I’ve always been able to read, play video games and write in the car without ever feeling sick. On the other hand, my husband is very prone to motion sickness. We were at Kings Dominion last weekend and he couldn’t ride half of the roller coasters because he got “headachy.” Ella, my two year old daughter, got my husband’s gene with this one. She is severely effected by motion sickness. Whether it is a short trip to the store or 4 hour drive to the beach, we always need to have a bag ready.
I had no idea that motion sickness starts out in your head (not stomach). Once it hits, Ella gets so delusional and cannot even look at you or hold a conversation. Then, her head craziness affects her stomach and it happens. She throws up, and it’s not a small amount. It’s almost like a volcano erupting. I have caught it in a bag at least 10 times (go me). Here are a few of my tips for handling car sickness.
Drive Carefully
This might be a given, but it is really important. I was running late to a workout class one day, frazzled while driving . The class was only eight minutes away from home, but it happened. She got very sick and threw up in the car. It was all over her clothes, car seat and even some on the seat of my car. Of course it happened on a day that I was meeting my friend that is always late and I specifically told her that I didn’t want to walk in late so I passive aggressively kindly asked her to be on time. I wiped her down and thank goodness, my friend had some extra clothes in her car that fit Ella. Talk about feeling like an unprepared mother and awful friend. I got the prize that day. This was the worst because I was driving alone with two kids and became even more late with the hold up.
So, note to self and to you, keep the wheel steady and not pump the gas or brake.
Keep Windows Down
Fresh air is a must and definitely helps. Of course this is hard when it’s raining, but there have been times when she was about to throw up and I put the window down and it prevented her from getting sick.
Avoid Traffic
I live in the D.C. area where there is a crazy amount of traffic. Ella has gotten sick so much more in stop and go traffic. From our house to the zoo (about 36 miles), Ella threw up 6 times. Therefore, I try to plan around traffic because once again, the smoother the ride, the less likely she is to get sick.
Buy the Motion Sickness Bracelets
We were taking our first vacation as a family of four and Ella threw up three times on the way down there and once on a boat ride. So, when we were on our way back home we decided to stop at Rite Aid to see if they had something for car sickness. We knew if we didn’t find something, Ella throwing up was inevitable and I would have to stay turned around and keep my eyes on her at all times. My husband saw these $12 motion sickness bracelets, although skeptical, he thought they were worth a shot. We had read about them before and I even posted something on my Facebook wall desperately wanting help with this and someone had mentioned the bracelets. My husband picked up the Sea Bracelets and I truly believe these things are a miracle in our house. Here are some pictures of them.
Ella wearing adult motion sickness bracelets.
The bracelets work by pressure being added to your acupressure points and she doesn’t even notice they are on.
Close-up of bracelet on Ella's arm
Even though these are made for adults, they fit perfect on my tiny toddler’s arm.
Close-up off the arm
Age definitely plays a factor. When your child is less than two, they definitely cannot tell you when they are sick. When they can tell you, you can be prepared, but it’s better if it doesn’t have to come to that. No one likes feeling nauseous. I think these bracelets are key.
I hope my tricks can help you some. It was a miserable few months in our house before I was able to control the issue. Good luck!
About Dana Patterson
I'm an energetic SAHM of two fun little girls! It's never a dull moment with kids 21 months apart. I love life and enjoy cooking, working out and just hanging with my family.