Everything You Need to Deal With Your Child’s Car Sickness
I’m from West Virginia, and you can get from anywhere to anywhere you have to drive the winding mountain roads that have vomited generations of kids in the back seats. On a recent trip home to see my parents, we pulled off the highway where the kids were fine. As we drove through the battlefield of Antietam, my children began to turn green and my husband turned in his seat to hold the bag in front of the child behind the passenger seat. We had just crossed the state line when the two kids started an extravagant duel involving them, their car seats, and much of the car.
Since that dark day, I’ve become an expert on getting rid of traffic jams as quickly as possible, and I can tell you that a few tricks and tools reduce the likelihood of babies vomiting and making cleaning easier. when they do.
Time to travel and keep an eye on the view
Travel while sleeping or after sleeping – if your child is not looking out the window, motion sickness may not happen at all. We keep the windows open and the car cool – something helps them in the face in a gust of wind.
If you have a curtain over your child’s window, lower it to make it look at the windshield rather than the side window. If it is safe to do so in a car, place the car seat of the child who might be sick in the middle to encourage him to look forward rather than to the sides.
Drugs
For us, Dramamine , which has a sedative effect, works if we take it exactly one hour before the trip, which is usually also one hour before bed. This means we give them a dose at 11 a.m., feed them a light lunch and then leave at noon, so that they rest for at least an hour (and the first hour of our trips usually goes through city traffic with stops that compete with mountain roads nausea). Benadryl is also an option, depending on how your child reacts to it, as “irritability” is a side effect. ( Irritability is a side effect of Dramamin for my children, so we save it for long trips.)
Some parents swear by ginger candy , if medication does not work. If your child is over 10 years old, you can ask your doctor about scopolamine , which is given as a patch and does not have a sedative effect. As it should be, when considering any medication for your child, talk to your pediatrician.
Bags and buckets
I’ve found these tote bags are life – saving as my almost four-year-old can now hit them on his own (and they come with an absorbent pad to keep them from leaking). Another option is this type of bag that I personally vomited after various surgeries, and is easier to get into than those rectangular bags that scratch your face you find on airplanes. Other parents stick with a bucket system, such as a large yogurt container with a bag, or even a per gallon bucket for a child who is still working on their goal.
Clear
Before my son could hold his bag securely, I had a car seat cover like this one that made cleaning up a lot easier. I bought it after a particularly horrific hummus incident where my husband suggested throwing the entire car away. These disposables look useful too (they are defined as “for boys” so definitely don’t let your girls vomit on them).
This does not apply to belts that are difficult to clean, especially when you are standing on the edge of a freeway in New Jersey, swearing and wiping vomit with old Hardy’s napkins. Originally designed to keep babies from unbuckling their belts, this buckle cover also protects the very difficult to clean buckle on the chest from vomit. (Car seat manufacturers also sell replacement belts for a fairly low price if you just can’t handle it.)
I’m a big fan of car jumpsuits myself – it costs $ 8, is large, and has a cover that will theoretically keep a river of vomit from flowing to the floor of the car. I’m super cheap, so I use a homemade robe: I usually cut out the back of the t-shirt for adults, but leave the collar and sleeves intact. When the children are seated in the seats and buckled in, place the collar over their heads and arms through their sleeves. The rest of the fabric tends to bunch up in the middle between their legs, so it’s not ideal, but it has the advantage of being loose (and you can leave a few in the car in case of multiple accidents in one place). journey). This summer I’m trying paper clips on the sides of the car seat to keep the fabric from stretching, which probably won’t work and I’ll break and buy a $ 8 robe.
To protect your car, you can put a seat protector under your car seat, or even place an absorbent dog cushion under it. (It’s also helpful for those extravagant emissions of newborn / infant diapers that somehow drain through the entire car seat.)
Want to learn more about the causes of motion sickness and find advice on how to clean your car seat properly? Check out the tips from moms who are also doctors and the lady car seat . Happy (not sick) travel!