to use straight freeways; avoid going through busy towns. Frequent stops and starts and winding roads upset tiny tummies.
* Travel at naptime. Sleep settles queasy insides. The best time to depart is just before a nap, so you can hope to arrive at your destination with a comfortable and well-rested baby.
* Tank up baby, but not a full tank. Give baby a light meal before departure (non-fatty and nondairy foods–cereal, pasta, fruit), and take along stomach- friendly snacks: cookies, crackers and a cool drink in a carton with a straw.
* Tank up the car beforehand. Babies are sensitive to exhaust and fumes at gas stations.
* Provide a seat with a view – babies get carsick if they can't see out a window – but don't compromise safety for a view. Usually sitting in the front seat looking forward through a front window triggers less motion sickness than sitting in the backseat looking out the side.
* Play games that keep baby focused on objects far away. Billboards, buildings, and mountains are much more tummy-friendly during travel than close- up coloring books.
* Fresh air is a tummy rumble's best friend. Open a window on each side of the car for cross ventilation. Leave your air pollutants (cigarette smoke, perfumes) at home.
* Medications for motion sickness are not recommended under a year of age, but they may be used safely thereafter. Check first with your doctor to see if there are medical reasons your child should not to take these. Dramamine is a safe and effective over-the-counter medication to quell the nausea, vomiting, and dizziness associated with motion sickness. The dosage for an infant from one to two years is a half-teaspoon, given a half-hour to an hour before travel; for the child two to three years the dosage is one teaspoon (five milliliters). It should not be given more frequently than every six hours. Seasickness patches (Scopolamine) should not be used on infants.

[caleymama]

DD recently had several episodes of car sickness and boy were they not fun! I feel for you. Luckily only one of them required us to wash the RA seatcover, but it machine washed just fine. We sponge cleaned the straps with water and aired out the seat/straps and the cover overnight outside. We still ended up Febreezing it a little. The smell on the straps did go away but it took a day or two.

After the most recent episode I called the ped to see if they had any remedies. We had just arrived out of town and I wanted to have something on hand for our return trip. They said to use either 1 Tsp. of Benadryl or to give her children's chewable Dramamine (sorry, I don't remember the recommended dosage). I went with the Benadryl (we got the dye-free children's liquid) and gave her about 3/4 Tsp. since it was the first time she'd ever had it. No carsickness, but the Benadryl did make her drowsy. We try to travel at her naptime, so the drowsiness wasn't too problematic. We have since taken some longer (~3 hrs) drives and she's been fine. I have my fingers crossed that these were isolated incidents and not the start of a lifelong issue with motion sickness. FWIW, DD is forward facing and was for all 3 episodes of carsickness.

I really hope Kailey starts to feel better soon.

[miki]

I don't know about babies, but I still get carsick sometimes. What helps me the most is not looking at a lot of stuff. Like not looking out the windows and seeing the scenery rush by. I read once that the visual stimulation contributes to the motion sickness because your brain is trying to process everything that is going by so quickly while dealing with the movement. Can you try also to minimize what she can look at with shades in the side and back windows?

[heidi_timms]

Thank you for your responses and I would love any more advice! This last time, I think that she needed more fresh air. I had the AC on, but my DH thinks that she needed the window open, so I am keeping it open when we drive now. She has actually been getting sick 2 hours after just having a whole bottle of milk. We still do bottles in the morning and at night. I thought her stomach would be settled by then.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[cinrein]

Heidi,
My DH and his whole family get terrible motion sickness. He can't even ride backwards on the Metro. He says it helps to sit where you can see the road in front of you--for example move the carseat to the center position if you can. Fresh air blowing on the face helps too. The biggest thing for him is not to move his head around too much. He can't be looking around, just look straight ahead. This would be hard for a toddler to do, unfortunately. Lastly, my SILs carry a small basin in the cars for when nothing else works. She managed to teach her kids to hit the basin at a pretty early age, which helped with clean up.

I hope Kailey outgrows this.

Cindy and Anna February 2003

[BethinMass]

My current 4 year old has the same problem :/ I noticed it around 1 and 1/2 years old.

Tricks we use...

1) No milk for a few hours before. For the most part I know when we are going somewhere, if it's in the morning, we just give her water. If it's in the afternoon, I try to give a few hours before just water as well.

2) No big heavy meals before going. I stick with crackers, toast, cheerios etc before any road trip (even if it was only a 20 min trip).

3) Make sure to bring crackers, water, barf bag, febreeze, change of clothes, and wipes with you whenever traveling. If I can't stop in time, I have a barf bag for her to use. Crackers and water settle her stomach before and after.

4) I noticed one of the reasons my daughter gets sick is that she watches the motion of the trees outside of the car. If I did that I'd get sick too. I try to have toys or something for her to focus on in the car so she's not looking outside of the window. If she tells me she's feeling sick, I suggest her closing her eyes and relaxing and see if that helps.

5) Also to be on the safe side, I try to make sure my daughter is wearing loose comfortable clothing and is not hot in the backseat. After having to clean out the carseat a few too many times, I'll try anything that may help :)

My daughter is a bit older, so it makes it a ton easier. She'll listen to my suggestions and will hold the bag if she's not feeling well. When she was younger I had a tupperware container instead of a bag, it was easier for her to use and she felt more comfortable with it.

As far as clean up :/ Luckily the car seats are a ton easier to clean then the car itself. Whenever it's happened to us, I've had to air out/wet vac and constantly febreeze for a few days strait after it happened :/ Worse was when I was pregnant and had to ride to work with the car smelling like that :/

Good luck!

Just editing in after reading one of the above posts - Maybe my daughter is just a strange duck compared to most kids, however looking outside makes her more sick then her playing with a toy in the car. This may change as she gets older so who knows. Sometimes just opening the window with some fresh air can help make a big difference. Also, we've been blessed not to live on long curvey roads, I'm wishing you the best of luck.

[lmintzer]

Uggg, I feel for you! This is not fun! My first ds got car sick 3x during the summer when he was about your dd's age. After the third time putting my screaming child in the bath in the middle of the day, setting him in front of a video so I could hose down my Roundabout in 90 degree weather, and living without a car seat for the rest of the day while I laundered the mostly de-puked cover, I wound up turning him forward facing. That did the trick, needless to say. He never got car sick again. For us, varying what he ate, when he ate it, etc. had no effect. It was the rear-facing position that got to him. So, at 15 months, I was forced to turn him around.

You mentioned that forward facing didn't help for you? Gosh, I don't know what else to suggest, but you have my sympathy!!!

[Imperia]

Oh Heidi!

It sounds like it's getting worse, or at the very least not improving. I definately agree you should try Nature's Miracle for clean up since it's enzyme based it will kill them smell completely rather than covering it up with perfumes.

Definately try the winow thing. I get terrible car sickness on windy roads if I am not driving and the windows are closed. Do youknow if she is looking to the sides of teh car when she is in it? If so maybe getting some pull down screens to keep her from seeing the passing scenery would help?

Did the Benadryl work for her? If nothing else it might put her to sleep so youc ould avoid the entire episode...I know you said if she is asleep she doesn't get sick!

Poor Kailey, I hope she stops getting sick in the car soon.

P.S. I haven't seen you around much lately on the boards, everything okay? Give me a call if you want.

Imperia

[gisele]

I was carsick all the time when I was a kid. The previous poster had good suggestions - wait a while after having milk, no heavy meals. But be sure to have something in the stomach like crackers. And above all, make sure she hasn't had something sweet - that can be a big contributor to being carsick.

I didn't know you moved out of the Bay Area! Where did you guys move to?

[heidi_timms]

Hi Imperia! We have been visiting my parents/working on the kitchen rennovation. I'll call you when we get back!

Giselle, we moved to Tahoe and then we will be moving again to the Sac area in 6-8 months.

~Heidi
Mom to Kailey
4/03

[Tondi G]

everyone has good suggestions..... My DS was miserable in his car seat while rear facing (he didn't puke but we did very limited driving when he was little because he was so miserable)... I suspected he might be getting car sick. Turning him around helped our situation.

As far as getting the smell out... the Natures Miracle should do the trick.... you can also try washing with Oxiclean and a regular detergent. I machine washed my RA's Cowooflauge cover and hung it out to dry in the sunshine..... it came out beautiful, like new!

I am wondering if you got a portable VHS/DVD player and she could watch a video.... focusing on the screen in the car instead of looking out the window if that might help????

Good Luck.... unhappy kids in the car are NO fun!

~Tondi and Mason 7/8/01